ABSTRACT
Vilasavajra's commentary, the Nmamantrrthvalokin (NMAA), transforms the Namasamgiti into an elaborate meditative practice or sadhana. It can be seen that Vilasavajra's titles follow fairly closely those of the divisions found in Namasamgiti manuscripts. The NMAA follows the structure of the Namasamgiti manuscript verse divisions, and its content makes the titles of those divisions more intelligible. Whether Vilasavajra himself created them or whether he inherited the divisions and their titles is unclear. Vilasavajra's section divisions of the Nmasagti are the same as those found in Nmasagti manuscripts. However, Vilasavajra's placing of the Namasamgiti within a manadla visualisation whose stated function is to aid the practitioner in the realisation of non-dual gnosis is very much an sadhana as it was understood in the Buddhist tantric tradition. Vilasavajra's interest in this first syllable of the Sanskrit alphabet reflects a broader interest, not only by contemporary Namasamgiti exegetes such as Majurmitra, but within the yogatantra tradition more broadly.
