The fifth of the thousand sons of King Araṇemin, who becomes the bodhisattva Gaganamudra and is prophesied to become the Buddha Padmottara.
One of the hundred names prophesied by the Buddha Ratnagarbha for 2,500 buddhas, presumably the name of twenty-five of those buddhas.
A southern buddha realm that the Buddha Śākyamuni sees.
One of the hundred names prophesied by the Buddha Ratnagarbha for 2,500 buddhas, presumably the name of twenty-five of those buddhas.
The eastern realm where the ninth son of King Araṇemin has become the Buddha Akṣobhya, and after Akṣobhya’s nirvāṇa, where the tenth son will become the Buddha Suvarṇapuṣpa. It will be renamed Jayasoma when the eleventh son, Siṃha, becomes the Buddha Nāgavinarditeśvaraghoṣa there.
The name that the Buddha Ratnagarbha prophesies will be that of one of his eighty brothers (the forty-second) when he becomes a buddha.
One of the hundred names prophesied by the Buddha Ratnagarbha for 2,500 buddhas, presumably the name of twenty-five of those buddhas.
One of the hundred names prophesied by the Buddha Ratnagarbha for 2,500 buddhas, presumably the name of twenty-five of those buddhas.
A bodhisattva who comes from the realm of the Buddha Lokeśvararāja to the Buddha Ratnagarbha
A term also translated as “patience” and “forebearance” in this text, and in others sometimes as “receptivity”; here, often in the context of its association with dhāraṇī and samādhi, the term is probably to be understood as related to “forbearance that comes from realizing the birthlessness of phenomena” (q.v.).
One of the hundred names prophesied by the Buddha Ratnagarbha for 2,500 buddhas, presumably the name of twenty-five of those buddhas.
The name of a buddha.
A buddha in an eastern buddha realm.
The name that the bodhisattva Saṃrocana will have when he becomes a buddha.
The eastern realm where the sixth son of King Araṇemin will become a buddha.
The five aggregates of forms, sensations, identifications, mental activities, and consciousnesses.
The eastern realm in which the bodhisattva Vīryasaṃcodana became a buddha.
A religious tradition begun by a contemporary of Śākyamuni, Makkhali Gosāla (c. 500 ʙᴄᴇ). Though prominent for some centuries, it died out during the first millennium ᴄᴇ. None of their own literature survives. They have been criticized as believing that everything is predetermined and therefore the individual is helpless to control outcomes. However, they apparently believed that an individual could actively progress to liberation through the practice of an ascetic spiritual path that prevented the development of more karma and the predetermined fate that it creates.
One of the thousand sons of King Araṇemin.
The highest paradise in the form realm, and therefore the highest point in altitude within the universe.
One of the hundred names prophesied by the Buddha Ratnagarbha for 2,500 buddhas, presumably the name of twenty-five of those buddhas.
The name that the Buddha Ratnagarbha prophesies will be that of one of his eighty brothers (the sixty-eighth) when he becomes a buddha.
The buddha whom the bodhisattva Akṣobhya, the ninth son of King Araṇemin, is prophesied to become in the realm Abhirati. His name as a bodhisattva and buddha is the same. At the time when this sūtra appeared, he was already a well-known buddha and later become important as the head of one of the five buddha families in the higher tantras. Śākyamuni states that he can see Akṣobhya in the eastern buddha realm Abhirati.
One of the thousand sons of King Araṇemin, who becomes the bodhisattva Vairocana and is prophesied to become the Buddha Dharmavaśavarīśvararāja.
The sixth son of King Araṇemin, who becomes the bodhisattva Vegavairocana and is prophesied to become the Buddha Dharmavaśavartīśvararāja.
The name of a previous incarnation of Śākyamuni as a cakravartin who gives away everything including parts of his body.
The eighth son of King Araṇemin, who becomes the bodhisattva Samantabhadra and is prophesied to become the Buddha Jñānavajravijṛmbhiteśvaraketu.
The buddha of the western buddhafield of Sukhāvatī, where fortunate beings are reborn to make further progress toward spiritual maturity. Amitābha made his great vows to create such a realm when he was a bodhisattva called Dharmākara. In the Pure Land Buddhist tradition, popular in East Asia, aspiring to be reborn in his buddha realm is the main emphasis; in other Mahāyāna traditions, too, it is a widespread practice. For a detailed description of the realm, see The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī, Toh 115. In some tantras that make reference to the five families he is the tathāgata associated with the lotus family.
Amitābha, “Infinite Light,” is also known in many Indian Buddhist works as Amitāyus, “Infinite Life.” In both East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions he is often conflated with another buddha named “Infinite Life,” Aparimitāyus, or “Infinite Life and Wisdom,”Aparimitāyurjñāna, the shorter version of whose name has also been back-translated from Tibetan into Sanskrit as Amitāyus but who presides over a realm in the zenith. For details on the relation between these buddhas and their names, see The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) Toh 674, i.9.
The buddha in the realm of Sukhāvatī. Later and presently better known by his alternative name Amitābha, while Amitāyus is most commonly used as the short form of the Buddha Aparamitāyurjñāna’s name.
A bodhisattva present at the teaching of The White Lotus of Compassion Sūtra.
One of ten names of a thousand buddhas prophesied by the Buddha Ratnagarbha, with presumably a hundred buddhas having this name.
The name of King Araṇemin in the latter half of The White Lotus of Compassion Sūtra.
The name of the king in the distant past who eventually became Amitāyus. Later he is named Amṛtaśuddha.
The ninth son of King Araṇemin, who becomes the bodhisattva Akṣobhya and is prophesied to become buddha Akṣobhya.
