A goddess residing at Gayāśirṣā.
A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).
Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.
A king of the nāgas.
A king of the nāgas.
A great bodhisattva.
One of the ten absorptions of the bodhisattvas.
One of the twelve retentions of the bodhisattvas.
The process of karma and affliction leading to suffering.
One of the twelve retentions of the bodhisattvas.
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.
A ruler of the demigods.
A great bodhisattva.
A great bodhisattva.
One of the twelve retentions of the bodhisattvas.
A great bodhisattva.
A great bodhisattva.
In Buddhist usage, a general term for non-Buddhist religious mendicants, often occurring together with parivrājakas and nirgranthas in stock lists of followers of non-Buddhist movements.
A translator and editor active in the late eighth and early ninth centuries, he translated a dozen important sūtras in the Kangyur including this text and was a contributor to the Drajor Bampo Nyipa, an early ninth century edict and manual defining translation methodology.
The tenth ground of the bodhisattvas.
A demonic being opposed to the spread of the Dharma and the happiness of beings.
A ruler of the demigods.
A great bodhisattva.
One of the ten absorptions of the bodhisattvas.
One of the twelve retentions of the bodhisattvas.
The quality of intelligence, inspiration, and confident knowledge that allows one to teach and talk in the most appropriate way, even for very long stretches of time.
The name for our world system, the universe of a thousand million worlds, or trichiliocosm, in which the four-continent world is located. Each trichiliocosm is ruled by a god Brahmā; thus, in this context, he bears the title of Sahāṃpati, Lord of Sahā. The world system of Sahā, or Sahālokadhātu, is also described as the buddhafield of the Buddha Śākyamuni where he teaches the Dharma to beings.
The name Sahā possibly derives from the Sanskrit √sah, “to bear, endure, or withstand.” It is often interpreted as alluding to the inhabitants of this world being able to endure the suffering they encounter. The Tibetan translation, mi mjed, follows along the same lines. It literally means “not painful,” in the sense that beings here are able to bear the suffering they experience.
One of the twelve retentions of the bodhisattvas.
The ninth ground of the bodhisattvas.
The seventh ground of the bodhisattvas.
One of the ten absorptions of the bodhisattvas.
The fourth ground of the bodhisattvas.
A great bodhisattva.
One of ten “kings of mountains” according to Abhidharma cosomology.
City in Magadha, now in the Indian state of Bihar, on the left bank of the River Nairañjanā (parts of which are now called the Lilaja and Phalgu), a tributary of the Ganges.
A sacred hill immediately to the south of the city of Gayā. Its name means “Gayā head,” and may derive from pre-Buddhist legends of a buried, reclining giant—in one version, a demon king called Gayāsura who was immoblised by Viṣṇu, and in another a saintly prince called Gaya; this hill marks the position of his head, with other features of the landscape in the region associated with other parts of his body.
The fifth ground of the bodhisattvas.
Someone who practices the teachings of the Hearers’ Vehicle to achieve liberation from saṃsāra through direct perception of the absence of a personal self.
The third of the six heavens of the desire realm.
The fifth of the six heavens of the desire realm.
The fourth of the six heavens of the desire realm. In Buddhist thought it is where all future buddhas dwell prior to their awakening.
The sixth and highest of the six heavens of the desire realm.
The first of the six heavens of the desire realm.
The second heaven of the desire realm located above Mount Meru and reigned over by Indra and thirty-two other gods.
One of the ten absorptions of the bodhisattvas.
One of the ten absorptions of the bodhisattvas.
One of the twelve retentions of the bodhisattvas.
One of the twelve retentions of the bodhisattvas.
The mental factor or power that discerns phenomena.
One of the ten absorptions of the bodhisattvas.
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.
’phags pa dkon mchog sprin zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryaratnameghanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 231, Degé Kangyur vol. 64 (mdo sde, wa), folios 1.a–112.b.
’phags pa dkon mchog sprin 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), 2006–2009, vol. 64, pp. 3–313.
’phags pa dkon mchog sprin zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Stok Palace Kangyur (stog pho brang bris ma) vol. 68 (mdo sde, tsa), folios 197.b–366.a.
IOL Tib J 161. British Library, London. Accessed through The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online.
IOL Tib J 162. British Library, London. Accessed through The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online.
IOL Tib J 163. British Library, London. Accessed through The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online.
IOL Tib J 164. British Library, London. Accessed through The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online.
IOL Tib J 233. British Library, London. Accessed through The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online.
Pelliot tibétain 77, section 1. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Accessed through The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online.
Śikṣāsamuccaya of Śāntideva. Edited by Richard Mahoney, based on the edition of Cecil Bendall [Bibliotheca Buddhica, vol. I (St. Pétersbourg: Commissionnaires de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences, 1897–1902)]. Oxford, North Canterbury: Indica et Buddhica, 2003. E-text input by Mirek Rozehnahl and Jens Braarvig. Accessed (2018) through GRETIL—Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages. English translation: see Goodman, below.
chos thams cad ’byung ba med par bstan pa (Sarvadharmāpravṛttinirdeśa). Toh 180, Degé Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 267.a–296.b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2021).
Mahāvyutpatti (Tib. [sgra] bye brag tu rtogs [par] byed [pa] chen po /mo). Toh 4346. Degé Tengyur, vol. 204 (lugs kyi bstan bcos, co), folios 1.a–131.a. See also Sakaki, and Braarvig, below.
