Many accounts of his life were composed in his native land. They recount his childhood in Tibet, his studies in India, the challenges he faced, his many accomplishments, the students whom he trained, and his eventual death. We have translated a brief retelling of his story drawn from traditional sources and present it here.

This translation may be downloaded for your personal enjoyment and study. It may not be duplicated, distributed or used publicly.

© 2003 Light of Berotsana. All rights reserved.

The quintessential instructions that dispel the torment of wanderers  is a river of amrita
Brought to Tibet by the great bodhisattva,
The magical emanation of Vairochana called “Bero.”
To the meaningful legacy of this magnificent protector I bow.
The boundless dharma of Sutra and Mantra, both vast and profound,
Was translated into the symbols of the Land of Snow by this supreme pandita
Whose aspirations blaze like one hundred thousand suns.
The youthful lotus of scripture and realization blossom everywhere.
You are the very form of the knowledge of all the buddhas, heir of the victorious ones,
Great manifest translator, holder of the treasury of the supreme vehicle,
If we aspire to the supreme path that you have given us,
May our hopes and prayers to benefit the Buddha’s doctrine and wanderers be completely fulfilled.

This homage, a garland of flowers, serves as a preface. The actual subject follows here. The omniscient lord, emanation of Vairochana, great translator, the supreme Berotsana, was both scholar and siddha in the snowy land of Tibet, and a great pioneering translator of the doctrine. In accordance with the definitive meaning, he had already achieved buddhahood as the nature of great Vairochana, the pervasive lord of the hundred families; however, in accordance with the longing of boundless disciples, to tame them he has shown a theater of emanations, like moons in water. Except for sublime persons, who could fathom this?

Nevertheless, from the incomparable legacy that is as deep as the ocean and as vast as the sky that he established in this realm, let us plant just a seed that will inspire the fortunate to have pure faith.  download more (PDF)