The Vedic god of fire.

Lit. “Not Disturbed” or “Immovable One.” The buddha in the eastern realm of Abhirati. A well-known buddha in Mahāyāna, regarded in the higher tantras as the head of one of the five buddha families, the vajra family in the east.

A goddess.

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 type of ritual action.

A type of ritual action.

A type of ritual action.

This term refers to a wide variety of offering practices and substances. In most cases in which a bali offering is prescribed for a particular rite, it is accompanied by a clear description of the form and function of the offering.

An epithet meaning “noble lady” commonly associated with the goddess Tārā in Buddhist literature, it is also applied to other goddesses in the Buddhist and Hindu pantheons. In The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī, the term appears as either an epithet of the goddess Durgā or perhaps Mārīcī.

A type of ritual action.

The name of a text mentioned in The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī. The name of this text appears as the source for an excerpted chapter titled “The Mantra Wheel: A Jewel That Fulfills Every Wish.”

In The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī, this term refers to the transformation of a practitioner’s body into the body of a deity through adopting a particular hand mudrā and affixing the syllables of the deity’s mantra on the body.

A hand gesture associated with the bestowal of gifts.

The Tibetan translates both stūpa and caitya with the same word, mchod rten, meaning “basis” or “recipient” of “offerings” or “veneration.” Pali: cetiya.A caitya, although often synonymous with stūpa, can also refer to any site, sanctuary or shrine that is made for veneration, and may or may not contain relics.A stūpa, literally “heap” or “mound,” is a mounded or circular structure usually containing relics of the Buddha or the masters of the past. It is considered to be a sacred object representing the awakened mind of a buddha, but the symbolism of the stūpa is complex, and its design varies throughout the Buddhist world. Stūpas continue to be erected today as objects of veneration and merit making.

A location where dead bodies are burned, buried, or left to decay.

An ointment or concoction that is applied to the eyes. This is also the name of a type of siddhi that includes applying ointments of various ritually prepared substances to the eyes.

Literally “the agent who enacts the regional laws,” this term refers to the court of a king or any governing body.

A writing implement made from some part of a crow, presumably one of its feathers.

A measure of length. One unit is the distance from the elbow to the tips of the fingers, about eighteen inches.

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

A term for a magical spell or formula.

Cynodon dactylon. A species of grass commonly known as Bermuda grass or dhub grass.

A set of eight vidyādharas mentioned in The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī. The identities of these eight vidyādharas are not specified.

A type of ritual action.

A power that advanced practitioners gain by reciting the six-syllable Mārīcī mantra. It is not clear whether this term refers to the ability to enter doors to the hidden chambers of deities and nonhuman beings, to entering the bodies of other beings, or to both.

A type of ritual action.

A type of ritual action.

A unit of measurement that is roughly equal to one inch.

See “fire that consumes the world at the end of an eon.”

Perfumes, flowers, incense, lamps, and food.

Corn (dhānya), sesame (tila), mung beans (mudga), barley (yava), and white mustard (śvetasarṣapa) or māṣa beans (māṣa).

The five are either gold, diamond, sapphire, ruby, and pearl or gold, silver, coral, pearl, and rāgapaṭṭa.

A fever that returns every four days.

The name of the famous elephant-headed deity, a protector deity common to Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions.

See “Mārīcī.”

This phrase literally means “sun, moon, and fire,” but these three terms are correlated to the precious metals gold, silver, and copper, respectively.

In The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī, the goddess Mārīcī is said to be Vairocana’s “great consort.”

The name of a wrathful being (krodha) in The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī .

An array of symbolic hand gestures, which range from the gesture of touching the earth displayed by the Buddha upon attaining awakening to the numerous gestures used in tantric rituals to symbolize offerings, consecrations, etc. Iconographically, mudrās are used as a way of communicating an action performed by the deity or a specific aspect a deity or buddha is displaying, in which case the same figure can be depicted using different hand gestures to signify that they are either meditating, teaching, granting freedom from fear, and so forth.

One of the many names of the Hindu god Śiva.

A name associated with the wrathful form of Vajrasattva and the wrathful forms of several male deities in the Vajrayāna Buddhist pantheon.

A type of ritual action.

This phrase appears in The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī in conjunction for ritual actions that allow one to gain the favor of or enthrall kings.

The lord of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven on the summit of Mount Sumeru. As one of the eight guardians of the directions, Indra guards the eastern quarter. In Buddhist sūtras, he is a disciple of the Buddha and protector of the Dharma and its practitioners. He is often referred to by the epithets Śatakratu, Śakra, and Kauśika.

The name of a river believed to flow from the golden juice of the fruits of the great Jambu tree on 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.

A nāga king.

An iconographic or real implement in the form of a staff with a trident ending; it may have human skulls impaled on it.

A type of ritual action.

A nāga king.

Desmostachya bipinnata. A type of grass often used for religious ceremonies.

A type of blue semiprecious stone.

An epithet for Garuḍa.

An epithet for the deity Śakra/Indra.

A nāga king.

A name for the Hindu god Śiva.

An arrangement of mantra syllables, often (but not always) in a circular pattern, that is used in a variety of ways for the performance of different ritual actions.

The term mantrin can refer to a someone who has mastered or is otherwise qualified to employ mantra recitation, or it can refer to a counselor to a king.

