Literally “child snatchers,” the bālagrahaḥ are an important class of demonic being in both Āyurvedic literature and across both popular and institutional religious communities in South Asia and the broader South Asian cultural world.

The king of the “solar race,” from Puranic narratives, who is said to have brought down the river Gaṅgā from the heavens. He is identified in Buddhist texts as an ancestor of the buddha Śākyamuni; also, the name of a previous buddha.

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 type of evil spirit known to exert a harmful influence on the human body and mind. Grahas are closely associated with the planets and other astronomical bodies.

The remains of the golden fruit fallen from the legendary jambu tree and carried away by this divine river. It is considered to be a particularly fine type of gold.

A wrathful Dharma protector who is often portrayed together with her mistress Śrīdevī Mahākālī. At times she is conflated with Śrīdevī Mahākālī, so that the two appear to be identical. She is most often portrayed riding on a donkey and adorned with various wrathful ornaments and hand implements. Rematī is also known for her ability to inflict disease on others and retract it at will. In Kangyur literature Rematī is at times linked to the Indian goddess Revatī and also to the rākṣasī demoness Revatī. This link appears to have been made by the editors of the Kangyur.

A graha or goddess who harms children.

Revatī’s mother, according to this text.

The Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha‍—the three objects of Buddhist refuge. In the Tibetan rendering, “the three rare and supreme ones.”

Revatī’s brother, according to this text.

Revatī’s brother, according to this text.

This term generally indicates indestructibility and stability. In the sūtras, vajra most often refers to the hardest possible physical substance, said to have divine origins. In some scriptures, it is also the name of the all-powerful weapon of Indra, which in turn is crafted from vajra material. In the tantras, the vajra is sometimes a scepter-like ritual implement, but the term can also take on other esoteric meanings.

Vajrapāṇi means “Wielder of the Vajra.” In the Pali canon, he appears as a yakṣa guardian in the retinue of the Buddha. In the Mahāyāna scriptures he is a bodhisattva and one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha.” In the tantras, he is also regarded as an important Buddhist deity and instrumental in the transmission of tantric scriptures.

The Vedic god of wind, he presides over the southeastern direction.