Published Booklets — The Canticle of the Stages of the Path copy

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                  The$Canticle$of$the$Stages$of$the$
              Path¹

                        by#the#Noble#Tsong#kha#pa#(135761419)

                                 Translated+by+Ilia+S.+Durovic

1²#³#.# With#my#head,#I#prostrate#to#the#foremost#of#the# Śakyas Whose#Body#arose⁴#from#a#myriad⁵#excellent#and#perfect#virtues, Whose#Speech⁶#sates#the#hopes⁷#of#boundless#migrators, Whose#Mind#beholds⁸#every#object#of#knowledge⁹#,without# exception,#as#it#is.¹⁰

  1.   #I#prostrate#to#the#Unvanquished¹¹#[and¹²]#Mañjuśrī¹³,

¹.#The#works#relied#upon#in#preparing#this#translation#are#listed#in#the#bibliography.#Since#the##Vive#Virst# liminary#stanzas#of#the#“Canticle#of#Realization”##are#identical#to#those#of#“The#Great#Stages#of#the#Path”,# special#attention#was#paid#to#“The#Four_fold##Annotations#to#the#difVicult#points#of#the# Graduated# Stages#of#the#Path”‘s#commentary##on#the#Vive#Virst#stanzas.#This#contains#four#commentaries#on#the#“Great# stages#of#the#Path”#by#Jamyang#shepa#(J),#Baso#chö#kyi#gyeltsen#(B),#Ngawang#rabten#(N)#and#Prati#Geshe# Rinchen#döndrub#(P).#We#have#translated#them#in#footnotes#where#they#are#relevant. ².#We#have#adopted#during#the#Virst#couple#stanzas#the#subdivision#adopted#by#Thubten#Jinpa#in#his#དཔལ་%ན་ དགེ་%ན་པའི་ལམ་རིམ་དང་.ན་བ0ད་1ི་ཆོས་5ོར།#(“The#cycle#of#Dharma#of#the#Stages#of#the#Path#…”).#However,#from#stanza#12# onwards,#we#have#relied#on#the#natural#flow#of#Tibetan#verse,#even#though#this#entails#much#longer# stanzas#than#a#modern#reader#is#comfortable#with. ³.#The#Canticle#of#the#Stages#of#the#Path#does#not#contain#the#preliminary#homage#to#Mañjuśrī#in#Sanskrit,# “Namo#Mañjughośaya”,#present#in#the#“Great#Stages#of#the#Path” ⁴.#B:#“is#the#result#of” ⁵.#7ེ་བ།#Literally#“ten#million”. ⁶.#J:#“Since#to#whomsoever#he#teaches#the#Dharma#a#single#utterance#also#has#the#melody#fulVilling#the#60# or#64#branches” ⁷.#J:#“The#contingent#and#ultimate#hopes’ ⁸.#J.#:#“All#phenomena#simultaneously” ⁹.#J.:#“Since#it#is#realized#by#the#mind” ¹⁰.#B.:#“This#is#veneration#through#the#three#doors: ¹¹.#J.:#“through#conquering#the#Maras” ¹².#J.:#“Regent#and#Noble#Mañjuśrī”#Jamyang#shepa#considers#that#this#stanza#pays#homage#to#both# Mañjuśrī#and#Maitreya,#in#the#light#of#the#following#stanza,##while#the#grammar#would#also#allows#us#to# read#it#as#a#praise#to#Mañjuśrī#alone. ¹³.#N.:#Regarding#the#initial#teaching#that#this#treatise#has#both#the#Paths#of#the#Profound#and#of#the#Vast,# since#Atiśa#had: i.#The#lineage#from#Mañjuśrī#to#Nāgārjuna ii.#Later,#the#lineage#from#Maitreya#to#Asaṅga iii.#Yet#later,#the#lineage#from#Mañjuśrī#to#Śāntideva

In#keeping#with#those,#the#successive#praise#[in#the#following]#three#stanzas#and#[the#praise]#of#teachers# Supreme#sons#of#that#peerless#Teacher, Who,#having#shouldered#the#burden#of#all#of#the#deeds¹⁴#of#the# Conquerors, Disport#themselves¹⁵#in#emanations¹⁶#in##Vields#without#number.

