Sādhanamālā, Avalokiteśvara section

The Sadhanamälä (SM) is one of the most important materials for the study of visualization of Tantric Buddhist deities. B. Bhattacharyya edited the SM in 1925 (Vol. 1) and 1928 (Vol. II). Since then, his edition has been regarded as the standard edition of the SM. Although there are about forty manuscripts of the SM around the world, the edition is based on the only eight which were available in those days. The book, Sadhanamālā: the Avalokiteśvara Section Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts, aims at providing a critical edition of the SM by using manuscripts not employed in the Bhattacharyya edition.

This volume, Asian Iconography Series III, includes the sadhanas of Avalokiteśvara. Sadhana is a religious practice of visualizing a deity. Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara is one of the most popular Buddhist deities in Asian countries, such as India, Tibet, Nepal, China and Japan. The Bodhisattva has been worshipped as a symbol of compassion by non-Tantric and Tantric Buddhists from laymen to educated monks.

Tibetan translations of the SM have been regarded as the authoritative sādhana collections in Tibetan Buddhism. For example, the Sakya pa chapter of the Grub mtha śel gyi me lon (A Crystal Mirror of Systematic Doctrines), which was written by Thu'u bkwan Blo bzań chos kyi ñi ma (A.D. 1737-1802), refers to one of the translations of the SM: sGrub thabs rgya mtsho. This Tibetan translation is mentioned as one of the basic instructions of the Sakya sect. We should not overlook that a study of the SM also has great importance to Tibetan Buddhism