A collection of canonical texts with the purpose of presenting the Buddha’s teachings in a precise, systematic, and definitive way, using highly technical and impersonal descriptions and language. There are two traditional definitions of the word abhi-dharma depending on the sense of the prefix abhi-: (1) [teachings] pertaining to (abhi-) the Dharma, and (2) higher or superior (abhi-) Dharma. The second definition may point toward the fact that the mature Abhidharma is a body of Buddhist doctrine as well as a body of literature, not a mere reformulation and systematization of the Buddhist sūtras (see also the definition given in Abhidh-k-bh(P), 2, where Vasubandhu seems to employ both definitions in order to distinguish an ultimate and a conventional meaning of the word abhidharma). The word piṭaka means “basket” but is used in its derived or transferred sense “collection of canonical scriptures.” The piṭakas are usually Vinaya, Sūtra, and Abhidharma.

A class of devas belonging to the Pure Abodes (Śuddhāvāsa) in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

See “teacher.”

Any volitional act, whether of body, speech, or mind.

See “monastic renunciation.”

The son of Bimbisāra, the ruler of Magadha at the time of the Buddha, he committed patricide, usurped his father’s throne, and entered into a conspiracy with Devadatta to take over the saṅgha. He later repented and became a lay disciple of the Buddha.

A wealthy merchant in the town of Śrāvastī, famous for his generosity to the poor, who became a patron of the Buddha Śākyamuni. He bought Prince Jeta’s Grove (Skt. Jetavana), to be the Buddha’s first monastery, a place where the monks could stay during the monsoon.

One of twenty or twenty-four so-called secondary mental defilements/afflictions (Sanskrit upakleśa; Tibetan nye ba’i nyon mongs; a subcategory of mental states [Sanskrit caitasika/caitta] in Buddhist psychology [Abhidharma]).

The fourth of the four stages on the path to arhatship (Sanskrit āryapudgala) according to the Hīnayāna.

Describes an attitude of excessive pride or hubris.

See “śramaṇa.”

A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).

A popular genre of Buddhist literature; the Sanskrit has been translated as “heroic action” by Léon Feer. With regard to structure, avadānas are similar to the jātakas, with the difference that the protagonist of an avadāna usually is not the Buddha (with the exception of Kṣemendra’s Bodhisattvāvadānamālā). They often present moral tales or illustrations of the law of karma.

One of one of twenty or twenty-four so-called secondary mental defilements/afflictions.

The lowest and worst of the major hot hells according Buddhist cosmology.

From a wealthy brahmin family, Bakula is said to have become a monk at the age of eighty and lived to be one hundred and 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. He is regarded as the Buddha’s foremost pupil in terms of health and longevity. It is also said that he could remember many previous lifetimes and was a pupil of the previous buddhas Padmottara, Vipaśyin, and Kāśyapa. In this text, he is said to be the son of the king Dharmayaśas. However, according to Pāli sources, Bakula was the son of a householder of Kosambī; see DPPN, s.v. “Bakula.”

Four (supernatural) qualities or powers of the mind that help to gain the fruit of the path. They are aspiration (Skt. chanda; Tib. ’dun pa), effort (Skt. vīrya; Tib. brtson ’grus), concentration (lit. “thought, attitude”: Skt. citta; Tibetan bsam pa), and analysis (Skt. mīmāṃsā; Tib. dpyod pa).

The fourth highest class of gods of the Pure Abodes (Śuddhāvāsa) in the world of form (rūpadhātu); non-returners and those who have mastered the fourth dhyāna are reborn in the Pure Abodes.

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.

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 class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

A class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

In The Exposition of Karma, when not part of a name (e.g., bram ze to’u de ya; bram ze char ’bebs), this term may designate a Buddhist practitioner (especially when mentioned together with śramaṇas) and/or a person worthy of respect and a high social status (i.e., belonging to the brahmin class) independent of their religious affiliation.

A class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

The lowest class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

A member of the highest of the four castes in Indian society, which is closely associated with religious vocations.

No extant Sanskrit text of this sūtra has as yet been identified (see Kudo 2004, p. 263, n. 37).

