Thirty Verses

We hope you enjoy this verse by verse comparison of various translations of Vasubandhu's Thirty Verses. Please keep in mind that these translations are based on various sources, be it the original Sanskrit or Tibetan and Chinese translations of the original text.

List of translations (arbitrary order). Please use the checkboxes to show/hide translations:

Homage

འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་ནུར་གྱུར་པ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

I prostrate to youthful Manjushri. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

Verse 1

Atma-dharma-upacaro hi vividho yah pravartate
​Vijnana-parinamo'sau parinamah sa ca tridha

བདག་དང་ཆོས་སུ་ཉེར་འདོགས་པ། །སྣ་ཚོགས་དག་ནི་གང་བྱུང་བ། །
དེ་ནི་རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པར་གྱུར། །གྱུར་པ་དེ་ཡང་རྣམ་གསུམ་སྟེ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

That which occurs in various ways
That are labeled “self” or “phenomenon”
Is change in consciousness.
This change is of three types, (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

The metaphors of self and dharmas, which function in so many different ways, take place in the transformation of consciousness. This transformation is of three kinds: (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Whichever myriad imputations arise
As self and phenomena,
That is differentiation of consciousness.
This differentiation has three aspects. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

The manifold approximation, such as “self” and “dharmas”, that goes on,
refers to the transformation of consciousness, and that transformation is threefold: (Mattia Salvini)

Everything conceived as self or other occurs in the transformation of consciousness. This transformation has three aspects: (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

The metaphors of “self” and “events” (dharmas) which develop in so many different ways
Take place in the transformation of consciousness (vijñāna): and this transformation is of three kinds: (Stefan Anacker)

Anything spoken of
are all either "self" or "event"
and this is what has become of knowing.
This becoming has three aspects: (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Everything that is taken as a self;
Everything that is taken as other:
These are simply changing forms of consciousness. (various)

Verse 2

Vipako mananakhyasca vijnaptir-visayasya ca
Tatra-alayakhya vipakah sarvabijakam

རྣམ་པར་སྨིན་དང་ངར་སེམས་དང་། །ཡུལ་ལ་རྣམ་པར་རིག་པའོ། །
དེ་ལ་ཀུན་གཞི་རྣམ་ཤེས་ནི། །རྣམ་སྨིན་ས་བོན་ཐམས་ཅད་པ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Which are called ripening, egoism,
And awareness of an object.
Of them, the consciousness called ground,
With all the seeds, is ripening. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

Maturation, mentation, and the perception of sense-objects. Among these, maturation is the consciousness called store, which has all the seeds. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Full maturation, the “I”-conceiving mind,
And cognition of objects.
Of these, the basic consciousness (alayavijnana),
Is that of full maturation; that of all seeds. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

maturation; the one called “thinking”; and the cognition of a domain.
Among these, the consciousness called ālaya is the maturation, and contains all the seeds. (Mattia Salvini)

The ripening of karma, the consciousness of a self and the imagery of sense objects. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

Maturation (vipāka), that called “always reflecting” (manana), and the perception (vijñapti) of sense-objects.
Among these, “maturation” is that called the store-consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) which has all the seeds (bījas). (Stefan Anacker)

The "ripening," what we can call "reflexiveness,"
and the "perceiving of objects".
The "ripening" can also be described as
a storehouse containing all possibilities. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Pure consciousness transforms itself
Into three modes: Store consciousness,
Thought consciousness, and active consciousness. (various)

Verse 3

Asamviditaka-upadisthana-vijnaptikam ca tat
Sada sparsa-manaskara-vit-sanjna-cetana-anvitam

དེ་ནི་ལེན་པ་དག་དང་གནས། །རྣམ་པར་རིག་པ་མི་རིག་པ། །
རྟག་ཏུ་རེག་དང་ཡིད་བྱེད་དང་། །རིག་དང་འདུ་ཤེས་སེམས་པར་ལྡན། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

It is unrecognized awareness
Of grasping and place, and is always
Associated with contact, attention,
Feeling, conception, and volition. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

Its appropriations and its manifestation of locality cannot be known intellectually. It is always associated with contact, mental attention, feeling, perception, and volition (Thich Nhat Hanh)

This consciousness is not conscious
Of grasping or locus.
It is always accompanied by contact, attention,
Feeling, discrimination, and volition. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

In it, clinging, and the cognition of a locus, are not cognized;
it is always accompanied by contact, mental placement, feeling, notion and intention. (Mattia Salvini)

The first of these is also called alaya, the store consciousness which contains all karmic seeds.
What it holds and its perception of location are unknown. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

Its appropriations, states, and perceptions are not fully conscious,
Yet it is always endowed with contacts (sparśa), mental attentions (manaskāra), feelings (vedanā), cognitions (saṃjñā), and volitions (cetanā). (Stefan Anacker)

Here the ideas of grasping and localization
are as yet unknown,
although it has contact, attention,
thinking, perceiving and volition. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The store consciousness holds the seeds of all past experience.
Within it are the forms of grasping
And the dwelling places of the unknown.
It always arises with touch, awareness, recognition, concept, and desire. (various)

Verse 4

Upeksa vedana tatra-anvrta-avyakrtam ca tat
Tatha sparsa-adayas-tac-ca vartate srotasaugha-vat

དེ་ལ་ཚོར་བ་བཏང་སྙོམས་ཏེ། །དེ་ནི་མ་བསྒྲིབས་ལུང་མ་བསྟན། །
རེག་ལ་སོགས་པའང་དེ་བཞིན་ནོ། །དེ་ནི་རྒྱུན་འབབ་ཆུ་བོ་བཞིན། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Within it, there is neutral feeling,
And it is also unobscured neutral.
Contact and so forth are the same.
It functions like a river’s current. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

Its feelings are neutral. It is unobstructed and indeterminate. The same is true of its contact, etc. It functions like the current of a river. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

It is neutral in feeling,
Not obscured, and indeterminate.
Contact and so forth are also thus.
It is like the continuous flow of a river, (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

In it, feeling is neutral. It is unobstructed and undetermined, and so are contact, etc.;
it goes on in a flow, like a stream (Mattia Salvini)

It is always associated with sense-contact, attention, sensation, perception and volition,
Neither pleasant nor unpleasant. It is unobstructed and karmically neutral,
Like a river flowing. In enlightenment it is overturned at its roots. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