3.# I#prostrate#at#the#renowned#feet# Of#“Nāgārjuna#and#Asaṅga”,#on#the#third#Ground, Ornaments#of#Jambudvipa, Who#commented#on#the#exact#intent#of The#Mother#of#the#Conquerors¹⁷,#extremely#difVicult#to#ascertain.

4.# I#venerate#Dīpamkara¹⁸,#treasure_bearer#of#instructions Encapsulating#the#perfected,#unmistaken,#pith# Of#the#Paths#of#the#Profound#View#and#of#Vast#Conduct Excellently#transmitted#from#the#two#great#trailblazers¹⁹.

#5.# I#prostrate²⁰#reverently#to#the#Virtuous#Friends,#acting#clearly²¹ By#deeds#skillful#in#means,#moved#by#empathy²², Supreme#gateway²³#leading#to#Liberation#for#the#fortunate, Eye#beholding#all#the#multitudinous²⁴###scriptures.

  1.  Inasmuch#as#the#Stages#of#the#Path#to#Enlightenment#excellently#and
 Incrementally#transmitted#from#Nāgārjuna#and#Asaṅga,
 Perfect#crown_ornament#of#the#scholars#of#Jambudvipa#and
 Banner#of#hearing²⁵##limpid#for#migrators,
  2.  FulVills#every#wish#and#hope#of#all#beings,#bar#none,
 These#precious#instructions##are#a#powerful#king.

other#than#these#comprises,#initially,#the#praise#of#Maitreya#and#Mañjuśrī. ¹⁴.#J.#“The#Twelve#Deeds#or#deeds#subduing#someone” ¹⁵.#I#have#used#a#pronoun#in#the#plural#here,#in#keeping#with#Jamyang#shepa’s#commentary#in#note#11. ¹⁶.#J.#“In#various#mobile#and#motionless#[emanations]” ¹⁷.#The#Perfection#of#Wisdom#(or#Prajñāpāramitā)#Sūtras. ¹⁸.#Atiśa#(982_1054) ¹⁹.#i.e.#Nāgārjuna#and#Asaṅga ²⁰.#J.:#Then,#the#praise#of##the#Noble#One#to#his#direct#Gurus,#Namkha#gyeltsen,#Chökyab#palsang#and#so# forth#.#.#.” ²¹.#J.:#“by#means#of#hearing,#thinking#and#meditating#on#the#meaning#of#the#words#of#all#scriptures#through# the#Stages#of#the#Path.” ²².#B.:#“Great#Compassion” ²³.#B.:#The#Stages#of#the#path#of#the#Beings#of#the#Three#Scopes#and#the#scriptures#teaching#their#topics. ²⁴.#རབ་འ7མས། ²⁵.#Unfortunately,#this#difVicult#verse#is#not#commented#in#8ོ་བཟང་འཇམ་ད7ངས་;ོན་ལམ་’s#commentary. Merging#the#Vlow#of#a#thousand#worthy#treatises, They#are#also###a##glorious#and#excellently#explained#ocean.

  1.   The#realization#that#all#teachings#are#bereft#of#contradiction,
  All#scriptures,#bar#none,#dawn#as#instructions,
  Finding#easily#the#intent#of#the#Conquerors,
  And#being#also#protected#from#falling#into#the#abyss#of##great#evil#
         conduct
  2.   Hence,# # #among#the#numerous,#learned#and#greatly#fortunate# #beings#
         of#India#and#Tibet,
  Who,#with#a#mind#of#an#analytical#bent,
  Is#not#utterly#enthralled#by#the#supreme#instruction#which#was#
         taught:
  The#Stages#of#the#Path#of#the#Three#Beings#?
  3.  Even#should#this#manner#of#succinctly#distilling#the#heart#of#all#
       Scriptures
 Be#taught#or#heard#but#once,
 Through#becoming#certain#of#this#host#of#mighty#waves
 (The# collection# of# beneVits# accrued# through# explaining# and# hearing#
 the#Holy#Dharma),#one#should#reVlect#on#that#meaning.
  4.  Then,#the#root#which#accords#excellently#with#the#dependent_arising
 Of#whatever#excellent#collections#for#this#and#later#[lives],
 Is,#through#striving#[at#relying#on]#the#holy#Virtuous#Friend,#teacher#of#
        the#path,

