A Praise Dedicated to the Buddha: Surpassing the Celestial Beings
Surpassing the Celestial Beings
Author: Desher dhabodh
Translator into Mandarin: Khenpo Sodargye
Title in Sanskrit (sound): Deva Adsha Yadoza
Title in Tibetan: ལྷ་ལས་ཕུལ་དུ་བྱུང་བར་བསྟོད་པ།
Title translated from Chinese: Surpassing the Celestial Beings
Om Svasti Siddham
The Buddha and Vishnu are not partyaksa.
Brahma and Isvara are invisible too.
Hearing and meditating on their form, practice, and power.
How could I tell who has merits and who has not?
Vishnu carries the Vajra as his weapon.
And Isvara has fresh skulls as Garland around his neck.
The buddha is the only sublimed being who wears the simplest attire.
Except for this serene condition, who should I pay my homage to?
Vishnu destroyed Targa and his Asura followers.
Isvara demolished the City with Three Tiers.
His son, Murugan, wielded a short spear and killed his uncle-in-law.
Only the buddha benefits sentient beings with virtuous deeds.
Saying, "I shall protect some and kill the others."
This is the utmost tenet of those Deva,
The Buddha recognizes no foes or friends and relatives.
His beneficial deeds are the sources of higher rebirths and definite good.
Vishnu's words induce the danger of greed.
Isvara is insane and violent.
Yet, no one can pick faults or criticize the Tathāgata.
Thus, who shall be my guru? I must analyze with care.
Who is unmerciful and enjoys hurting others?
Who became the refugee of all sentient beings?
Who indulges himself with greed, and who renounced it?
I must give a deep thought to who is my Arahant.
Sakka wields the diamond, the god of strength, a plowshare, and Vishnu a cakra.
Murugan uses a short spear and Isvara a trident, and the bleak tomb yard is his favorite abode.
These foolish beings coerce others with powerful blades.
Who with wisdom will pay homage to those conscientiously and constantly engaging in killing?
Without the arrow with three arrowheads or the greed to embrace a woman,
Nor does he holding cakra, short spear, or plowshare.
The wise being who has liberated himself from samsara constantly benefits the others.
I take refuge from him, who provides shelters for all sentient beings.
Isvara indulges himself with greed and is shameless, who also married an evil wife.
Vishnu is fiendish when angry. The God of Strength killed many enemies. And Murugan killed his kin.
The eight goddesses all consumed human flesh, while Durga killed the Asura captain.
Guru Vinayaka kept to the bottle. Only the Buddha errs not.
Bhagavā, the Buddha, is not my kin, and the Heretics I do not resent.
I did not witness their behavior with my own eyes.
Hearing their different words and actions is enough for me to tell.
I trust his preeminent virtue and take refuge from the Buddha.
Sugata, the Buddha, is not my father, and the Heretics are not my foe.
He did not give me a fortune, and the Heretics did not rob me.
But the Buddha teaches me to benefit all sentient beings.
These deeds have no defilement and scrub all contamination which I can trust with my heart and soul.
His constancy in altruism and benefiting the sentient beings
helps relieve all beings' heavy sufferings and lift them to peace and happiness.
His omniscience observes all phenomena like watching an amala fruit in the palm.
Nobody could compare with the Buddha, who is the great Rishi I do trust wholeheartedly.
Whoever believed in him or felt happy by just thinking of him,
Anyone who ever doubted his teachings or have watched him in the eye,
Those who paid homage to this king of benevolence,
All of them will gain higher rebirths into heaven and enjoy happy lives.
It is said that in ancient times, Vishnu traveled in the human realms.
When he heard that the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness and dying are like wheels turning in a human's life.
To save all sentient beings from suffering.
He reincarnated himself again and again in the Shakya clan.
Finally, bearing the name Gautama, a boy was born into this human realm.
Thus, It was Vishnu who manifested himself as the Buddha.
However, those were the stories told by fools because of the vexation and stupidity they always had.
They can never know how the great master benefits all sentient beings.
At some point, who seized Asura's Mani Jewel and Nectar?
And afterward, under the whip of greed, who used treacherous devices and deprived the Asura all of their lands?
Vishnu is not enlightened, but foolish people make offerings to and bow before him.
The Buddha is definitely an enlightened being, yet those mundane and foolish people refuse to bow.
The land holds the four oceans, and its pockets are burdened with treasures.
Riches like these were given away to Vishnu by Asura as their offerings. However, what the Asura received in return was endless suffering.
Dust was offered to the buddha playfully by a boy once, and he became the King without a single worry.
It is said that he ruled all the land as far as moonlight could reach.
I have no attachments with the Buddha, least I have hatred to Samkhya folks.
Whoever possesses reasonable teachings, I treat him as my master and learn from him.
People with wisdom shall search with insight and take refuge from those who truly understand all phenomena,
As well as the teachings of benefiting living beings. Except for these two criteria, what else do we need?
If they haven't those faults and have all the virtues.
Brahma, Maheśvara, and Vishnu can all be my guru.
If anyone has no faults and immense virtues
Have compassion and all wisdom, and I will take refuge from him.
The Buddha with bright eyes like beautiful lotuses is the source of my praise, like millions of rivers run to the ocean.
If my words could generate some virtue, may it benefit all sentient beings and lift them to temporary and eternal peace and happiness.
The Best among Celestial Beings was created by Desher dhabodh, Indian Kenpo Shawar Zahar Deva, and Wangdar Ronchen translated it into Tibetan, proofread and corrected by Wander Zegrhajedar later.
Frank Xu translated it into English on February 19th. 2021
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