Its feelings are equaniminous: it is unobstructed and indeterminate.
The same for its contacts. Etc. It develops like currents in a stream. (Stefan Anacker)

Here there is a feeling of balance,
nothing is hidden or separate,
and so it is with contact and the others.
It moves like a river's flow (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The store consciousness is clear and undefinable.
Like a great river, it is always changing.
Neither pleasant nor unpleasant, when one becomes fully realized, it ceases to exist. (various)

Verse 5

Tasya vyavrtir-arhattve tad asritya pravartate
Tad-alambanam mano-nama vijnanam mananatmakam

དགྲ་བཅོམ་ཉིད་ན་དེ་ལྡོག་གོ། །དེ་ལ་གནས་ཏེ་རབ་འབྱུང་ཞིང་། །
དེ་ལ་དམིགས་པ་ཡིད་ཅེས་བྱ། །རྣམ་ཤེས་ངར་སེམས་བདག་ཉིད་ཅན། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

It ceases upon arhatship.
That which arises based on it
And focuses on it is called
Egoism, a consciousness
With egoism as its nature. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

Its release takes place at the state of an arhat. Dependent on it and having it as an object is the consciousness named manas, its nature being mentation. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Overcome at arhathood.
With that as its basis, and arising full-blown,
Taking it as a focal referent, is what is called the afflictive mentality (manas),
That consciousness characterized by conceiving of an “I.” (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

Its cessation comes about at the state of an Arhat; on its basis, there comes forth
a consciousness called “thought”, having the former as its support, and having the nature of thinking; (Mattia Salvini)

Depending on the store consciousness and taking it as its object,
Manas, the consciousness of a self, arises, which consists of thinking. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

Its de-volvement takes place in a saintly state [the Arhant]: Dependent upon it there develops
A consciousness called “manas,” having it [the ālaya] as its object-of-consciousness, and having the nature of always reflecting; (Stefan Anacker)

but ceases with the attainment of freedom.
Dependent upon the perfecting consciousness,
and having objectified it,
is the consciousness called "manas"
which is basically reflexive. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The second transformation of consciousness is called thinking consciousness.
It evolves by taking the store consciousness as object and support.
Its essential nature is to generate thoughts. (various)

Verse 6

Klesais-caturbhih sahitam nivrta-avyakrtai sada
Atma-drsti-atma-moha-atma mana-atma-sneha-sanjnitai

བསྒྲིབས་ལ་ལུང་དུ་མ་བསྟན་པའི། །ཉོན་མོངས་བཞི་དང་རྟག་ཏུ་འགྲོགས། །
བདག་ཏུ་ལྟ་དང་བདག་ཏུ་རྨོངས། །བདག་རྒྱལ་བདག་ཆགས་འདུ་ཤེས་པ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

It’s always associated with
Four obscured but neutral afflictions:
The view of self, delusion of self,
Pride of self, and ego-clinging (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

Manas is always conjoined with the four afflictions, obstructed but indeterminate, known as self-view, self-confusion, self-pride, and self-love. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

It is obscured and indeterminate,
Always accompanied by four afflictions (kleshas):
Beliefs of self-view, self-delusion,
Self-importance, and self-attachment. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

it is always accompanied by four afflictions, obscured and undetermined,
called: view of self, delusion of self, presumption of self, affection towards the self. (Mattia Salvini)

It is always associated with four afflictions, self-view, self delusion, self-pride, and self-love,
And is obstructed but karmically neutral. Along with these four, (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

It [manas] is always conjoined with four afflictions (kleśas), obstructed-but-indeterminate,
Known as view of self (ātmadṛṣṭi), confusion of self (ātmamoha), pride of self (ātmamāna), and love of self (ātmasneha). (Stefan Anacker)

Inherent to this are the four afflictions,
obscure and indistinct:
Seeing through the perspective of a self,
self-delusion, self-conceit and self-love. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The thinking consciousness
Is always obscured by four defilements:
Self-regard, self-delusion, self-pride, and self-love. (various)

Verse 7

Yatrajas-tanmayair-anyaih sparsa-adyais-ca arhato na tat
Na nirodha-samapattan marge lokattare na ca

གང་དུ་སྐྱེས་པ་དེའིའོ་གཞན། །རེག་སོགས་ཀྱང་དེ་དགྲ་བཅོམ་མེད། །
འགོག་པའི་སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག་ལ་མེད། །འཇིག་རྟེན་འདས་པའི་ལམ་ནའང་མེད། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Of that where they arise, and contact
And so forth, too. On arhatship,
Absorption of cessation, and paths
Transcending the world, there is none. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

It arises wherever the other arises, and it arises along with contact and the rest. In the state of arhatship, the attainment of cessation, or on the supramundane path it no longer exists. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Wherever it arises, these are right there,
As well as the others, contact and so on.
It is absent in the arhat, in the absorption of cessation,
And likewise in the supramundane path. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

Wherever one is born, they correspond to that level; it also has others, contact, etc.; it does not exist for an Arhat,
nor during the absorption of cessation, nor in the supramundane path: (Mattia Salvini)

From where it is born come sense-contact, attention, sensation, perception, and volition.
It is not found in enlightenment, the meditation of cessation, or the supremundane path. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

And wherever it [manas] arises, so do contact and the others. But it doesn’t exist in a saintly state,
Or in the attainment of cessation (nirodha-samāpatti), or even in a supermundane (lokottara) path. (Stefan Anacker)

Wherever the reflexive mind arises
contact and the other events occur with this same quality.
It does not arise for those who are free,
nor with the attainment of cessation,
nor in the path beyond worlds. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The thinking consciousness also arises with the mental factors
Of touch, awareness, recognition, concept, and desire.
This consciousness ceases when one becomes realized.
It also falls away when consciousness is impaired,
And when one is fully present. (various)

Verse 8

Dvitiyah parinamo yam tritiyah sad-vidhasya ya
Visayasya-upalabdhih sa kusala-akusala-advaya

འདི་ནི་གྱུར་པ་གཉིས་པའོ། །གསུམ་པ་ཡུལ་རྣམ་དྲུག་པོ་ལ། །
དམིགས་པ་གང་ཡིན་དེ་དག་སྟེ། །དགེ་དང་མི་དགེ་གཉི་ག་མིན། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

