A traditional Indian title denoting a person who has authority because of superior knowledge, spiritual training, or position. In the Buddhist context, it is most often used for a scholar of great renown.
The bodhisattvas’ realization that all phenomena are unproduced and empty. It sustains them on the difficult path of benefiting all beings so that they do not succumb to the goal of personal liberation. Different sources link this realization to the first or eighth bodhisattva level (bhūmi).
The highest paradise in the form realm, and therefore the highest point within the universe. The name is used with other meanings in the tantra tradition.
A bodhisattva mahāsattva.
The nectar of immortality possessed by the devas, it is used as a metaphor for the teaching that brings liberation.
A bodhisattva mahāsattva.
A bodhisattva mahāsattva.
A vast legendary lake on the other side of the Himalayas. Only those with miraculous powers can go there. It is said to be the source of the world’s four great rivers.
In Sanskrit meaning “venerable one,” in Tibetan “enemy defeater.” Used as both as an epithet of the buddhas and to refer to the final accomplishment of early Buddhism.
Literally an “incalculable eon,” though precise numbers are given for its duration. The Abhidharmakośa states that its name does not mean that it is in fact incalculable. The number of years in this eon differs in various sūtras. For example, it is said to be 10 to the power of 49, or 10 to the power of 63 years. Also, twenty intermediate eons (antarakalpa) are said to be one asaṃkhyeya eon, and four asaṃkhyeya eons are said to form one great eon (mahākalpa). In that case those four asaṃkhyeya eons represent the eons of the creation, presence, destruction, and absence of a world. However, it is also used, as apparently in this sūtra, to refer to the longest of all eons, including all others.
Fourth-century Indian founder of the Yogācāra tradition.
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 fifth of the golden mountain ranges (counting from the innermost) that encircle Sumeru.
The lowest hell, the eighth of the eight hot hells.
Four qualities of the samādhi that has the activity of eliminating negative factors: aspiration, diligence, contemplation, and analysis.
The six bases of sensory perception are the six sensory faculties: the eyes, nose, ear, tongue, body, and mind, which form in the womb but as yet have no contact with the external six bases of sensory perception: form, smell, sound, taste, touch, and phenomena. In another context in this sūtra, āyatana refers to the four formless meditations (see “liberations”).
Although it has often been translated as lapis lazuli, the descriptions and references in the literature, both Sanskrit and Tibetan, match the characteristics of beryl. The Pāli form is veḷuriya. The Prākrit form verulia is the source for the English beryl. This normally refers to the blue or aquamarine beryl, but there are also white, yellow, and green beryls, though green beryl is called emerald.
Literally “one who has bhaga,” which has many diverse meanings including “good fortune,” “happiness,” and “majesty.” In the Buddhist context, it means “one who has the good fortune of attaining enlightenment.” The Tibetan translation has three syllables defined to mean “one who has conquered (the māras), possesses (the qualities of enlightenment), and has transcended (saṃsāra, or both saṃsāra and nirvāṇa).”
The term bhikṣu, often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns—like other ascetics of the time—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity.
In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a monk follows 253 rules as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣuṇī; dge slong ma) follows 364 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically follow only ten).
Literally the “grounds” in which qualities grow, and also meaning “levels.” Here it refers specifically to levels of enlightenment, especially the ten levels of the enlightened bodhisattvas.
The tree beneath which every buddha in this world will manifest the attainment of buddhahood.
The aspiration to become a samyaksambuddha, a buddha who liberates other beings.
The place where the Buddha Śākyamuni achieved awakening and where every buddha will manifest the attainment of buddhahood. In our world this is understood to be located under the Bodhi tree, the Vajrāsana, in present-day Bodhgaya, India. It can also refer to the state of awakening itself.
A being who is dedicated to the cultivation and fulfilment of the altruistic intention to attain perfect buddhahood, traversing the ten bodhisattva levels (daśabhūmi, sa bcu). Bodhisattvas purposely opt to remain within cyclic existence in order to liberate all sentient beings, instead of simply seeking personal freedom from suffering. In terms of the view, they realize both the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.
This is the way (yāna) of the bodhisattva, the teachings of the Mahāyāna sūtras.
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 member of the priestly class or caste from the four social divisions of India.
The fourth bodhisattva bhūmi.
A bodhisattva mahāsattva.
Literally “buddha body,” it is another term for the state of buddhahood, which can be subdivided into two or three bodies (kāya).
“Circular mass.” In this sūtra it is the name of the outer ring of mountains at the edge of the flat disk that is the world, with Sumeru in the center. However, it is also used to mean the entire disk and the paradises above it. There is also a system where it is the eighth mountain range encircling Sumeru within the ocean.
