One of the three gateways of liberation.

One of the three gateways of liberation.

A particular realization attained by bodhisattvas that arises as a result of analysis of the essential nature of phenomena.

Name of a past buddha.

The five aggregates of form, sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

The world of yakṣas, ruled over by Kubera.

A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

A fundamental practice of Buddhist meditation generally divided into the following four categories: application of mindfulness to the body, application of mindfulness to feelings, application of mindfulness to the mind, and application of mindfulness to phenomena.

The name of a monk in the lineage of the buddha Mahāvyūha and the name of the order founded by that monk after Mahāvyūha entered parinirvāṇa.

The name of a monk in the lineage of the buddha Mahāvyūha and the name of the order founded by that monk after Mahāvyūha entered parinirvāṇa.

An optional set of thirteen practices that monastics can adopt in order to cultivate greater detachment. They consist in (1) wearing patched robes made from discarded cloth rather than from cloth donated by laypeople; (2) wearing only three robes; (3) going for alms; (4) not omitting any house while on the alms round, rather than begging only at those houses known to provide good food; (5) eating only what can be eaten in one sitting; (6) eating only food received in the alms bowl, rather than more elaborate meals presented to the saṅgha; (7) refusing more food after indicating one has eaten enough; (8) dwelling in the forest; (9) dwelling at the root of a tree; (10) dwelling in the open air, using only a tent made from one’s robes as shelter; (11) dwelling in a charnel ground; (12) being satisfied with whatever dwelling one has; and (13) sleeping in a sitting position without ever lying down.

From a wealthy brahmin family, Bakkula is said to have become a monk at the age of eighty and lived to be one hundred sixty. He is also said to have had two families, because as a baby he was swallowed by a large fish and the family who discovered him alive in the fish’s stomach also claimed him as their child. The Buddha’s foremost pupil in terms of health and longevity, it is also said he could remember many previous lifetimes and was a pupil of the previous buddhas Padmottara, Vipaśyin, and Kāśyapa.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

One of the eight hot hells. The name of this hell refers to the black thread that is used to measure lines on the bodies of those reborn there so that they can be cut into pieces.

Name of a king.

Name of a buddha.

Manu being the archetypal human, the progenitor of mankind, in the Mahā­bhārata, the Purāṇas, and other Indian texts, “child of Manu” is a synonym of “human being” or mankind in general. See also “descendant of Manu.”

The Tibetan rigs pa is used to translate several Sanskrit terms (which cannot be reconstructed with certainty for this text) with the literal meaning of being connected or coherent, but with contextual meanings ranging from appropriateness or suitability, through correctness, conformity, congruence, to reasoned and rational thinking or argument, and the principles used to validate scriptural statements. In this text the epithet is one of several others paired with “liberated” as criteria for the authenticity of monks, their worthiness to receive offerings, etc. See “knowledge,” “equipped,” “liberated,” and also n.­1. “Coherent and liberated” is also used (in other texts) as a description of the necessary qualities of the inspired eloquence (pratibhāna, spobs pa) of those qualified to give teachings.

A term for beings who violate discipline to the extent that they may never make progress on the path to becoming a buddha.

The name of a monk in the lineage of the buddha Mahāvyūha and the name of the order founded by that monk after Mahāvyūha entered parinirvāṇa.

One of the eight hot hells.

The forest located outside of Vārāṇasī where the Buddha first taught the Dharma.

The relative nature of phenomena, which arise in dependence upon causes and conditions. Together with the four noble truths, this was the first teaching given by the Buddha.

Manu being the archetypal human, the progenitor of mankind, in the Mahā­bhārata, the Purāṇas, and other Indian texts, “descendant of Manu” is a synonym of “human being” or mankind in general. See also “child of Manu.”

A cousin of the Buddha Śākyamuni who broke with him and established his own community. His tradition continued into the first millennium ᴄᴇ. He is portrayed as plotting against the Buddha and even succeeding in wounding him. He is usually identified with wicked beings in accounts of previous lifetimes.

Indian scholar who assisted with the translation of sūtras into Tibetan.

