The afflictions are mental factors that afflict the mind and lead to unwholesome actions of body, speech, and mind, which in turn produce suffering. The basic afflictions in all schools of Buddhism are considered to be attachment (rāga/lobha), hostility (dveṣa), and delusion (moha).

There are four kinds of “noble persons” (āryapudgala) according to the Śrāvakayāna, characterized by the level of abandonment of ten kinds of fetters (saṃyojana) that bind one to saṃsāra. This is the fourth and final of the four stages of the realization of the supramundane path (and fruit), equivalent with awakening or liberation.

A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit one of the six types of worlds (loka) that make up saṃsāra. The asuras are the enemies of the gods ( deva ), vying with them in an eternal struggle for supremacy.

The famous bamboo grove near Rājagṛha where the Buddha regularly stayed and gave teachings. It was situated on land donated by King Bimbisāra of Magadha and was the first of several landholdings donated to the Buddhist community during the time of the Buddha.

In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term‍—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa‍—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).

A member of the lowest social classes in ancient Indian caste society.

In the sūtra Auspicious Night, Candana is identified as an army general from among the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. According to the Pali suttas, Candana is one of the yakṣa generals and a vassal of the gods of the four directions, also known as the Four Great Kings (Cāturmahārājika). In the Lomasakaṅgiyabhaddekarattasutta version of the Bhaddekarattasuttas in the Majjhima Nikāya (MN 134), as in Auspicious Night, Candana is the deity that illuminates the banks/park of the hot springs, but he is not identified as a general from the Heaven of the Thirty-Three gods. The Sanskrit word means “sandalwood powder,” which was considered a very precious substance.

See “son of good family.”

In the most general sense the devas‍—the term is cognate with the English divine‍—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth. The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable, it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.

See “deity.”

The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so it can refer to the special capacity to memorize and recall detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings‍‍—a spell or mnemonic formula that distills and “holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulae.

Literally, “Dravidian mantra words.” The Bodhisattvabhūmi defines Dravidian mantras as strings of syllables with no specific semantic domain. The fact that these mantras are specifically identified as “Dravidian” (Skt. drāmiḍa; Tib. ’gro lding) points to their origin among the speakers of Dravidian languages in South India.

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.”

Literally “sky-soarer” in Tibetan, a class of nonhuman being described as eagle-type birds with a gigantic wingspan. They are the traditional enemies of the nāgas.

A class of gods within the desire realm (kāmadhātu). Their presiding deity is usually considered to be Śakra, also known as Indra.

A woodland within the Bamboo Grove; in the Pali tradition the compound is usually interpreted as “squirrels’ feeding place,” but according to Tibetan sources kalandaka refers to a kind of bird. The exact referent of the word kalandaka is contested, and its etymology is unclear (see Mayrhofer 1956, s.v.). While in the Pali Buddhist tradition the word is generally believed to refer to a kind of squirrel (see Dhammika 2015, 61 and 110), the Tibetan tradition understood ka lan da ka to be a species of bird that nested in the Bamboo Grove. In the Pali tradition, kalandakanivāpa is the name of a locality in or near the Veṇuvana, the Bamboo Grove north of the ancient town of Rājagṛha, in which a certain king had placed food (nivāpa) for the squirrels. According to legend, a tree spirit in the form of a squirrel had warned the intoxicated, sleeping, and unattended king that a venomous snake was approaching to bite him. Out of gratitude, the king ordered that the squirrels be fed regularly. According to Tibetan sources, King Bimbisāra of Magadha confiscated the park that was later to become the Bamboo Grove from a local landowner. The landowner, angry about the expropriation, took rebirth as a venomous snake in that park. One day, when Bimbisāra and his attendants had fallen asleep after a picnic in the park, the snake approached to bite the king. Some kalandaka birds, however, saw the snake and seized it. Their cries awoke one of the king’s wives, who then killed the snake, thus saving the king’s life. As a sign of his gratitude, Bimbisāra planted bamboo that the birds especially liked (cf. Rockhill 1884, 43–44, for a translation of the Kangyur passage relating this story). According to some Chinese sources kalandaka is the name of the person who donated the Bamboo Grove to the Buddha (for references, see Vinītā 2010, 415 and 417, footnote b). We have followed the Tibetan interpretation in our translation.

The second heaven of the desire realm, located above Mount Meru and reigned over by Indra and thirty-two other gods.

ta po ta (or ta la po ta?) is the Tibetan transliteration of the Pali and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit word tapodā (or tapoda), which, in the Pali texts, designates a hot spring outside of ancient Rājagṛha. This site, together with its surrounding area, the tapodārāma (Hot Springs Park), was favored as a bathing place by the early Buddhist saṅgha. The hot springs are in operation, even today, near the Veṇuvana site in Rajgir.

Vidyāmantras are incantations that, by extension of the literal meaning of the Sanskrit word, are believed to encapsulate and invoke hidden or spiritual knowledge in their syllables, which themselves are considered magically potent. In tantric texts, vidyās and vidyāmantras take the form of or can appear as female deities.

