Refers to the twelve ascetic virtues (sbyang pa’i yon tan bcu gnyis) concerning food, clothing, and residence, such as begging for alms, wearing castoff clothing, and living in seclusion.
Epithet of a buddha, who has subdued (Tib. bcom) all afflictions, possesses (Tib. ldan) all awakened qualities, and transcended (Tib. ’das) saṃsāra and passed into nirvāṇa. This is how the Skt. bhagavat is translated in Tibetan.
Name of a monastery (vihāra) in Śrāvastī.
Literally, “verbal root,” with “root” (Tib. byings) being a grammatical term for the word stem that forms the basis of a word. Here it refers to the Buddha’s derivation of the word bhikṣu from the term for “ornament.”
Conduct based on abandoning lack of discipline in body, speech, and mind.
These may refer to the traditional possessions of mendicants, which Prebish 2002, p. 4, lists as “begging bowl, razor, needle, girding for the robes, and water strainer” in addition to the three robes.
The four root downfalls (Tib. rtsa ba’i ltung ba bzhi, here shortened to Tib. rtsa ba bzhi) are killing, taking what is not given, sexual activity, and lying about one’s spiritual attainments.
Central inner pillar or tree trunk that is said to give life to a stūpa or sacred statue.
Although the Tib. (dge slong) and Skt. (bhikṣu) terms usually refer to fully ordained monks, in the plural they may encompass nuns as well. Rendering it as “mendicant” in English remains faithful to the original meaning of bhikṣu as “one who begs for alms.”
Honorific term for someone who has gained the realization of the path of seeing.
An epithet of the buddhas. The homage to the Omniscient One at the beginning of a Buddhist scripture usually indicates that it belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka.
Among other things, this term is applied to the sour fermented remainder from beer brewing, certain types of lemons, and the sour part of yogurt. Here it refers to overly sour liquids in general, such as overly fermented vinegar.
A dish of rice cooked in milk that the Buddha was offered to break his fast after six years of austerities.
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term connotes “silence” or “quiescence,” which is regarded as a central quality of sages. The Tibetan thub pa means “capable one.”
“Cyclic existence,” the cycle of birth and death driven by mental afflictions and karmic actions.
Ancient capital of the kingdom of Kosala, where the Buddha gave many teachings, spent most of his summer retreats, and defeated the six heretical teachers by performing fifteen miracles. Located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
The three robes (Skt. tricīvara, Tib. chos gos gsum) of the fully ordained are the lower robe (Skt. antarvāsa, Tib. mthang gos) wrapped around the waist, the outer or upper robe (Skt. uttarāsaṅga, Tib. bla gos) covering the upper body, and the ceremonial robe (Skt. saṃghāṭī, Tib. snam sbyar).
One of the ten closest disciples of the Buddha. He is known for having mastered the Buddha’s teachings on the Vinaya, the code of discipline. After the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, Upāli was the Vinaya’s chief compiler.
One of the three piṭakas, or “baskets,” of the Buddhist canon. It codifies the disciplined conduct and training of monks and nuns.
One of the standard epithets of the buddhas. A recurrent explanation offers three different meanings for su- that are meant to show the special qualities of “accomplishment of one’s own purpose” (svārthasampad) for a complete buddha. Thus, the Sugata is “well” gone, as in the expression su-rūpa (“having a good form”); he is gone “in a way that he shall not come back,” as in the expression su-naṣṭa-jvara (“a fever that has utterly gone”); and he has gone “without any remainder” as in the expression su-pūrṇa-ghaṭa (“a pot that is completely full”). According to Buddhaghoṣa, the term means that the way the Buddha went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su) and where he went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su).
This refers to the three monastic robes, which are the outer signs of being a monastic follower of the Buddha.
dge slong la rab tu gces pa’i mdo (Bhikṣuprarejusūtra). Toh 302, Degé Kangyur vol. 72 (mdo sde, sa), folios 125.a–127.a.
dge slong la rab tu gces pa’i mdo (Bhikṣuprarejusūtra). 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. 72, pp. 337–41.
dge slong la rab tu gces pa'i mdo. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 54 (mdo sde, ga), folios 357.a–358.b.
dge slong ma’i ’dul ba rnam par ’byed pa (Bhikṣuṇīvinayavibhaṅga). Toh 5, Degé Kangyur vol. 9 (’dul ba, ta), folios 25.b–328.a.
tshul khrims kyi gtam gyi ’grel pa (Śīlaparikathāvṛtti). Toh 4165, Degé Tengyur vol. 172 (spring yig, ge), folios 169.b–173.b.
