A titan of Buddhism during the Soviet period, Dharmaraja Bidiya Dandaron (1914-1974) was a key figure in the growth of Tibetan and Buddhist studies in the Russian-speaking world. Having given both secular and religious instruction to many of the field’s key players in Russia at the time, Dandaron remains a venerated figure by Russian Buddhists of all ethnicities for his role in spreading Buddhist teachings from his native Buryatia. He is especially remembered for his firm grasp on Tantric topics and his perserverance through religious persecution, for which he died in a labor camp at the age of 59.
This prayer takes the form of a Guru Yoga based in taking refuge in the Dharmaraja based on his impressive spiritual feats and command over and understanding of reality, making mention of all three aspects of the Trikaya.
Sourced from dandaron.ru. Translated from Russian on October 28, 2025 by Gregory Zeldovich.
RUSSIAN:
Намо Гураве Бидьядхарая!
Молюсь с неколебимой верой ногам
Несравненного Учителя, мастеру созерцания,
Владыке всего познаваемого, не отличимому
От самой махамудры, не выразимому словами,
Ясно показывающему махамудру пространства ваджрной мысли.
Поклоняюсь Учителю, осуществившему
Благословение дхармакаи в пространстве,
Преобразившему центральный космический ум
В пять запредельных мудростей.
Поклоняюсь Учителю, распространившему
Самбхогакаю через собственную реальность
Осуществлением Пяти Тел,
Преображенных пятью волнами мудрости.
Поклоняюсь Учителю, создавшему всезнающей мудростью
Из собственного цвета
Беспрепятственную мандалу мудрости
И проникшему в центр этой мандалы через бой.
Поклоняюсь Учителю – Ослепительному Нирманакае,
Который есть содержание проповеди перед лицом спасающихся,
Проповедующему большую садхану Ваджрасаттвы
От лица гневного идама.
I pray with unwavering faith at your feet.
Incomparable teacher, master of contemplation,
To lord of all that is knowable, indistinguishable
From Mahamudra itself, inexpressible with words
Clearly displaying the Mahamudra of the space of vajra-thought.
I prostrate before the teacher, who realized
The blessings of dharmakaya in space,
Transforming into the central cosmic mind
Into the five transcendental wisdoms.
I prostrate to the teacher, the one who had proliferated
The sambhogkaya across his own reality,
Through the realization of the five bodies
Transformed by the five ways of wisdom.
I prostrate to the teacher, who with omniscient wisdom
Created from its own essence
The unsurpassed mandala of wisdom
And penetrated to the center of that mandala through combat.
I prostrate to the teacher – the dazzling Nirmanakaya,
Who is the substance of the sermon before those who are saved
Preaching the great sadhana of Vajrasattva
On behalf of the wrathful Yidam.
- “Gurave” is an ultimately Mongolian derivation of the Sanskrit Gurubhya, or “to the Guru”, used in refuge prayers. ↩︎
- This is a play on words, replacing the Sanskrit term vidya (Tib. rig pa, “knowledge, awareness”) in the term vidyadhara (Tib. rig ‘dzin, “holder of knowledge/awareness”) with Lama Bidiya Dandaron’s name, itself derived from vidya. ↩︎
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