Buddhas have abandoned five branches or factors that perpetuate saṃsāra: pursuing desires, ill will, lethargy and languor, regret and agitation, and view and doubt.

One of the heavens of Buddhist cosmology, counted among the six heavens of the desire realm, it is home of future Buddha Maitreya.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

To accept (e.g., a person) as a novice.

As in to account for the income and allocations of a monastery.

Matters that govern the saṅgha community’s daily life, regular observances (such as the rains retreat and the restoration) and special events (like ordination) are ratified by a formal act of the saṅgha. There are one hundred and one such types of formal acts, all of which fall into one of three categories depending on the procedure needed for ratification. An act of motion alone requires only a motion; an act whose second member is a motion require a motion and the statement of the act; while an act whose fourth member is a motion require a motion and three statements of the act.

One of five types of disciplinary acts meted out by the saṅgha. This was first imposed on the Pandulohitaka monks for their quarrelsomeness.

One of five types of disciplinary acts meted out by the saṅgha.

One of five types of disciplinary acts meted out by the saṅgha.

A formal act of the saṅgha in which the motion suffices, with no need to formally state the act. Such an act is employed before a candidate for ordination is asked about private matters pertaining to his fitness for ordination.

One of five types of disciplinary acts meted out by the saṅgha.

One of five types of disciplinary acts meted out by the saṅgha. A monk may be suspended on one of seven grounds: failing to acknowledge an offense; refusing to amend or rehabilitate one’s behavior; deviant views; being overly belligerent and quarrelsome; creating the circumstances for a quarrel; maintaining overly close relations with nuns, unruly people, and ne’er-do-wells; and refusing to let go of a Dharma matter that has been peacefully resolved.

A formal act of the saṅgha that requires an initial motion followed by the statement of the proposed act, repeated three times. Such an act is required for several proceedings‍—among other occasions, to fully ordain someone, or to officially threaten an intransigent monk.

A formal act of the saṅgha that requires an initial motion followed by the statement of the proposed act. Such an act is needed to grant the vows of full ordination to a nun, among other occasions.

The Mūlasarvāstivādin tradition grouped the Buddha’s early sūtra discourses into four divisions, or āgama (Tib. mdo sde’i lung sde bzhi): the Dīrghāgama (Tib. lung ring po), the Madhyamāgama (Tib. lung bar ma), the Ekottarikāgama (Tib. lung gcig las ’phros pa), and the Saṃyuktāgama (Tib. lung dag ldan/yang dar par ldan pa’i lung). They are more familiar to many English-speaking Buddhists through the translations of their Pali correlates: the Dīgha Nikāya, Majjhima Nikāya, Aṅguttara Nikāya, and the Samyutta Nikāya, for which see the Wisdom Publications titles: The Long Discourses of the Buddha, The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha, The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, and The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, respectively.

Sesbania grandiflora.

The son of King Bimbisāra.

See “Ajita of the hair shawl.”

One of the six tīrthika teachers contemporaneous with Śākyamuni.

A tīrthika order.

An acceptable form of food for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

To always abide by the six spheres means to always be aware of and attentive to the six objects of visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental consciousness.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

The Buddha’s nephew and attendant who recited the Buddha’s sūtra discourses from memory after the Buddha passed.

King of Ujjayinī and father of Pradyota.

Name of a lake.

A kingdom on the southern bank of the Ganges (in modern day Bihar and Bengal) whose influence waned during the life of Śākyamūni Buddha at the hands of the kings of Magadha. Its capital was at Campā.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual. Cloth from foreign countries to the west of Magadha, such as Aparānta (also Aparāntaka), an ancient kingdom in western India.

A junior monk who lives with and under the guidance of a senior monk.

King of Śrāvastī and father of Prasenajit.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Specifically non-Vedic ascetics; śramaṇa ascetics are typically contrasted with brahmin householders.See also n.­25.

A kind of apprentice disciple.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

One of the Five Excellent Companions, with whom Siddhārtha Gautama practiced asceticism near the Nairañjanā River and later heard the Buddha first teach the Four Noble Truths at the Deer Park in Sarnath. He was renowned for his pure conduct and holy demeanor so Buddha sent him to attract Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana to the order.

One of the notorious “group of six” monks whose antics and heavy-handed interference prompted a great many of the Buddha’s injunctions on conduct.

Mindfulness, discernment, diligence, joy, pliancy, samādhi, and equanimity (Kalyāṇamitra, folios 217.b.6–218.b.2).

The park of Veṇuvana was the first settled residence specifically dedicated to the Buddhist saṅgha, offered to the Buddha by King Bimbisāra of Magadha.

The Buddha’s father, King Śuddhodana, donated this park on the outskirts of the Śākya kingdom of Kapilavastu, in present day Nepal, to the Buddhist community.

A synonym for the wood splint used as a sundial to mark time in ordination ceremonies.

Cloth made from the bark of the valkala tree was worn by Indian ascetics but forbidden to Buddhist monks and nuns.

One of the five excellent companions, with whom Siddhārtha Gautama practiced asceticism near the Nairañjanā River and who later heard the Buddha first teach the Four Noble Truths at the Deer Park in Sarnath.

Another name for the river Gaṇgā, mentioned by the teacher Sañjayin in encouraging Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana to seek out the Buddha who was born on its banks.

The queen, wife of King Mahāpadma and mother of Bimbisāra.

The king of Magadha and a great patron of Śākyamūni Buddha. His birth coincided with the Buddha’s. His father, mistakenly attributing the brilliant light that marked the Buddha’s birth to the birth of his son by Queen Bimbī (Goldie), named him ‘Essence of Gold.’

Yakṣa and other spirits that appear at the same time a person is born in order to protect them.

A euphemism for those who seek alms, understood to refer to Buddhist monks.

Illnesses that may be considered an impediment to ordinationSee also n.­125.

See n.­105.

Bondmen bound to serve the saṅgha.

Someone born into service, e.g., the children of slaves, serfs, and servants.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

An area demarcated by the saṅgha which then functions as the community’s borders. Such boundaries may be set to define the area monks are confined to during the rains retreat. A gathering of all the monks within these boundaries constitutes a “consensus,” during which formal acts of saṅgha may be performed.