A previous buddha who gave Śākyamuni the prophecy of his buddhahood.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

A set of circumstances that do not provide the freedom to practice the Buddhist path: being born in the realms of (1) the hells, (2) hungry ghosts (pretas), (3) animals, or (4) long-lived gods, or in the human realm among (5) barbarians or (6) extremists, (7) in places where the Buddhist teachings do not exist, or (8) without adequate faculties to understand the teachings where they do exist.

In the context of Buddhist philosophy, one way to describe experience in terms of eighteen elements (eye, form, and eye consciousness; ear, sound, and ear consciousness; nose, smell, and nose consciousness; tongue, taste, and tongue consciousness; body, touch, and body consciousness; and mind, mental phenomena, and mind consciousness).This also refers to the elements of the world, which can be enumerated as four, five, or six. The four elements are earth, water, fire, and air. A fifth, space, is often added, and the sixth is consciousness.

Name of a past buddha.

One of several different epithets, as applied to authentic monks or practitioners, that are paired with “liberated” (mukta, grol ba). Others in this text are [having] “knowledge” and “coherent,” q.v.; see also n.­1. The Tibetan ldan pa in this context may be an alternative to rigs pa as a rendering of a single Sanskrit term in the source text, or a closely related term. The most literal meaning is “joined” or “connected,” but the specific sense is set out in 9.­72–9.­74.

An alternate name for the monk Apprehending Origination who was in the lineage of Buddha Mahāvyūha and the name of the order founded by that monk after Mahāvyūha entered parinirvāṇa.

One of the twelve branches of scripture or aspects of the Dharma. Literally meaning “vast” or “extensive,” it refers to a particular set of lengthy sūtras or collections of sūtras that provides a comprehensive overview of Buddhist thought and practice. This category includes individual works such as the Lalitavistara and Saddharma­puṇḍarīka and collections such as the Mahā­sannipāta, Buddhāvataṃsaka, Ratnakūta, and Prajñāpāramitā.

Acts for which one will be reborn in hell immediately after death, without any intervening stages; they include killing one’s mother, one’s father, or an arhat, causing a schism in the saṅgha, and causing the blood of a thus-gone one to flow.

The four levels of meditative concentration, corresponding to the four levels of the form realm.

Four gods who live on the lower slopes (fourth level) of Mount Meru in the Heaven of the Four Great Kings and guard the four cardinal directions. Each is the leader of a semidivine class of beings living in his realm. They are Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, and Vaiśravaṇa.

The four acceptable norms of behavior concern posture while walking, standing, sitting, and lying down.

A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”

An epithet of the Buddha.

One of the eight hot hells.

One of the six heavens of the desire realm.

One of the eight hot hells.

A term for any view that leads to further suffering in saṃsāra instead of liberation.

The five supernatural abilities attained through realization and yogic accomplishment: divine sight, divine hearing, knowing how to manifest miracles, remembering previous lives, and knowing the minds of others. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)

One of the eight hot hells.

Name of a king.

A buddha in the southwestern direction.

Transcendent or discriminating awareness; the mind that sees the ultimate truth. One of the six perfections of the bodhisattva.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

One of the eight hot hells.

The name of the southern continent in Buddhist cosmology, which can signify either the known human world, or more specifically the Indian subcontinent, literally “the jambu island/continent.” Jambu is the name used for a range of plum-like fruits from trees belonging to the genus Szygium, particularly Szygium jambos and Szygium cumini, and it has commonly been rendered “rose apple,” although “black plum” may be a less misleading term. Among various explanations given for the continent being so named, one (in the Abhidharmakośa) is that a jambu tree grows in its northern mountains beside Lake Anavatapta, mythically considered the source of the four great rivers of India, and that the continent is therefore named from the tree or the fruit. Jambudvīpa has the Vajrāsana at its center and is the only continent upon which buddhas attain awakening.

The name of a monk identified as a contemporary of Śākyamuni who taught an impure Dharma.

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

Name of a past buddha. The Sanskrit literally means “one belonging to Kauṇḍinya’s lineage/family/clan.”

“Having knowledge” is one of several different epithets, as applied to authentic monks or practitioners, that are paired with “liberated” (mukta, grol ba), and is the most usual. Others in this text are “coherent” and “equipped,” q.v.; see also n.­1. In later literature the knowledge to which this term refers is usually explained as knowing truly, knowing to the full extent, and knowing with inner wisdom.