That is the second type of change.
The third one is the focuses
On the six types of objects.
They’re virtue or nonvirtue or neither. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

That is the second transformation. The third is the perception of the sixfold sense-objects. It is beneficial, unbeneficial, or neither. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

That comprises the second differentiation.
The third differentiation consists of
Perception of the six kinds of objects,
Whether virtuous, nonvirtuous, or neither. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

this is the second transformation. The third is the perception
of the sixfold domain, and it can be virtuous, non-virtuous, or neither. (Mattia Salvini)

That ist he second transformation, the third ist he perception oft he six senses,
Which are beneficial, harmful, or neither. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

This is the second transformation. The third is the apprehension
of sense-objects of six-kinds: it is either beneficial, or unbeneficial, or both. (Stefan Anacker)

This is the second transformation.
The third is the perception of the six kinds of objects
which are then good, bad or indifferent. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The third transformation of consciousness
Is the active perception of sense objects.
These can be good, bad, or indifferent in character. (various)

Verse 9

Sarvatra-gair-viniyataih kusalais-cetasair-asau
Samprayukta tatha klesair-upaklesais-trivedana

ཀུན་ཏུ་འགྲོ་དང་བྱེ་བྲག་ངེས། །སེམས་ལས་བྱུང་བ་དགེ་བ་དང་། །
དེ་བཞིན་ཉོན་མོངས་ཉེ་ཉོན་མོངས། །ཚོར་བ་གསུམ་དང་དེ་མཚུངས་ལྡན། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

The mental factors concurrent with them
Are the universals, determining,
Virtuous factors, the afflictions,
Near afflictions, and the three feelings. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

It is always associated with the universals, the determined, the beneficials, as well as with the afflictions and the secondary afflictions. Its feelings are of three kinds (Thich Nhat Hanh)

The omnipresent, the particular-determining,
And the virtuous mental events,
As well as the root and secondary afflictions
And the three feelings are concurrent with it. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

It is joined by the omnipresent mental states; by those of delimited occurrence;
by virtuous ones; by afflictions; and by secondary afflictions. It has three types of
feeling. (Mattia Salvini)

It is associated with three kinds of mental factors:
universal, specific, and beneficial,
As well as the afflicitions and secondary afflicitions,
and the three sensations. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

It is always connected with motivating dispositions, and sometimes with factors that arise specifically,
With beneficial events associated with mental events (citta), afflictions, and secondary afflictions: its feelings are of three kinds. (Stefan Anacker)

It has mental factors which are universal
and those that arise specific to it,
which are healthy, afflicted or deeply afflicted.
All these states are experienced as
pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

This active consciousness arises with three kinds of mental functions: Those that are universal, those that are specific, and those that are beneficial.
It is also associated with primary and secondary defilements
And the three kinds of feeling. (various)

Verse 10

Adyah sparasadayas-chanda-adhimoksa-smrtayah saha
Samadhi dhibhyam niyatah sraddha-atha hrir-apatrapa

དང་པོའི་རེག་ལ་སོགས་པ་དང་། །འདུན་མོས་དྲན་དང་བཅས་པ་དང་། །
ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་བློ་བྱེ་བྲག་ངེས། །དད་དང་ངོ་ཚ་ཁྲེལ་ཡོད་དང་། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

The first is contact and so forth.
Wishing, decision, mindfulness,
Samadhi, and prajna are determining.
Faith, conscience, propriety, nongreed, (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

The universals are contact, etc. The determined are zest, confidence, memory, concentration, and insight. The beneficials are faith, dignity, shame, (Thich Nhat Hanh)

First is contact and so on.
The particular-determining are yearning, conviction, recollection,
Meditative stability and intelligence.
Then faith, integrity, honor, (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

The first are contact, etc. Zest, conviction and mindfulness,
plus samādhi and wisdom, are the delimited; faith, modesty, shame, (Mattia Salvini)

The universal factors are sense-contact, attention, sensation, perceptoin an volition.
The specific are aspiration, resolve, memory, concentration, and intellection.
The beneficial factors are faith, conscience, humility, lack af aversion, desire
and delusion, energy, tranquility, carefulness, equanimity, and non-violence. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

The first are contact, etc.; those arising specifically are
zest, confidence, memory, concentration, and insight; (Stefan Anacker)

The universal factors are contact and so on.
The specific are: determination, resolve,
mindfulness, harmony, faith,
care and conscientiousness; (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The universal factors are touch, awareness, recognition, concept, and desire.
The specific factors are intention, resolve, memory, concentrationd knowledge.
The beneficial factors are faith, modesty, respect, distance, courage, composure, equanimity, alertness, and compassion. (various)

Verse 11

Alobha-adi trayam viryam prasabdhih sa apramadika
Ahimsa kusalah klesa raga-pratigha-mudhayah

མ་ཆགས་ལ་སོགས་གསུམ་བརྩོན་འགྲུས། །ཤིན་ཏུ་སྦྱངས་དང་བག་ཡོད་བཅས། །
རྣམ་མི་འཚེ་དགེ་ཉོན་མོངས་ནི། །འདོད་ཆགས་ཁོང་ཁྲོ་གཏི་མུག་དང་། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Nonhatred, nondelusion, diligence,
Pliancy, carefulness with those,
And non-hostility are virtue.
The afflictions are greed, anger, (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

absence of greed and absence of the two others, vigour, ease, carefulness, and non-harming. The afflictions are craving, aversion, confusion, (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Non-attachment and others of this triad, diligence,
Suppleness, heedfulness
As well as equipoise, and non-violence are the virtuous mental events.
The root afflictions are attachment, hostility, delusion, (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

the three starting from non-greed, heroism, ease, that which comes with non-
heedlessness, and non-harming, are the virtuous. The afflictions are attraction, aversion
and delusion, (Mattia Salvini)

The afflictions are desire, aversion, delusion, pride, wrong view and doubt. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

The beneficial are faith, inner shame, dread of blame,
The three starting with lack of greed, vigor, tranquility, carefulness, and non-harming (ahiṃsa). (Stefan Anacker)

the three of lack of greed, lack of hatred and lack of stupidity;
energy, confidence, alertness and non-violence.
The afflicted factors are: passion, aggression and stupidity, (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The primary defilements are:
Passion, aggression, ignorance,
Pride, intolerance, and doubt. (various)

