The Chapter of the Teaching on the Threefold Restraint
trisaṃvaranirdeśaparivarta
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
The main palace of the abode of the yakṣas on Mount Sumeru. It is ruled by the great king Vaiśravaṇa, also known as Kubera.
A bhikṣu who previously had been one of the five companions who joined Prince Siddhārtha while practicing austerities and attended his first turning of the wheel of Dharma at the Deer Park, after the Buddha’s awakening. As he was the first to understand the teachings on the four truths, he received the name Ājñātakauṇḍinya, meaning “Kauṇḍinya who understood.” Also known simply as Kauṇḍinya.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of hawk. Identification uncertain.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A cousin of the Buddha Śākyamuni who became a bhikṣu and served for many years as the Buddha’s attendant. He is credited with having recited the sūtras from memory at the first council, convened to preserve the teachings of the Buddha after his parinirvāṇa.
The Buddha’s cousin and one of his ten principal śrāvaka disciples, Aniruddha was renowned for his clairvoyance.
According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
An optional set of practices that monastics can adopt in order to cultivate greater detachment. The list of practices varies in different sources. When thirteen practices are listed, they consist of (1) wearing patched robes made from discarded cloth rather than from cloth donated by laypeople, (2) wearing only three robes, (3) going for alms, (4) not omitting any house while on the alms round, rather than begging only at those houses known to provide good food, (5) eating only what can be eaten in one sitting, (6) eating only food received in the alms bowl, rather than more elaborate meals presented to the Saṅgha, (7) refusing more food after indicating one has eaten enough, (8) dwelling in the forest, (9) dwelling at the root of a tree, (10) dwelling in the open air, using only a tent made from one’s robes as shelter, (11) dwelling in a charnel ground, (12) satisfaction with whatever dwelling one has, and (13) sleeping in a sitting position without ever lying down.
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).
One of the five companions with whom Siddhārtha Gautama practiced asceticism near the Nairañjanā River and who later heard the Buddha first teach the four truths of the noble ones at the Deer Park in Sarnath.
A kind of tree.
A kind of tree.
Indian fig-tree.
A kind of tree, which is also known as the “karnikara” tree.
A kind of tree.
Head of the “sixteen excellent men” (ṣoḍaśasatpuruṣa), a group of householder bodhisattvas present in the audience of many sūtras. He appears prominently in certain sūtras, such as The Samādhi of the Presence of the Buddhas (Pratyutpannabuddhasaṃmukhāvasthitasamādhisūtra, Toh 133) and is perhaps also the merchant of the same name who is the principal interlocutor in The Questions of Bhadrapāla the Merchant (Toh 83).
This term refers specifically to a bhikṣu who has received ordination, the highest level of monastic initiation available in the Buddhist tradition. The Sanskrit terms “bhikṣu” and bhikṣuṇī literally mean “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs—like other ascetics of the time—subsisted on alms begged from the laity.
This term refers specifically to a bhikṣuṇī who has received ordination, the highest level of monastic initiation available in the Buddhist tradition. The Sanskrit terms “bhikṣu” and bhikṣuṇī literally mean “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist bhikṣus and nuns—like other ascetics of the time—subsisted on alms begged from the laity.
A kind of tree.
A kind of flower.
A kind of bird.
A bhikṣuṇī in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of flower.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A class of devas presided over by Brahmā.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsikā present in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of plant.
A kind of tree, which also known as “kher,” “cachou,” “cutchtree,” “black cutch,” and “black catechu.”
A kind of tree.
A kind of partridge.
A kind of tree.
A kind of tree.
An epithet of the Buddha.
An epithet of the Buddha.
Fifth of the five aggregates. Consciousness is generally subdivided into five sensory consciousnesses and one mental consciousness.
A kind of bird.
The relative nature of phenomena, which arises in dependence on causes and conditions. Together with the four truths of the noble ones, this was the first teaching given by the Buddha.
