The name of a muhūrta.
“Victorious.” The asterism of the star Vega in the constellation Lyra.
“Victorious.” The name of a muhūrta.
The name of a people in northern India.
The name of a country just to the southwest of the Kashmir valley.
A measure of weight roughly equivalent to three kilograms.
The mother of gods (deva). According to the brahmanical tradition, she is one of the daughters of the creator god Dakṣa Prajāpati, who gave her and twelve of her sisters in marriage to the sage Kaśyapa.
The name of a muhūrta.
The god of fire in the Vedic pantheon.
“Given by Fire.” The name of a king who bestowed the district of Utkaṭa as a brahmic gift (brahmadeya) to the brahmin Puṣkarasārin.
One of the sublineages connected with the Kāśyapa lineage of the brahmanical tradition.
The mythical “serpent of the deep” that, according to the brahmanical tradition, resides in the misty region at the bottom of the world.
The smallest visible particle, seven of which make up one speck of dirt on a hare.
Indian preceptor-monk and translator.
The name of a family lineage.
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.
The name of a muhūrta.
One of the sublineages connected with the Kāśyapa lineage of the brahmanical tradition.
This was an important early site for the Buddha’s growing community. Anāthapiṇḍada, a wealthy patron of the Buddha, purchased the park, located outside Śrāvastī, at great cost, purportedly covering the ground with gold, and donated it to the saṅgha. It was there that the Buddha spent several rainy seasons and gave discourses that were later recorded as sūtras. It was also the site for one of the first Buddhist monasteries. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)
One of the sublineages connected with the Vāsiṣṭha lineage of the brahmanical tradition.
The name of a region along the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent, roughly corresponding to the present-day state of Andhra Pradesh.
The name of a region in the northeast of the Indian subcontinent, situated along the Ganges River just to the east of the Magadha region, covering the eastern part of the present-day state of Bihar.
“The Glowing One.” The planet Mars.
A particle of matter or an “atom,” traditionally considered to be made up of seven of the finest particles (paramāṇu).
“Propitious.” The asterism of the three stars at the head of the constellation Scorpio.
The brahmin sage who is said to have received the Vedas from Indra Kauśika and then passed them on to Śvetaketu.
“Moist.” The asterism around the star Betelgeuse at the top left of the constellation Orion.
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.
The mother of gandharvas. According to the brahmanical tradition, she is one of the daughters of the creator god Dakṣa Prajāpati, who gave her and twelve of her sisters in marriage to the sage Kaśyapa.
The third and most prominent of the five Pāṇḍavas brothers whose long war with the Kauravas, their enemy relatives, is described in the epic narrative of the Mahābhārata. Renowned for his skill in arms, Arjuna is especially known from the episode of the Bhagavad Gītā, in which he is the main interlocutor of Kṛṣṇa, his charioteer. As the incarnation of the divine, Kṛṣṇa counsels Arjuna at the beginning of the great battle to fight his Kaurava kinsmen. The Ārjunāyanas, “those descended from Arjuna,” were a people situated in northern India in the region west of Mathura, now comprising the Rajput states of Bharatpur and Alwar, where they became dominant after the gradual decline of the Indo-Greeks around the middle of the first century ʙᴄᴇ.
The name of a muhūrta.
Calotropis gigantea. The crown flower, a perennial shrub with purplish flowers, is known for its intoxicating effect and is used in medicine and ritual.
One of the sublineages connected with the Gautama lineage of the brahmanical tradition. A sublineage of the Sāmavedins.
One of the lineages within the Sāmaveda branch of the brahmanical tradition.
The name of a deity.
The fourth lunar month that falls within the period of June–July, when the full moon is in the Āṣāḍhā asterisms.
Refers to the two asterisms Pūrvāṣāḍhā and Uttarāṣāḍhā.
A general term applied to spiritual practitioners who live as ascetic mendicants. In Buddhist texts, the term usually refers to Buddhist monastics, but it can also designate a practitioner from other ascetic/monastic spiritual traditions. In this context śramaṇa is often contrasted with the term brāhmaṇa (bram ze), which refers broadly to followers of the Vedic tradition. Any renunciate, not just a Buddhist, could be referred to as a śramaṇa if they were not within the Vedic fold. The epithet Great Śramaṇa is often applied to the Buddha.
“Embracer.” The asterism of the five stars at the head of the constellation Hydra.
The name of a family lineage.
A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).
The Vedic ritual of horse sacrifice.
The asterism Aśvinī.
The seventh lunar month that falls within the period of September–October, when the full moon is in the Aśvinī asterism.
“The Horsemen.” The asterism of two stars that form part of the constellation Aries.
“Kindling Fire.” The name of a muhūrta.
The category of priests in the brahmanical tradition who specialize in the hymns and spells of the Atharvaveda.
The fourth and last of the Vedas, the Atharvaveda mainly consists of hymns and spells that are used in domestic rituals, often for apotropaic and healing purposes.
Bauhinia variegata. The orchid tree, also known as mountain ebony.
The name of a muhūrta.
stag rna’i rtogs pa brjod pa (Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna). Toh 358, Degé Kangyur vol. 76 (mdo sde, aH), folios 232.b–277.b.
stag rna’i rtogs pa brjod pa. 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. 76, pp. 669–796.
stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa (Mahāsāhasrapramardanī). Toh 558, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 63.a–87.b. English translation Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm 2016.
rig sngags kyi rgyal mo rma bya chen mo (Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī). Toh 559, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud, pha), folios 87.b–117.a. English translation The Queen of Incantations: The Great Peahen 2023.
Arya SardulakarNa’i nang nas ’byung ba gza’ dang rgyu skra gyi rang bzhin bshad pa. Toh 4321a, Degé Tengyur vol. 203 (mdo ’grel [bzo rig], ngo), folios 33.b–49.a.
Aśvaghoṣa. sangs rgyas kyi spyod pa zhes bya ba’i snyan dngags chen po (Buddhacaritanāmamahākāvya). Toh 4156, Degé Tengyur vol. 172 (spring yig, ge), folios 1.b–103.b.
Vasubandhu. chos mngon pa’i mdzod kyi bshad pa (Abhidharmakośabhāṣya). Degé Tengyur vol. 140 (mngon pa, ku), folios 26.a–258.a; vol. 141 (mngon pa, khu), folios 1.b–95.a.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
84000. The Chapter on Going Forth (Pravrajyāvastu, rab tu ’byung ba’i gzhi, Toh 1, ch. 1). Translated by Robert Miller. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.
84000. Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm (Mahāsāhasrapramardanī, stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa, Toh 558). Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2016.
84000. The Queen of Incantations: The Great Peahen (Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī, rig sngags kyi rgyal mo rma bya chen mo, Toh 559). Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
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