An implement used by brahmins for pūjā.

A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).

A wealthy householder from Śrāvastī who fathered Saṅgharakṣita.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

To call up reserves or members of a standing army.

The capital of Aṅga.

Someone seized and held captive by another government, as with prisoners of war.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination. See also n.­125.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

One of the notorious “group of six” monks whose antics and heavy-handed interference prompted a great many of the Buddha’s injunctions on conduct.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual. In this case, a “fitting color” has equal shades of blue, yellow, and saffron while “ill-colored” means exclusively blue, yellow, or saffron.

A coin of variable value, sometimes worth as little as a burnt bun and other times equal to twenty gold coins.

The informal ordination first employed by the Buddha.

A monk to whom one may give one’s proxy in case one cannot attend a official saṅgha function.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

A gathering of all the monks present within a monastery’s boundaries for an official function (such as an ordination ceremony); with consent from any absentee monks. Also rendered here as “in concord.”See also n.­123.

A monk absent from an official saṅgha function, such as the restoration, must send word he will consent to any actions taken in his absence. Such consent is sent by proxy.

A person, who though once a Buddhist later converts, barred from joining the renunciate order.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Buddhas have crossed the rivers of desire, existence, view, and ignorance.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

The most severe of the five types of offenses a monk can incur. It cannot be expunged and results in the monk’s defrocking, unless the saṅgha sees fit to allow him to engage in rehabilitory training.

Literally, “to flow” or “to ooze.” Mental defilements or contaminations that “flow out” toward the objects of cyclic existence, binding us to them. Vasubandhu offers two alternative explanations of this term: “They cause beings to remain (āsayanti) within saṃsāra” and “They flow from the Summit of Existence down to the Avīci hell, out of the six wounds that are the sense fields” (Abhidharma­kośa­bhāṣya 5.40; Pradhan 1967, p. 308). The Summit of Existence (bhavāgra, srid pa’i rtse mo) is the highest point within saṃsāra, while the hell called Avīci (mnar med) is the lowest; the six sense fields (āyatana, skye mched) here refer to the five sense faculties plus the mind, i.e., the six internal sense fields.

A loanword from the Graeco-Roman denarius, meaning coin.

A skill taught to brahmins and kings that may relate to finance or grammar.See also n.­60.

One of seven grounds for suspension from the saṅgha community.

Butön includes the Kashmiri preceptor Dharmākara in his list of ninety-three paṇḍitas invited to Tibet to assist in the translation of the Buddhist scriptures. Tāranātha dates Dharmākara to the rule of *Vanapāla, son of Dharmapāla. With Paltsek, he translated two of Kalyāṇamitra’s works on Vinaya, the Vinayapraśnakārikā (’dul ba dri ba’i tshig le’ur byas pa, Toh 4134, Degé Tengyur, vol. SU, folios 70.b.3–74.b.5) and the Vinayapraśnaṭīkā (’dul ba dri ba rgya cher ’grel pa, Toh 4135, Degé Tengyur, vol. SU, folios 74.b.5–132.a.2).

“He Who Has Long Fingernails,” Koṣṭhila’s name after he joined an order of wandering ascetics to continue his studies of Lokāyata philosophy. He later joined the Buddhist order and was known as Koṣṭhila again.

An acceptable type of clothing for a Buddhist monk, as detailed in the Four Supports section.

The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”

A formal act of the saṅgha requiring a act whose fourth member is a motion, meted out to a wayward monk or monks. There are five types: acts of censure, chastening, expulsion, reconciliation, and suspension.

See n.­135.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

A member of an oceangoing ship’s crew whose job was to dive for pearls. Can also mean “fisherman.”

The name by which the Jaṭila ascetic order is known in the Vinaya. Jaṭila were early converts of the Buddha. Many were said to have converted en masse after the Buddha delivered the “Fire Sermon” (Pali Ādittapariyāya Sutta) to Kāśyapa and his followers at Uruvilvā. See the Saṅghabhedavastu (Tib. dge ’dun dbyen gyi gzhi) for the Mūlasarvāstivādin account of their conversion.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Also spelled dukula and dugulla, this has been identified differently over the centuries as a kind of bark-fiber cloth, woven silk, linen, and cloth made from cotton grown in Ganda. It is considered an acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

The quality of someone who has done something to be removed from a monastery or harbored intentions that contradict the Dharma.

The early ordination rite, later adapted to include stricter criteria for admission and introduce the intermediate step, between joining the order and ordination, of induction into the novitiate.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

See n.­172.

A monk who possesses the qualities of stability and skill.

One of the eighteen nikāya schools.

A physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

See “shape shifter.”

An acceptable form of food for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An illness such as measles or rubella, considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

A skill taught to brahmins and kings that may relate to finance or grammar.See also n.­60.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Buddhas have no fear in proclaiming that they have achieved perfect buddhahood, exhausted defilements, teach the path of renunciation, and teach precisely what constitutes an obstacle to that path and realization.

Feasts falling on these days of the lunar month are considered an acceptable form of food for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Those who are engaged in the same celibate spiritual path as the protagonist.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

In “The Chapter on Going Forth,” this is presumably a reference to Vedic sacrifices, which brahmins offered to, and hence burned in, a sacred fire.

See n.­134.

Epileptic or otherwise, symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

The 253 different offenses a monk may incur are divided into five types: defeats, saṅgha remnants, offenses, transgressions, confessable offenses, and misdeeds.See also n.­122.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

One of “the four medicines.” This category of medicine is comprised of juices and selected other strained or pulp-free liquids, which were mainly allowed as they helped to combat the “illness” of thirst. This includes coca (coconut milk), moca (gum of the śālmalī tree), kola (jujube, sour juice or vinegar), aśvattha (juice of leaves of the fig-tree or bodhi tree), udumbara (juice of leaves of the fig-tree), pāruṣika (juice of Frewia Asiatica), mṛdvikā (raisin juice), kharjura (date juice).