In Buddhist cosmology, this is our own realm, the lowest and most coarse of the three realms of saṃsāra. It is called this because beings here are characterized by their strong longing for and attachment to the pleasures of the senses. The desire realm includes hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras, and the lowest six heavens of the gods—from the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (cāturmahārājika) up to the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (paranirmitavaśavartin). Located above the desire realm is the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu).
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.
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 brother of Ānanda. He became notorious through his schemes to become the Buddha’s successor—to the point of attempting to kill the Buddha—and through the splitting of the Saṅgha.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of bird.
A kind of flower.
The term, derived from the Sanskrit root √dhṛ (“hold” or “retain”), refers to bodhisattvas’ enhanced powers of memory, which allow them to retain extensive teachings, as well as to their special ability to access teachings that have been encapsulated or encoded in short sequences of words or syllables; it can also denote those sequences of words or syllables themselves.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of flower.
A kind of bird.
A bhikṣuṇī in the audience of this sūtra.
Water that has the eight qualities of being sweet, cool, pleasant, light, clear, pure, not harmful to the throat, and beneficial for the stomach.
An epithet of Māra.
A upāsikā present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsikā present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsikā present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsikā present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsikā present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
This refers to the four confidences or fearlessnesses of the Buddha: confidence in having attained realization; confidence in having attained elimination; confidence in teaching the Dharma; and confidence in teaching the path of aspiration to liberation.
A kind of tree.
Refers to the five fundamental precepts of abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and consuming intoxicants.
A kind of tree.
First of the five aggregates. It refers to the subtle and manifest forms derived from the material elements.
One of the three realms of saṃsāra in Buddhist cosmology, it is characterized by subtle materiality. Here beings, though subtly embodied, are not driven primarily by the urge for sense gratification. It consists of seventeen heavens structured according to the four concentrations of the form realm (rūpāvacaradhyāna), the highest five of which are collectively called “pure abodes” (śuddhāvāsa). The form realm is located above the desire realm (kāmadhātu) and below the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu).
Fourth of the five aggregates. It refers to complex propensities that bring about actions.
The highest and subtlest of the three realms of saṃsāra in Buddhist cosmology. Here beings are no longer bound by materiality and enjoy a purely mental state of absorption. It is divided in four levels according to each of the four formless concentrations (ārūpyāvacaradhyāna), namely, the Sphere of Infinite Space (ākāśānantyāyatana), the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness (vijñānānantyāyatana), the Sphere of Nothingness (akiñcanyāyatana), and the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-perception (naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana). The formless realm is located above the other two realms of saṃsāra, the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the desire realm (kāmadhātu).
Love, compassion, rejoicing, and equanimity are called the “brahma-abodes” according to the commentarial traditions, because one abides with a mind like that of the deity Brahmā and because they are a cause to be born in the world of Brahmā. It is important to point out, though, that the original Sanskrit compound brahmavihāra does not specify the gender of the term brahman, which could therefore either refer to Brahmā as a deity or to brahman, meaning more generally “what is most exalted,” as is sometimes simply used in the sense of “sublime” etc. We have therefore attempted to retain the ambiguity by using neither “Brahmā” (which is by common convention used only for the deity) nor “brahman” (which is by common convention used only for “what is most exalted” etc.), but rather “brahma.” Note that the term
The four truths that the Buddha transmitted in his first teaching: (1) suffering, (2) the origin of suffering, (3) the cessation of suffering, and (4) the path to the cessation of suffering.
A kind of tree.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of bird.
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.”
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of tree.
In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.
One the five friends that were part of the second group to join the Buddha’s renunciate order under Yaśas’s lead.
A kind of flower.
One of the three “Kāśyapa brothers”— himself, Uruvilvākāśyapa, and Nadīkāśyapa. Before meeting the Buddha, the three brothers were engaged in fire worship while living as ascetics with their disciples on the banks of the Nairañjanā river. Gayākāśyapa is said to have had two hundred disciples. He and his brothers together with their disciples were the third group to join the Buddha’s saṅgha of bhikṣus.
A kind of flower.
A upāsikā present in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A particularly fine type of gold formed from the remains of the golden fruit fallen from the jambū tree and carried away by the Jambū river.
A kind of bird.
A kind of vine.
