A Blessing for Newborns

Translator’s Introduction

This blessing for newborns has been excerpted from The Four Tantras, the foundational scriptures of the Tibetan medical system. It comes from an exchange in the third tantra, The Oral Instructions Tantra (man ngag gi rgyud), between the sage Mānasija (yid las skyes), the main interlocutor in The Four Tantras, and the great sage Vidyājñāna (rig pa’i ye shes), the emanation of the Medicine Buddha. Mānasija inquires about how to care for children, and Vidyājñāna advises that, when children are first born, one should first examine the auspicious or inauspicious omens and then read aloud the present aspiration before cutting the umbilical cord (lte ba), celebrating, and letting the newborn nurse. Further rituals are described including washing the newborn’s body with fragrant, lukewarm water and writing a hrīḥ with saffron on their tongue.

While it is always important to follow the instructions of one’s amchi or qualified Tibetan medical doctor, we wanted to make this aspiration available on Lotsawa House so that anyone could recite it upon the birth of a child.

Version: 1.0–20260713