Verse 12

Mana-drk-vicikitsas-ca krodha-upanahane punah
Mrksah pradasa irsya-atha matsaryam saha mayaya

ང་རྒྱལ་ལྟ་བ་ཐེ་ཚོམ་མོ། །ཁྲོ་དང་ཁོན་དུ་འཛིན་པ་དང་། །
འཆབ་དང་འཚིག་དང་ཕྲག་དོག་དང་། །སེར་སྣ་དང་ནི་སྒྱུར་བཅས་དང་། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Delusion, pride, the views, and doubt.
Aggression, holding a grudge, concealment,
Contentiousness, jealousy,
Stinginess, the deceit with those, (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

pride, views, and doubt. The secondary afflictions are anger, malice, hypocrisy, cruelty of speech, envy, selfishness, deceitfulness, (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Pride, wrong view, and doubt.
The secondary afflictions are anger, resentment,
Dissembling, spitefulness, envy,
Avarice, pretense, (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

presumption, view, doubt. Furthermore, anger and grudge,
dissimulation, biting, envy, stinginess, illusionism, (Mattia Salvini)

The secondary afflicitions are anger, hatred, hypocrisy, malice, envy, selfishness... (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

The afflictions are attachment, aversion, and confusion, pride, views, and doubts.
The secondary afflictions are anger, malice, hypocrisy, maliciousness, envy, selfishness,
deceitfulness. (Stefan Anacker)

pride, views, doubt, anger, hatred,
hypocrisy, envy, jealousy, malice, duplicity (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The secondary defilements are:
Anger, hatred, jealousy,
Envy, spite, hypocrisy, deceit… (various)

Verse 13

Asatyam mado'vihimsa-hrir-atrapa styanam-uddharah
Asraddham-atha kausidyam pramado musita smrtih

གཡོ་རྒྱགས་རྣམ་འཚེ་ངོ་ཚ་མེད། །ཁྲེལ་མེད་རྨུགས་དང་རྒོད་པ་དང་། །
མ་དད་པ་དང་ལེ་ལོ་དང་། །བག་མེད་པ་དང་བརྗེད་ངས་དང་། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Guile, vanity, hostility,
A lack of conscience, shamelessness,
Agitation, torpor, lack of faith,
Carelessness, unmindfulness, (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

guile, mischievous exhuberance, desire to harm, lack of shame, lack of dignity, mental fogginess, excitedness, lack of faith, sloth, carelessness, loss of mindfulness, (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Hypocrisy, vanity, harmfulness, shamelessness,
Dishonor, torpor, agitation,
Mistrust, laziness,
Heedlessness, forgetfulness, (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

deceitfulness, intoxication, harming, non-modesty, non-shame,
sloth, excitement, non-faith, laziness, heedlessness, deceived mindfulness, (Mattia Salvini)

Deceitfulness, guile, arrogance, harmfulness, lack of conscience and humility, sluggishness,
Restlessness, lack of faith, laziness, carelessness, forgetfulness, distraction, and unawareness (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

Guile, mischievous exuberance, desire to harm, lack of shame, lack of dread of blame,
mental fogginess, excitedness,
lack of faith, sloth, carelessness, loss of mindfulness. (Stefan Anacker)

dishonesty, arrogance, violence, shamelessness, recklessness,
apathy, intoxication, faithlessness, laziness, insanity, (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Dishonesty, arrogance, harmfulness,
Immodesty, lack of integrity, sluggishness,
Restlessness, lack of faith, laziness, idleness,
Forgetfulness, carelessness, and distraction. (various)

Verse 14

Vikseposamprajanyam ca kaukrtyam middhameva ca
Vitarkas-ca vicaras-ca-iti-upaklesa dvaye dvidha

རྣམ་གཡེང་ཤེས་བཞིན་མ་ཡིན་དང་། །འགྱོད་དང་གཉིད་ཀྱང་དེ་བཞིན་ཏེ། །
རྟོག་པ་དང་ནི་དཔྱོད་པ་དང་། །ཉེ་བའི་ཉོན་མོངས་གཉིས་རྣམ་གཉིས། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Distraction, nonawareness, regret,
Sleep, considering, and examining
Are near afflictions. Two pairs are twofold. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

distraction, and lack of recognition. The four which can be beneficial or unbeneficial are: regret and torpor, initial mental application and subsequent discursive thought. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Distraction, and anti-vigilance.
The second of the two aspects each
Of remorse, sleep, identification, and investigation
Are also secondary afflictions. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

scatteredness, lack of discerning awareness, what derives from bad deeds, torpor,
deliberation and analysis, are the secondary afflictions. The two pairs are twofold. (Mattia Salvini)

Remorse, sleepiness, initial thought, and analysis can be either afflictive or not. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

Distractedness, lack of recognition, regret, and torpor,
initial mental application, and subsequent discursive thought: the last two pairs are of two kinds. (Stefan Anacker)

distraction, confusion, regret, fatigue,
initial and continued thought.
The last two pairs can be either afflicted or healthy. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Remorse, sleepiness, reasoning, and analysis
Are factors which can be either defiled or undefiled. (various)

Verse 15

Pancanam mula-vijnane yatha-pratyayam-udbhavah
Vijnanam saha na va taranganam yatha jale

ལྔ་རྣམས་རྩ་བའི་རྣམ་ཤེས་ལས། །ཇི་ལྟའི་རྐྱེན་ལས་འབྱུང་བ་ནི། །
རྣམ་ཤེས་ལྷན་ཅིག་གམ་མ་ཡིན། །ཆུ་ལ་རླབས་རྣམས་ཇི་བཞིན་ནོ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Arising from the root consciousness
In accordance with conditions,
The five consciousnesses may be
Together or not, like waves in water. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

In the root consciousness, the five perceptions arise according to conditions, either singly or together, like waves on water. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Out of the root consciousness, the five
Arise from their respective conditions
Either simultaneous with consciousness or not,
Like waves from a river. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

The arising of the five consciosunesses in the root consciousness is according to
conditions; it may occur together or not, just like the arising of waves on water. (Mattia Salvini)

The five sense consciousnesses arise on the root consciousness together or separately,
Depending on conditions like waves arise on water. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

