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
Bodhi tree
Wylie: byang chub kyi shing
Tibetan: བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཤིང་།
Sanskrit: bodhivṛkṣa AD
The tree in Bodhgayā under which Siddhārtha Gautama attained buddhahood.
g.2
Devī Mahākālī
Wylie: lha mo nag mo chen mo
Tibetan: ལྷ་མོ་ནག་མོ་ཆེན་མོ།
Sanskrit: devī mahākālī AD
Also known as Śrīdevī Mahākālī. A wrathful Dharma protector who is often portrayed together with her servant Rematī. At times she is conflated with Rematī, so that the two appear to be identical. In the Tibetan tradition, she is better known under her Tibetan name, Palden Lhamo (dpal ldan lha mo). She is most often portrayed riding on a donkey and adorned with various wrathful ornaments and hand implements.
g.3
health problem
Wylie: nyes pa
Tibetan: ཉེས་པ།
Sanskrit: doṣa AD
Literally a “fault,” this term signifies a wide range of health problems that might be brought on by an imbalance of the humors (doṣa) or some extraneous cause that has affected an individual because of some kind of behavioral or physical fault or defect (doṣa).
g.4
Heaven of Controlling the Emanations of Others
Wylie: gzhan ’phrul dbang byed
Tibetan: གཞན་འཕྲུལ་དབང་བྱེད།
Sanskrit: paranirmitavaśavartin AO
The name for the highest heavenly realm in the desire realm, which is considered higher than the Nirmāṇarati gods who generate their own pleasing magical emanations.
g.5
Sovereign Goddess of the Desire Realm
Wylie: ’dod pa’i khams kyi dbang phyug ma
Tibetan: འདོད་པའི་ཁམས་ཀྱི་དབང་ཕྱུག་མ།
An epithet for Devī Mahākālī. According to The Tantra of the Flaming Ḍākinī (Toh 842), Śrīdevī Mahākālī prays that in her next life she may meet the Buddha and become the sovereign goddess of the desire realm. When this becomes reality, she becomes known as “Sovereign Goddess of the Desire Realm.”
g.6
vidyā
Wylie: rig pa
Tibetan: རིག་པ།
Sanskrit: vidyā AD
A spell.
g.7
Wife of the Demon
Wylie: bdud kyi yum
Tibetan: བདུད་ཀྱི་ཡུམ།
An epithet for Devī Mahākālī. According to The Tantra of the Flaming Ḍākinī (Toh 842), Śrīdevī Mahākālī was at one point tricked into marriage with the rākṣasa king Daśagrīva and so becomes known as “Wife of the Demon.”
g.8
Yama’s Sister
Wylie: gshin rje’i lcam mo
Tibetan: གཤིན་རྗེའི་ལྕམ་མོ།
An epithet for Devī Mahākālī. According to The Tantra of the Flaming Ḍākinī (Toh 842), Śrīdevī Mahākālī was originally born as a divine girl called Red Cāmuṇḍī. Her father was Mahādeva, her mother was Umadevī, and her brother at that time was called Yama Mahākāla. Hence, she is “Yama’s Sister.”