A Bouquet Which Gathers Together All Excellent Actions
Composed by the Fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso
Svasti Singham!
(Hail to the Lion!)
I respectfully prostrate to the Bhagavān, the Lion of the Śākyas,
Whose excellent good qualities of abandoning and realization are equal to all sages,
Who has a powerful heart of compassion toward transmigratory beings that are difficult to subdue, and
Who is praised by all ten directions’ conquerors in a singular voice.
I prostrate to Dampa Togkar1,
The head ornament fastened at Maitreya’s crown, who, entreated by the sugatas,
Descended from Ganden with the five demonstrations2
In order to lead the migrators of Jambuling to the authentic path.
I prostrate to you who, in the aspect of the
Six-tusked leader of elephants, entered the womb of
The goddess Māyā when she was abiding in the practice of reconciliation and purification during
The night of the rising 15th of the month under the Viśākhā constellation.
I prostrate to you who was venerated and served by gods and nagas with excellent, wondrous signs
When you were born from the right side on the 10th day of the 2nd month.
Through the power of happiness and joy took a body, promising a final birth, and
Were bestowed the name Siddhārtha, Accomplisher of All Purposes.
I prostrate to you who exceled in grammar, subduing elephants, and so forth,
Whose strength transcended the 64 diseases, and
Who, from the time of youth, deprived the groups
Of the strong and haughty of their arrogance.
I prostrate to you who, until you were twenty-nine years old, maintained your kingly dominion
In accordance with worldly expectations, and in order to
Clear away all wrong views, took as a wife a princess who was
Characterized by bearing the fame of the Kṣatriya, Yaśodharā.
I prostrate to you who, due to the conditions of having been induced and perfectly urged on by victors’ speech and the sound of musical instruments, and of
Observing old age, sickness, death and observing a fully ordained monk,
Renounced near the Stūpa of Great Purity and
Were offered saffron robes by Indra.
I prostrate to you who, while in the concentration “Pervading Space” near the Nairañjana River,
Practiced austerities such as fasting and purifying for six years,
And then, invigorated by the gift of milk [given] through the power of reverence,
You became flush with a golden hue and youthfulness.
I prostrate to you who sat, in Bodhgaya,
Cross-legged atop the spread-out bundle of durva grass that was
Received entirely from the grass seller Good Fortune3, and
Made the firm promise not to move in order to gain the highest enlightenment in a single sitting.
I prostrate to you who was not affected by the temptations of the beautiful women who were the weapons of Māra’s hordes, and
Who, with countless acts of worship and offering as witness,
Was emphatically praised by the desire gods with minds of devotion
When the earth god joined his palms together.
I prostrate to you, who, enveloped in a mind of glory like a winter cloak,
When you reached thirty-five years of age, at the
Final of six sessions on the fifteenth of the month under the Viśākhā constellation
Tasted the elixir of highest enlightenment.
I prostrate to you who, at the end of seven weeks spoke auspicious verses and,
Entreated by Brahma and Indra, in Varanāsi, on the
Fourth day under the constellation of Purvāṣāḍhā,
Turned the Wheel of Dharma of the Four Truths.
I prostrate to you who, having arrived at eighty years of age, on the morning of the fifteenth day of
The third month of the spring, departed to thusness.
Having become like one who has disappeared from the world,
You passed beyond sorrow.
I prostrate to you who, although you taught for common disciples, taught the definitive meaning of
A body that abandons birth and death.
I offer inexhaustible offerings thoroughly spread across the threshold of
The treasury of the sky, actually laid out and imagined.
I confess, by means of the four opponent powers,
All negative actions collected since beginningless time, without exception.
I constantly rejoice with a mind of faith in the
Virtue accomplished by myself and all others.
Until the limits of saṃsāra are emptied
Bodhisattvas and disciples entreat you to turn the wheel of Dharma.
Until all beings are established on the path of liberation
May your form body steadfastly remain, not passing beyond sorrow.
This heap of merit that has been collected is dedicated for
All beings to achieve the wisdom of omniscience.
May the fruit of this virtue be that all world systems
Be filled with great auspiciousness and excellent bliss.
Author’s Colophon: Sangye Gyatso from Drongme petitioned me for a praise that, in order to be easily understood by all, high or low, was neither to be led down the paths of poetics nor constrained by terminology and synonomics, and compiled the twelve excellent deeds of our founder, Suryamitra, the great friend of strangers and gods.
Even though, without an extraordinary reason, it is not appropriate to further elucidate the intended meaning when situating the meaning within Nagārjuna’s renowned speech, if it is mixed with expressions such as “done by the protector of Drikung,” some doubt may emerge regarding the meaning4. Also, although the heart writing of the all-knowing Gendun Gyatso was excellently composed it is difficult to understand, as there are only two verses for each deed, and it is a little bit unclear.
Because of that, and in dependence on being entreated as I have, this praise, called A Bouquet Which Gathers Together All Excellent Actions, accurately depicts the intended meaning of [Jamyang Kunga Chözang’s] An Unmistaken Exegesis of Vinaya: The Treasury of Scripture and Logic. It was composed by the pious mendicant Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso in the Potala palace on the sixth day of the fifth month of the Fire Snake year [6 June, 1677], being scribed by the requester (Sangye Gyatso) himself.
Jayantu! May all be victorious!
Translator’s Colophon: This praise was translated by Ven. Gyalten Lekden at the request of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, at Sera Je Monastery during the summer of 2019. May any merit that is collected due to this translation be dedicated to the long and stable lives of all holy gurus teaching the authentic path.
Notes
1. Dampa Togkar (Wylie: dam pa tog dkar; Sanskrit: Śvetaketu) is the name of Buddha Śākyamuni when he resided in Ganden, before descending to Jambuling.
2. The five demonstrations that he was possessed of as he descended were those of 1) Place: Kapila; 2) Caste: royal caste; 3) Family: those of the Sugarcane, the Śākya lineage; 4) Mother: beautiful Māyādevī; 5) Time: the degenerate age.
3. “Good Fortune” is a translation of the grass seller’s name, Tashi (Wylie: bkra shis) in Tibetan, or Svastika in Sanskrit. He is usually referred to as “Grass Seller Tashi,” or Tsatshong Tashi (Wylie: rtswa tshong bkra shis).
4. Here the “intended meaning” suggests that the actual meaning was not clearly or literally expressed by Nagārjuna in his text, and that actual meaning, which is what was Nagārjuna’s intention, was expressed in an indirect way. It would be inappropriate to comment on that without extraordinary circumstance, because to do so risks the chance of having the appearance of suggesting that Nagārjuna was incorrect, which His Holiness Lobzang Gyatso is taking pains to explain he does not consider to be the case.