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.

A cousin of Buddha Śākyamuni who broke with him and established his own community. He is portrayed as engendering evil schemes against the Buddha and even succeeding in wounding him. He is usually identified with wicked beings in accounts of previous lifetimes.

A nāga king; one of Buddha Śākyamuni’s past lives.

A belligerent nāga; one of Devadatta’s past lives.

Abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, intoxication, eating after noon, dancing and singing, and lying on an elevated bed.

Epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

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.

A female nāga.

A group of eight vows taken for one day on certain days of the month to restore one’s connection to the virtuous path. The Tibetan translation glosses the practice (rather than translating the original Sanskrit) as “reviving (virtue) and purifying (nonvirtue).” The vows include the traditional five “lay precepts,” plus the vows not to sit on high cushions or thrones, not to eat at inappropriate times, and not to engage in or listen to song or dance.

Indian sage or wise man (often a wandering ascetic or hermit).Here also used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

An epithet for the historical Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama: he was a muni (“sage”) from the Śākya clan. He is counted as the fourth of the first four buddhas of the present Good Eon, the other three being Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, and Kāśyapa. He will be followed by Maitreya, the next buddha in this eon.

An individual who, in his or her final life, attains realization by realizing the nature of dependent origination without relying upon a spiritual guide.

A nāga king; one of Ānanda’s past lives.

A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha­(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.