To#rely#correctly#through#thought#and#application;#moreover,

  1.  Upon#seeing#this,#delight#Him#with#the#offering#of#realization#in#
 keeping#with#his#words,
 Without#renouncing#Him,#even#at#the#cost#of#one’s#life.
 I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus,
 You²⁶#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,#

²⁶#Numerous#modern#Tibetan#editions#(such#as#the#Dzongkar#chöde#prayer#book,#<ོང་ཆོས་=་ཚང་ཞལ་འདོན་གཅེས་བAས།,# Taipei#(Taiwan),#2002)#read:#”I#likewise#wishing#for#Liberation”#(“ཐར་འདོད་བདག་1ང་་་”#“)which#is#very#much#at# odds#with#the#verbal#ending#“should#wish#to#act”#(བCང་འཚལ།).#We#have#therefore#translated#in#accordance# with#Thubten#Jinpa’s#critical#Tibetan#edition#(“ཐར་འདོད་Dེད་1ང་་་”)#and#vol.#2#of#!ང་uབ་ལམ་(ི་རིམ་པའི་rིད་ཡིག 1ེགས་བམ་གཉིས་པ། ཤོགས་8ངས##393#ss. Should#wish#to#act#thus.

  1. This#base#of#leisure#is#superior#to#a#wish_fuVilling#jewel Obtaining#the#like##will#occur#just#this#one#time: It#is#akin#to#lightning#in#the#sky,#both#rare#and#easily#destroyed. Contemplating#in#this#way,#having#realized#that#all Mundane#activities#are#akin#to#winnowed#chaff, Day#and#night,#continually,##[you]#must#take#the#essence. I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

14.# After#death,#there#is#no#certainty#of#not#being#reborn#in#the#bad# migrations#and It#is#deVinite#that#the#Triple#Gem#protects#from#that#fear, Hence,#Refuge#should#be#most#stable#and Its#precepts#un_degenerated. Moreover,#having#well#contemplated#white#and#black#causality, Rely#upon#realizing#correctly#whats#is#to#be#acquired#and# relinquished. I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

15.# Since,#until#one#has#found#a#base#which#fulVills#the#criteria One#will#not#go#far,#one#should#train#in#the#causes#lacking#for#its# fulVillment. Since#t’is#of#great#import#to#purify#particularly#karma#and# obscurations#[of] The#three#doors,#besmirched#by#sins,#faults#and#stains One# should# cherish# reliance# on# continually# cleansing# [them# by]# the# four# forces. I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

  1. Without# striving# at# the# contemplation# of# the# defects# of# the# Truth# of# Suffering, How#will#the#urge²⁷#for#Liberation#arise? Since,# without# having# contemplated# the# stages# of# ingress# into# cyclic# existence,#[the#Truth#of#]#the#Origin, One#will#not#know#the#manner#of#severing#the#root#of#cyclic#existence, One#should#cherish#reliance#on#the#melancholy²⁸#[wishing#for]# deVinite#emergence#from#existence, And#knowledge#of#what#fetters#to#cyclic#existence. I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

17.# Generating#the#Mind#is#the#central#column²⁹#of#the#Path#of#the# Supreme#Vehicle, It#is#the#foundation#and#basis#of#great#waves#of#conduct, Akin#to#the#elixir#of#transmutation#into#gold³⁰#for#the#two#collections A#treasure#of#merit#which#includes#myriads#of#collections#of#virtue. Understanding#this,#the#Scions#of#the#Conquerors Hold#the#Supreme,#Precious#Mind#as#the#center#of#their#oath³¹. I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