A class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

Refers to the imperturbable self-confidence and certainty, based on first-hand experience, first-hand knowledge, expert skill, and maturity, of buddhas, bodhisattvas, or arhats in four areas: (1) the confidence of being perfectly enlightened as to all dharmas, (2) the confidence of knowledge that all impurities are destroyed for oneself, (3) the confidence of having described precisely and correctly the obstructive conditions (to religious life), and (4) the confidence of the correctness of the way toward liberation. While this reflects the meaning of the Sanskrit and the Pāli term, the Tibetan interpretation of this term is “fearlessness.”

One of the three mental “poisons” (Skt. triviṣa) and one of six fundamental afflictions (Tib. rtsa nyon; Skt. mūlakleśa).

One of the eleven virtuous mental factors (Tib. sems byung dge ba; Skt. kuśalacaitta), a subgroup of the mental states or factors associated with the mind (Skt. caitasika, caitta), according to the Abhidharma. According to Vasubandhu (in his Pañcaskandhaka), ngo tsha (“scruples, conscience”) is different from khrel or khrel yod (“embarrassment” or “shame”; here “decorum”) in that it is independent of others’ judgment of one’s behavior, and solely internal in that it contradicts one’s internalized values and one’s inner moral compass. See “decorum.”

Mental contaminants or “outflows” that negatively influence interaction with the external world; they are (1) the contaminant of sensuality (kāmāśrava), (2) the contaminant of existence (bhavāśrava), (3) the contaminant of ignorance (avidyāśrava), and (4) the contaminant of views (dṛṣṭyāśrava).

The timespan in which a world system or universe evolves and dissolves again according to Buddhist cosmology; a complete cosmic cycle.

One of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

See “ desire .”

One of the eleven virtuous mental factors (Tib. sems byung dge ba; Skt. kuśalacaitta), a subgroup of the mental states or factors associated with the mind (Skt. caitasika, caitta), according to the Abhidharma. According to Vasubandhu (in his Pañcaskandhaka), khrel or khrel yod (usually rendered “embarrassment” or “shame”) is different from ngo tsha (“conscience”) in that it is dependent on others’ judgment of one’s behavior and not solely internal. See “conscience.”

See n.­114.

The third highest class of gods of the Pure Abodes (Śuddhāvāsa) in the world of form (rūpadhātu); non-returners and those who have mastered the fourth dhyāna are reborn in the Pure Abodes.

See “confusion.”

One of the three mental “poisons” (Skt. triviṣa) and one of six fundamental afflictions (Tib. rtsa nyon; Skt. mūlakleśa).

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.

The historical Buddha’s cousin and the brother of Ānanda, he became notorious through his schemes to become the Buddha’s successor, which the Buddha vehemently declined, and through his splitting of the saṅgha (saṅgha-bheda).

Devas belonging to the realm of the four guardian kings at the base of Mount Meru, each the guardian of his direction: Vaiśravaṇa in the north, Dhṛtarāṣṭra in the east, Virūpākṣa in the west, and Virūḍhaka in the south.

The Sanskrit compound means “descent from the realm of the devas” and refers to the Buddha’s return to earth from the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, where he had taught the Abhidharma to his mother during a monsoon retreat. Here it is a toponym for the city or country of Sāṃkāśya, where this event is said to have taken place (see Edgerton, BHSD, s.v. “Sāṃkāśya”).

Special groups of monks in early Indian Buddhism who learned different collections of the Basket of the Sūtras (Sūtrapiṭaka) by heart and thus secured its (accurate) transmission.

A king, the father of Bakula.

A fortnightly (on the new and full moon–day, respectively) observance for Buddhist lay people. For one day, one vows not to kill, steal, engage in sexual activity, lie, use intoxicants, eat after noon, wear ornaments or take part in entertainment, and sleep on high beds. (More standard terms are Skt. aṣṭāṅga-samanvāgataṃ upavāsam; Tib. bsnyen gnas yan lag brgyad.)

As a technical term of Buddhist psychology, it is one of the twenty-four or twenty so-called secondary mental defilements/afflictions (upakleśa). It refers to the mental act of holding a lasting, persisting grudge, being vindictive, and so forth.