In the root-consciousness, the arising of the other five takes place according to conditions,
Either all together or not, just as waves in water. (Stefan Anacker)

In the "root consciousness", depending on the situation,
the five sensory experiences can all occur or not,
as waves might form on water. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The five sense consciousnesses arise in the store consciousness
Together or separately, depending on causes and conditions,
Just like waves arise in water. (various)

Verse 16

Mano-vijnana-sambhutih sarvada-asanjnikad-rte
Samapatti-dvayan-murchanad-api acittakat

ཡིད་ཀྱི་རྣམ་ཤེས་འབྱུང་བ་ནི། །རྟག་ཏུའོ་འདུ་ཤེས་མེད་པ་དང་། །
སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག་པ་རྣམ་གཉིས་དང་། །སེམས་མེད་གཉིད་དང་བརྒྱལ་མ་གཏོགས། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

The mental consciousness arises
Always except in Conception Free,
The two absorptions, mind-free sleep,
And falling into unconsciousness. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

The manovijnana functions always, except in the state of non-perception in the samapatti samadhi, in sleep, in fainting and in the no-mind state. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

The mental consciousness occurs always,
Except in the non-discriminative states,
The two types of absorption
And the thought-free states of sleep and unconsciousness. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

The thought-consciousness always comes about, except for: the notionless, the two
attainments, mind-less torpor and swoon. (Mattia Salvini)

Thought consciousness always manifests except in the realm of no thought,
The two thought free meditation states, unconsciousness and thought-free sleep. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

The co-arising of a mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna) takes place always except in a non-
cognitional state,
Or in the two attainments, or in torpor, or fainting, or in a state without citta. (Stefan Anacker)

Mental experiences always arise except in states of non-cognition
such as the two attainments, deep sleep, fainting
and other unconscious states. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Thought consciousness manifests at all times,
Except for those born in the realms of beings without thought,
Those in the formless trances, and those who are unconscious. (various)

Verse 17

Vijnana-parinamo'yam vikalpo yad-vikalpyate
Tena tan-nasti tena-idam sarvam vijnapti-matrakam

རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པར་གྱུར་པ་འདི། །རྣམ་རྟོག་ཡིན་ཏེ་དེ་ཡིས་གང་། །
རྣམ་བརྟགས་དེ་མེད་དེས་ན་འདི། །ཐམས་ཅད་རྣམ་པར་རིག་པ་ཙམ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

This change in consciousness is thought,
And what it thinks of does not exist.
Thus it is all awareness only. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

The transformation of consciousness is mere construction. What is constructed does not have real existence. So everything is mere manifestation. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

These differentiations of consciousness
Are projection, therefore,
Whatever they impute does not exist.
Thus, everything is mere cognition. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

This transformation of consciousness is a concept. What is conceptualized by it,
does not exist: therefore, all of this is cognition-only. (Mattia Salvini)

This transformation of consciousness is conceptualization,
What is conceptualized does not exist,, thus everything is projection only. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

This transformation of consciousness is a discrimination (vikalpa), and
As it is discriminated, it does not exist [in-itself], and so everything is perception-only (vijñapti-
mātra). (Stefan Anacker)

This transformation of knowing is a discriminative construct.
As it is a construct, it does not really exist.
It is all only representations. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

These three transformations of consciousness
Are just the distinction of subject and object, self and other–
They do not really exist.
All things are nothing but forms of consciousness. (various)

Verse 18

Sarva-bijam hi vijnanam parinamas-tatha tatha
Yati-anyonya-vasad vikalpah sa sa jayate

རྣམ་ཤེས་ས་བོན་ཐམས་ཅད་པ། །ཕན་ཚུན་དག་གི་དབང་གིས་ན། །
དེ་ལྟ་དེ་ལྟར་འགྱུར་བར་འགྲོ། །དེས་ན་རྣམ་རྟོག་དེ་དེ་སྐྱེ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Because of mutual influence,
The consciousness with all the seeds
Changes in such and such a way,
So such and such a thought arises. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

Consciousness is the totality of the seeds. Transformation takes place in the way it does because of a reciprocal influence; out of this, the different constructions arise. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

The consciousness that is that of all seeds,
Due to reciprocal force
Of such and such, differentiates.
Thus this and that projection arise. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

The consciousness which contains all the seeds reaches manyfold ways of
transformation, due to mutual influence; due to this, the concept arises in manyfold ways (Mattia Salvini)

Consciousness is all the seeds transforming in various ways
Through mutual influence producing the many conceptualizations. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

Consciousness [the ālaya-vijñāna] is only all the seeds, and transformation takes place in such and such a way,
According to a reciprocal influence, by which such and such a type of discrimination may arise. (Stefan Anacker)

Knowing transforms itself into all possibilities.
Whichever way it goes
mutually conditions whatever structures will arise. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Since the storehouse consciousness contains all seeds,
These transformations of consciousness arise
And proceed based upon mutual influence.
On account of this, discrimination of self and other arises, (various)

Verse 19

Karmano vasana graha-dvaya-vasanaya saha
Ksine purva-vipake 'nyad vipakam janayanti tat

ལས་ཀྱི་བག་ཆགས་འཛིན་གཉིས་ཀྱི། །བག་ཆགས་བཅས་པས་སྔ་མ་ཡིས། །
རྣམ་པར་སྨིན་པ་ཟད་ནས་གཞན། །རྣམ་སྨིན་སྐྱེད་པ་དེ་ཡིན་ནོ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

When the prior ripening is exhausted,
The karmic imprints together with
The imprints of dual grasping produce
Another ripening, which is that. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

The habit-energy of actions, with the habit-energy of dual-grasping, give rise to another maturation, when the former maturation has been exhausted. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Karmic propensities, along with habitual tendencies
For the two apprehensions,
Engender another full maturation
Once the preceding full maturation is expended. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

The perfumings from karma, together with the imprint of two types of grasping, when
the previous maturation has vanished produce another maturation. (Mattia Salvini)

Karmic impressions and the impressions of grasping self and other
Produce further ripening as the former karmic effect is exhausted. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

The residual impressions of actions, along with the residual impressions of a “dual”
apprehension,
Cause another maturation (of seeds) to occur, where the former maturation has been exhausted. (Stefan Anacker)