An ideal monarch or emperor who, as the result of the merit accumulated in previous lifetimes, rules over a vast realm in accordance with the Dharma. Such a monarch is called a cakravartin because he bears a wheel (cakra) that rolls (vartate) across the earth, bringing all lands and kingdoms under his power. The cakravartin conquers his territory without causing harm, and his activity causes beings to enter the path of wholesome actions. According to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa, just as with the buddhas, only one cakravartin appears in a world system at any given time. They are likewise endowed with the thirty-two major marks of a great being (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa), but a cakravartin’s marks are outshined by those of a buddha. They possess seven precious objects: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the wish-fulfilling gem, the queen, the general, and the minister. An illustrative passage about the cakravartin and his possessions can be found in The Play in Full (Toh 95), 3.3–3.13.
Vasubandhu lists four types of cakravartins: (1) the cakravartin with a golden wheel (suvarṇacakravartin) rules over four continents and is invited by lesser kings to be their ruler; (2) the cakravartin with a silver wheel (rūpyacakravartin) rules over three continents and his opponents submit to him as he approaches; (3) the cakravartin with a copper wheel (tāmracakravartin) rules over two continents and his opponents submit themselves after preparing for battle; and (4) the cakravartin with an iron wheel (ayaścakravartin) rules over one continent and his opponents submit themselves after brandishing weapons.
A bodhisattva mahāsattva.
The paradise of the Four Mahārājas situated around the base of Sumeru.
There are usually five or six clairvoyances: divine sight, divine hearing, knowing how to manifest miracles, remembering previous lives, and knowing what is in the minds of others; the sixth, knowing that all defects have been eliminated, occurs only at the attainment of enlightenment.
The tenth bodhisattva bhūmi.
This patience is an acceptance of the true nature of things. It is a patience that is in concord with the nature of phenomena.
This refers to the four confidences or fearlessnesses (as translated into Tibetan) of a buddha: confidence in having attained realization, confidence in having exhausted defilements, confidence in teaching the Dharma, and confidence in teaching the path of aspiration to liberation.
This realm is composed of the six classes of existence: hell beings, pretas, animals, humans, asuras, and devas. These are all existences where a being is reborn through karma. In the two higher realms beings are reborn there through the power of their meditation.
In the most general sense the devas—the term is cognate with the English divine—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth. The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable, it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.
A bodhisattva mahāsattva.
Approximately ten ounces. One dharaṇa could be equivalent to between 3 and 5 grams, which could be from 50 to 70 grains, but that seems too small in relation to its usage in this sūtra. In one example of measurement used specifically for gold, a dharaṇa is equivalent to ten pala, or 40 suverna, or 640 māśa, or 3200 kṛṣṇala (black gañja seed), in which case the dharaṇa would be even smaller, equivalent to 1.5 grains. As there was no equivalent to dharaṇa in Tibetan, it was translated as srang, which in the Mahāvyutpatti is said to equal one pala, both being close to an ounce when used generally.
Dhāraṇī is translated as “retention” when it means the power of mental retention. The Sanskrit is given when it refers to a formula to be recited that is said to contain the essence of a teaching.
A bodhisattva mahāsattva.
In early Buddhism, a section of the saṅgha would be bhāṇakas, who, particularly before the teachings were written down, when they were solely transmitted orally, were the key factor in the preservation of the teachings. Various groups of bhāṇakas each specialized in memorizing and reciting a certain set of sūtras or vinaya texts.
See “realm of phenomena.”
In its earliest use it meant that though the corporeal body of the Buddha had perished, his “body of the Dharma” continued. It later came to be synonymous with enlightenment or buddhahood, a “body” that can only be “seen” by a buddha.
Generally one of the synonyms for meditation, referring to a state of mental stability. Specifically, as in this sūtra, it refers to the four dhyānas, which are responsible for rebirth in the four levels—composed of seventeen paradises—of the form realm, and the four dhyānas that bring rebirth in the four levels of the formless realm, which, though called a “realm,” has no cosmological location.
The fifth bodhisattva bhūmi.
These are of four kinds and are also found in the Pali tradition and in the Mahāvastu of the Mahāsaṅghikas. They are listed in this sūtra as the discerning knowledge of phenomena, the discerning knowledge of meaning, the discerning knowledge of definitions, and the discerning knowledge of eloquence.
sa bcu pa (Daśabhūmika). Toh 44-31, Degé Kangyur vol. 36 (phal chen, kha), folios 166.a–283.a.
sangs rgyas phal po che (Buddhāvataṃsaka) [A Multitude of Buddhas]. Toh 44, Degé Kangyur vol. 35–38 (phal chen, ka–a).