One of one of twenty or twenty-four so-called secondary mental defilements/afflictions (Skt. upakleśa; Tibetan nye ba’i nyon mongs).

Third of the four phases of the evolution (creation and destruction) of a universe according to Buddhist cosmology.

Sanskrit ānantarya here is a shorthand for pañcānantaryāṇi karmāṇi. These are five grave sins that lead one to fall immediately into the Avīci hell after death due to their severity: killing one’s mother, father, or an arhat; causing dissension in the saṅgha; and deliberately causing a Tathāgata’s blood to flow. But the exact number of items varies in different lists from two to three to five (see BHSD, s.v. “ānantarya”).

These are the five (pleasant) objects of the senses, namely, forms (Sanskrit rūpa), sounds (Sanskrit śabda), smells (Sanskrit gandha), tastes (Sanskrit rasa), and tangibles (Sanskrit sparśa/spraṣṭavya). In some Buddhist texts, they can specifically designate the enjoyment of dance, song, (vocal?) music, instrumental music, and, literally, “women” or sexual partners (Skt. nāṭyaṃ gītaṃ vāditaṃ tūryaṃ striyaḥ).

Five basic rules of conduct for all Buddhists (= Skt. pañcaśīla): abstaining from (1) killing, (2) stealing, (3) sexual misconduct, (4) false speech, and (5) intoxicants (alcohol).

The four attainments of the formless states are gradually refined and ever more abstract states of consciousness that can be achieved through intensive meditation and ultimately lead to an experience of emptiness that is free from subject-object differentiation. The names of the four attainments are (1) the Sphere of Infinity of Space, (2) the Sphere of Infinity of Consciousness, (3) the Sphere of Nothingness, and (4) the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Nonperception.

The ceremony of full or higher ordination by which a novice (śrāmaṇera) or a female postulant (śikṣamāṇā) is confirmed as a fully ordained member of the order of nuns or monks (see Buswell and Lopez 2014, s.v. “upasaṃpadā”).

The family name of the historical Buddha Śākyamuni.

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” (Skt. apāya); see also “realm of ghosts.” See also n.­119.

See “glory, renown, and good reputation.”

A stock phrase in (Buddhist) Sanskrit texts, each word of which carries a specialized meaning. There are other variants of this phrase in The Exposition of Karma, e.g., “glory, praise, renown, and good reputation” (grags pa dang brjod pa dang sgra dang tshigs su bcad pa).

According to some this may be an ancient name for the island of Sumatra. There has been a long debate about this toponym and which country or region in South or Southeast Asia it refers to, but so far no scholarly consensus has been reached.

A class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

A class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

One of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

One of the three mental “poisons” (Skt. triviṣa) and one of six fundamental afflictions (Tib. rtsa nyon; Skt. mūlakleśa).

See “saṅgha of hearers.”

The heaven of a class of gods of the world of sensuous desire (kāmadhātu); the gods here have the power to magically create whatever objects they desire.

The heaven of a class of devas of the world of sensuous desire (kāmadhātu); bodhisattvas reside in this heaven before their last rebirth in the world of humans.

The heaven of the highest class of gods of the world of sensuous desire (kāmadhātu); the gods here possess the ability to control the magical creations of others.

The heaven of a class of devas of the world of sensuous desire (kāmadhātu), ruled by Śakra/Indra.

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, engendered by anger and powerful negative actions. They are dominated by great suffering and said to dwell in eight different hells with specific characteristics. For the different lifespans of the Buddhist hells and short descriptions of the individual actions leading to rebirth therein, see The Limits of Life (Āyuḥparyanta, Toh 307).

Householders are “stay-at-home” (gṛhastha) Buddhist practitioners and meditators who have not completely given up worldly life, in contrast to those who have “gone forth” (pravrajita), i.e., originally itinerant, celibate ascetics, and monks and nuns.

One of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

The king of the gods (Skt. devānām indraḥ) of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three on the summit of Mount Meru.

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 identity of this person is unknown. In Benares he offered a meal to a pratyekabuddha, but only after the appropriate mealtime had passed; due to that, when he became a noble person himself, he arrived too late to obtain any food during the morning alms round.

Name for the sparrow and/or the Indian cuckoo; said to have a very sweet voice.

