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
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
Avalokiteśvara
Wylie: spyan ras gzigs
Tibetan: སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས།
Sanskrit: avalokiteśvara
One of the “eight close sons of the Buddha,” he is also known as the bodhisattva who embodies compassion. In certain tantras, he is also the lord of the three families, where he embodies the compassion of the buddhas. In Tibet, he attained great significance as a special protector of Tibet, and in China, in female form, as Guanyin, the most important bodhisattva in all of East Asia.
g.3
bezoar
Wylie: gi’u wang
Tibetan: གིའུ་ཝང་།
Sanskrit: gorocanā
A yellowish, fragrant substance obtained from the solidified bile of elephants and cattle.
g.4
bhūta
Wylie: ’byung po
Tibetan: འབྱུང་པོ།
Sanskrit: bhūta
This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.
g.5
Brahmā
Wylie: tshangs pa
Tibetan: ཚངས་པ།
Sanskrit: brahmā
A major deity in the Brahmanical pantheon presiding over a divine world where other beings consider him the creator. He is also considered to be the “Lord of the Sahā world” (our universe).
g.6
campaka
Wylie: tsam pa ka
Tibetan: ཙམ་པ་ཀ
Sanskrit: campaka
A type of flower, often identified as Magnolia champaca.
g.7
Candra
Wylie: zla ba
Tibetan: ཟླ་བ།
Sanskrit: candra
The moon personified as a deity.
g.8
dhāraṇī
Wylie: gzungs
Tibetan: གཟུངས།
Sanskrit: dhāraṇī
The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and as such 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 formulae.
g.9
extrasensory powers
Wylie: mngon shes
Tibetan: མངོན་ཤེས།
Sanskrit: abhijñā
Supernatural powers of perception gained through spiritual practice. Their number and type can vary, but they are traditionally given as a set of five: (1) miraculous abilities, (2) clairvoyance, (3) clairaudience, (4) knowledge of others’ minds, and (5) recollection of past lives.
g.10
gandharva
Wylie: dri za
Tibetan: དྲི་ཟ།
Sanskrit: gandharva
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.11
Gaṅgā
Wylie: gang ga ma
Tibetan: གང་ག་མ།
Sanskrit: gaṅgā
The Brahmanical goddess identified with the Ganges River.
g.12
halāhala
Wylie: ha la ha la
Tibetan: ཧ་ལ་ཧ་ལ།
Sanskrit: halāhala
A mythical poison, blue in color, created from the churning of the ocean by the devas and asuras.
g.13
Jambu River
Wylie: ’dzam bu’i chu bo
Tibetan: འཛམ་བུའི་ཆུ་བོ།
A divine river whose gold is believed to be especially fine.
g.14
kalaviṅka
Wylie: ka la ping ka
Tibetan: ཀ་ལ་པིང་ཀ
Sanskrit: kalaviṅka
In Buddhist literature refers to a mythical bird with the head of a human and the body of a bird. The kalaviṅka’s call is said to be far more beautiful than that of all other birds—so compelling that it can be heard even before the bird has hatched. The call of the kalaviṅka is also used as an analogy to describe the voice of the Buddha.
g.15
Kāmadeva
Wylie: dod pa’i lha
Tibetan: དོད་པའི་ལྷ།
Sanskrit: kāmadeva
The god of love and desire in the Brahmanical pantheon. In Buddhist literature, he is often associated with Māra.
g.16
kinnara
Wylie: mi’am ci
Tibetan: མིའམ་ཅི།
Sanskrit: kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “is that human?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal. They are often depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
g.17
Lord of Love
Wylie: dbang phyug rab dga’
Tibetan: དབང་ཕྱུག་རབ་དགའ།
An epithet of Kāmadeva.
g.18
Maheśvara
Wylie: dbang phyug chen po
Tibetan: དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit: maheśvara
A name for Śiva.
g.19
mahoraga
Wylie: lto ’phye chen po
Tibetan: ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit: mahoraga
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.
g.20
māra
Wylie: bdud
Tibetan: བདུད།
Sanskrit: māra
A class of beings related to the demon Māra or a term for the demon Māra himself. Māra and the māras are portrayed as the primary adversaries and tempters of people who vow to take up the religious life. They can be understood as a class of demonic beings responsible for perpetuating the illusion that keeps beings bound to the world and worldly attachments and the mental states those beings elicit.
g.21
Nārāyaṇī
Wylie: sred med bu mo
Tibetan: སྲེད་མེད་བུ་མོ།
Sanskrit: nārāyaṇī
Female form of Nārāyaṇa, which is another name for Viṣṇu.
g.22
nectar
Wylie: bdud rtsi
Tibetan: བདུད་རྩི།
Sanskrit: amṛta
The divine nectar that prevents death, often used as a metaphor for the Dharma.
g.23
neem
Wylie: nim pa
Tibetan: ནིམ་པ།
Sanskrit: nimba
Azadirachta indica.