One of “the four medicines.” “Food fit for a time” is food eaten between dawn and noon, the appropriate time according to the monastic code. It refers mainly to maṇḍa (scum of boiled rice), odana (boiled rice gruel), kulmāsa (sour gruel), and māṃsapūpā (meat cake). It is medicinal in that it is primarily aimed at combating the “illness” of hunger. An acceptable form of medicine for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

‍—

Refers to the knowledge and stability that conduce to abandoning disturbing emotions or the basic precepts one pledges to uphold when going for refuge, such as refraining from killing.

Aspiration, diligence, attention, and analysis.

Buddhas attract disciples through generosity, speaking pleasantly, consistency in action, and acting altruistically.

In getting ordained, a monk pledges to make do with a restricted set of supports that conduce to the holy life. These fall into four categories: clothing, shelter, food, and medicine.

A full probation is imposed when a monk who has incurred a saṅgha stigmata offense nurses for a full night his intention to conceal that offense (Viśeṣamitra, folio 135.b).See also “probation” and n.­144.

Imposed on a monk who incurs a third saṅgha remnant offense while serving his probation.

The term usually (and elsewhere in this text) refers to a class of nonhuman beings sometimes known as “celestial musicians.” In this particular context, however, it designates a disembodied sentient being in the intermediate state between death and rebirth, seeking a new body in which to take rebirth.

An elongated, shoulder-held wooden bar (or beam) struck with a wooden striker to call the saṅgha community to assembly.

One of the first to join the Buddha’s order of monks. He followed his friend Yaśas into the Buddhist order.

Site of a stūpa where the Buddha instructed the thousand monks from Uruvilvā by displaying three miracles, thereby freeing them from the wilds of saṃsāra and establishing them in the utterly final state of perfection and the unsurpassably blissful state of nirvāṇa.

An acceptable form of medicine for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

A monk who gives you instruction for even a single day. One of five types of instructors named by the Buddha when asked to elaborate on the role of an instructor.

To leave the life of a householder and embrace the life of a wandering, renunciant follower of the Buddha.

A physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

One of the six tīrthika teachers contemporaneous with Śākyamuni. Teacher and head of the Ājīvika sect.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

See n.­167.

An acceptable form of food for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordinationSee also n.­125.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

A euphemism for celibacy.

An acceptable form of medicine for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual. Also used to translate the Sanskrit “madhu.”

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual. In this case, a “fitting color” has equal shades of blue, yellow, and saffron while “ill-colored” means exclusively blue, yellow, or saffron.

A monk who has been ordained for at least ten years yet still cannot recite thePrātimokṣasūtraor its supplements and is thus not entitled to grant entry into the order, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, give refuge, or live independently.

Personal qualities or circumstances that impede the start of or success in a person’s monastic career.

Someone who pretends to have been ordained though they have not. One class of person barred from joining the renunciate order.

One of several official administrative or managerial positions at a monastery.

Someone obtained through sale.

A demarcated area within a larger boundary. An official act of the saṅgha requires a “consensus” of all monks present within the monastery’s boundaries or of a quorum of monks within an “inner circle.”

Along with the position of preceptor, this is one of two official positions created by the Buddha to ensure that new monks would receive sufficient training. The Buddha specified five types of instructor: instructors of novices, privy advisors, officiants, givers of instruction, and recitation instructors.

An instructor who grants refuge and the novice precepts. One of five types of instructors named by the Buddha when asked to elaborate on the role of an instructor.

Someone born with both male and female sexual organs. One of the five types of person labeled a paṇḍaka, all of whom are barred from joining the renunciate order.

The rite by which one is inducted into the novitiate and confirms a candidate’s status as a novice in the Buddhist order of renunciates.

To be invited to eat on a whim is an acceptable way to receive food for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Food served at a banquet to which one has been invited is an acceptable form of food for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

See “Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park.”

One of the first Buddhist monasteries, located in a park outside Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. This park was originally owned by Prince Jeta, hence the name Jetavana, meaning Jeta’s grove. The wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, sought to buy it from him, but the prince, not wishing to sell, said he would only do so if Anāthapiṇḍada covered the entire property with gold coins. Anāthapiṇḍada agreed, and managed to cover all of the park except the entrance, hence the name Anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ, meaning Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. The place is usually referred to in the sūtras as “Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park,” and according to the Saṃghabhedavastu the Buddha used Prince Jeta’s name in first place because that was Prince Jeta’s own unspoken wish while Anāthapiṇḍada was offering the park. Inspired by the occasion and the Buddha’s use of his name, Prince Jeta then offered the rest of the property and had an entrance gate built. The Buddha specifically instructed those who recite the sūtras to use Prince Jeta’s name in first place to commemorate the mutual effort of both benefactors. Anāthapiṇḍada built residences for the monks, to house them during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It was one of the Buddha’s main residences, where he spent around nineteen rainy season retreats, and it was therefore the setting for many of the Buddha’s discourses and events. According to the travel accounts of Chinese monks, it was still in use as a Buddhist monastery in the early fifth century ᴄᴇ, but by the sixth century it had been reduced to ruins.

See “Jñātiputra, the Nirgrantha.”

One of the six tīrthika teachers contemporaneous with Śākyamuni. According to some, one and the same with Mahāvira, the last Tīrthaṅkara of the Jains.

An exemplar is one who has one or another of the twenty-one sets of five qualities given in “The Chapter on Going Forth.”

One of the six tīrthika teachers contemporaneous with Śākyamuni. Also rendered here as “Kakuda, a descendant of Kātyāyana.”

A place where the Buddha often resided, within the Bamboo Park (Veṇuvana) outside Rajagṛha that had been donated to him. The name is said to have arisen when, one day, King Bimbisāra fell asleep after a romantic liaison in the Bamboo Park. While the king rested, his consort wandered off. A snake (the reincarnation of the park’s previous owner, who still resented the king’s acquisition of the park) approached with malign intentions. Through the king’s tremendous merit, a gathering of kalandaka‍—crows or other birds according to Tibetan renderings, but some Sanskrit and Pali sources suggest flying squirrels‍—miraculously appeared and began squawking. Their clamor alerted the king’s consort to the danger, who rushed back and hacked the snake to pieces, thereby saving the king’s life. King Bimbisāra then named the spot Kalandakanivāpa (“Kalandakas’ Feeding Ground”), sometimes (though not in the Vinayavastu) given as Kalandakanivāpa (“Kalandakas’ Abode”) in their honor. The story is told in the Saṅghabhedavastu (Toh 1, ch.17, Degé Kangyur vol.4, folio 77.b et seq.).