At the exhaustion of the previous ripening consciousness,
activity and tendency, along with the abiding
of the duality of grasper and grasped,
gives rise to another. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

All actions leave traces,
And because of grasping at self and other,
Once one seed has been exhausted, another arises. (various)

Verse 20

Yena yena vikalpena yad yad vastu vikalpyate
Parikalpita-eva asau svabhavo na sa vidyate

རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ་གང་གང་གིས། །དངོས་པོ་གང་གང་རྣམ་བརྟགས་པ། །
དེ་ཉིད་ཀུན་ཏུ་བརྟགས་པ་ཡི། །ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་དེ་མེད་དོ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Any thing thought of by any thought
Is itself the imaginary
Nature, but it does not exist. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

Whatever range of events is constructed by whatever construction, it is just the constructed. Its nature is non-existent. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Any and all entities whatsoever
Imputed by any projection at all
Comprise the imaginary trait,
The nonexistent—they do not exist. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

By whichever concept such and such a thing is conceptualized,
that thing is only a thoroughly imagined own-existence: it does not exist. (Mattia Salvini)

Whatever thing is conceptualized by whatever conceptualization
Is of an imagenary nature; it does not exist. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

Whatever range of events is discriminated by whatever discrimination
Is just the constructed own-being (svabhāva), and it isn’t really to be found. (Stefan Anacker)

The "thingness" which
appears through discrimination
is only the "fabricated nature".
No substance can be seen. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

That which is differentiated
In terms of self and other,
Or by whatever sort of discrimination,
That is just mental projection:
It does not exist at all (various)

Verse 21

Para-tantra-svabhavas-tu vikalpah pratyaya-udbhavah
Nispannas-tasya purvena sada rahitata tu ya

གཞན་གྱི་དབང་གི་ངོ་བོ་ཉིད། །རྣམ་རྟོག་ཡིན་ཏེ་རྐྱེན་ལས་བྱུང་། །
གྲུབ་ནི་དེ་ལ་སྔ་མ་པོ། །རྟག་ཏུ་མེད་པར་གྱུར་པ་གང་། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

The nature of the dependent is
Thought that arises from conditions.
The absolute is when that is free
Of the previous forever. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

The nature of the interdependent is born from the discernment of conditions. The absolute is the state when the interdependent is separated forever from the constructed. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

The dependent trait is projection—
It arises based on conditions.
The perfectly existent trait
Is the utter absence of the former in that. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

The other-dependent own-existence, on the other hand, is the concept, arisen due to conditions.
The accomplished is the latter’s being always bereft of the former. (Mattia Salvini)

The other-dependent nature is a conceptualization arising from many conditions;
The complete, realized nature is the other-dependent nature’s always being devoid of the imaginary. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

The interdependent (paratantra) [= pratītya-samutpāda] own-being (svabhāva), on the other hand, is the discrimination (vikalpa) which arises from conditions,
And the fulfilled (pariniṣpanna) is its state of being separated always from the former [i.e. svabhāva]. (Stefan Anacker)

The "dependent nature" is the discrimination
of the arising of conditions.
The fact of always being free from conditions
is the "perfected". (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Appearances themselves
Which arise dependently through causes and conditions
Exist, but only in a partial and dependent way. (various)

Verse 22

Ata eva sa na-eva-anyo na-ananyah paratantratah
Anityata-adivad vacyo na-adrsto 'smin sa drsyate.

དེ་ཕྱིར་དེ་ཉིད་གཞན་དབང་ལས། །གཞན་མིན་གཞན་མ་ཡིན་པའང་མིན། །
མི་རྟག་པ་སོགས་བཞིན་དུ་བརྗོད། །དེ་མ་མཐོང་བར་དེ་མི་མཐོང་། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Thus it is neither different
Nor not different from the dependent,
As taught with impermanence and such.
Unless it’s seen, that is not seen. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

Therefore it is neither different nor non- different from the interdependent, just like impermanence, etc. when the one is not seen the other is not. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Thus, it is itself neither different
Nor not different from the dependent trait.
The same can be said of impermanence, et cetera.
When this is unseen, that is not seen. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

Precisely due to this, it is neither other nor not other than the other-dependent.
It should be explained just like impermanence, etc. That is not seen as long as this is not see. (Mattia Salvini)

Thus it is neither the same nor different from the other-dependent;
Like impermanence, etc., when one isn’t seen, the other also is not seen. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

So it is to be spoken of as neither exactly different nor non-different from the interdependent,
Just like impermanence, etc., for when one isn’t seen, the other is. (Stefan Anacker)

Thus the perfected nature should not
be said to be other than or the same as the dependent,
just as impermanence
and what is impermanent
are not different or the same.
When it is not seen,
it is seen. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Ultimately, perfect nature, the fully real, arises
When there is an absence of mental projection onto appearances.
For that reason, the fully real is neither the same nor different from appearances.
If the perfected nature is not seen, the dependent nature is not seen either. (various)

Verse 23

Tri-vidhasya svabhavasya tri-vidham nihsvabhavatam
Sandhaya sarvadharmanam desita nihsvabhavata

ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་ནི་རྣམ་གསུམ་གྱིས། །ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་རྣམ་གསུམ་ལ། །
དགོངས་ནས་ཆོས་རྣམས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི། །ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་བསྟན་པ་ཡིན། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

With the three types of lack of nature
Of the three types of nature in mind,
It’s taught all phenomena lack nature. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

The non-nature of dharmas has been taught only in connection with the three non-natures of the three natures. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

The three kinds of essential natures
Lack essential nature in three ways.
This is the intent of the teaching
That all phenomena lack essential nature. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

The lack of own-existence of all the dharmas was taught intending to refer to the
threefold lack of own-existence of the threefold own-existence. (Mattia Salvini)

With the threefold nature is a three-fold absence of self-nature,
So it has been taught that all things have no self. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

The absence of own-being in all events has been taught with a view towards
The three different kinds of absence of own-being in the three different kinds of own-being. (Stefan Anacker)

The naturelessness of all events
is pointed to with
the insubstantiality of these Three Natures. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Corresponding to the threefold nature,
There is a threefold absence of self-nature.
This absence of self-nature of all dharmas
Is the secret essence of the Buddha’s teachings. (various)