No Sanskrit sūtra with this title is known. The title may correspond with the name Kālaka or Kokālika, a partisan of Devadatta (see AN X.87); see Kudo 2004, p. 229, n. 2.

According to the Pāli tradition, he was the the son of King Śuddhodana’s family priest or minister (purohita) and was a playmate of the young Siddhārtha in their early childhood. As a counselor to Śuddhodana, he was sent by the Buddha’s father to invite the recently enlightened son to pay a visit to his former home.

The second buddha of the Bhadrakalpa or Fortunate Eon and the fourth of the buddhas of antiquity (Skt. saptatathāgata). Pāli Koṇāgamana.

An arhat.

The third buddha of the Bhadrakalpa or Fortunate Eon and the sixth of the seven buddhas of antiquity (Skt. saptatathāgata).

One of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

In Classical Sanskrit, kleśa means “pain,” “torment,” or “affliction.” As a technical term in Buddhist Sanskrit the word takes on the specialized meanings “impurity” or “depravity” which refers to a number of negative qualities of the mind that contribute to sentient beings’ continued existence in saṃsāra. The basic three kleśas are ignorance, attachment, and aversion.

A Buddhist monk who sided with Devadatta and defended him whenever the latter’s schemes were being exposed.

The first of the four buddhas who have appeared in this present Fortunate Eon or Bhadrakalpa, the Buddha Śākyamuni being the fourth. Or Krakucchanda is the twenty-fifth in the list of the twenty-nine and fourth in the list of the seven Buddhas of antiquity (Skt. saptatathāgata). Another Tibetan name is ’khor ba ’jig.

A class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

A class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

A class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

One of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

An ancient Indian kingdom that lay to the south of the Ganges River in what today is the state of Bihar. Magadha was the largest of the sixteen “great states” (mahājanapada) that flourished between the sixth and third centuries ʙᴄᴇ in northern India. During the life of the Buddha Śākyamuni, it was ruled by King Bimbisāra and later by Bimbisāra's son, Ajātaśatru. Its capital was initially Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir) but was later moved to Pāṭaliputra (modern-day Patna). Over the centuries, with the expansion of the Magadha’s might, it became the capital of the vast Mauryan empire and seat of the great King Aśoka.This region is home to many of the most important Buddhist sites, including Bodh Gayā, where the Buddha attained awakening; Vulture Peak (Gṛdhra­kūṭa), where the Buddha bestowed many well-known Mahāyāna sūtras; and the Buddhist university of Nālandā that flourished between the fifth and twelfth centuries ᴄᴇ, among many others.

One of the Buddha’s prominent disciples, said to have been foremost in ascetic practices (Skt. dhūtaguṇa).

One of the two chief disciples of the historical Buddha.

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.

Maitrāyajña seems to be an alternative name of Maitrakanyaka, the protagonist of the Maitrakanyakāvadāna (Divyāvadāna no. 38). The story told here is a retelling of the Maitrakanyakāvadāna.

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).

The thirty-two major and the eighty minor distinctive physical attributes of a buddha or a superior being.

One of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

A mythical king of the distant past.

The personification of evil and temptation in Buddhism; a powerful deity in the realm of sensuous desire who tried to prevent Gautama, the Buddha, from reaching awakening under the Bodhi tree but failed.

A philosophical school founded by the legendary Bṛhaspati and headed by Ajita Keśakambalin at the time of the historical Buddha. The school taught that all phenomena in the universe are produced by the five main elements‍—earth, water, fire, wind, and space‍—and that all events occur randomly through the interaction of the elements’ properties. The highest goal in life can thus only be the maximization of sensual pleasure; since no human action can influence the course of nature, striving for virtuous behavior and better rebirth is denied as fruitless. See also Jamgön Kongtrül’s Light of the Sun, folios 3.a–3.b.

See “Mahāmaudgalyāyana.”

In early Buddhism, when Buddhist monks were not yet permanently living in monasteries, the term designated an itinerant Buddhist monk living on alms.