The nāga king who lauded Siddhārtha after he gave up his austerities and prepared to sit under the bodhi tree.

One of the six buddhas who preceded Śākyamuni in this Fortunate Eon.

One of Upananda’s two novices whose homoerotic play led the Buddha to forbid allowing two novices to live together.

The Śākya capital, where Siddhārtha Gautama was raised.

Where Buddha converted a noble band of sixty youths.

The old name for Vārāṇasī.

Maudgalyāyana’s birthplace.

One of the Buddha’s principal pupils, who became the Buddha’s successor on his passing. Also the name of the Buddha who preceded Śākyamuni.

One of the six buddhas who preceded Śākyamuni in this Fortunate Eon. Also the name of the one of the Buddha’s principal pupils.

One of the five excellent companions, with whom Siddhārtha Gautama practiced asceticism near the Nairañjanā River and who later heard the Buddha first teach the Four Noble Truths at the Deer Park in Sarnath. Kauṇḍinya immediately realized its import and entered the stream, shortly thereafter becoming an arhat.

Home to a group of troublesome monks who quarreled with monks from Vaiśālī.

The terms phyag rgya pa and dam bzhag pa are synonyms refering to one of several official administrative or managerial positions at a monastery.

The King of Aṅga was the pre-eminent ruler in the eastern Gangetic region at the time of the Buddha’s birth. His defeat at the hands of Prince Bimbisāra of Magadha is narrated at the start of the Pravrajyāvastu.

One of the classes of people barred from joining the renunciate order.

The name given to Maudgalyāyana by his relatives because it seemed to them he had come to them from the lap of the gods.

Maternal uncle of Śāriputra and son of Māṭhara. He went south to study Lokāyata philosophy with Tiṣya. He later returned to study Lokāyata philosophy with an order of wandering ascetics, pledged not to cut his nails so long as he upheld Lokāyata philosophy and became known as Dīrghanakha, “He Who Has Long Fingernails.”

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual. A low-grade cloth made from kotampa fibers or kausheyam silk and linen or cotton weave.

One of the six buddhas who preceded Śākyamuni in this Fortunate Eon.

Jīvaka is a title meaning “physician.” Kumārabhṛta means “raised by the prince,” in this case Prince Abhaya, who was said to have fostered the future physician. He was personal physician to King Bimbisāra and the Buddha. He asked that ill persons would not be accepted into the order, for it would prove too great a burden on the king’s treasury, which paid for all the treatment he administered, and his own health.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

“Large” meaning twelve cubits. An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

A lay person who has taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha and, in addition, taken at least one of the five lay vows.

An illness considered an impediment to ordination. Can translate both sitapuṣpika and kilāsa.See also n.­125.

See n.­106.

There are no limits to the length of time monks are permitted to keep medicine proper. Hence those compounds commonly understood to be medicine proper are literally called “kept lifelong,” that is “lifelong medicines.” These are aimed at combating illnesses that arise from the confluence of factors such as bile, phlegm, and wind. The texts describe these medicines as being made from roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and other plant materials.

A ceremony in which restrictions adopted for the rains retreat are relaxed, marking its end. Also short for the Vinayavastu’s third chapter on the same.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Literally, “to live where I do not,” where “I” refers to the Buddha.

A kingdom on the banks of the Ganges (in the southern part of the modern day Indian state of Bihar), whose capital was at Pāṭaliputra (modern day Patna). During the life of Śākyamuni Buddha, it was the dominant kingdom in north central India and is home to many of the most important Buddhist sites, including Bodh Gayā, Nālandā, and its capital Rājagṛha.

One of Upananda’s two novices whose homoerotic play led the Buddha to forbid allowing two novices to live together.

One of the Five Excellent Companions, with whom Siddhārtha Gautama practiced asceticism near the Nairañjanā River and who later heard the Buddha first teach the Four Noble Truths at the Deer Park in Sarnath.

King of Magadha at the time of the Buddha’s birth, husband of Queen Bimbī, and father of Bimbisāra.

One of the eighteen nikāya schools.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual. Also estate.

One of a Buddhist monk’s three robes

A learned brahmin and author of “Māṭhara’s Treatise.” He was also the grandfather of Upatiṣya, that is Śāriputra.

One class of person barred from joining the renunciate order.

An early name for the abhidharmapiṭaka and also a germinal list or index of topics.See also n.­146.

The greatest miracle worker among the Buddha’s direct disciples. His relatives named him Maudgalyāyana in honor of his being a descendant of Mudgala. Respectfully referred to as Mahāmaudgalyāyana.

See n.­132.

An acceptable form of medicine for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of medicine for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of medicine for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of medicine for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

A monk who has received a punitive act must perform five kinds of menial deeds that entail his adopting the subservient role of a penitent.

Most of the Buddha’s life and ministry took place in the Middle Country. Its land extended to the Likara Forest in the east; the city of Śarāvatī and the Śarāvatī River in the south; the brahmin towns of Sthūṇa and Upasthūṇa in the west; and Uśīragiri in the north.

One of five types of offenses a monk can incur. Misdeeds are the least grave offense a monk may incur. Thus, a monk must refrain from each of 112 misdeeds. To purify this offense, a monk must only confess it.

An acceptable form of medicine for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

A monk in charge of providing for monastery residents and visitors. One of several official administrative or managerial positions at a monastery.

The monk who acts as intermediary between a candidate for ordination and the saṅgha.

Also, according to certain usage, a phrase used in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya in praise of monks fully committed to the monastic ideal, as opposed especially to those who merely wear the robes.

A rations officer. One of several official administrative or managerial positions at a monastery.

A formal request, e.g., that a postulant be accepted into the renunciate order or that a monk serve as preceptor granting ordination, etc.