18.# Generosity#is#the#wish_fulVilling#gem#quenching#the#wishes#of#all# migrators, The#supreme#falchion##cleaving#the#demon#of#avarice, The#conduct#of#the#Scions#of#the#Conquerors#which#gives#rise#to#inner# fortitude³²without#despondency,

²⁷.#དོན་གཉེར། ²⁸.#*ོ་ཤས། ²⁹.#ག-ང་ཤིང། ³⁰.#གསེར་འ1ར་2ི། ³¹.#3གས་དམ།A#very#rich#term#in#Tibetan#which#can#mean:#“oath”,#“practice”,#“tutelary#deity”,# etc. ³².#5ིང་6ོབས། The#foundation#of#a#repute#which#resounds#in#the#ten#directions, Understanding#this,#the#wise#rely#on#the#worthy#path Utterly#bestowing#[one’s]#body,#wealth#and#virtue. I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

  1. Ethics#is#water#to#cleanse#the#stains#of#faulty#conduct, Moonlight#which#dispels#the#agonizing#heat#of#the#afVlictions, Resplendent#as#the#Towering#One,#in#the#midst#of#the#Nine#Beings, By#its#force,#all#migrators#venerate#it#without#fear, Understanding#this,#the#Holy#Ones,#will#protect#the#disciplines Which#they#have#authentically#adopted#as#their#eyes. I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

20.# Forbearance#is#the#supreme#ornament#for#the#strong, Offered#by#all#the#ascetics³³#tormented#by#the#afVlictions A#Garuḍa#for#the#serpent³⁴#of#the#afVlictions, Hardened#armor#against#the#sword#of#abusive#words, Understanding#this,#one#should#become#accustomed#by#various# means³⁵ To#the#armor#of#supreme#forbearance. I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

21.# When#clad#in#the#armor#of#stalwart,#unVlinching³⁶#perseverance, The#qualities#of#scripture#and#realization#will#increase#like#the#waxing# moon#and

33 #Thubten#Jinpa’s#translation#of#this#line#is#either#based#on#a#different#recension#than#his# own#critical#edition#or#misreads#the#grammar#of#the#clause. 34 #ལག་འ8ོ 35 #This#line#is#missing#in#several#editions#(such#as#the#Dzongkar#chöde#prayer#book,#p.#210). 36 #མི་མ9ོག All#deportment³⁷#will#become#meaningful. Whatever#is#initiated,#the#end#of#the#undertaking³⁸#will#be# accomplished#as# one#wishes, Understanding# this,# the# Scions# of# the# Conquerors³⁹# launched# waves# of#perseverance#dispelling#all#sloth⁴⁰. I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

  1.     Contemplation⁴¹#is#the#king#ruling#over#the#mind,
    Once#set,#t’is#akin#to#the#motionless#Lord#of#the#mountains
    Once#dispatched,#it#engages#all#virtuous#objects#of#observation#
    And#induces#the#great#bliss#of#physical#and#mental#competence⁴²,
    Understanding#this,#powerful#yogis#
    Continually#rely#on#concentration#which#overcomes#the#foe#of#
    distraction.
    I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus,
    You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,#
    Should#wish#to#act#thus.
  2.     Wisdom#is#the#eye#beholding#profound#suchness,
    The#path#casting#away#the#root#of#existence#from#the#root⁴³,
    The#treasure#of#qualities#praised#in#all#scriptures,
    Renowned#as#the#supreme#lamp#dispelling#the#gloom⁴⁴#of#
    benightedness,
    Understanding#this,#the#wise#yearning#for#Liberation
    Give#rise#to#this#path#with#numerous#efforts.