The four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind not only refer to the coarse entities by the same name, but also to minimal entities characterized by specific features (such as “solidity” for the earth element) and specific functions (such as “supporting” for the earth element). These elements are usually believed to be in principle invisible; all primary rūpa (“form/materiality”) is in principle invisible, while visibility is a type of secondary rūpa, which depends on the four great elements but is not to be confused with them.
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A kind of flower.
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
This refers to the sala (or sal) tree (
A upāsikā present in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
In Buddhist cosmology, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three is the second lowest of the six heavens in the desire realm (kāmadhātu). Situated on the flat summit of Mount Sumeru, it lies above the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Caturmahārājakāyika) and below the Yāma Heaven. It consists of thirty-three regions, each presided by one of thirty-three chief gods, and the overall ruler is Śakra. The presiding gods are divided into four groups named in the Abhidharmakośaṭīkā (Toh 4092): the eight gods of wealth, two Aśvin youths, eleven fierce ones, and twelve suns. The thirty-three regions themselves are enumerated and described in The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma, Toh 287, 4.B.2 et seq.).
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A kind of tree.
A kind of bird.
A kind of tree.
A kind of flower.
A kind of jewel.
The first time that a bodhisattva gives rise to the resolve set on awakening.
A kind of tree.
River that carries the golden fruit fallen from the jambū (“rose apple”) tree.
A kind of jewel.
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 kind of jewel.
A mythical two-headed bird that is said to live in the snowy mountains. It is described in Buddhist texts as having a melodious song and is depicted in Buddhist art as resembling a pheasant.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of tree.
A kind of jewel.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A frequent simile for softness, thought to refer either (1) to the down of the kācilindika or kācalindika bird (see Lamotte 1975, p. 261, n. 321), or (2) to a tropical tree bearing silken pods, similar to kapok, from which garments were made, and identified (Monier-Williams p. 266) with Abrus precatorius.
A kind of bird.
A kind of bird.
The name of a bird.
Possibly a kind of sandal, though it may also refer to benzoin.
A kind of tree.
A kind of flower.
A kind of flower.
A kind of bird.
A kind of tree, which also known as “wood-apple” and “elephant-apple.”
A kind of duck.
A kind of bird.
One of the Buddha Śākyamuni’s foremost śrāvaka disciples. Known for his prowess in ascetic discipline, he became the head of the saṅgha after the Buddha Śākyamuni passed into parinirvāṇa.
A kind of bird.
One of the members of a group of four bhikṣus described in the Vinaya as followers of Devadatta that attempted to create a schism in the Buddhist Saṅgha.
A kind of bird.
One of the Buddha’s main śrāvaka disciples, Kātyāna was renowned for his ability to understand the Buddha’s teachings.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
One of the members of a group of four bhikṣus described in the Vinaya as followers of Devadatta that attempted to create a schism in the Buddhist Saṅgha.
A race of beings said to live in the Himalayas who have the bodies of lions and human heads.
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
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.
One of the members of a group of four bhikṣus described in the Vinaya as followers of Devadatta that attempted to create a schism in the Buddhist Saṅgha.
The ruling caste in the traditional four-caste hierarchy of India, associated with warriors, the aristocracy, and kings.
A kind of tree.
A kind of aquatic bird.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of jewel.
This term has three meanings: (1) the ultimate nature, (2) the experience of the ultimate nature, and (3) the quiescent state of a worthy one (
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A kind of tree.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of tree.
An epithet of Śakra.
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni or buddhas in general.
A kind of flower.
A kind of flower.
A kind of flower.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
One of the Five Excellent Companions, with whom Siddhārtha Gautama practiced asceticism near the Nairañjanā River and who later heard the Buddha first teach the four truths of the noble ones at the Deer Park in Sarnath.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
The Buddha’s aunt and stepmother, the first bhikṣuṇī, who later attained the state of arhat.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
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.
A kind of tree, which is also known as the “Indian gooseberry” tree.
A kind of tree.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of heavenly flower.
Mañjuśrī is one of main bodhisattvas in the Great Vehicle sūtras. He is said to be the embodiment of wisdom.