Māra, literally “death” or “maker of death,” is the name of the deva who tried to prevent the Buddha from achieving awakening, the name given to the class of beings he leads, and also an impersonal term for the destructive forces that keep beings imprisoned in saṃsāra: (1) As a deva, Māra is said to be the principal deity in the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (paranirmitavaśavartin), the highest paradise in the desire realm. He famously attempted to prevent the Buddha’s awakening under the Bodhi tree‍—see The Play in Full (Toh 95), 21.1‍—and later sought many times to thwart the Buddha’s activity. In the sūtras, he often also creates obstacles to the progress of śrāvakas and bodhisattvas. (2) The devas ruled over by Māra are collectively called mārakāyika or mārakāyikadevatā, the “deities of Māra’s family or class.” In general, these māras too do not wish any being to escape from saṃsāra, but can also change their ways and even end up developing faith in the Buddha, as exemplified by Sārthavāha; see The Play in Full (Toh 95), 21.14 and 21.43. (3) The term māra can also be understood as personifying four defects that prevent awakening, called (i) the divine māra (devaputra­māra), which is the distraction of pleasures; (ii) the māra of Death (mṛtyumāra), which is having one’s life interrupted; (iii) the māra of the aggregates (skandhamāra), which is identifying with the five aggregates; and (iv) the māra of the afflictions (kleśamāra), which is being under the sway of the negative emotions of desire, hatred, and ignorance.

Lit. “With Light Rays” or “Radiant One.” The name of a goddess, often associated with sunrise and moonrise.

See “ The Tantra of Mārīcī’s Arising .”

“Mothers,” a class of female deities, typically seven or eight in number, who are common to both Buddhist and non-Buddhist traditions. Sometimes considered dangerous.

The name of a work mentioned in The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī. This work is also mentioned as the source text for The King of Ritual Manuals from the Tantra of Māyā Mārīcī’s Arising (Toh 565).

In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference without getting distracted.

A hand gesture that signifies the attainment of meditative concentration.

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 nāga king.

Literally “filler and pourer,” this term refers to the two ritual ladles that are used to offer liquid oblations into a fire.

A type of ritual action.

A nāga king.

A type of ritual action.

A type of ritual action.

See “Supīta.”

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, into which beings are born as the karmic fruition of past miserliness. As the term in Sanskrit means “the departed,” they are analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. It is also commonly translated as “hungry ghost” or “starving spirit,” as in the Chinese 餓鬼 e gui.They are sometimes said to reside in the realm of Yama, but are also frequently described as roaming charnel grounds and other inhospitable or frightening places along with piśācas and other such beings. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

A hand mudrā that signifies granting protection and safety.

The name of a lunar asterism.

The name of the celestial being (graha) associated with lunar and solar eclipses.

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.

A body relic from the Buddha.

A pill that consists of a relic of the Sugata that is then coated with various substances.

The lord of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (trāyastriṃśa). Alternatively known as Indra, the deity that is called “lord of the gods” dwells on the summit of Mount Sumeru and wields the thunderbolt. The Tibetan translation brgya byin (meaning “one hundred sacrifices”) is based on an etymology that śakra is an abbreviation of śata-kratu, one who has performed a hundred sacrifices. Each world with a central Sumeru has a Śakra. Also known by other names such as Kauśika, Devendra, and Śacipati.

Literally, in Sanskrit, “coming together.” Samaya refers to precepts given by the teacher, the corresponding commitment by the pupil, and the bond that results, which can also be the bond between the practitioner and the deity or a spirit. It can also mean a special juncture or circumstance, or an ordinary time or season.

The name of a nāga king.

Accomplishment or success in general, as well as any particular magical power or ability.

A type of ritual action.

A type of ritual action.

The goddess Mārīcī is visualized dwelling inside this type of caitya in The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī.

The name of a nāga king.

The name of a nāga king.

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.

The name of an important Yogatantra deity whose practices are outlined in the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṅgraha (Toh 479).

This appears as the name of a chapter or section of the text Blessed Mārīcī’s Supreme Secret in The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī.

The name of a work or perhaps the title of a chapter mentioned in The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī.

The name of a work mentioned in The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī.

Dawn, noon, and sunset.

Traditionally sugar, honey, and ghee.

In this context, the three types of metal most likely refer to gold, silver, and copper.

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.

A goddess.

The name of a tathāgata. Vairocana is the tathāgata at the head of the tathāgata family among the five families.

A person who has mastered the mantras, maṇḍalas, and other elements of a particular deity and their ritual practices, usually through being consecrated by and receiving direct instructions from another master of that tradition.

A Buddhist goddess related to Vajrayoginī with the face of a sow.

A nāga.

A goddess.

A term for a spell and the female being(s) associated with that class of spells.

A class of goddesses who are identified with the vidyā spells that bear their names.

A term for a specialist in rituals involving the recitation of spells ( vidyā ) and mantras.

A class of supernatural beings.

The female counterpart to the vidyādhara.

A class of malevolent spirits who create obstacles.

A type of bali offering mentioned in The Maṇḍala Rites of Noble Mārīcī, which does not specify the ingredients.

A mantra syllable that represents and is equivalent to the wind element. The actual syllable can vary depending on the particular ritual system.

A class of nonhuman 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, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa. Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.

A female yakṣa, a class of nonhuman 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, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa. Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the aforementioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies. They have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.

The wrathful aspect of Mañjuśrī.