The root verses of Maitreya's Ornament for the Clear Realizations with the titles of the Eight Categories and Seventy Topics indicated.

Maitreya's Ornament for the Clear Realizations is a rendering of the hidden teaching on the path structure in the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras that contains within it a veritable cornucopia of information on Buddhist practice. Studied in all orders of Tibetan Buddhism, this highly elaborate compendium on the paths enriches understanding of a complex structure of spiritual development providing an all-encompassing worldview. The structure of the path, presented in this seminal text, enhances the rubric of actual practice, much of its import being brought over to “stages of the path” literature. The more complex system provides a perimeter and horizon within which the more practical teachings are implemented.

Maitreya's Ornament for the Clear Realizations is written in poetry that is often cryptic, such that many stanzas are an abbreviation like an index, or even a code, outlining the path structure, and thus it spawned a renowned set of twenty-one commentaries in Sanskrit.