In the general Mahāyāna teachings, the mind of awakening is the intention or the strong aspiration to attain awakening for the sake of all sentient beings. Its two aspects on the relative level of truth are famously summarized in Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra (chapter 1, verses 15, 16). The mind of awakening is known in brief to have two aspects: First, there is aspiring, or the mind of awakening in intention; then there is the active mind of awakening, or practical engagement. These correspond to the wish to go and then actually setting out. On the level of absolute truth, the mind of awakening is the realization of emptiness.

In the ancient Indian context, a vihāra was originally a place where the wandering vihārin monks would stay during the monsoon only; these later developed into permanent domiciles for monks. The Tibetan term gtsug lag khang refers to the house or temple where the sacred texts are kept and studied (see “ treatise ”).

The act of “going forth from household life into homelessness,” i.e., becoming a (mendicant) Buddhist monk.

The term bhikṣu, often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity. In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a monk follows 253 rules as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣuṇī; dge slong ma) follows 364 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically follow only ten).

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.

A plant native to the Indian Subcontinent, West Yunnan, and Indo-China that is believed to possess extraordinary healing properties and contribute to longevity. It is also believed to be very conducive to meditation practice. The Medicine Buddha is often depicted with a fruit or sprig of this plant. Here, the so-called yellow myrobalan fruit, Terminalia chebula Retz., is specified. See Meulenbeld 1974, s.v. “harītakī.”

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 king of a nāga clan.

An often-quoted sūtra in which the Buddha teaches the negative consequences of breaking the five precepts, and in particular inebriation by alcohol, to the layman Nandika; see The Sūtra of Nandika (Nandikasūtra, Toh 334). For an edition and English translation of the extant Skt. witness, see the Ārya­nandika­pari­pṛcchā­sūtra, in Vinīta 2010, pp. 97–114.

In Buddhist terms, a view or outlook that rejects the validity or truth of the law of karma and rebirth (see “wrong view of nihilism”).

The Sanskrit ārya has the general meaning of a noble person, one of a higher class or caste. In Buddhist literature, depending on the context, it often means specifically one who has gained the realization of the path and is superior for that reason. In particular, it applies to stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, and worthy ones (arhats) and is also used as an epithet of bodhisattvas. In the five-path system, it refers to someone who has achieved at least the path of seeing (darśanamārga).

The third of the four stages on the path to arhatship (Skt. āryapudgala) according to the Hīnayāna.

The lowest of the five classes of the gods that constitute the Pure Abodes (Śuddhāvāsa) in the world of form.

The so-called lower ordination to become a novice in the ordained Buddhist saṅgha; during the novitiate, aspirants observe ten precepts (for Theravādins and others) or thirty-six precepts (for Mūlasarvāstivādins) for a certain time before becoming fully ordained (Skt. upasampadā).

The second of the four stages on the path to arhatship (Sanskrit āryapudgala) according to the Hīnayāna.

In the Buddhist taxonomy of persons, someone who has not reached any of the four stages of the path (stream enterer, once-returner, non-returner, or arhat) and is still bound by the ten fetters (saṃyojana) that bind one to saṃsāra and who is thus contrasted with those four stages.

This refers to what occurs at the end of an arhat’s or a buddha’s life. When nirvāṇa is attained at awakening, whether as an arhat or buddha, all suffering, afflicted mental states (kleśa), and causal processes (karman) that lead to rebirth and suffering in cyclic existence have ceased, but due to previously accumulated karma, the aggregates of that life remain and must still exhaust themselves. It is only at the end of life that these cease, and since no new aggregates arise, the arhat or buddha is said to attain parinirvāṇa, meaning “complete” or “final” nirvāṇa. This is synonymous with the attainment of nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa). According to the Mahāyāna view of a single vehicle (ekayāna), the arhat’s parinirvāṇa at death, despite being so called, is not final. The arhat must still enter the bodhisattva path and reach buddhahood (see Unraveling the Intent, Toh 106, 7.14.) On the other hand, the parinirvāṇa of a buddha, ultimately speaking, should be understood as a display manifested for the benefit of beings; see The Teaching on the Extraordinary Transformation That Is the Miracle of Attaining the Buddha’s Powers (Toh 186), 1.32. The term parinirvāṇa is also associated specifically with the passing away of the Buddha Śākyamuni, in Kuśinagara, in northern India.

srid pa’i rtse mo refers to the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Nonperception, the highest possible form of existence in saṃsāra.