After a motion is put to the saṅgha, a monk other than the petitioner must make a move to act on the motion.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Śāriputra’s birthplace in Magadha. King Bimbisāra granted Śāriputra’s grandfather Māṭhara and father Tiṣya rights to this village as a victor’s spoils after debates held in his presence.

One of the notorious “group of six” monks whose antics and heavy-handed interference prompted a great many of the Buddha’s injunctions on conduct.

One of two sisters who nursed Siddhārtha Gautama after his six years of austerities.

One of two sisters who nursed Siddhārtha Gautama after his six years of austerities.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordinationSee also n.­125.

The four dhyānas, the four absorptions of the formless realm, and absorption in cessation.

In his Gateway to Knowledge, Mipham identifies three groups of three thoughts that inspire aggression: (1–3) the thoughts, “This has hurt me,” “This is hurting me,” and “This will hurt me”; (4–6) the thoughts “This has hurt someone dear to me,” “This is hurting someone dear to me,” and “This will hurt someone dear to me”; and (7–9) the thoughts, “This has helped my enemy,” “This helps my enemy,” and “This will help my enemy” (mi pham rgyam mtsho 1978, p. 74).

An adjective applied to a monk who observes his vows and hence is “in good standing” or to a person who is sound of mind.

A government officer or official. Also a day-laborer.

Such as a courtier. One of the classes of people barred from joining the renunciate order.

The monk that moves the saṅgha act on an aspirant’s request to join the order and be ordained.

This term refers to those who renounce the world late in life, generally after having had and raised children of their own. It is somewhat pejorative; it is telling, for instance, that such monastics are directly addressed as “old-timers” rather than as “venerable,” the customary address for ordained monks.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination. According to Monier-Williams, any cutaneous disease.See also n.­125.

The formal term for granting orders and confirming a candidate as a monk.

A deprecatory term meaning “old” or “out-of-date.”

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Apart from Butön’s inclusion of Palgyi Lhünpo in his list of translators, there does not appear to be much biographical information available on this ninth-century translator. In addition to his work on the vinaya, Palgyi Lhünpo translated at least two Mahāyāna sūtras (the Buddhapiṭakaduḥśīlanigraha and the Drumakinnararājaparipṛcchā ), several chapters of dhāraṇī, and several works in verse included in the Tengyur. The colophons of his translations indicate that Paltsek revised some of his translations, including the Vinayavastu and the Bhikṣuṇī Vinayavibhaṅga , to either complete unfinished work or reflect newly adopted standards.

Paltsek, from the village of Kawa north of Lhasa, was one of Tibet’s preeminent translators. He was one of the first seven Tibetans to be ordained by Śāntarakṣita and is counted as one of Guru Rinpoche’s twenty-five close disciples. In a famous verse by Ngok Lotsawa, Paltsek is named with Chokro Luyi Gyaltsen and Zhang Nanam Yeshé as part of a group of translators whose skills were surpassed only by Vairotsana. He translated works from a wide variety of genres, including sūtra, śāstra, vinaya, and tantra and was an author himself (for a list of his translations and writings, see Martin, 2011). Paltsek was also one of the most important editors of the early period, one of nine translators installed by Trisong Deutsen to supervise the translation of the Tripiṭaka and help catalogue translated works for the first two of three imperial catalogs (the ldan kar ma and bsam yas mchims phu ma catalogs, which were probably the initiative of Tride Songtsen; see Raine, 2010, 8).

An ārāma was a private citizen’s garden, generally found within the limits of a town or city.

Monks’ robes are to be sewn into large sections from small patches of cloth rather than bolts of cloth.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

One of the classes of people barred from joining the renunciate order.

The patronage a pure monk is entitled to receive, without the attendant karmic burden, due to his pure ethics and observance of vows.See also n.­179.

Someone who has put himself up as surety or sold himself as a slave.

A period of penance imposed by the saṅgha if a monk incurs a saṅgha remnant offense and fails to confess it that same day.

A monk who has incurred a defeat but is given the opportunity to engage in rehabilitative training.

In the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, the term paṇḍaka (Tib. ma ning) encompasses diverse physiological and behavioral conditions, such as intersexuality, erectile dysfunction, and fetishes that imply an inability to engage in normative sexual behavior. Five different types of person labeled a paṇḍaka are identified in the text (see 4.­111): intersex persons, rhythmic-consecutive persons, sexually submissive persons, persons with a voyeuristic fetish, and persons with a sexual disability (see glossary entries for each). The criteria for being designated a person labeled a paṇḍaka are not strictly physiological, but neither are they grounded exclusively in gender identity or sexual orientation. Person labeled a paṇḍaka is, in effect, a catchall category and, as such, defies easy translations like “neuter,” “androgyne,” “intersexual,” “transgender,” or “paraphiliac.”See also Gyatso (2003), Cabezón (1993), Zwilling (1992), and Likhitpreechakul (2012).

One class of person barred from joining the renunciate order.

A person whose sexual organs have been disabled by being removed or otherwise. One of the five types of person labeled a paṇḍaka, all of whom are barred from joining the renunciate order.

A person who only becomes erect out of the jealousy they feel when seeing a woman having sex with another person. One of the five types of person labeled a paṇḍaka, all of whom are barred from joining the renunciate order.

The least severe of five types of offenses a monk can incur. There are four types of offense requiring personal confession, which are expunged through personal confession.

Those with a particular physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

Those who are said to have a particular physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

Those who are marked by brands on bondage or scars from corporal punishment, or tattooed. A physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

Persons with stunted growth who exhibit general sluggishness due to hypothyroidism.

Those with a particular physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

A physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

Those with a particular physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

Those having a certain physical condition that is considered an impediment to ordination.

Someone put up as a pledge or surety by another person.

Maudgalyāyana’s father, who was a wealthy royal priest.

A form of asceticism practiced especially by Ājīvikas.

Son of King Anantanemi of Ujjayinī.

Son of King Arāḍa Brahmadatta of Śrāvasti. Later, as king he gave all servants in his lands permission to join the Buddhist order if they wished.

An office decreed by the Buddha so that aspirants would not have to receive ordination from the Buddha in person. The Buddha identified two types: those who grant entry into the renunciate order and those who grant ordination.