The Buddha Śākyamuni’s cousin, who was his attendant for the last twenty years of his life. He was the subject of criticism and opposition from the monastic community after the Buddha’s passing, but he eventually succeeded to the position of the patriarch of Buddhism in India after the passing of the first patriarch Mahākāśyapa.
The fourth of the thousand sons of King Araṇemin. He becomes the bodhisattva Vajracchedaprajñāvabhāsaśrī and is prophesied to become the Buddha Samantabhadra.
One of ten names of a thousand buddhas prophesied by Buddha Ratnagarbha, with presumably a hundred buddhas having this name.
One of the hundred names prophesied by the Buddha Ratnagarbha for 2,500 buddhas, presumably the name of twenty-five of those buddhas.
The seventh of the thousand sons of King Araṇemin who becomes the bodhisattva Siṃhagandha and is prophesied to become the Buddha Prabhāsavirarajaḥsamucchrayagandheśvararāja.
A realm in which the beings are only the height of a thumb, and the buddha there, Jyotīrasa, is seven thumbs in size.
The name of the eastern realm in which the fourth son of King Araṇemin is prophesied to become the Buddha Samantabhadra.
The crown prince of King Araṇemin who becomes, in that lifetime, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and who is prophesied to succeed the Buddha Amitābha in Sukhāvatī as the Buddha Samantaraśmyabhyudgataśrīkūṭarāja.
After Raśmi has passed into parinirvāṇa and his Dharma has come to an end, the buddha realm Virati will be named Aparā. The Tathāgata Ratneśvaraghoṣa will reside in this buddha realm and give teachings.
The name that the Buddha Ratnagarbha prophesies will be that of one of his eighty brothers (the twenty-first) when he becomes a buddha.
A class of celestial female beings known for their great beauty.
A name of the Sahā realm in an earlier eon.
A bodhisattva who comes from the realm of the Buddha Vigatabhayaparyutthānaghoṣa to the Buddha Ratnagarbha.
The name of an eastern buddha realm.
One of the thousand sons of King Araṇemin.
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.
’phags pa snying rje pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Karuṇāpuṇḍarīkanāmamahāyānasūtra). 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. 50, pp. 345–736.
’phags pa snying rje pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Karuṇāpuṇḍarīkanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 112, Degé Kangyur vol. 50 (mdo sde, cha), folios 129a–297a.
’phags pa snying rje pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Karuṇāpuṇḍarīkanāmamahāyānasūtra). Lhasa 119, Lhasa (lha sa) Kangyur vol. 52 (mdo sde, cha), folios 209b–474b.
’phags pa snying rje pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Karuṇāpuṇḍarīkanāmamahāyānasūtra). Sheldrima 76, Sheldrima (shel mkhar bris ma) Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, nga), folios 1b–243b.
’phags pa snying rje pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Karuṇāpuṇḍarīkanāmamahāyānasūtra). Stok 45, Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 55 (mdo sde, nga), folios 1a–243b.
’phags pa snying rje pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Karuṇāpuṇḍarīkanāmamahāyānasūtra). Urga 112, Urga Kangyur vol. 50 (mdo sde, cha), folios 128a–296a.
bcom ldan ’das kyi ye shes rgyas pa’i mdo sde rin po che mtha’ yas pa mthar phyin pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Niṣṭhāgatabhagavajjñānavaipulyasūtraratnānantanāmamahāyāna-sūtra). Toh 99, Degé Kangyur vol. 47 (mdo sde, ga), folios 1b–275b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee, 2019.
bde ba can gyi bkod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Sukhāvatīvyūhanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 115, Degé Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 195b–200a. English translation in Sakya Pandita Translation Group, 2011.
dam pa’i chos pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 113, Degé Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1b–180b. English translation in Roberts 2022.
kun nas sgo’i le’u zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Samantamukhaparivartanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 54, Degé Kangyur vol. 40 (dkon brtsegs, kha), folios 184a–195b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee, 2020.
nam mkha’i mdzod kyis zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Gaganagañjaparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 148, Degé Kangyur vol. 57 (mdo sde, pa), folios 243a–330b.
shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa (Aṣṭāsāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā). Toh 12, Degé Kangyur vol. 33 (sher phyin brgyad stong pa, ka), folios 1b–286b.
snying rje chen po’i pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Mahākaruṇāpuṇḍarīkanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 111, Degé Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, cha), folios 56a–128b.
za ma tog bkod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Karaṇḍavyūhanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 116, Degé Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 200a–247b. English translation in Roberts 2013.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan [/lhan] dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 207 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294b–310a.
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Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Exposition on the Universal Gateway (Toh 54). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2019.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Precious Discourse on the Blessed One’s Extensive Wisdom That Leads to Infinite Certainty (Toh 99). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2019.
Dīpaṃkarajñāna. dbu ma’i man ngag rin po che’i za ma tog kha phye ba (Ratnakaraṇḍodghāṭanāmamadhyamakopadeśa). Toh 3930, Degé Tengyur vol. 212 (dbu ma, ki), folios 96b1–116b7.
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Mañjuśrīkīrti. ’jam dpal gyi mtshan yang dag par brjod pa’i rgya cher bshad pa (Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgītiṭīkā). Toh 2534, Degé Tengyur vol. 63 (rgyud, khu), folios 115b–301a7.
Mipham (Ju Mipham Gyatso, ’ju mi pham rgya mtsho). thub chog byin rlabs gter mdzod kyi rgyab chos pad+ma dkar po. In gsung ’bum/ mi pham rgya mtsho. Degé: sde dge spar khang, 195?. BDRC: WA4PD506.
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Roberts, Peter Alan. and Tulku Yeshi, trans. The Basket’s Display (Toh 116). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.
Sakya Pandita Translation Group, trans. The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī (Toh 115). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2011.
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