The highest class of gods of the Pure Abodes (Śuddhāvāsa) in the world of form (rūpadhātu); non-returners and those who have mastered the fourth dhyāna are reborn in the Pure Abodes.

A class of gods in the world of form (rūpadhātu).

The Tibetan reads “bird vow,” but most probably the “dog vow” is intended. See also n.­105

An ascetic (Skt. śramaṇa ) takes up a practice by which they imitate the behavior of an ox/a cow in the hope that, by adhering to this form of penance and discipline, they will gain heaven after death. However, in the Kukkurravatikasutta (MN 57), the Buddha explains that when this practice goes well, the result will be rebirth among dogs, and when it fails, rebirth in hell; together with the “dog vow” (kukkuravratika), this ascetic or penance practice was seemingly well known at the time of the historical Buddha.

An arhat/arhantī who reaches spiritual awakening through their own effort and facilitated by the immense stock of merit accumulated in former lives, without the help of the teachings of a Buddha in their last life.

A sponsor of young novices and monks, they must be at least ten years standing in the saṅgha. They confer ordination, teach, and provide their pupil with all the necessary requisites. See also “teacher” ( ācārya ).

See n.­125.

See n.­126.

See “Prince Jeta’s Grove, 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.

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.

The standardized name in Tibetan according to the Mvy (Sakaki 1361) is yul ’khor skyong. In the Pāli texts, Raṭṭhapāla is famous for having forced his parents to consent to his becoming a Buddhist monk by going on a hunger strike.

According to Pāli sources (DN 19: Mahāgovindasutta), Roruka was the capital of Sovīra, reigned over by King Bharata, who was the Bodhisatta in a former birth.

One of the five (or six) rebirth destinies corresponding to the unfortunate realms of rebirth. According to Indian Buddhist sources, Yama, as the lord of death, presides over the realm of the (hungry) ghosts (Skt. preta), but Yama himself is considered to belong to the divinity class of beings (Skt. deva ); his messengers are said to be birth, old age, sickness, and punishment, sent by him to remind us of the law of karma and to live virtuous lives. This term is also the name of the Vedic afterlife inhabited by the ancestors (pitṛ).

The Sanskrit and Pāli asura literally means “non-god” and is often translated as “demigod” or “titan.” A class of beings that rank between gods and humans, the asuras were expelled from their original home in the god realms due to their chronic jealousy; now they wage constant war with the gods in the hope of regaining their old home.

One of twenty or twenty-four so-called secondary mental defilements/afflictions, it is the jealous disparagement of others’ qualities.

See “roots of nonvirtue.”

See “roots of virtue.”

The opposite of the “roots of virtue.”

In most contexts designates the three roots of good, i.e., virtuous, states of mind: the opposites of the three mental “poisons” of greed (lobha), hatred (dveṣa), and confusion (moha). Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. “kuśalamūla”) translates kuśalamūla as “the root(s) of merit.” See 1.­18. For a different list of three roots of virtue, see Dharmasaṃgraha (Müller and Wenzel 1885, no. 15).

See “Jambu continent.”

A term for the original disciples of the Buddha, those who received teachings directly from the historical Buddha himself.

Name the buddha Śākyamuni in the Lalitavistara ( The Play in Full , Toh 95); he is the fourth Buddha of the Fortunate Eon or Bhadrakalpa and the seventh of the seven buddhas of antiquity (Skt. saptatathāgata).

As the Sanskrit title indicates, the brgya bsdus pa’i mdo may refer to another, so far unknown, Karmavibhaṅgasūtra and not, as has also been suggested, to the (lost) Sanskrit Saṁyukta-Āgama (see Kudo 2004, p. 283, n. 56). The Tibetan title means The Scripture in One Hundred Sections, and the Tibetan Exposition of Karma translated here does indeed consist of 101 paragraphs.

One of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

This source is so far unidentified. The illustrative story in the Karmavibhaṅga is not found in the known texts bearing the same title: the Pāli collection of the Buddha’s former birth stories (jātakas) contains a Sīhajātaka (no. 157), and Haribhaṭṭa’s Jātakāmālā contains a Siṃhajātaka (no. 32) (see Hahn 2007).