In Sanskrit and Pāli, literally “maker of death” (Buswell et al, p. 530). Māra is a demon who notoriously assailed the future Buddha as he sat beneath the tree of awakening and similarly impedes the progress on the path of devotees in general.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, renowned for his miraculous powers.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of jewel.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
The modes of knowledge attained on the ninth bodhisattva level. There are four such modes: the correct analytical knowledge of phenomena (dharma; chos), of meaning (artha; don), of language or etymology (nirukti; nges pa’i tshig), and of eloquence (pratibhāna; spobs pa).
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsikā present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of flower.
A kind of tree.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
One of the three “Kāśyapa brothers”— himself, Uruvilvākāśyapa, and Gayākāśyapa. Before meeting the Buddha, the three brothers were engaged in fire worship while living as ascetics with their disciples on the banks of the Nairañjanā river. Nadikāśyapa is said to have had three hundred disciples. He and his brothers together with their disciples were the third group to join the Buddha’s saṅgha of bhikṣus.
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 bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of bird.
A kind of tree.
A kind of tree.
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of tree.
A term that designates people with various kinds of unclear gender status, including but not restricted to physical intersex conditions and hermaphrodites. It can also refer to a eunuch, or, according to the Vinaya account of the expulsion of a paṇḍaka, a male who has sought other males to have sex with him.
A kind of bird.
A kind of tree.
The name of a thus-gone one.
A kind of tree.
Third of the five aggregates. The mental processes of recognizing and identifying the objects of the five senses and the mind.
The trainings of the bodhisattva path. When brought to perfection, those trainings lead one to transcend saṃsāra and reach full awakening, hence they receive the Sanskrit name
A kind of tree.
A class of nonhuman beings that, like several other classes of nonhuman beings, take spontaneous birth. Ranking below rākṣasas, they are less powerful and more akin to pretas. They are said to dwell in impure and perilous places, where they feed on impure things, including flesh. This could account for the name piśāca, which possibly derives from √piś, to carve or chop meat, as reflected also in the Tibetan sha za, “meat eater.” They are often described as having an unpleasant appearance, and at times they appear with animal bodies. Some possess the ability to enter the dead bodies of humans, thereby becoming so-called vetāla, to touch whom is fatal.
A kind of tree.
A kind of tree, which is also known as “Karanj,” the “Indian Beech Tree,” and the “Honge Tree.”
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
Refers to five or ten powers. As five they are faith (Skt.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
“Prātimokṣa” is the name given to the code of conduct binding on bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs. The term can be used to refer both to the disciplinary rules themselves and to the texts from the Vinaya that contain them.
Literally, “buddha for oneself” or “solitary realizer.” Someone who, in his or her last life, attains awakening entirely through their own contemplation, without relying on a teacher. Unlike the awakening of a fully realized buddha (samyaksambuddha), the accomplishment of a pratyekabuddha is not regarded as final or ultimate. They attain realization of the nature of dependent origination, the selflessness of the person, and a partial realization of the selflessness of phenomena, by observing the suchness of all that arises through interdependence. This is the result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, they do not have the necessary merit, compassion or motivation to teach others. They are named as “rhinoceros-like” (khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpa) for their preference for staying in solitude or as “congregators” (vargacārin) when their preference is to stay among peers.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
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. Detailed descriptions of their realm and experience, including a list of the thirty-six classes of pretas, can be found in The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma, Toh 287, 2.1281– 2.1482.
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
One of the notorious “group of six” bhikṣus whose antics and heavy-handed interference prompted a great many of the Buddha’s injunctions on conduct.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
The name given to the five highest levels of existence within the form realm.
One the five friends that were part of the second group to join the Buddha’s renunciate order under Yaśas’s lead.
One of the main śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, known as the foremost in his ability to teach.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
The Buddha’s son and disciple.
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.
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 bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
The real nature, true quality, or condition of things. Throughout Buddhist discourse this term is used in two distinct ways. In one, it designates the relative nature that is either the essential characteristic of a specific phenomenon, such as the heat of fire and the moisture of water, or the defining feature of a specific term or category. The other very important and widespread way it is used is to designate the ultimate nature of all phenomena, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms and is often synonymous with emptiness or the absence of intrinsic existence.