Verse 24

Prathamo laksanena-eva nihsvabhavo'parah punah
Na-svayam-bhava etasya iti-apara nihsvabhavata

དང་པོ་པ་ནི་མཚན་ཉིད་ཀྱི། །ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་གཞན་པ་ཡང་། །
དེ་ནི་རང་ཉིད་མི་འབྱུང་བས། །ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་གཞན་ཡིན་ནོ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

The first one lacks a nature by
Its characteristics, while the next
Does not exist on its own, and thus
It is another lack of nature. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

The first is a non-nature because of its own character. The second is a non-nature because it does not exist by itself. The third is the absence of its own nature. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

The first by definition
Lacks essential nature. The next, however,
Does not arise independently,
Thus its lack of essential nature differs. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

The first has no own-existence just in terms of its defining trait; while for the next,
it means that it has no coming into existence on its own accord. There is another type of own-existence-less-ness: (Mattia Salvini)

The imagenary is without self by definition. The other-dependent does not exist by itself.
The third is no-self nature – that is, (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

The first is without own-being through its character itself, but the second
Because of its non-independence, and the third is absence of own-being. (Stefan Anacker)

The First Nature is insubstantial
by definition.
The Second Nature is insubstantial
in that it has no substance of its own.
The Third Nature is naturelessness. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Projections are without self-nature by definition.
Appearances too are without self-nature because they are not
self-existent.
Perfect nature is without any differentiation whatsoever. (various)

Verse 25

Dharmanam paramarthas-ca sa yatas-tathata-api sah
Sarva-kalam tatha-bhavat sa eva vijnapti-matrata

ཆོས་ཀྱི་དོན་གྱི་དམ་པའང་དེ། །འདི་ལྟར་དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད་ཀྱང་དེ། །
དུས་རྣམས་ཀུན་ནའང་དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད། །དེ་ཉིད་རྣམ་པར་རིག་པ་ཙམ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

So is the ultimate meaning of dharmas,
For it is also suchness,
Since at all times, it is just so.
It is itself just mere awareness. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

It is the ultimate truth of all dharmas; it is also suchness. Since it is always things just as they are, that is why it is mere manifestation. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Moreover, the genuine reality of phenomena
Is thus only thusness.
At any and all times, it is thusness.
That itself is mere cognition. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

due to being the ultimate of the dharmas; it is also thusness,
being thus at all time; that itself is cognition-only-ness. (Mattia Salvini)

The complete, realized nature of all phenomena, which is thusness –
since it is always already thus, it is projection only. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

It is the ultimate truth of all events, as so it is “Suchness” (tathatā), too,
Since it is just so all the time, and it is just perception-only (vijñapti-mātra). (Stefan Anacker)

The final meaning of all events
is Thatness
and is so throughout all time
and is only representation. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

The true nature of consciousness only
Is the true nature of all dharmas.
Remaining as it is at all times, it is Suchness. (various)

Verse 26

Yavad vijnapti-matrate vijnanam na-avatisthati
Graha-dvayasya-anusayas-tavan-na vinivartate

ཇི་སྲིད་རྣམ་རིག་ཙམ་ཉིད་ལ། །རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ་མི་གནས་པ། །
འཛིན་པ་གཉིས་ཀྱི་བག་ལ་ཉལ། །དེ་ཉིད་རྣམ་པར་མི་ལྡོག་གོ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

As long as consciousness does not
Remain within just mere awareness,
Until that time, the latencies
Of twofold grasping will not cease. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

As long as consciousness does not dwell within the nature of mere manifestation, the residues of dual-grasping cannot come to an end. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

For however long consciousness
Deviates from mere cognition,
Equally so, the dormant tendencies
Of dualistic perception remain unvanquished. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

As long as consciousness does not remain in cognition-only-ness,
for that long the insidious growth of the two types of grasping does not cease. (Mattia Salvini)

As long as consciousness does not rest in projection only,
The tendencies of grasping self and other will not cease. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

As long as consciousness is not situated within perception-only,
The residues of the “dual” apprehension will not come to an end. (Stefan Anacker)

If knowing does not abide
in "only appearance"
the assumptions of the duality of
grasper and grasped
will not end. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

As long as consciousness does not see
That subject-object distinctions are simply forms of consciousness
Attachment to twofold grasping will never cease (various)

Verse 27

Vijnapti-matram-eva-idam-iti-api hi-upalambhatah
Sthapayan-agratah kim-cit tanmatre na-avatisthate

འདི་དག་རྣམ་རིག་ཙམ་ཉིད་ཅེས། །དེ་སྙམ་དུ་ནི་དམིགས་ནས་སུ། །
ཅི་ཡང་རུང་སྟེ་མདུན་འཇོག་ན། །དེ་ནི་ཙམ་ལ་མི་གནས་སོ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

When you place before yourself
The thought that “All of these indeed
Are mere awareness!” as your focus,
You are not resting in just that. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

Although there may be the perception: “All this is mere manifestation,” because this still involves an object of perception in front of it, it does not yet really dwell in “merely-that.” (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Those thinking “these are mere cognition,”
Regarding closely engaged focal referents,
Whatsoever they may be,
Are not settled in mere cognition. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

Since by perceiving even that “this is only just cognition”,
one is placing something in front, one is not remaining in that only. (Mattia Salvini)

By conceiving what you put before you to be projection only,
You do not rest in just this. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

And so even with the consciousness: “All this is perception-only, because this is also involves an apprehension,
For whatever makes something stop in front of it isn’t situated in “this-only.” (Stefan Anacker)

Even the idea that "this is really only appearance",
because it is a conception, stays at the surface,
and does not at all penetrate
"just this". (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

By merely thinking
The objects one perceives are forms of consciousness
One does not realize consciousness only (various)

Verse 28

Yada alambanam jnanam na-eva-upalabhate tada
Sthito vijnana-matratve grahya-abhave tad-agrahat

ནམ་ཞིག་ཤེས་པས་དམིགས་པ་རྣམས། །མི་དམིགས་དེ་ཡི་ཚེ་ན་ནི། །
རྣམ་པར་རིག་པ་ཙམ་ལ་གནས། །གཟུང་བ་མེད་པས་དེ་འཛིན་མེད། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

When consciousness no longer observes
A focus, it dwells in mere awareness.
Since there is nothing to apprehend,
There’s nothing apprehending it. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