Another name for the river Indus and for the land along the river together with its inhabitants.

One of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

A noble one who in a former life gave a ball of cow dung mixed with cowhage to a pratyekabuddha for his bath.

The second-highest class of gods of the Pure Abodes (Śuddhāvāsa) in the world of form (rūpadhātu); non-returners and those who have mastered the fourth dhyāna are reborn in the Pure Abodes.

One of the four attainments of the formless states. Also a class of gods in the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). In this realm, there is no body, only mind; it is the result of accomplishing the formless meditative absorptions (ārūpyasamāpatti).

One of the four attainments of the formless states. Also a class of devas in the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). In this realm there is no body in this world, only mind; it is the result of accomplishing the formless meditative absorptions (ārūpyasamāpatti).

One of the four attainments of the formless states and the highest class of devas in the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu); also called Peak of Existence (Bhavāgra).

The third of the four attainments of the formless states. Also a class of devas in the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu); there is no body in this world, only mind. Rebirth there results from accomplishing the formless meditative absorptions (ārūpyasamāpatti).

One of twenty or twenty-four so-called secondary mental defilements/afflictions (upakleśa), the basis of which seems to be feelings of jealousy and anger. Edgerton translates pradāsa as “envious rivalry” (BSHD, s.v. “pradāsa”). In Pāli commentaries it is defined as “yugaggāha [imperiousness], grasping after preëminence for oneself over others, […] primarily, concealment of the good qualities of others, jealous disparagement, nasty disposition, ill-will” (BHSD, s.v. “mrakṣa”).

The Sanskrit literally means “one who strives” and refers to a Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist ascetic. Many different folk etymologies of the term exist (see Karashima 2016). In early Indic Buddhist texts, śramaṇa/samaṇa is often paired, i.e., compounded, with brāhmaṇa (see for example 1.­25: dge sbyong ngam bram ze). Due to a reference in Patañjali’s commentary on Pāṇini’s grammar, śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas are believed to have been two hostile groups in ancient India (see, e.g., Laddu 1991, p. 719). Others, however, have argued on the basis of evidence from the Pāli canon that the compound samaṇa-brāhmaṇa was used as a fixed expression that did not always refer to (actual) brahmins and śramaṇas as specific groups (see Bronkhorst, “A Note on Śramaṇas and Brāhmaṇas”).

No complete Sanskrit version of this sūtra is known (see Kudo 2004, p. 250, n. 22, for a summary of extant versions of this sūtra and further readings).

The capital of the ancient Indian kingdom of Kośala, it has been identified with present-day Sāhet Māhet in Uttar Pradesh on the banks of the Rapti. (See DPPN, s.v. “Sāvatthi.” The majority of the suttas in the Pāli Canon mention Sāvatthi as the place where the Buddha gave sermons.)

One of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

Literally “elder,” a respectful term for a senior monk or nun (seniority being defined by the number of years since full ordination); also the name of the sixteen arhats who are said to preserve the Teaching (Dharma) until the arrival of the future Buddha Maitreya.

The fourth of the four stages on the path to arhatship (Skt. āryapudgala) according to the Hīnayāna.

According to the Mvy., the Tibetan mchod rten should be used to translate both the Sanskrit stūpa and caitya (Sakaki 6999 and 7000).

The rājan (“chieftain” or “king”?) of the Śākya federation and the father of Gautama, the Buddha.

According to the Pāli Canon, a young man of the brahmin (priestly) caste, son of the brahmin Todeyya (Skt. Taudeya) of Tudigāma, who converted to Buddhism after hearing a discourse from the Buddha.

The unfaithful wife of the king of Benares.

The term sūtrānta (Pāli suttanta) is a synonym of the word sūtra; it can also designate the genre sūtra as a whole.

No information about this person could be found. He may be the protagonist of a (lost) avadāna? Alternate spelling: Śvabhrapada, Śvaprapada.

See Kudo 2004, pp. 250–51, n. 23, for parallel versions and further readings for this sūtra.

Name of a pratyekabuddha. On the Sanskrit form of the name, see n.­207.