sdong po bkod pa (Gaṇḍavyūha). Toh 44, ch. 45, Degé Kangyur vol. 37 (phal chen, ga), folios 274.b–336.a; vol. 38 (phal chen, a), folios 1.b–363.a. English translation in Roberts (2021).
byang sems rnam dgod bcu bstan pa’i le’u [The Ten Abodes of Bodhisattvas]. Toh 44, ch. 20, Degé Kangyur vol. 35 (phal chen, ka), folios 245.a–258.a.
kye’i rdo rje’i rgyud (Hevajratantra). Toh 417, Degé Kangyur vol. 80 (rgyud ’bum, nga), folios 1.b–30.a.
dkon mchog sprin (Ratnamegha) [The Jewel Cloud]. Toh 231, Degé Kangyur vol. 64 (mdo sde, wa), folios 1.b–112.b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2019).
dgongs pa nges par’ grel pa (Saṃdhinirmocana) [Unraveling the Intent]. Toh 106, Degé Kangyur vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca), folios 1.b–55.b. English translation in Buddhavacana Translation Group (2020).
rgyan stug po bkod pa (Ghanavyūha) [The Dense Array]. Toh 110, Degé Kangyur vol. 50 (mdo sde, cha), folios 1.a–55.b.
ting nge ’dzin gyi rgyal po’i mdo (Samādhirājasūtra) [The King of Samādhis Sūtra]. Toh 127, Degé Kangyur vol. 55 (mdo sde, da) folios 1.b–170.b. English translation in Roberts (2018).
chos yang dag par sdud pa’i mdo (Dharmasaṃgītisūtra) [The Sūtra of the Deliberation on the Dharma]. Toh 238, Degé Kangyur vol. 65 (mdo sde, zha), folios 1.b–99.b. English translation in Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York (2024).
sa’i sying po ’khor lo bcu pa’i mdo (Daśacakrakṣitigarbhasūtra) [The Sūtra of the Ten Wheels of Kṣitigarbha]. Toh 239, Degé Kangyur vol.65 (mdo sde, zha), 100.a–241.b.
tshangs pa’i dra ba’i mdo (Brahmajālasūtra) [The Sūtra of Brahma’s Net]. Toh 352, Degé Kangyur vol. 76 (mdo sde, aH), folios 70.b–86.a.
rnam par snang mdzad mngon par rdzogs par byang chub pa’i rgyud (Vairocanābhisambodhitantra) [The Tantra of the Complete Enlightenment of Vairocana]. Toh 494, Degé Kangyur vol. 86 (rgyud ’bum, tha), folios 151.b–260.a.
lang kar gshegs pa’i mdo (Laṅkāvatārasūtra) [The Sūtra on the Descent into Laṅka]. Toh 107, Degé Kangyur vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca), folios 1.b–213.a.
Asaṅga. rnal ’byor spyod pa’i sa las byang chub sems dpa’i sa (Yogacāryau bodhisattvabhūmi). Toh 4037, Degé Tengyur vol. 231 (sems tsam, wi), folios 1.b–213.a.
Candrakīrti. dbu ma la ’jug pa (Madhyamakāvatāra). Toh 3861, Degé Tengyur vol. 204 (dbu ma, ’a) folios 201.b–219.a.
Maitreyanātha. theg pa chen po mdo sde’i rgyan zhes bya ba’i tshig le’ur byas pa (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkaranāmakārikā) [Adornment of the Mahāyāna Sūtras]. Toh 4020, Degé Tengyur vol. 225 (sems tsam, phi), folios 1.a–39.a.
Śākyabodhi. sa bcu’i mdo sde’i gleng gzhi’i bshad pa (Daśabhūmisūtranidānabhāṣya) [A Commentary on the Introduction to the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis]. Toh 3999, Degé Tengyur, vol. 218 (mdo ’grel, ji), folios 119.b–123.a.
Sūryasiddha. sa bcu’i rnam par bshad pa’i rnam par bshad pa (Daśabhūmivyākhyānavyākhyāna) [A Commentary on the Commentary on the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis]. Toh 3998, Degé Tengyur vol. 218 (mdo ’grel, ji), folios 1.a–119.b.
Vasubandhu. chos mngon pa’i mdzod kyi tshig le’ur byas pa (Abhidharmakośakārikā). Toh 4089, Degé Tengyur vol. 140 (mngon pa, ku), folios 1.b–25.a.
Vasubandhu. sa bcu’i rnam par bshad pa (Daśabhūmivyākhyāna) [Commentary on the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis]. Toh 3993, Degé Tengyur vol. 215 (mdo ’grel, ngi), folios 103.b–266.a.
bye brag tu rtogs par byed pa chen po (Mahāvyutpatti). Toh 4346, Degé Tengyur vol. 204 (sna tshogs, co), folios 1.b–131.a.
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