A single term is used in Sanskrit and Tibetan to denote both an “action” as a conditioning factor and the “karma” that it conditions. In translation it may be necessary to use one term or the other to clarify the meaning, but the source term is no different.

“One’s fortune” in this phrase refers to the realm of birth (gati) that one experiences currently or will experience in the future as the maturation of karma, both positive and negative.

The term dharma has many different interrelated meanings: it may refer to the teaching of the buddhas, to religious teachings in general, to phenomena in general, or to the specific characteristics of an object or objects in a generic sense, among other meanings. In our translation of the Bhava­saṅkrānti­sūtra, we have translated this term as “phenomena,” as it is generally used in this latter sense; however, we have translated the term as “Dharma” when it specifically refers to the teaching of the Buddha.

Emptiness denotes the ultimate nature of reality, the total absence of inherent existence and self-identity with respect to all phenomena. According to this view, all things and events are devoid of any independent, intrinsic reality that constitutes their essence. Nothing can be said to exist independent of the complex network of factors that gives rise to its origination, nor are phenomena independent of the cognitive processes and mental constructs that make up the conventional framework within which their identity and existence are posited. When all levels of conceptualization dissolve and when all forms of dichotomizing tendencies are quelled through deliberate meditative deconstruction of conceptual elaborations, the ultimate nature of reality will finally become manifest. It is the first of the three gateways to liberation.

The five constituents of a living entity: form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.

In its most general usage this term refers to any phenomenon has been formed, conditioned, or dependently brought into being. It is this broad use of the term that is used in the Bhava­saṅkrānti­sūtra when King Bimbisāra asserts that “formations are empty” (1.4). The same term is also used to describe the second of the twelve links of dependent origination (pratītya­samutpāda) and also the fourth of the five aggregates, where the term has a more specific usage related to those teachings.

A place where the Buddha often resided, within the Bamboo Park (Veṇuvana) outside Rajagṛha that had been donated to him. The name is said to have arisen when, one day, King Bimbisāra fell asleep after a romantic liaison in the Bamboo Park. While the king rested, his consort wandered off. A snake (the reincarnation of the park’s previous owner, who still resented the king’s acquisition of the park) approached with malign intentions. Through the king’s tremendous merit, a gathering of kalandaka‍—crows or other birds according to Tibetan renderings, but some Sanskrit and Pali sources suggest flying squirrels‍—miraculously appeared and began squawking. Their clamor alerted the king’s consort to the danger, who rushed back and hacked the snake to pieces, thereby saving the king’s life. King Bimbisāra then named the spot Kalandakanivāpa (“Kalandakas’ Feeding Ground”), sometimes (though not in the Vinayavastu) given as Kalandakanivāsa (“Kalandakas’ Abode”) in their honor. The story is told in the Saṃghabhedavastu (Toh 1, ch.17, Degé Kangyur vol.4, folio 77.b et seq.). For more details and other origin stories, see the 84000 Knowledge Base article Veṇuvana and Kalandakanivāpa.

An ancient Indian kingdom that lay to the south of the Ganges River in what today is the state of Bihar. Magadha was the largest of the sixteen “great states” (mahājanapada) that flourished between the sixth and third centuries ʙᴄᴇ in northern India. During the life of the Buddha Śākyamuni, it was ruled by King Bimbisāra and later by Bimbisāra's son, Ajātaśatru. Its capital was initially Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir) but was later moved to Pāṭaliputra (modern-day Patna). Over the centuries, with the expansion of the Magadha’s might, it became the capital of the vast Mauryan empire and seat of the great King Aśoka.

This region is home to many of the most important Buddhist sites, including Bodh Gayā, where the Buddha attained awakening; Vulture Peak (Gṛdhra­kūṭa), where the Buddha bestowed many well-known Mahāyāna sūtras; and the Buddhist university of Nālandā that flourished between the fifth and twelfth centuries ᴄᴇ, among many others.

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.