The capital of a people called tāmalipta. Tāmalipta, present-day Tamluk, was an ancient Indian port city connected to the Bay of Bengal by the Hugli River.

Śuka’s father. In Pāli the name his Todeyya (see DPPN, s.v. “Todeyya”). He was a rich brahmin from Tudigāma who was reborn as a dog in his son’s house. The narrative frame of the Sanskrit versions and the Pāli commentaries of this sūtra contain his story, which is missing from the Tibetan translation.

In early Buddhism one who teaches the Dharma and Vinaya to novices and new monks and who can replace the preceptor (Skt. upādhyāya) if one loses one’s preceptor.

See “ten nonvirtuous courses of action.”

The ten nonvirtuous actions as they occur at 1.­133 (1) killing (prāṇātipāta; srog gcod pa), (2) stealing (adattādāna; mi byin par len pa), (3) sexual misconduct (kāmamithyācāra;’dod pa la log par g.yem pa), (4) lying (mṛṣāvāda; brdzun smra ba), (5) slander or malicious speech (piśunavacana; phra ma zer ba), (6) offensive or harsh speech (paruṣavacana; tshig rtsub po), (7) trivial or idle talk (saṃbhinnapralāpa; tshig kyal par smra ba), (8) covetousness (abhidhyā; chags sems), (9) malice or ill will (vyāpāda; gnod sems), and (10) wrong view (mithyādṛṣṭi; log par lta ba).

According to 1.­40, “walking the path” of the ten wholesome or virtuous actions consists in completely giving up their opposites, the ten nonvirtuous courses of action.

gtsug lag generally refers to a “sacred science or text, (relevant to the ṛṣi) […] or further, sciences or texts of the brahmans” from which the sense of treatise (śāstra) is derived. In Buddhism, gtsug lag is defined broadly as gsung rab (“scriptures”), gzhung lugs (“treatises”), and dam chos (“the sacred Dharma”) (see R. A. Stein’s Tibetica Antiqua III in McKeown 2010, pp. 126–29). Here it refers particularly to the teachings (scriptures, treatises, doctrine?) of the materialists.

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.

A king of a nāga clan.

The King of Rauraka.

Indra’s (Śakra’s) palace on top of Mount Sumeru.

An old Tibetan expression for khengs pa (“arrogance”).

The brahmin/ the priest and chief minister of King Ajātaśatru.

Literally “discipline.” A collection of texts that contain the rules of monastic conduct for monks and nuns and the rules and regulations of the order. One part of the three-partite canon of Buddhist scriptures (Skt. Tripiṭaka). The different Buddhist schools each possessed their own version of these three collections of scriptures.

The Gṛdhra­kūṭa, literally Vulture Peak, was a hill located in the kingdom of Magadha, in the vicinity of the ancient city of Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir, in the state of Bihar, India), where the Buddha bestowed many sūtras, especially the Great Vehicle teachings, such as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras. It continues to be a sacred pilgrimage site for Buddhists to this day.

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.

One of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

The view that holds that causes do not have effects and that the self is the same as one or all of the psycho-physical aggregates (skandhas) and that these are destroyed at death; mentioned together with “wrong view of eternalism” (śāśvatadṛṣṭi).

The wrong view or belief that the self exists in or as one or all of the psycho-physical aggregates (skandhas) or independent from them and that it lives on unchanged and eternally after death; mentioned together with “wrong view of annihilation” (ucchedadṛṣṭi).

For Buddhists, someone who does not believe in karma, the law of cause and effect or the moral retribution of actions.

The opposite of the fifth limb of the eightfold path of the noble ones (Skt. āryāṣṭāṅgikamārga).

A class of devas of the realm of sensuous desire (kāmadhātu). The Tibetan translation ’thab bral (“free of conflict/without combat”) derives from the idea that these gods, because they live in an aerial abode above Mount Sumeru, do not have to engage in combat with the asuras who dwell on the slopes of the mountain.

A measure of distance sometimes translated as “league,” but with varying definitions. The Sanskrit term denotes the distance yoked oxen can travel in a day or before needing to be unyoked. From different canonical sources the distance represented varies between four and ten miles.