A kind of flower.
A kind of tree.
An epithet of the Buddha.
An important śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha.
A kind of tree, which is also known as the “jambul” tree.
A kind of flower.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of tree.
The lord of the devas in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (
A kind of tree.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
Samantabhadra is one of main bodhisattvas in the Great Vehicle sūtras. He is known for embodying the conduct of bodhisattvas through his vast aspirations, offerings, and deeds for the benefit of beings.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of flower.
A kind of bird.
One of the members of a group of four bhikṣus described in the Vinaya as followers of Devadatta that attempted to create a schism in the Buddhist Saṅgha.
A kind of tree.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A fabulous animal with eight legs that inhabits the snowy mountains and is represented as stronger than a lion and an elephant.
One of the main śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, renowned for his pure observance of discipline. Also known as Śāriputra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
Second of the five aggregates. There are three types of sensation—pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral.
This term usually refers to the six sense faculties and their corresponding objects, i.e., the first twelve of the eighteen dhātus. Along with aggregates and elements, one of the three major categories in the taxonomy of phenomena in the sūtra literature.
A kind of fowl.
A kind of tree.
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
In Indic literature, the term śramaṇa is used to denote a spiritual practitioner who emphasizes the renunciation of worldly life for a life of austerity and monasticism. Buddhism and Jainism, among others, are considered śramaṇa traditions. The term is often used in contrast to brāhmaṇa, “brahmin,” in reference to a follower of the Vedic tradition, which emphasizes a householder lifestyle as the basis for spiritual practice.
A stock phrase used to refer broadly to two distinct systems of spiritual practice and religious orientation in early India. The term “mendicants” (
A renunciant who lives his life as a mendicant. More specifically within the monastic tradition it can also mean a novice, who, in the Tibetan
The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”
During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was the capital city of the powerful kingdom of Kośala, ruled by King Prasenajit, who became a follower and patron of the Buddha. It was also the hometown of Anāthapiṇḍada, the wealthy patron who first invited the Buddha there, and then offered him a park known as Jetavana, Prince Jeta’s Grove, which became one of the first Buddhist monasteries. The Buddha is said to have spent about twenty-five rainy seasons with his disciples in Śrāvastī, thus it is named as the setting of numerous events and teachings. It is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
The name of a thus-gone one.
One the five friends that were part of the second group to join the Buddha’s renunciate order under Yaśas’s lead.
A brahmanic ascetic ordained by the Buddha shortly before the Buddha himself passed away (Edgerton, 1953, p. 601).
One of the ten great śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha Śākyamuni, known for his profound understanding of emptiness.
Sunakṣatra was the personal attendant to the Buddha prior to Ānanda. Some sources describe him as a half-brother or a cousin. Despite being close to the Buddha, Sunakṣatra had no respect for him. One week after resigning from his position, he died and was reborn as a preta. His story is often told as a cautionary tale about disparaging one’s own teacher. In the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, Sunakṣatra is described as a bhikṣu who achieved the four levels of dhyāna but later lost faith in the Buddha (see Buswell and Lopez, 2014, p. 870).
The garuḍa bird.
A kind of bird.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of jewel.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
An epithet of the Buddha.
A kind of bird.
Divine guardians of the four directions, namely, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, and Vaiśravaṇa.
The sixth of the six perfections, it refers to the profound understanding of the emptiness of all phenomena, the realization of ultimate reality.
Body, speech, and mind.
The three modes of knowledge are the superior knowledge that is the realization of the recollection of former states (Skt.
A kind of tree.