Often this term is translated as “perception” or “discrimination” when it is included as the third of the five aggregates, in which case it refers to the mental function of differentiating and identifying objects according to their qualities. Thus it does not refer to the perceptions of the senses but to the conceptual notions or labels that are ascribed to sense perceptions before they may be conceived by the rational mind. In this sense, they are not really concepts or thoughts either, but rather the fundamental units ascribed to phenomena by the dualistic mind in order to form conceptual thoughts about them. Thus we have translated this as a “notion,” as the verses of the Bhava­saṅkrānti­sūtra emphasize the insubstantiality of the names as mere notions ascribed to phenomena, which exist as nothing other than a designation imputed by the mind.

Literally “King’s House”; the capital city of Magadha ruled by King Bimbisāra. It is currently the modern-day city of Rajgir in Bihar, North India.

Conveys the relative or conventional view of the world according to the understanding of ordinary unenlightened beings. This is distinguished from the ultimate truth, which conveys the understanding of phenomena as they really are. Saṃvṛti literally means “covered” or “concealed,” implying that the relative reality seen by ordinary beings seems to be convincingly real, but it is ultimately, in its actual state, illusory and unreal.

The king of Magadha and a great patron of the Buddha. In other sources he is simply called “King Bimbisāra.” There are several accounts of King Śreṇya Bimbisāra’s first meeting with the Buddha, early on when the latter was the wandering mendicant known as Gautama. Impressed by his conduct, Bimbisāra offered to take Gautama into his court, but Gautama refused, and Bimbisāra wished him success in in his quest for enlightenment and asked him to visit his palace after he had achieved his goal. One account of this episode can be found in the sixteenth chapter of The Play in Full (Toh 95, Lalitavistara). There are other accounts where the two meet earlier on in childhood. Later, after the Buddha’s enlightenment, Bimbisāra became one of his most famous patrons and donated to his saṅgha the Kalandakanivāpa Bamboo Grove, which is the setting of the Bhava­saṅkrānti­sūtra and many other teachings.

An unusual feature of the Bhava­saṅkrānti­sūtra is that it presents a third “supreme truth” in contrast to the usual doctrinal presentation of the two truths (the relative truth and the ultimate truth). In doing so, the Bhava­saṅkrānti­sūtra does not propose a third ontological category but demonstrates in its final verse that both the relative and ultimate truths are conceptual categories and therefore provisional to understanding the ultimate nature of reality. The conception of ultimate truth should not be misunderstood, like a finger pointing to the moon, but to arrive at its actual understanding one must transcend any dualistic notion or designation altogether. See 1.23.

The causal process of the transference of a mindstream from one life to the next. The Bhava­saṅkrānti­sūtra asserts that there is no phenomenon that actually transmigrates from one life to the next, but rebirth occurs through the causal power of actions (karma). See introduction at i.9. The term may also refer to the yogic or tantric practice of deliberately ejecting consciousness from the body, but this practice is not related to the context of this sūtra.

The relative truth and the ultimate truth. See glossary entries for each. Later schools of Buddhism defined and categorized the two truths in varying ways, but in all cases the presentation of the two truths is understood to be an exhaustive categorization that includes all phenomena. Note that the two truths are not understood to be separate dimensions, but rather as two aspects of the same reality, although from the perspective of the relative truth reality is falsely perceived.

Paramārtha­satya literally means “the highest-object truth,” because it is what is realized by wisdom (prajñā) as the highest form of mind. It refers to the absolute understanding of phenomena and reality as it is perceived by a mind that is purified of all delusion, in contrast to the relative truth that is perceived by ordinary unenlightened beings.

The famous bamboo grove near Rājagṛha where the Buddha regularly stayed and gave teachings. It was situated on land donated by King Bimbisāra of Magadha and, as such, was the first of several landholdings donated to the Buddhist community during the time of the Buddha.

Literally, “speaking” or “telling”; any expression of words or speech that conveys meaning.