The name of a monk identified as a contemporary of Śākyamuni who taught an impure Dharma.

A class of spirit-deity. The name uses a play on the word āṇḍa, which means “egg” but is also a euphemism for testicle. Thus, they are often depicted as having testicles as big as pots (from khumba, or “pot”).

A royal palace located in central Tibet, which is famous for giving its name to the catalog of translated canonical texts produced up to the early ninth century. Also called Denkar (ldan dkar).

A quality or criterion applied in this text to authentic monks or practitioners that summarizes their having rid themselves of hindrances to awakening, paired with several different epithets describing their positive qualities; see “knowledge,” “coherent,” and “equipped”; see also n.­1. In later literature the liberation to which this term refers is usually explained as being from attachment, obstruction, and the obscuration of inferior outlook.

While this term is used as a name for the ancient materialists, it can also refer to non-Buddhists in general.

The sixth heaven of the form realm

Name of a king.

One of the most important followers of the Buddha. Leadership of the saṅgha passed to Mahākāśyapa after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa.

Name of a king.

Name of a past buddha.

The bodhisattva Maitreya is an important figure in many Buddhist traditions, where he is unanimously regarded as the buddha of the future era. He is said to currently reside in the heaven of Tuṣita, as Śākyamuni’s regent, where he awaits the proper time to take his final rebirth and become the fifth buddha in the Fortunate Eon, reestablishing the Dharma in this world after the teachings of the current buddha have disappeared. Within the Mahāyāna sūtras, Maitreya is elevated to the same status as other central bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, and his name appears frequently in sūtras, either as the Buddha’s interlocutor or as a teacher of the Dharma. Maitreya literally means “Loving One.” He is also known as Ajita, meaning “Invincible.”For more information on Maitreya, see, for example, the introduction to Maitreya’s Setting Out (Toh 198).

Name of a king.

A demonic entity synonymous with the negative forms of conduct, the afflictions, and the deception that binds beings to saṃsāra.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, paired with Śāriputra. He was renowned for his miraculous powers. His family clan was descended from Mudgala, hence his name Maudgalyā­yana, “the son of Mudgala’s descendants.” Respectfully referred to as Mahā­maudgalyā­yana, “Great Maudgalyāyana.”

According to ancient Buddhist cosmology, this is the great mountain forming the axis of the universe. At its summit is Sudarśana, home of Śakra and his thirty-two gods, and on its flanks live the asuras. The mount has four sides facing the cardinal directions, each of which is made of a different precious stone. Surrounding it are several mountain ranges and the great ocean where the four principal island continents lie: in the south, Jambudvīpa (our world); in the west, Godānīya; in the north, Uttarakuru; and in the east, Pūrvavideha. Above it are the abodes of the desire realm gods. It is variously referred to as Meru, Mount Meru, Sumeru, and Mount Sumeru.

A class of nonhuman beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments, where they guard wealth and sometimes also teachings. Nāgas are associated with serpents and have a snakelike appearance. In Buddhist art and in written accounts, they are regularly portrayed as half human and half snake, and they are also said to have the ability to change into human form. Some nāgas are Dharma protectors, but they can also bring retribution if they are disturbed. They may likewise fight one another, wage war, and destroy the lands of others by causing lightning, hail, and flooding.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

Non-Buddhist religious mendicants, often referring to Jains, who eschew clothing and possessions.

Those of other religious or philosophical orders, contemporary with the early Buddhist order, including Jains, Jaṭilas, Ājīvikas, and Cārvākas. Tīrthika (“forder”) literally translates as “one belonging to or associated with (possessive suffix –ika) stairs for landing or for descent into a river,” or “a bathing place,” or “a place of pilgrimage on the banks of sacred streams” (Monier-Williams). The term may have originally referred to temple priests at river crossings or fords where travelers propitiated a deity before crossing. The Sanskrit term seems to have undergone metonymic transfer in referring to those able to ford the turbulent river of saṃsāra (as in the Jain tīrthaṅkaras, “ford makers”), and it came to be used in Buddhist sources to refer to teachers of rival religious traditions. The Sanskrit term is closely rendered by the Tibetan mu stegs pa: “those on the steps (stegs pa) at the edge (mu).”