One of five types of instructors named by the Buddha when asked to elaborate on the role of an instructor.

A period of probation imposed by the saṅgha if a monk incurs a saṅgha remnant offense and confesses it straight away. During the period of probation, the offending monk loses many privileges and is barred from participating in official acts of the saṅgha, such as ordination ceremonies.See also n.­144.

Official acts of saṅgha enacted when a monk incurs a saṅgha remnant offense.See also n.­144.

A prominent nose, i.e. with a high nasal root, was considered an attractive feature in ancient India. This may refer to an aquiline nose.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

One of the notorious “group of six’ monks whose antics and heavy-handed interference prompted a great many of the Buddha’s injunctions on conduct. Also known as Punarvasuka.

A generic name for disciplinary acts imposed by the saṅgha.

An abbreviation of Pūraṇa Kāśyapa.

Literally, “Pūraṇa, descendant of Kāśyapa,” he was one of the six tīrthika teachers contemporaneous with Śākyamuni.

One of the first to join the Buddha’s renunciate order. He followed his friend Yaśas into the Buddhist order.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination. The correct Sanskrit may be agnidāha.See also n.­125.

To accept charge of monk apprentices and monk journeymen, a monk must himself be both stable, meaning he has been ordained at least five or ten years without incurring an offense, and knowledgeable, meaning he has at least one of the twenty-one sets of five qualities described in “The Chapter on Going Forth.”

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Son of Siddhārtha Gautama.

Now known as Rajgir and located in the modern Indian state of Bihar, Rājagṛha was the capital of the kingdom of Magadha during the Buddha’s lifetime.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

A monk who teaches another to recite even a single verse. One of five types of instructors named by the Buddha when asked to elaborate on the role of an instructor.

Financial records or accounts. Also means “door panel”.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

In “The Chapter on Going Forth,” Kalyāṇamitra reads this as an abbreviation of “refuge instructor” (Tib. gnas kyi slob dpon). A “refuge” or “refuge monk” is one who has passed ten years as a monk and possesses five qualities and is thus fit to guide new monks, grant ordination, and instruction. In “The Chapter on Going Forth,” the Buddha says a monk who has been ordained five years may be considered “independent” enough to travel independently between monsoons. Though the text does not address the issue, a monk of five years ordination would not, in ordinary circumstances, acts as a refuge instructor.

Newly ordained monks are not allowed to live independently until they have passed ten years as a monk and possess one of twenty-one sets of five qualities described in “The Chapter on Going Forth.” Until that time, they are obliged to live as apprentices or journeymen to a refuge so that they may learn and become established in the conduct expected of a Buddhist renunciate.See also n.­151.

Though classed as one of the five disciplinary acts imposed on a monk, it is the act used to restore full status to a monk upon his satisfactory completion of a disciplinary act like probation.

The Sanskrit pravrajyā literally means “going forth,” with the sense of leaving the life of a householder and embracing the life of a renunciant. When the term is applied more technically, it refers to the act of becoming a male novice (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or female novice (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma), this being a first stage leading to full ordination.

Imposed on a monk who incurs a second similar saṅgha remnant offense while serving his probation.

Imposed on a monk who incurs a second similar saṅgha remnant offense while serving his probation.

A twice monthly ceremony performed by monks, nuns, and novices in which the ordained confess and remedy offenses against their vows, thereby purifying and restoring the vows.

A skill taught to brahmins and kings that may relate to finance or grammar.See also n.­60.

Someone who is female for half of the month and then becomes male for the other half; someone who is stricken with female desires for half of the month and male desires for the other half; or a person who has a sexual disability for half of the month. One of the five types of person labeled a paṇḍaka, all of whom are barred from joining the renunciate order.

An acceptable form of food for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

As a monk should regard his preceptor as a surrogate father, the preceptor is referred to as a “role model in the renunciant life.”

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

A brahmin who serves as the king’s chaplain and chief ritual officiate for Vedic sacrifices.

The site near Vārāṇasī where the Buddha first turned the wheel of Dharma and former abode of the Buddha Kāśyapa.

A tīrthika-style renunciate. See also n.­185.

The five realms of gods, humans, animals, spirits, and hell-denizens. “Ever-revolving” is an adjective applied to saṃsāra with its constant fluctuations.

A monk’s robes are sanctioned at ordination. Furthermore, two types of offenses, saṅgha remnant offense and transgressions requiring forfeiture, must be formally sanctioned or excused in order to be completely expunged.

A special room or shrine dedicated to a buddha, intended as both residence and reliquary. A common feature especially in rock-cut temples.

One of five types of offense a monk can incur. Second only to a defeat in severity, there are thirteen such offenses. After a monastic incurs one of these offenses, a “remnant” (Tib. lhag ma; Skt. śeṣa) of the prātimokṣa vow must be restored through the serving of a probation or, if the offense is concealed, a penance followed by probation, during which the offending monk loses certain privileges and must perform menial tasks. Upon completion of this period of probation and penance, the saṅgha may then reinstate the monk with full honors and privileges.

A disciple of Śāriputra who was abducted by nāgas and taken back to their land under the sea where he helped three young nāgas memorize the Four Āgamas, thereby establishing the sūtras in the land of the nāgas.

Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana joined his order after rejecting the six tīrthika teachers.

Māṭhara’s daughter and mother of Upatiṣya (aka Śāriputra).

The wisest of Buddha’s disciples. Śāriputra’s father Tiṣya named him Śāriputra, “Śārikā’s Son,” to honor Śāriputra’s mother Śārikā.

According to traditional accounts, the Kashmiri preceptor Sarvajñādeva was among the “one hundred” paṇḍitas invited by Trisong Deutsen (r. 755–797/800) to assist with the translation of the Buddhist scriptures into Tibetan. Sarvajñādeva assisted in the translation of more than twenty-three works, including numerous sūtras and the first translations of Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra and Nāgarjuna’s Suhṛllekha. Much of this work was likely carried out in the first years of the ninth century and may have continued into the reign of Ralpachen, who ascended the throne in 815 and died in 838 or 841 ᴄᴇ. (See Dotson, 2007, for a summary of the imperial chronology between Trisong Deutsen’s abdication in 797 and Ralpachen’s ascension in 815).