The transitional, discarnate state of a sentient being between death and rebirth, classically said to last up to forty-nine days. Its existence was and is not accepted by all Buddhist schools (not, e.g., by the Theravādins).

A class of nonhuman beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name‍—which means “is that human?”‍—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal. They are often depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.

Vehicle or path of the bodhisattvas; when contrasted with the Śrāvakayāna with respect to its salvific power or goal, the Mahāyāna is characterized by the bodhisattvas’ postponement of their own liberation from saṃsāra and their aspiration to save all sentient beings.

Literally “great serpents,” mahoragas are supernatural beings depicted as large, subterranean beings with human torsos and heads and the lower bodies of serpents. Their movements are said to cause earthquakes, and they make up a class of subterranean geomantic spirits whose movement through the seasons and months of the year is deemed significant for construction projects.

A formula of words or syllables that are recited aloud or mentally in order to bring about a magical or soteriological effect or result. The term has been creatively etymologized to mean “that which protects (trā) the mind (man)”.

The Sanskrit aiśvarya can be variously rendered as “sovereignty or supremacy, mastery, or might, superhuman power, or omnipotence, etc.” The term refers to the mastery or sovereignty of a buddha gained through the training on the Buddhist path to awakening and through the development of superhuman abilities or superknowledges (abhijñā) thereby, such as clairvoyance, the ability to read others’ minds, and other magical powers like the ability to walk through solid objects.

A piśācinī renowned in Buddhist lore for her power to cure disease, avert epidemics, and pacify obstacles. She is often considered a form of Tārā.

A class of nonhuman beings that, like several other classes of nonhuman beings, take spontaneous birth. Ranking below rākṣasas, they are less powerful and more akin to pretas. They are said to dwell in impure and perilous places, where they feed on impure things, including flesh. This could account for the name piśāca, which possibly derives from √piś, to carve or chop meat, as reflected also in the Tibetan sha za, “meat eater.” They are often described as having an unpleasant appearance, and at times they appear with animal bodies. Some possess the ability to enter the dead bodies of humans, thereby becoming so-called vetāla, to touch whom is fatal.

A being from the Buddhist spirit world. See “piśāca.”

The Sanskrit preta literally means “departed” and generally refers to the spirits of the dead; more specifically in Buddhism, it refers to a class of sentient beings belonging to the lower or “bad/unfortunate rebirth destinies” (apāya).

The ancient capital of Magadha prior to its relocation to Pāṭaliputra during the Mauryan dynasty, Rājagṛha is one of the most important locations in Buddhist history. The literature tells us that the Buddha and his saṅgha spent a considerable amount of time in residence in and around Rājagṛha‍—in nearby places, such as the Vulture Peak Mountain (Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata), a major site of the Mahāyāna sūtras, and the Bamboo Grove (Veṇuvana)‍—enjoying the patronage of King Bimbisāra and then of his son King Ajātaśatru. Rājagṛha is also remembered as the location where the first Buddhist monastic council was held after the Buddha Śākyamuni passed into parinirvāṇa. Now known as Rajgir and located in the modern Indian state of Bihar.

A class of nonhuman beings that are often, but certainly not always, considered demonic in the Buddhist tradition. They are often depicted as flesh-eating monsters who haunt frightening places and are ugly and evil-natured with a yearning for human flesh, and who additionally have miraculous powers, such as being able to change their appearance.

An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni; the Sanskrit term connotes “silence” or “quiescence,” which is regarded as a central quality of sages. The Tibetan thub pa means “capable one.”

While this is usually a characteristic pertaining to Brahmins (i.e., born in the Brahmin caste to seven-generation Brahmin parents), the Buddha redefined noble birth as determined by an individual’s ethical conduct and integrity. Thus, someone who enters the Buddha’s Saṅgha is called a “son or daughter of noble family” and is in this sense “good” or “noble” and considered born again (dvija, or “twice born”).

The polysemous word chos (usually a translation of dharma) is used here in the sense of “qualities,” as when someone or something is said to possess particularly efficacious, good, or beneficial qualities. It also can mean “virtue” in the nonreligious and nonmoral sense.

Vehicle of the śrāvakas or hearers, i.e., the path followed by the immediate disciples of the historical Buddha, and those who follow them, that leads to the state of an arhat.

Literally “one who has fared well”; a common epithet for a buddha.

The term "teaching" renders here mdo sde, which usually refers to one of the collections of sūtras in the Kangyur. However, it can also mean the text of a particular sūtra or the teachings or doctrine contained in it‍—which is the case in this text.

A figure who takes on numerous identities in Buddhist literature, including a yakṣa bodyguard of the Buddha Śākyamuni, a bodhisattva, and an esoteric Buddhist deity instrumental in the transmission of tantric scripture.

Yakṣas are ambivalent nature spirits. According to Indian mythology, they inhabit trees, ponds, and other natural places, and serve as guardians of a certain locale. They possess magical powers, are shapeshifters, and can appear as helpful to and protective of the Buddha, his disciples, and the teachings. They can also be malevolent forces that create obstacles and illness.