But when mind no longer grasps an object of consciousness, it will stop at mere consciousness. For without any object to grasp, there is no longer any grasping. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Ultimately, consciousness does not reference
Focal objects—that is when
It is settled in mere cognition.
Absent a perceived, there is no perceiver. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

On the other hand, when awareness does not apprehend a support, then
it is placed within consciousness-only-ness, since in the absence of an object to be grasped, it does not grasp that. (Mattia Salvini)

When consciousness does not perceive any object, then it rests in projection only;
When there is nothing to grasp, there is no grasping. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

When consciousness (vijñāna) does not apprehend any object-of-consciousness,
It’s situated in “consciousness-only,” for with the non-being of an object apprehended, there is not apprehension of it. (Stefan Anacker)

When knowing does not objectify perceptions
it rests in only knowing.
As there is nothing to grasp,
there is no grasping. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

One realizes consciousness only
When the mind no longer seizes on any object
When there is nothing to be grasped, there is no grasping
Then one knows – everything is consciousness only. (various)

Verse 29

Acitto'nupalambho'sau jnanam lokattaram ca tat
Asrayasya paravrttir-dvidha daustulya-hanitah

དེ་ནི་སེམས་མེད་མི་དམིགས་པ། །འཇིག་རྟེན་འདས་པའི་ཡེ་ཤེས་མེད། །
གནས་ཀྱང་གཞན་དུ་གྱུར་པ་སྟེ། །གནས་ངན་ལེན་གཉིས་སྤངས་པའོ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

It is mind-free; it has no focus.
It’s wisdom that transcends the world
And transformation of the basis
By removing the two negativities. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

It is without discrimination and without attainment, that the supramundane wisdom (operates.) When the double incapacity is abandoned, transformation at the base is realized. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

That is thought-free, non-referential
Supramundane wisdom,
Which transforms even the source
By eradicating the two dysfunctional bases. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

That is the mind-less non-perception; it is supramundane awareness;
it is the revolution of the basis, thanks to the destruction of the twofold badness. (Mattia Salvini)

Without thought, without conception, this is the supramundane awareness:
The overturning of the root, the ending oft he two barriers. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

It is without citta, without apprehension, and it is super-mundane knowledge;
It is revolution at the basis (āśrayasya parāvṛtti), the ending of two kinds of susceptibility toharm. (Stefan Anacker)

Not mind, not apprehending,
it is Awareness beyond worlds.
The ground is overturned
and the two afflictions cease. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

That is the supreme, world-transcending knowledge
Where one has no mind that knows
And no object that is known
Abandoning twofold grasping
The storehouse consciousness is emptied (various)

Verse 30

Sa eva-anasravo dhatur-acintyah kusalo dhruvah
Sukho vimukti-kayo'sau dharma-akhyo-'yam maha-muneh

དེ་ཉིད་ཟག་པ་མེད་དང་དབྱིངས། །བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་དགེ་དང་བརྟན། །
དེ་ནི་བདེ་བ་རྣམ་གྲོལ་སྐུ། །ཐུབ་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་ཆོས་ཞེས་བྱ། ། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Just that is undefiled, the element,
Inconceivable, virtuous, stable,
Bliss, and the body of liberation.
It’s called the dharma of the Great Sage. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

It is the realm of no difficulty, inconceivable, beneficial, stable, bliss, the body of liberation, called the Dharma-body of the Great Sage. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

It is called undefiled thatness and the expanse,
Incomprehensible, ever-virtuous.
Blissful, the kaya of liberation,
The Dharmakaya of the Great Sage. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

That itself is the dhātu without fluxes, inconceivable, virtuous, permanent;
it is the blissful body of liberation, and this is called “Dharma” for the Great Muni. (Mattia Salvini)

It is the inconceivable, wholesome, unstained, constant realm,
The blissful body of liberation, the Dharma body of the great sage. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

It is the inconceivable, beneficial, constant Ground, not liable to affliction,
It is bliss, the liberation-body (vimukti-kāya) called the Dharma-body of the Sage (Mahāmuni). (Stefan Anacker)

Without afflictions, an inconceivable sphere,
it is good, unmoving, joyful,
the body of the free.
This is what is called
the Teaching of the great sage. (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

That alone is the pure, primordial reality
Beyond thought, auspicious, unchanging
It is the blissful body of liberation
The dharmakaya nature of the enlightened ones (various)

Colophon

སུམ་ཅུ་པའི་ཚིག་ལེའུར་བྱས་པ་སློབ་དཔོན་ཆེན་པོ་དབྱིག་གཉེན་གྱིས་མཛད་པ་རྫོགས་སོ།། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

This completes the Thirty Verses by Master Vasubandhu. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

The Thirty Verses on Cognition are complete; this is a composition of Ācārya Vasubandhu. (Mattia Salvini)

Remarks

།།རྒྱ་གར་གྱི་མཁན་པོ་ཛི་ན་མི་ཏྲ་དང་ཤཱི་ལེན་དྲ་བོ་དྷི་དང་། ཞུ་ཆེན་གྱི་ལོ་ཙཱ་བ་བན་དེ་ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེས་བསྒྱུར་ཞིང་ཞུས་ཏེ་གཏན་ལ་ཕབ་པའོ།། (Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De)

Translated into English by David Karma Choephel according to the commentaries of Sthiramati and Vinitadeva from the Sanskrit and the Tibetan translation by Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Bande Yeshe De. (Khenpo David Karma Choephel)

This provisional translation was attempted by Karma Yeshe Chödrön, under the guidance of Drupon Khenpo Lodro Namgyal, at Pullahari Monastery in Nepal, 2017, for the personal use of the students of the 2017 Rigpe Dorje Institute Philosophy Program for Foreign Students. Kindly do not publish or otherwise distribute without permission. (Karma Yeshe Chödrön)

Taken from: Connelly, Inside Vasubandhu’s Yogacara, Wisdom Publications, 2016. (Ben Connelly und Weijen Teng.)

Adapted from Stefan Anacker, Seven Works of Vasubhandu (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984). (Stefan Anacker)

Translated from the Sanskrit by Anzan Hoshin roshi and Tory Cox (Anzan Hoshin Roshi and Tory Cox)

Adapted from English translations of the Sanskrit original (various)