Those of other religious or philosophical orders, contemporary with the early Buddhist order, including Jains, Jaṭilas, Ājīvikas, and Cārvākas. Tīrthika (“forder”) literally translates as “one belonging to or associated with (possessive suffix –ika) stairs for landing or for descent into a river,” or “a bathing place,” or “a place of pilgrimage on the banks of sacred streams” (Monier-Williams). The term may have originally referred to temple priests at river crossings or fords where travelers propitiated a deity before crossing. The Sanskrit term seems to have undergone metonymic transfer in referring to those able to ford the turbulent river of saṃsāra (as in the Jain tīrthaṅkaras, “ford makers”), and it came to be used in Buddhist sources to refer to teachers of rival religious traditions. The Sanskrit term is closely rendered by the Tibetan mu stegs pa: “those on the steps (stegs pa) at the edge (mu).”
A upāsikā present in the audience of this sūtra.
The largest universe spoken of in Buddhist cosmology, consisting of one billion smaller world systems.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of bird.
A kind of tree.
A śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha.
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 main śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, known as the foremost in his knowledge of the vinaya.
An unordained male devotee who upholds the five precepts of not to kill, lie, steal, be intoxicated, or commit sexual misconduct.
An unordained female devotee who upholds the five precepts of not to kill, lie, steal, be intoxicated, or commit sexual misconduct.
A kind of tree.
The chief of the so-called “three Kāśyapa brothers”— himself, Gayākāśyapa, and Nadīkāśyapa. Before meeting the Buddha, the three brothers were engaged in fire worship while living as ascetics with their disciples on the banks of the Nairañjanā river. Uruvilvākāśyapa alone is said to have had five hundred disciples. He and his brothers together with their disciples were the third group to join the Buddha’s saṅgha of bhikṣus.
A bhikṣuṇī in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of jewel.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of jewel.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A kind of crow. Identification uncertain.
One of the Five Excellent Companions, with whom Siddhārtha Gautama practiced asceticism near the Nairañjanā River and who later heard the Buddha first teach the four truths of the noble ones at the Deer Park in Sarnath.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
One the five friends that were part of the second group to join the Buddha’s renunciate order under Yaśas’s lead.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
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.
A kind of tree.
A kind of flower.
A kind of tree.
A kind of flower.
A upāsaka present in the audience of this sūtra.
A jewel that grants the fulfillment of all one could desire.
A collective name for the first three heavens of the form realm, which correspond to the first concentration (dhyāna): Brahmakāyika, Brahmapurohita, and Mahābrahmā (also called Brahmapārṣadya). These are ruled over by the god Brahmā. According to some sources, it can also be a general reference to all the heavens in the form realm and formless realm. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)
The preta realm, or the realm of ghosts, where Yama, the Lord of Death, is the ruler and judges the dead. Yama is also said to rule over the hells. This term is also the name of the Vedic afterlife inhabited by the ancestors (
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.
The son of a wealthy merchant in Vārāṇasī. After the five excellent disciples, Yaśas was the next to go forth and receive ordination. He was followed in short order by Pūrṇa, Vimala, Gavāmpati, and Subāhu, all five together being referred to as the “five excellent companions.”
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
The wife of Prince Siddhārtha and mother of his son Rāhula. She took up an ascetic lifestyle after his departure from the palace and later was ordained a bhikṣuṇī under Mahāprajāpatī. She attained the level of arhat and was declared foremost among bhikṣuṇīs possessing the superknowledges.
A kind of flower.
A kind of tree.
A standard measure of distance used in ancient India. The Sanskrit literally means “yoking” or “joining.” It is the distance a yoked ox can travel in a day or before needing to be unyoked. Sources calculate the exact distance variably, somewhere between four and ten miles.
A kind of flower.
’phags pa dkon mchog brtsegs pa chen po’i chos kyi rnam grangs stong phrag brgya pa las sdom pa gsum bstan pa’i le’u zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Toh 45, Degé Kangyur vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ka), folios 1.b–45.a.
’phags pa dkon mchog brtsegs pa chen po’i chos kyi rnam grangs stong phrag brgya pa las sdom pa gsum bstan pa’i le’u zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 39, pp. 3–107.
’phags pa dkon mchog brtsegs pa chen po’i chos kyi rnam grangs stong phrag brgya pa las sdom pa gsum bstan pa’i le’u zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 35 (dkon brtsegs, ka), folios 1.b–66.b.
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