One who has achieved the third of the four levels of attainment on the śrāvaka path and will not be reborn in the desire realm any longer.

A ceremony marking the end of the rains retreat and the point at which the laity is once again allowed to make offerings of robes and provisions to the monastic saṅgha.

One who has achieved the second of the four levels of attainment on the śrāvaka path and will have only one more rebirth before attaining liberation.

Tibetan translator of the ninth century.

A term that designates people with various kinds of unclear gender status, including but not restricted to physical intersex conditions and hermaphrodites. It can also refer to a eunuch, or, according to the Vinaya account of the expulsion of a paṇḍaka, a male who has sought other males to have sex with him. See also the glossary entry in Miller (2018). It can also be applied to a transgender male.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

Name of a past buddha.

Name of a king.

Prātimokṣa is the name given to the code of conduct binding on monks and nuns. The term can be used to refer both to the disciplinary rules themselves and to the texts from the Vinaya that contain them. There are multiple recensions of the Prātimokṣa, each transmitted by a different monastic fraternity in ancient and medieval India. Three remain living traditions, one of them the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya of Tibetan Buddhism. Though the numbers of rules vary across the different recensions, they are all organized according to the same principles and with the same disciplinary categories. It is customary for monastics to recite the Prātimokṣa Sūtra fortnightly. According to some Mahāyāna sūtras, a separate set of prātimokṣa rules exists for bodhisattvas, which are based on bodhisattva conduct as taught in that vehicle.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

The name of a monk in the lineage of the buddha Mahāvyūha and the name of the order founded by that monk after Mahāvyūha entered parinirvāṇa.

Lit. “brahma conduct,” in Buddhist traditions this term denotes the conduct of those who have renounced worldly life and entered the ordained sangha to devote themselves to spiritual study and practice.

One of the ten principal pupils of the Buddha. He was foremost in his ability to teach the Dharma.

One of the eight hot hells.

The location near Vārāṇasī where the Buddha first turned the wheel of Dharma.

The fourth buddha of the fortunate eon and the primary buddha associated with the revelation of the Buddhist teachings in the current age.

Name of a past buddha.

Name of a past buddha.

Name of a past buddha.

Name of a past buddha.

Name of a past buddha.

See “Śāriputra.”

One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, he was renowned for his discipline and for having been praised by the Buddha as foremost of the wise (often paired with Maudgalyā­yana, who was praised as foremost in the capacity for miraculous powers). His father, Tiṣya, to honor Śāriputra’s mother, Śārikā, named him Śāradvatīputra, or, in its contracted form, Śāriputra, meaning “Śārikā’s Son.”

Name of a past buddha.

The name of a monk identified as a contemporary of Śākyamuni who taught an impure Dharma. It is possible that this figure is synonymous with the teacher Nirgrantha Jñātiputra, one of the six famous heretical teachers that were contemporaries of the Buddha Śākyamuni. Nirgrantha Jñātiputra is often believed to have been associated with the Jain traditions.

These can be listed as twelve or as six sense sources (sometimes also called sense fields, bases of cognition, or simply āyatanas).In the context of epistemology, it is one way of describing experience and the world in terms of twelve sense sources, which can be divided into inner and outer sense sources, namely: (1–2) eye and form, (3–4) ear and sound, (5–6) nose and odor, (7–8) tongue and taste, (9–10) body and touch, (11–12) mind and mental phenomena.In the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, only six sense sources are mentioned, and they are the inner sense sources (identical to the six faculties) of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

The most common list of seven buddhas is (1) Vipaśyin, (2) Śikhin, (3) Viśvabhū, (4) Krakucchanda, (5) Kanakamuni, (6) Kāśyapa, and (7) Śākyamuni.