37 #:ོད་ལམ། 38 #ལས། 39 #Emending#;ལ་<ས་=མས་>ི་བ?མས།##to##;ལ་<ས་=མས་>ིས་བ?མས། 40 #ལེ་ལོ། 41 #བསམ་གཏན།(Sk.#Dhyāna).#The#Sanskrit#term#Dhyāna#derives#from#√dhyai#meaning#“to# think,#to#contemplate”. 42 #ལས་B་Cང་བ། 43 #Dངས་ནས། (sིང་)#?་བ 44 #Fན་པ། I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

24.# [The#yogi⁴⁵]#through#seeing#that#mere#single_pointed#contemplation# Is#unable#to#sever#the#root#of#cyclic#existence#and#that Irrespective#of#how#much#a#wisdom#bereft#of#the#path#of#calm#abiding# analyzes, T’is#unable#to#counter#the#afVlictions, After#setting#that#wisdom#decisively#assessing⁴⁶#the#mode#of#being⁴⁷ On#the#motionless#steed#of#calm#abiding, With#the#sharp#sword##which#cognizes#the#middle#lacking#extremes, The#wisdom#of#vast,#correct⁴⁸#analysis#destroying#all#targets⁴⁹#of# observation#grasping#at#extremes, Enhances#the#intelligence#realizing#suchness. I,#the#yogi,#have#practiced#thus, You#too,#who#wish#for#Liberation,# Should#wish#to#act#thus.

                         Bibliography

45 #It#is#impossible#to#produce#a#coherent#translation#of#this#stanza#without#supposing#the# presence#of#an#implicit#subject,#“the#yogi”,##carried#over#from#the#previous#stanza. 46 #u་ཐག་བཅོད་པ། 47 #ཡིན་Jགས། 48 #uལ་བཞིན། 49 #གཏད། བ་སོ་ཆོས་9ི་:ལ་མཚན། མཁན་ཆེན་ངག་དབང་རབ་བ>ན། ?ན་མ@ེན་འཇམ་དBངས་བཞད་པ། E་6ི་དགེ་བཤེས་རིན་ཆེན་དོན་ Fབ་: ལམ་ རིམ་ཆེན་མོའི་དཀའ་གནད་Hམས་མཆན་I་བཞི་Jོ་ནས་ལེགས་པར་བཤད་པཐེག་ཆེན་ལམ་Lི་གསལ་Mོན།#(“A#Lamp#for#the#Great#Vehicle# excellently#explaining#by#means#of#the#four_fold##annotations#to#the#difficult#points#of#the# Graduated#Stages#of#the#Path”,#Tehor#Tenzhug#Committee,#Dharamsala,#2005

Nོ་བཟང་འཇམ་དBངས་Pོན་ལམ(18th#cent.#):#ལམ་རིམ་པ་Qང་Rའི་ཟིན་Sིས་Nོ་་གསལ་:་མཚT་འUག་ངོགས།#(“A# Gateway#to# the# Ocean#of#the#Clear#Mind:#Notes#on#the#Small#Stages#of#the#Path”# (གVང་འIམ་པོ་ཏི་༡##ཤོགས##༤༣༡#_# ༨༡༢)

#ཕ་བོང་ཁ་བདེ་ཆེན་5ིང་པོ(1878_1941):#ལམ་རིམ་Qང་R་དང་^ར་ལམ་དམར་ིད་`གས་མའི་གVང་བཤད་aལ་ bབས་9ི་ཟིན་Sིས།# (“Notes#on#the#occasion#of#an#joint#explanation#of#the#Small#Stages#of#the#Path#and#the# Swift#Path”#(པོ་ཏི་༩###ཤོགས###༡༥༣##༧༣༨)

དཔལ་fན་དགེ་fན་པའི་ལམ་རིམ་དང་5ན་བgད་9ི་ཆོས་bོར།#(“The#cycle#of#Dharma#of#the#Stages#of#the#Path#and#the# Oral#instructions#of#the#Glorious#Ganden#tradition”), བོད་9ི་གhག་ལག་གཅེས་བjས་པོད་kེང་༦། བོད་9ི་ གhག་ལག་ཞིབ་དmོད་ཁང།#Institute#of#Tibetan#Classics,#Noida#(India),#2005

nོང་ཆོས་o་ཚང་གི་ཉེར་མཁོའི་ཞལ་འདོན་གཅེས་བjས་ཆོས་pོད།#(Dzongkar#chöde#prayer#book),The#corporate#Body#of# the#Buddha#Educational#Foundation,#Taipei#(Taiwan),#2002)

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