’dul ba gzhung bla ma (Vinayottaragrantha). Toh 7, Degé Kangyur vol. 12 (’dul ba, na), folios 1.b–92.a.
’dul ba gzhung dam pa (Vinayottaragrantha). Toh 7a, Degé Kangyur vol. 12–13 (’dul ba, na–pa), folios 92.b (na)–313.a (pa).
Bodhi, Bhikkhu. The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. A New Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. Vol. 1. Somerville: Wisdom Publications, 2000.
Collett, Alice, and Bhikkhu Anālayo. “Bhikkhave and Bhikkhu as Gender-inclusive Terminology in Early Buddhist Texts.” Journal of Buddhist Ethics 21 (2014): 760–797.
Eimer, Helmut, ed. The Brief Catalogues to the Lhasa and the Narthang Kanjurs: A Synoptic Edition of the Bka’ ’gyur rin po che’i mtshan tho and the Rgyal ba’i bka’ ’gyur rin po che’i chos tshan so so’i mtshan byang dkar chag bsdus pa. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 40. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, 1998.
Gyatso, Upasaka Losang, trans. Sūtra llamado Lo que es lo Más Precioso para un Monje. 2015. Accessed January 15, 2021.
Hahn, Michael, and Naoki Saito. “Vasubandhus Mahnrede über die Sittlichkeit mit dem Kommentar des Prakāśakīrti.” In Pāsādikadānaṃ: Festschrift für Bhikkhu Pāsādika, edited by Martin Straube et al, 177–204. Marburg: Indica et Tibetica Verlag, 2009.
Jansen, Berthe. “How to Tame a Wild Monastic Elephant: Drepung Monastery According to the Great Fifth.” In Tibetans Who Escaped the Historian’s Net: Studies in the Social History of Tibetan Societies, edited by Peter Schwieger and Alice Travers, 111–139. Kathmandu: Vajra Books, 2013.
Kalsang, Bhikkhu Thubten, and Bhikkhu Pāsādika. Bhikshu-Prateju-Sutra: The Discourse Named “The Bhikshu’s Predilection.” Bangkok: Visakha Puja, Annual Publication of the Buddhist Association of Thailand, 1970.
Lekden, Gyalten, trans. The Sūtra on What is Most Precious to a Monk. Sera Je, India: The Union of Teaching and Accomplishment Publishing Group, 2013.
Mohr, Thea, and Jampa Tshedroen, ed. Dignity and Discipline: Reviving Full Ordination for Buddhist Nuns. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2010.
Negi, J. S. Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary (bod skad dang legs sbyar gyi tshig mdzod chen mo). Sarnath, Varanasi: Dictionary Unit, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993.
Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso (ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho, 1617–82). ’bras spungs bca’ yig. chos sde chen po dpal ldan ’bras dkar spungs pa’i dgon gyi bca’ yig tshul ’chal sa srung ’dul ba’i lcags kyo kun gsal me long. In bod kyi snga rabs khrims srol yig cha bdams bsgrigs, edited by tshe ring dpal ’byor et al, 275–323. Lhasa: bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun khang, 1989.
Nishioka, Soshū. “Index to the Catalogue Section of Bu-ston’s ‘History of Buddhism’ (III).” Annual Report of the Institute for the Study of Cultural Exchange, The University of Tokyo 6 (1983): 47–201.
Prebish, Charles S. Buddhist Monastic Discipline. The Sanskrit Prātimokṣa Sūtras of the Mahāsāṃghikas and Mūlasarvāstivādins. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2002.
Rockhill, W. W. “Translation of Two Brief Buddhist Sūtras from the Tibetan.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 11 (1885): clxxi–clxxiv.
Situ Panchen Chökyi Jungné (si tu paN chen chos kyi ’byung gnas). rgyal ba’i bka’ ’gyur rin po che’i bzhugs byang dkar chag ces bya ba bzhugs so. Chengdu: si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2008.
Skilling, Peter. “Theravādin Literature in Tibetan Translation.” Journal of the Pali Text Society 19 (1993): 69–201. Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1993.
Resources for Kanjur and Tanjur Studies. Universität Wien. Accessed April 23, 2019.
Thera, Nyanaponika, and Hellmuth Hecker. Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1997.
Thiṭṭila (Seṭṭhila), Paṭhamakyaw Ashin, Aggamahāpaṇḍita. The Book of Analysis (Vibhaṅga): The Second Book of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. Bristol: Pali Text Society, 2010.
Tsong-kha-pa. The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Vol. 1. Translated by Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2000.
Ui, Hakuju et al, eds. A Complete Catalogue of Tibetan Buddhist Canons (Degé Edition of Kangyur and Tengyur). Japan: Tohoku Imperial University, 1934.