These six teachers of nihilism, sophism, determinism, asceticism, etc. sought to rival the Buddha in his day: Purāṇa Kāśyapa, who negated the effects of actions, good or evil; Māskārin Gośāliputra, who taught a theory of randomness, negating causality; Saṃjāyin Vairaṭiputra, who was agnostic in refusing to maintain any opinion about anything; Kakuda Kātyāyana, who taught a materialism in which there was no such thing as killer or killed, but only transformations of elements; Ajita Keśakambala, who taught a more extreme nihilism regarding everything except the four main elements; and Nirgrantha Jñātiputra, otherwise known as Mahāvīra, the founder of Jainism, who taught the doctrine of indeterminism (Skt. syādvāda), considering all things in terms of “maybe.” They were allowed to proclaim their doctrines unchallenged until a famous assembly at Śrāvastī, where the Buddha eclipsed them with a display of miracles and teachings.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was the capital city of the powerful kingdom of Kośala, ruled by King Prasenajit, who became a follower and patron of the Buddha. It was also the hometown of Anāthapiṇḍada, the wealthy patron who first invited the Buddha there, and then offered him a park known as Jetavana, Prince Jeta’s Grove, which became one of the first Buddhist monasteries. The Buddha is said to have spent about twenty-five rainy seasons with his disciples in Śrāvastī, thus it is named as the setting of numerous events and teachings. It is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

A person who has entered the “stream” of practice that leads to nirvāṇa. The first of the four attainments of the path of the hearers. In this text this attainment is said to free someone from rebirth in the lower realms.

A foremost pupil of the Buddha, known for his profound understanding of emptiness. He plays a major role as an interlocutor of the Buddha in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.

The ultimate nature of things, or the way things really are, as opposed to the way they appear to unawakened beings.

Name of a universal monarch. One of the Buddha’s past lives.

Name of a king.

The name of a monk in the lineage of the buddha Mahāvyūha and the name of the order founded by that monk after Mahāvyūha entered parinirvāṇa.

Name of a past buddha.

One of the three trainings.

One of the three trainings.

One of the three trainings.

The largest universe described in Buddhist cosmology. This term, in Abhidharma cosmology, refers to 1,000³ world systems, i.e., 1,000 “dichiliocosms” or “two thousand great thousand world realms” (dvi­sāhasra­mahā­sāhasra­lokadhātu), which are in turn made up of 1,000 first-order world systems, each with its own Mount Sumeru, continents, sun and moon, etc.

This term has three meanings: (1) the ultimate nature, (2) the experience of the ultimate nature, and (3) the quiescent state of a worthy one (arhat) to be avoided by bodhisattvas.

Name of a buddha.

An ideal monarch or emperor who, as the result of the merit accumulated in previous lifetimes, rules over a vast realm in accordance with the Dharma. Such a monarch is called a cakravartin because he bears a wheel (cakra) that rolls (vartate) across the earth, bringing all lands and kingdoms under his power. The cakravartin conquers his territory without causing harm, and his activity causes beings to enter the path of wholesome actions. According to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa, just as with the buddhas, only one cakravartin appears in a world system at any given time. They are likewise endowed with the thirty-two major marks of a great being (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa), but a cakravartin’s marks are outshined by those of a buddha. They possess seven precious objects: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the wish-fulfilling gem, the queen, the general, and the minister. An illustrative passage about the cakravartin and his possessions can be found in The Play in Full (Toh 95), 3.3–3.13. Vasubandhu lists four types of cakravartins: (1) the cakravartin with a golden wheel (suvarṇacakravartin) rules over four continents and is invited by lesser kings to be their ruler; (2) the cakravartin with a silver wheel (rūpyacakravartin) rules over three continents and his opponents submit to him as he approaches; (3) the cakravartin with a copper wheel (tāmracakravartin) rules over two continents and his opponents submit themselves after preparing for battle; and (4) the cakravartin with an iron wheel (ayaścakravartin) rules over one continent and his opponents submit themselves after brandishing weapons.

Name of a king.

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 twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

A general term to denote a qualified spiritual teacher.

A twice-monthly ceremony performed by monks, nuns, and novices in which the ordained confess and repair any transgressions, thereby purifying and restoring their vows.

One of the eight hot hells.

Although the Sanskrit term jñāna can refer to knowledge in a general sense, it is often used in Buddhist texts to refer to the mode of awareness of a realized being. In contrast to ordinary knowledge, which mistakenly perceives phenomena as real entities having real properties, wisdom perceives the emptiness of phenomena, their lack of intrinsic essence.

This is a synonym for the realm of the pretas, or hungry ghosts.

A person who has accomplished the final fruition of the path of the hearers and is liberated from saṃsāra.

A class of semidivine beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons. They are often depicted as holding choppers, cleavers, and swords, and are said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.