A collection of forty-five sūtras presented as a single, long sūtra, although many of its chapters are independent works.
An image of the Buddha.
The attainment of effortless and spontaneous insight into emptiness and the lack of birth of phenomena. Attained by a bodhisattva on the 8th level.
A god.
A bodhisattva.
Four contemplations on (1) the body, (2) feelings, (3) mind, and (4) phenomena.
The historical Indian king of the Maurya dynasty who ruled over most of India c. 268–232 ʙᴄᴇ. In this text he appears to be briefly referenced as the biological father of the prince Suckler of the Earth Breast, adopted as the Chinese prince who, according to this text, is said to have been the first person to settle in Khotan.
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.
Four types of absorption related to intention, diligence, attention, and analysis.
A bodhisattva.
The king of Magadha and a great patron of the Buddha. His birth coincided with the Buddha’s, and his father, King Mahāpadma, named him “Essence of Gold” after mistakenly attributing the brilliant light that marked the Buddha’s birth to the birth of his son by Queen Bimbī (“Goldie”). Accounts of Bimbisāra’s youth and life can be found in The Chapter on Going Forth (Toh 1-1, Pravrajyāvastu).
King Śreṇya Bimbisāra first met 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 his quest for awakening 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; several episodes can be found, for example, in The Hundred Deeds (Toh 340, Karmaśataka). Later, after the Buddha’s awakening, Bimbisāra became one of his most famous patrons and donated to the saṅgha the Bamboo Grove, Veṇuvana, at the outskirts of the capital of Magadha, Rājagṛha, where he built residences for the monks. Bimbisāra was imprisoned and killed by his own son, the prince Ajātaśatru, who, influenced by Devadatta, sought to usurp his father’s throne.
A castle in the country of Virtue.
A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).
A Chinese king. He is identified by Thomas (1935, p. 17) as the founder of the Qin dynasty: Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇; 259–210 ʙᴄᴇ).
An image of the Buddha.
A great scholar of Narthang monastery in central Tibet. He lived from 1227 to 1305 and was one of the first compilers of the the Kangyur.
An image of the Buddha.
Correct knowledge of meaning, Dharma, language, and eloquence.
A kinnara king.
The relative nature of phenomena, which arises in dependence upon causes and conditions. Together with the four noble truths, this was the first teaching given by the Buddha.
A temple in Khotan.
A previous buddha who gave Śākyamuni the prophecy of his buddhahood.
Drugu is the name of an ancient people living in north west Tibet.
A title used when addressing the most venerable bhikṣus.
A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”
A god.
A river in Khotan.
A sacred stūpa in Khotan, said to have been blessed by several past buddhas.
A collection of seventeen sūtras on a range of themes, compiled as a separate collection. Today, this collection only exists in Chinese translation, although several of the individual scriptures exist in Sanskrit and Tibetan translation.
A nāga king.
A river in Khotan.
Forty-nine selected sūtras on a range of themes, compiled as a separate collection.
The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”
A goddess.
A central Asian region, at times referring to Mongolia.
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.
A senior minister at the court of the Chinese king Cayang.
A market in Virtuous Castle.
The buddha who preceded Śākyamuni in this Excellent Eon.
An ancient kingdom, located on the southern branch of the Silk Route that passed through the Tarim Basin. The kingdom, which was an important oasis and center for trade, existed during the first millennium ᴄᴇ.
A king in Khotan. Identified by Thomas (1935, p. 25) as Yehu-la.
A class of nonhuman beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “is that human?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal. They are often depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
An image of the Buddha.
An ancient settlement in the western part of Khotan.
A bodhisattva.
The name given to Khotan by prince Suckler of the Earth Breast.
This term has three meanings: (1) the ultimate nature, (2) the experience of the ultimate nature, and (3) the quiescent state of a worthy one (arhat) to be avoided by bodhisattvas.
A bodhisattva.
The bodhisattva Maitreya is an important figure in many Buddhist traditions, where he is unanimously regarded as the buddha of the future era. He is said to currently reside in the heaven of Tuṣita, as Śākyamuni’s regent, where he awaits the proper time to take his final rebirth and become the fifth buddha in the Fortunate Eon, reestablishing the Dharma in this world after the teachings of the current buddha have disappeared. Within the Mahāyāna sūtras, Maitreya is elevated to the same status as other central bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, and his name appears frequently in sūtras, either as the Buddha’s interlocutor or as a teacher of the Dharma. Maitreya literally means “Loving One.” He is also known as Ajita, meaning “Invincible.”
For more information on Maitreya, see, for example, the introduction to Maitreya’s Setting Out (Toh 198).
Mañjuśrī is one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha” and a bodhisattva who embodies wisdom. He is a major figure in the Mahāyāna sūtras, appearing often as an interlocutor of the Buddha. In his most well-known iconographic form, he is portrayed bearing the sword of wisdom in his right hand and a volume of the Prajñāpāramitāsūtra in his left. To his name, Mañjuśrī, meaning “Gentle and Glorious One,” is often added the epithet Kumārabhūta, “having a youthful form.” He is also called Mañjughoṣa, Mañjusvara, and Pañcaśikha.
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Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan [/ lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
li’i yul lung bstan pa (Kamsadesavyakarana). Toh 4202, Degé Tengyur vol. 275 (spring yig, nge), folios 168.b–188.a.
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Saṁghavardhana. dgra bcom pa dge ’dun ’phel gyis lung bstan pa (Arhatsamghavardhanavyakarana). Toh 4201, Degé Tengyur vol. 275 (spring yig, nge) folios 161.b–168.b.
nyi ma’i snying po’i mdo (Sūryagarbhasūtra). Toh 257, Degé Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, za), folios 91.b–245.b.
dri med ’od kyis zhus pa (Vimalaprabhaparipṛcchā). Toh 168, Degé Kangyur vol. 59 (mdo sde, ba) folios 211.a–259.b.
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