King of Kauśāmbī and father of Udayana.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

This term can mean both physical seclusion and a meditative state of withdrawal.

Monks’ robes are to be sewn into large sections from small patches of cloth rather than bolts of cloth.

As in to secure one’s goods to a pack animal.

A stylized way to say that a person or group may govern itself and is not subject to the “law of the land.” The Buddhist saṅgha enjoyed such autonomy. The analogy means the king granted sovereignty to the saṅgha, which was then allowed to govern itself and was not subject to the law of the land. The legal exemption members of the saṅgha enjoyed made it an attractive sanctuary for those on the run from their masters, debt collectors, and the law, who would join the saṅgha for legal rather than spiritual reasons. “From ancient times the legal tradition recognized the right of properly constituted groups to formulate their own laws” (Olivelle, 1993, 209).

The Buddha’s ordination as a monk was a self-ordination, not presided over by a preceptor or following one of the ritual procedures that were later adopted by the tradition.

The village where the village headman’s daughters, Nandā and Nandabalā (elsewhere known as Sujata and her sister) nursed Siddhārtha Gautama after his six years of austerities and where he later convinced them of the Truths.

An exemplar is one who has one or another of the twenty-one sets of five qualities given in “The Chapter on Going Forth.”

A sense of reverence proves that a convert has rejected his old religious sentiments in favor of new ones. The term suggests humility.

Dungkar Rinpoche gives two similar lists of the seven treasures of a noble being: (1) faith, ethics, generosity, learning, samaya, a conscience, and wisdom; and (2) faith, ethics, learning, generosity, a conscience, propriety, and wisdom (dung dkar, 2002, pp. 1370–71).

“The Chapter on Going Forth” defines this as, “One who becomes erect if embraced by another.” Though its exact meaning is not clear, fetishism seems to be implied. One of the five types of person labeled a paṇḍaka, all of whom are barred from joining the renunciate order.

One of the classes of beings barred from joining the renunciate order. The word sprul pa denotes a wide range of phenomena‍—emanations, apparitions, conjurings, shape-shifting creatures, etc.‍—all united by their tendency to morph through their own agency or another’s. We have therefore translated sprul pa according to context as “emanation” or “shape shifter.”

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

This can refer to a shrine or a reliquary.

One of the six buddhas who preceded Śākyamuni in this Fortunate Eon.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

One of two types of offense. There are ninety varieties of simple transgression. These are expunged through participation in the community’s restoration.

Knowledge of miraculous realms, the divine ear, different states of mind, previous rebirths, birth and death, and the exhaustion of defilements.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

A respectful address used by a wife to her husband.

An acceptable form of food for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

A region centered on the capital city at Suvarṇagiri.

A monk who has received a punitive act, a probation and penance, must accept a probation that involves rejecting the honors accorded to observant monks and adopting a position of deference.

A wood splint four-finger widths tall used as a sundial to mark the time in ordination ceremonies.

During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was a major city in the kingdom of Kosala, in present day Uttar Pradesh.

A monk who has been ordained at least five or ten years without incurring an offense is considered stable.

One of the first to join the Buddha’s order of monks. He followed his friend Yaśas into the Buddhist order.

The Buddha’s father and king of the Śākyas.

A request for a favor or boon.

The younger sister of the pratyekabuddha Śūrpī and also a prior incarnation of Śāriputra.

A half brother of Siddhārtha Gautama who asked Yaśodhara to marry him after Siddhārtha’s retirement.

A boy in a story the Buddha tells to explain why Śāriputra is his brightest student. The pratyekabuddha brother of Sūkṣmā, a prior incarnation of Śāriputra.

Home of King Suvarṇapati who figures in a prophecy made by Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana’s teacher Sañjayin that convinces them of their teacher’s prescience, which in turn gives them conviction to seek out the Buddha as Sañjayin advised they should.

A young brahmin from Suvarṇadvīpa who brings news to Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana that confirms their teacher Sañjayin’s prophecy and sparks their search for the Buddha.

A king of Suvarṇadvīpa who figures in a prophecy made by the teacher Sañjayin that convinces Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana of his prescience. This in turn gives them conviction to seek out the Buddha as Sañjayin advised they should.

A bamboo stick distributed to monks and used as a voting ballot or meal ticket. Also used by non-Buddhist orders as an identity certificate.

The measure of an object’s value that makes taking it without permission an act of stealing.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Kalyāṇamitra gives a list of nine strengths: the strengths of knowing right from wrong; knowing one’s karma is one’s own doing; absorption in concentration, liberation, and samādhi; knowing supreme faculties from those that are not; knowing the range of dispositions; knowing the paths on which all tread; knowing and recollecting past rebirths; knowing birth and death; and knowing the exhaustion of defilements (Kalyāṇamitra, folios 218.b.2–218.b.6). To these, one can add the tenth from a list given by Kawa Paltsek in his A Mnemonic for Dharma Lists, which follows Kalyāṇamitra’s in most other regards: The strength of knowing the range of different inclinations (nor brang 2008, pp. 2180–81).

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

One of the classes of people barred from joining the renunciate order.

Buddhas discipline in ways that are unequivocally gentle, unequivocally harsh, and both gentle and harsh.

The upper robe, under robe, and mantle of a monk.

Ethics, attention, and wisdom.

Recollecting past lives, presaging death, and knowing the exhaustion of defilements.

The term used by early Buddhists to refer to contemporary religious or philosophical orders, including Brahmanical traditions as well as non-Brahmanical traditions such as the Jains, Jaṭilas, Ājīvikas, and Cārvākas. Initially, the term tīrthika or tīrthya may have referred to non-Brahmanic ascetic orders. According to Edgerton and supported by Schopen (2000, n. I.18), the term was generally used in a pejorative sense, as a marker of differentiation.See also n.­26 and n.­27.

Lokāyata philosopher from Dakṣiṇa who bested Māṭhara in debate and was offered the hand of Māṭhara’s daughter, Śārikā. Father of Upatiṣya (aka Śāriputra).