Drajor Bampo Nyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa, Skt. Madhavyutpatti). Toh 4347. Degé Tengyur, vol. 204 (lugs kyi bstan bcos, co), folios 131.a–160.a. See also Braarvig, below.
Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i gter mdzod. In: gsung ’bum (zhol par ma/ ldi lir bskyar par brgyab pa), vol 24 (ya), pp. 633–1055. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–1971. English translations: see Obermiller, and Stein and Zangpo, below.
De’u José (lde’u jo sras). lde’u chos ’byung. Lhasa: bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, 1987.
Kamalaśīla. Stages of Meditation II (Tib. sgom pa’i rim pa [bar ma], Skt. Bhavanakrama). Toh 3916. Degé Tengyur, vol. 119 (dbu ma, ki), folios 42.a–55.b.
Kamalaśīla. Stages of Meditation III. (Tib. sgom pa’i rim pa [tha ma], Skt. Bhavanakrama). Toh 3916. Degé Tengyur vol. 110 (dbu ma, ki), folios 55.b–68.b.
Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye (kong sprul blo gros mtha’ yas). theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma’i bstan bcos snying po’i don mngon sum lam gyi bshad pa srol dang sbyar ba’i rnam par ’grel ba phyir mi ldog pa seng ge ’i nga ro [The Irreversible Lion’s Roar]. Rumtek: Rum steg dgon pa’i par khang, 1972.
Tsongkhapa Losang Drakpa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa). skyes bu gsum gyi nyams su blang ba’i rim pa thams cad tshang bar ston pa’i byang chub lam gyi rim pa [The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path]. In Gurudeva (ed.). Collected Works (gsuṅ ’bum) of the Incomparable Lord Tsoṅ- kha-pa Blo-bzaṅ-grags-pa. Vol. 13. New Delhi: Gurudeva, 1979, pp. 33–1077. English translation: see Tsong-kha-pa (below).
Zhonnu Pal, Gö Lotsawa (Tib. ’gos lo tsA ba gzhon nu dpal). deb ther sngon po, reproduced from the Yans-pa-can blocks. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1974. English translation: see Roerich, below.
Braarvig, Jens et al., trans. Mahāvyutpatti with sGra sbyor bam po gñis pa . Online publication: Bibliotheca Polyglotta, Thesaurus Literaturae Buddhicae, University of Oslo.
Dakpo Tashi Namgyal (dwags po bkra shis rnam rgyal). Mahāmudrā: The Moonlight—Quintessence of Mind and Meditation. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2006.
De la Vallée Poussin, L. (Ed.). (1913). Mūlamadhyamakakārikās de Nāgārjuna avec la Prasannapadā commentaire de Candrakīrti. St. Petersbourg: Académie Impériale des Sciences.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. Teaching How All Phenomena Are without Origin (Sarvadharmāpravṛttinirdeśa, Toh 180). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
Goodman, Charles. The Training Anthology of Śāntideva: A Translation of the Śiksạ̄samuccaya. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Kīrtimukha Translation Group, trans. The Question of Mañjuśrī (Manjuśrīparipṛcchā, Toh 172). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
Lamotte, Etienne. History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Śaka Era. Translated from the French by Sara Webb-Boin. Publications de l’Institut Orientaliste de Louvain, 36. Paris: Peeters Press, 1988.
Obermiller, Eugene. History of Buddhism in India and Tibet (chos-’byung) by Bu-ston, translated from Tibetan by E. Obermiller. Materialien zur Kunde des Buddhismus 13. Heidelberg: Institut für Buddhismus-Kunde, 1931. Reprinted Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1999.
Pagel, Ulrich. “The Dhāraṇīs of Mahāvyutpatti #748: Origin and Formation.” Buddhist Studies Review 24, no. 2 (2007): 151–91.
Roerich, George N. The Blue Annals: Parts I and II. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1949, reprinted 2007.
Sakaki, Ryōzaburo, ed. Mahāvyutpatti/Honyaku meigi daishū. Bonzō Kanwa. Chibetto yaku-taikō, 2 vols. Originally published Tokyo: Shingonshū Kyōto Daigaku, 1916–1925. Sanskrit index complied by Kyōo Nishio, 1936. Kyōto: Suzuki Research Foundation, reprint 1965.
Sakya Pandita Translation Group. Calling Witness with a Hundred Prostrations . 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2011.
Scherrer-Schaub, Cristina. “Enacting Words. A Diplomatic Analysis of the Imperial Decrees (bkas bcad) and their Application in the sGra sbyor bam po gñis pa Tradition.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 25, nos. 1–2 (2002): 263–340.
Silk, J.A. “Test Sailing the Ship of the Teachings: Hesitant Notes on Kāśyapaparivarta §§153–154.” From Turfan to Ajanta: Festschrift for Dieter Schlingloff on the Occasion of his Eightieth Birthday. Bhairava: Lumbini International Research Institute (2010): 897–924.
Stein, Lisa, and Ngawang Zangpo (trs.). Butön’s History of Buddhism in India and its Spread to Tibet: A Treasury of Priceless Scripture. Boston: Snow Lion, 2013.
Tsong-kha-pa. The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Vol. 3. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2004.
Wangdu, Pasang, and Hildegard Diemberger. dBa bzhed. The Royal Narrative concerning the Bringing of the Buddha’s Doctrine to Tibet. Vienna: Verlag de Österreichen Akadamie der Wissenschaften, 2000.