Candragomin’s Twenty Verses on the Bodhisattva Vow

Candragomin,s Twenty Verses on the Bodhisattva Vow is short, clear and simple. Acharya Candragomin himself was a great Indian lay practitioner (upasaka) for the 7th century, famous for his extensive learning and practice. The commentary to the Twenty Verses was also by a learned Tibetan lay practitioner of the Sakya School f Tibetan Buddhism. He was Sakya Dragpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216), the third son of Jetsun Kunga Nyingpo, and is believed to have been a direct disciple of Manjushri for seven lifetimes. Famous for his mastery of both sutra and tantra traditions, Dragpa Gyaltsen’s commentary to the Twenty Verses on the Bodhisttva Vow is lucid and very popular within the Sakya School to Tibetan Buddhism. It covers not only a discussion of the basic vow, but also explains the arrangement of the ceremony and provides guidelines for taking the now. Both the root text and its commentary have been ably translated by Dr. Mark Tatz according to an oral commentary given by Khenpo A-pad of the Sakya College.