Bodhicharyavatara
"The Way of the Bodhisattva", composed by Shantideva, an Indian pandita, who
lived between 650 and 750 CE. A major text and a great classic of Mahayana
Buddhism, the text is a guide to cultivating enlightened mind for the benefit of
all beings.
Short Tibetan title: spyod 'jug
Tibetan: byang chub sems dpa''i spyod pa la 'jug pa
Sanskrit: Bodhicharyavatara
Source: http://www.namsebangdzo.com/Bodhicharyavatara_p/g00093.htm
Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior - Shantideva
(sPyod-'jug,
Bodhisattvacharyavatara)
by Shantideva
translated from the Tibetan, as
clarified by the Sanskrit
by Alexander Berzin, 2004
Translation
3.
Gaining Hold of a Bodhichitta Aim
(1) With pleasure, I rejoice in the
positive actions
That relieve the sufferings of the worse rebirth states
For all limited beings and that place these, who suffer,
In better rebirth
states.
(2) I rejoice in that build up of positive (force)
That
became the causes for the (arhats’) purified state;
I rejoice in the
definite freedom of (these) embodied beings
From the miseries of
uncontrollable rebirth.
(3) I rejoice in the purified state of the
Guardian (Buddhas)
And also in the levels of mind of their spiritual
offspring;
And with pleasure, I rejoice in the ocean of positive force
From their having developed bodhichitta aims
To bring every limited being
joy
And in their deeds that have aided limited beings.
(4) With palms
pressed together, I beseech
The Buddhas of all directions:
Please shine
Dharma’s lamp for limited beings
Suffering and groping in darkness.
(5) With palms pressed together, I beseech
The Triumphant who would pass
beyond sorrow:
I beg you, remain for countless eons
So as not to leave
in their blindness these wandering beings.
(6) By whatever positive force
I’ve built up
Through all of these that I’ve done like that,
May I
remove every suffering
Of all limited beings.
(7) So long as
wandering beings fall sick,
May I serve as the medicine,
The doctors and
their nurse,
Until they’ve been cured of their illness.
(8) May I
eliminate the pain of hunger and thirst
With a shower of food and drink;
And, in the times of the middle eons of famine,
May I myself change into
food and drink.
(9) For limited beings, destitute and poor,
May I
become a treasure that never runs out
And remain in their presence
As a
variety of sorts of useful things.
(10) To fulfil the aims of all limited
beings,
I give, without sense of a loss,
My body and likewise my
pleasures,
And all my positive forces of the three times.
(11) Giving
everything away (brings) release with nirvana,
And my mind is (aimed) for
realising nirvana.
As giving away all comes together (with death),
It’s
best to give (now) to limited beings.
(12) Having given this body to all
those with limited bodies
To do with as they like,
It’s up to them to do
what they want:
Let them kill it, revile it, always beat it, or whatever.
(13) Let them toy with my body,
Make it into a source of ridicule or a
joke.
Having given away this body of mine,
For what should I hold it
dear?
(14) Let them do whatever to (my) body,
So long as it doesn’t
cause them harm;
But may anything focused on me
Never turn out to be
meaningless.
(15) If anyone, having focused on me,
Develops an angry
or negative mind,
May that always turn into a cause
For fulfilling all
of his or her aims.
(16) And may everyone who speaks badly of me,
Or
does something else that’s of harm,
Or likewise hurls ridicule at me,
Become someone with the fortune for a purified state.
(17) May I be a
guardian for those with no guardian,
A pathfinder for those who are on the
road,
And a boat, a ship, and a bridge
For those who would cross.
(18) May I be an island for those seeking an island,
A lamp for those
desiring a lamp,
A bed for everyone wishing a bed,
And a servant for
every embodied being
who would want a servant.
(19) May I be a
wish-granting gem, a vase of excellence,
Mantras of pure awareness,
magnificent medicine,
Wish-granting trees, and cows of plenty
For
embodied beings.
(20) And eternally, like earth and so on –
The great
elements – and space,
May I serve, in a plenitude of forms, as the basis for
life
For fathomless numbers of limited beings.
(21) And till they
pass to nirvana,
May I serve, as well, in all ways,
As the causes for
life in the realms
Of limited beings till the ends of space.
(22)
Just as the Blissfully Gone (Buddhas) of the past
Have generated a
bodhichitta aim,
Then lived by the stages
Of bodhisattva training;
(23) So, too, do I generate a bodhichitta aim
To help those who wander,
And shall train in the stages
Of bodhisattva training.
(24)
Purely gaining hold, like this,
Of bodhichitta with (this) sound state of
mind,
Afterwards, as well, to enhance it further,
Celebrate (that) mind
in this way:
(25) Now my life’s become fruitful,
For having
wonderfully attained a human existence,
Today I’ve awakened my Buddha-nature
And now have become a Buddha’s spiritual child.
(26) Now, in whatever
way possible,
I shall undertake actions that accord with its traits,
And
never defile this impeccable nature
That lacks any fault.
(27) Just
like a blind man
Finding a gem in a pile of trash,
Likewise, it’s come
about by some force
That within me has developed a bodhichitta aim.
(28) It’s the supreme nectar, indeed, for defeating
The Lord of Death of
wandering beings;
It’s the inexhaustible treasure as well
For dispelling
the poverty of those who roam.
(29) It is the best medicine, too, that
brings to full rest
The diseases of those who are passing through;
It’s
the tree that shelters all wandering beings,
Roaming and exhausted on the
roads of their compulsive lives.
(30) It’s the public bridge for freeing
All wandering beings from the worse rebirth states;
It’s the risen
mind-moon for dispelling the fever
Of the disturbing emotions of those who
roam.
(31) It’s the magnificent sun for clearing away
The mist of not
knowing of wandering beings;
It’s the fresh froth of butter that rises to
the top
From the churning of the milk of the sacred Dharma.
(32) For
wandering beings roaming, as guests,
on the roads of compulsive existence,
Wishing to enjoy a share of bliss,
This is the best for setting (them)
with bliss,
Satisfying the entirety of beings (who’ll come) as guests.
(33) Today, before the eyes of all sources of direction,
I’ve summoned
as guests (all) wandering beings
For bliss up to the state of a Blissfully
Gone (Buddha).
Gods, anti-gods, and so on, take joy!