These medicinal tonics were called “seven-day tonics” because monks were only permitted to keep them for seven days after receiving them. They were primarily used to treat imbalances of prāṇa and include butter, ghee, oil, molasses, lotus root and the oil gained from melting the fat of fish, crocodile, rabbit, bear and pig.

Buddhas have transcended rebirth as a god, human, hell being, animal, and spirit.

The third most severe of the five types of offenses a monk can incur. There are 120 different types of transgression, thirty requiring forfeiture and ninety simple transgressions.

A sub-type of offense of which there are thirty varieties. These are expunged through communal confession and the forfeiting of the object that caused the transgression.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination. According to Monier-Williams, this is a chronic enlargement of the spleen or any glandular enlargement.See also n.­125.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Son of King Śatānīka of Kauśāmbī.

One of the notorious “group of six” monks whose antics and heavy-handed interference prompted a great many of the Buddha’s injunctions on conduct.

The kingdom of King Anantanemi.

One of a Buddhist monk’s three robes. The term sham thabs (nivāsana) is the most widespread and is the one used throughout this text, except in 1.­485 and 1.­496 where the alternative term mthang gos (antarvāsa) is used.

A great upholder of monastic discipline, who recited the vinaya at the First Council following the Buddha’s passing.

One of the notorious “group of six” monks whose antics and heavy-handed interference prompted a great many of the Buddha’s injunctions on conduct.

A monk of one year whose premature taking of a ward prompted the Buddha to decree that only those who had been monks for ten years could allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, give refuge, and live independently.

Śāriputra’s grandfather named him Upatiṣya, “Tiṣya’s Heir,” to honor Śāriputra’s father Tiṣya.

One of a Buddhist monk’s three robes

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual. Also, terraced cottage, tower, pavilion, penthouse, etc.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Known in Pali as Uruvela, Uruvilvā is another name for Gayā. The Buddha inspired a group of one thousand dreadlocked ascetics to join his order of monks and ordained them there. Also spelled Urubilvā.

A young brahmin whose awakening as Śākyamuni was foretold by the Buddha Kāśyapa.

Also known as Benares, one of the oldest cities of northeast India on the banks of the Ganges, in modern-day Uttar Pradesh. It was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kāśi, and in the Buddha’s time it had been absorbed into the kingdom of Kośala. It was an important religious center, as well as a major city, even during the time of the Buddha. The name may derive from being where the Varuna and Assi rivers flow into the Ganges. It was on the outskirts of Vārāṇasī that the Buddha first taught the Dharma, in the location known as Deer Park (Mṛgadāva). For numerous episodes set in Vārāṇasī, including its kings, see The Hundred Deeds , Toh 340.

One of the Five Excellent Companions, with whom Siddhārtha Gautama practiced asceticism near the Nairañjanā River and who later heard the Buddha first teach the Four Noble Truths at the Deer Park in Sarnath.

An acceptable form of food for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual. Here, a covered area or overhang formed by crossbeams extending from a house rather than a harmyam mansion with several rooms and an open courtyard.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

A prize awarded by a king to the winner of a debate. In the Vinayavastu, the prize was title to a village and its taxes.

According to Nyangral Nyimai Özer’s history, Ralpachen invited the Indian preceptor Vidyākaraprabha to Tibet along with Jinamitra, Surendrabodhi, and Dānaśīla in the first part of the ninth century (Martin, 2002, n. 13). Vidyākaraprabha was the author of the Madhyamakanayasārasamāsaprakaraṇa, a work in the Yogācāra-Madhyamaka school pioneered by Śāntarakṣita (Ruegg, 1981, 99, n. 311), translated into Tibetan with Paltsek under the name dbu ma’i lugs kyi snying po mdor bsdus pa’i rab tu byed pa (Toh 3893, Degé Tengyur, vol. HA, folios 43b.5–50a.6). He worked with Paltsek on numerous other translations on topics as diverse as the Sphuṭārthā commentary to the Abhisamayālaṅkāra, an extract from Buddhaghoṣa’s Vimuktimārga, and the early tantra Vidyottamamahātantra (see Martin, 2006).

One of the first to join the Buddha’s order of monks. He followed his friend Yaśas into the Buddhist order.

One of the six buddhas who preceded Śākyamuni in this Fortunate Eon.

A son of King Prasenajit of Kosala, who first served as a general in his father’s army, but later usurped the throne. As a boy he discovered that his mother, who had been offered to his father by the Śākyas, had originally only been a servant rather than a noblewoman as the Śākyas had claimed; and later, as king, in revenge he attacked and destroyed Kapilavastu, slaughtering most of the Śākya inhabitants. However, he then died there in a flood. Not to be confused with the Virūḍhaka who is one of the Four Great Kings.

One of the six buddhas who preceded Śākyamuni in this Fortunate Eon.

The medicine of first resort for monks, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

Symptom of a cholera-like illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

A non-Buddhist religious mendicant who literally “roams around.” Historically, they wandered in India from ancient times, including the time of the Buddha, and held a variety of beliefs, engaging with one another in debate on a range of topics. Some of their metaphysical views are presented in the early Buddhist discourses of the Pali Canon. They included women in their number.

To welcome a visitor with pleasantries.

Symptom that may be evidence of an illness considered an impediment to ordination.See also n.­125.

Someone for whom there are factors that prevent giving rise to the vows (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 292.a.4).

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

An acceptable form of cloth for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

One of the classes of people barred from joining the renunciate order.

A physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

A physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

A physical condition considered an impediment to ordination.

An acceptable form of shelter for a monk, as identified in the Four Supports section of the ordination ritual.

The son of a wealthy merchant in Vārāṇasī. After the five excellent disciples, Yaśas was the next to go forth and receive ordination. He was followed in short order by Pūrṇa, Vimala, Gavāmpati, and Subāhu, all five together being referred to as the “five excellent companions.”

The forest outside of Rājagṛha where King Bimbisāra, along with 80,000 gods and many hundreds of thousands of Magadhan brahmins and householders, were converted to Buddhism.

The term deva, meaning “god,” was often used as an honorific term of address for divine beings and royalty.