g.24
Prajāpati
Wylie: skye dgu’i dbang phyug
Tibetan: སྐྱེ་དགུའི་དབང་ཕྱུག
Sanskrit: prajāpati
The Vedic deity associated with the creation of humanity and the human world.
g.25
rākṣasa
Wylie: srin po
Tibetan: སྲིན་པོ།
Sanskrit: rākṣasa
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.
g.26
sash
Wylie: ’og pag
Tibetan: འོག་པག
Sash, waistband.
g.27
Śiva
Wylie: dbang phyug
Tibetan: དབང་ཕྱུག
Sanskrit: śiva
Major deity in the classical Indian religious traditions. He is sometimes portrayed as one part of the divine triad that also includes Brahmā and Viṣṇu.
g.28
Tārā
Wylie: sgrol ma
Tibetan: སྒྲོལ་མ།
Sanskrit: tārā
Lit. “Savior.” Though often described as a goddess known for giving protection, she is variously presented in Buddhist literature as a great bodhisattva or a fully awakened buddha.
g.29
ten grounds
Wylie: sa bcu
Tibetan: ས་བཅུ།
Sanskrit: daśabhūmi
The ten levels of a bodhisattva’s development into a fully awakened buddha.
g.30
ten knowledges
Wylie: shes pa bcu
Tibetan: ཤེས་པ་བཅུ།
Sanskrit: daśajñāna
The ten knowledges, as given in the Abhidharmakośa, are (1) worldly knowledge, (2) the knowledge of phenomena (dharma), (3) inferential knowledge, (4) knowledge of suffering, (5) knowledge of the origin of suffering, (6) knowledge of the cessation of suffering, (7) knowledge of the path, (8) knowledge of others’ minds, (9) knowledge of exhaustion, and (10) knowledge of non-arising.
g.31
ten perfections
Wylie: pha rol tu phyin pa bcu
Tibetan: ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་བཅུ།
Sanskrit: daśapāramitā
A set of practices to be mastered by those on the bodhisattva path: (1) generosity, (2) discipline, (3) patience, (4) diligence, (5) meditative concentration, (6) wisdom, (7) skillful means, (8) strength, (9) aspirations, and (10) knowledge.
g.32
ten strengths
Wylie: stobs bcu
Tibetan: སྟོབས་བཅུ།
Sanskrit: daśabala
A set of powers or qualities specifically possessed by a tathāgata: (1) the knowledge of what is possible and not possible; (2) the knowledge of the ripening of karma; (3) the knowledge of the variety of aspirations; (4) the knowledge of the variety of natures; (5) the knowledge of the different levels of capabilities; (6) the knowledge of the destinations of all paths; (7) the knowledge of various states of meditation (dhyāna, liberation, samādhi, samāpatti, and so on); (8) the knowledge of remembering previous lives; (9) the knowledge of deaths and rebirths; and (10) the knowledge of the cessation of defilements.
g.33
utpala
Wylie: ut+pala
Tibetan: ཨུཏྤལ།
Sanskrit: utpala
A type of blue flower often identified as a lotus or water lily.
g.34
Varuṇa
Wylie: chu lha
Tibetan: ཆུ་ལྷ།
Sanskrit: varuṇa
Vedic deity of the waters (and sometimes the sky) who is also regarded as a protector of cosmic order.
g.35
Victor’s heirs
Wylie: rgyal sras
Tibetan: རྒྱལ་སྲས།
Sanskrit: jinaputra
A synonym for bodhisattvas.
g.36
vidyādhara
Wylie: rig sngags ’chang
Tibetan: རིག་སྔགས་འཆང་།
Sanskrit: vidyādhara
A class of semidivine being that is famous for wielding (dhara) spells (vidyā). Loosely understood as “sorcerers,” these magical beings are frequently petitioned through dhāraṇī and Kriyātantra ritual to grant magical powers to the supplicant. The later Buddhist tradition, playing on the dual valences of vidyā as “spell” and “knowledge,” began to apply this term to realized figures in the Buddhist pantheon. The term is often applied to practitioners of Buddhist ritual magic.
g.37
vidyādharī
Wylie: rig sngags ’chang ma
Tibetan: རིག་སྔགས་འཆང་མ།
Sanskrit: vidyādharī
A female vidyādhara.
g.38
vidyāmantra
Wylie: rig sngags
Tibetan: རིག་སྔགས།
Sanskrit: vidyāmantra
A sacred utterance or spell made for the purpose of attaining either worldly or transcendent benefits.
g.39
vināyaka
Wylie: log ’dren
Tibetan: ལོག་འདྲེན།
Sanskrit: vināyaka
A class of nonhuman beings that deceive, harm, or otherwise obstruct humans, especially practitioners. Their name literally means “those who lead astray.”
g.40
yakṣa
Wylie: gnod sbyin
Tibetan: གནོད་སྦྱིན།
Sanskrit: 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 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.
g.41
Yama
Wylie: gshin rje
Tibetan: གཤིན་རྗེ།
Sanskrit: yama
The Lord of Death who judges the dead and rules over the hells.