[The following selections consists of the first part of the Song of My ...

I shall illuminate the true intent of the Short Steps of the Path,
That very quintessence of your excellent explanations
Which combines in one, each and every crucial point
Of that known as the "steps of the path to enlightenment."
,DE LA 'DIR BDAG CAG GI BLA MA CHOS KYI RGYAL PO BTZONG KHA PA
CHEN POS MDZAD PA'I NYAMS MGUR RAM, LAM RIM BSDUS PA'I DON
NI GANG BSHAD PAR BYA BA'I CHOS SO, ,'DI LA GSUM, SNGON 'GRO
MCHOD BRJOD SOGS DANG , DNGOS GZHI GZHUNG DON DANG , MJUG
GI BSHAD PA'I KHYAD PAR RO, , DANG PO LA GNYIS, MCHOD PAR
BRJOD PA DANG , BSHAD BYA NGOS BZUNG BA'O,
Here I am going to explain the Song of My Spiritual Life, also known as the Short
Book on the Steps of the Path, composed by your and my Lama, the King of the
Dharma, the great Tsongkapa. My explanation will be in three divisions: first the
preliminaries of the offering of praise and the other preparatory steps, then the
meaning of the actual body of the text, and lastly some concluding details.
THE PRELIMINARIES
The preliminary division of my text has two parts of its own: the offering of
praise, and an identification of that which is to be to be explained.
OFFERING OF PRAISE
`, , NA MO GU RU MNYDZU GUO sh'A YA,
I bow down to Guru Manjushri.
,DANG PO LA'ANG GNYIS TE, DANG PO NI, LA LAR NA MO GU RU
MNYDZU GUO sh'A YA, ZHES 'BYUNG BA NI SLA'O,
The offering of praise is in two sections. First is the line "I bow down to Guru
Manjushri," which appears in some editions of the text. Its meaning is easy to
understand.
Prostration to the Lord of the Able Ones
,GNYIS PA LA LNGA LAS, DANG PO THUB DBANG LA PHYAG 'TSAL BA