Glossary
Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language
This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.
This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.
This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.
The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.
This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.
This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.
This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.
g.1
Asura
Wylie: lha ma yin
Tibetan: ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།
Sanskrit: asura AD
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).
g.2
Bandé Yeshé Dé
Wylie: ban+de ye shes sde
Tibetan: བནྡེ་ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།
Yeshé Dé (late eighth to early ninth century) was the most prolific translator of sūtras into Tibetan. Altogether he is credited with the translation of more than one hundred sixty sūtra translations and more than one hundred additional translations, mostly on tantric topics. In spite of Yeshé Dé’s great importance for the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet during the imperial era, only a few biographical details about this figure are known. Later sources describe him as a student of the Indian teacher Padmasambhava, and he is also credited with teaching both sūtra and tantra widely to students of his own. He was also known as Nanam Yeshé Dé, from the Nanam (sna nam) clan.
g.3
Dānaśīla
Wylie: dA na shI la
Tibetan: དཱ་ན་ཤཱི་ལ།
Sanskrit: dānaśīla RP
An Indian preceptor upādhyāya from Kashmir who was resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries. He was a frequent collaborator of Yeshé Dé.
g.4
dhāraṇī
Wylie: gzungs
Tibetan: གཟུངས།
Sanskrit: dhāraṇī AS
From the Sanskrit verb dhṛ (“to hold”), the term refers to the ability to hold or retain the Buddha’s teachings in the memory, and the specific mnemonic formulas or aids to doing so, which also distill the teachings into shorter utterances. From there the term also carries a strong sense that such formulas or devices, when spoken or rehearsed in the mind, have extraordinary power to effect change in the world and in oneself.
g.5
gandharva
Wylie: dri za
Tibetan: དྲི་ཟ།
Sanskrit: gandharva AS
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.”
g.6
Heaven of the Thirty-Three
Wylie: sum cu rtsa gsum pa
Tibetan: སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ་པ།
Sanskrit: trāyastriṃśa AD
Second god realm of desire, abode of the thirty-three gods.
g.7
Jinamitra
Wylie: dzi na mi tra
Tibetan: ཛི་ན་མི་ཏྲ།
Sanskrit: jinamitra
An Indian preceptor (upādhyāya) from Kashmir who was resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries. He was a frequent collaborator of Yeshé Dé.
g.8
Lord of the gods
Wylie: lha’i dbang po
Tibetan: ལྷའི་དབང་པོ།
Sanskrit: devendra AD
Another name for Śakra.
g.9
Pāṇḍukambala rock
Wylie: lwa ba dkar po lta bu’i rdo leb
Tibetan: ལྭ་བ་དཀར་པོ་ལྟ་བུའི་རྡོ་ལེབ།
Sanskrit: pāṇḍukambalaśilā AD
Indra’s colossal throne underneath the Pāriyātraka tree in Heaven of the Thirty-Three (Trāyastriṃśa), which is made of a whitish stone and therefore resembles a “whitish woolen blanket” (pāṇdukambala).
g.10
Śakra
Wylie: brgya byin
Tibetan: བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
Sanskrit: śakra AD
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.
g.11
Unsurpassed Standard
Wylie: gzhan gyis mi thub pa’i rgyal mtshan
Tibetan: གཞན་གྱིས་མི་ཐུབ་པའི་རྒྱལ་མཚན།
Sanskrit: aparājitadhvaja RP
Name of the tathāgata from whom the Buddha received The Dhāraṇī of Dhvajāgrakeyūrā in a past life as a bodhisattva.
g.12
Vemacitri
Wylie: thags zangs ris
Tibetan: ཐགས་ཟངས་རིས།
Sanskrit: vemacitri AD
One of the kings of the asuras.