A genre of Buddhist literature, included in the list of nine or twelve types. There is a specific text in the Pali canon, the Itivuttaka, that compiles a number of such stories.
One of a common list of eleven positive mental states (kuśalacaittya) found in Buddhist abhidharma lists. Remorse is what one feels after having realized that one has done something wrong, and it serves as a mental state that hinders one from engaging in such wrong actions again. Often paired with hrī (ngo tsha shes pa).
One of a common list of eleven positive mental states (kuśalacaittya) found in Buddhist abhidharma lists. Shame is what one feels after having realized that one has done something wrong, and it serves as a mental state that hinders one from engaging in such wrong actions again. Often paired with apatrāpya (khrel yod pa).
The buddha domain of the Buddha Akṣobhya.
A realized one whose name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.
A capital city of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra in the four continent world Lovely Illumination
A higher or more refined state of meditative equipoise than those listed as the four meditations (dhyāna); often listed as a second set of four states that follow the four dhyānas.
The third and final stage of the three levels of intellectual receptivity or acceptance (kṣānti) of the Dharma. Tantamount to an acceptance of the emptiness of all things, the fact that they do not arise or cease as substantial or essentially real phenomena. It follows from the second level of acceptance, which brings one into conformity with the Dharma (ānulomikadharmakṣānti), which is in turn preceded by a first stage of acceptance in which one follows the voice (ghoṣānugā kṣānti) of the teacher of the Dharma. This is a distinctive but related use of the term kṣānti, which is also translated in this sūtra as “patience,” when it refers to the perfection (pāramitā) and virtue of patience more generally.
The second of three levels of intellectual receptivity or acceptance (kṣānti), following from an earlier stage in which there is an acceptance that “follows the voice” (ghoṣānugā) of the teacher of the Dharma. At this second stage, there is a deeper acceptance that results in one’s thoughts and actions coming into accord with (literally, “going with the grain of”) the Dharma; that is, with the teachings and the nature of things. The third stage is the acceptance of the fact that things do not arise (anutpattikadharmakṣānti). This is a distinctive but related use of the term kṣānti, which is also translated in this sūtra as “patience,” when it refers to the perfection (pāramitā) and virtue of patience more generally.
See “patience.”
Usually of two kinds, the supply of merit and the supply of knowledge, but also more generally the supplies or provisions that a bodhisattva accumulates and stores, which then provide the fuel for the pursuit of the goal of the path. This sūtra provides a long list of such supplies, which are mainly qualities or virtues the bodhisattva develops.
The name of the capital city in the abode of Vajrapāṇi, as attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra. The manuscript of the sūtra contains the variant spelling Abhagavatī, which could be a spelling error, though it occurs multiple times in the manuscript. The spelling of the name can vary in other texts, too, as the same term is attested for Alakāvatī, Aḍakavatī, and Aṭakāvatī in other sources. Its precise relationship to Alakāvatī, the capital of Vaiśravaṇa, as given in the Mahābhārata, is not entirely clear.
The fivefold basic grouping of the components out of which the world and the person are formed.
One of the three doṣas in traditional Indian medicine.
King of Magadha after his father, Bimbisāra, whom he is said to have imprisoned and had killed, an act to which this sūtra alludes. Both he and his father are often portrayed in Buddhist texts as great supporters of the Buddha and his community.
Lit. “Not Disturbed” or “Immovable One.” The buddha in the eastern realm of Abhirati. A well-known buddha in Mahāyāna, regarded in the higher tantras as the head of one of the five buddha families, the vajra family in the east.
The Sanskrit name for a particular state of meditation the corresponding Pāli of which is appānaka or appāṇaka. An alternate Buddhist Sanskrit term is āspharaṇaka. This meditation is described most famously in the Mahāsaccaka Sūtta of the Majjhima Nikāya where it is explained as a type of meditation in which the breathing is fully stopped, which then prompts the Bodhisattva to experience a loud and unpleasant sound. He then abandons the meditation. Edgerton cites a different explanation found in the Lalitavistara in which the meditation involves pervading everything while not agitating or disturbing the space element at all.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
“Higher motivation”—an even stronger motivation to pursue the exalted goal of the Buddhist path.
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 bodhisattva whose name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra, which says he will become the last of the one thousand buddhas in this fortunate eon.
A realized one whose name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.
A world visited by the Buddha, as narrated by Vajrapāṇi in this sūtra.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra, whose name is attested in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra.
A nāga king in the audience of this sūtra whose name is attested in the Mahāvyutpatti.
The name of a world where a buddha named Ratnacandra dwells. The name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.
One of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s wives in this sūtra, whose name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript.
One of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s wives in this sūtra, whose name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript. The name Anaupamyā is attested for the same Tibetan translation of the name of a goddess in the Amoghapāśakalparāja.
A nāga king whose name is attested in the Mahāvyutpatti.
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra, whose name is attested by Negi as one found in the Sarvadurgatipariśodhana.
A world mentioned in this sūtra as the home of the bodhisattva Vegadhārin and the buddha domain of Campakavarṇa.
A general term for a person who is living a religious life, often involving renunciation, a broader category that includes both non-Buddhist religious renunciants and Buddhist monastics, used especially in the context of the phrase “ascetics and brahmins.”
In the general Mahāyāna teachings the mind of awakening (bodhicitta) is the intention to attain the complete awakening of a perfect buddha for the sake of all beings. On the level of absolute truth, the mind of awakening is the realization of the awakened state itself.
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).
An ascetic practice in which the practitioner lights four fires, one for each of the four directions, and then sits down in the middle of them as the sun, the fifth fire, blazes directly overhead. This practice is also said to be done especially during the hot season.
A type of Buddhist biographical tale, typically including a story of the present and a story of a past life and the karmic connection between them. It is listed as one of the twelve types of Buddhist literature.
A well-known bodhisattva featured in a number of Mahāyāna sūtras; in this sūtra, mentioned as one of the bodhisattvas in the audience.
These “qualities” (dharma) pertain to actions or states of body, speech, and mind. Often translated as “nonvirtues,” they are typically listed as a group of ten: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, senseless speech, covetousness, ill will, and wrong views.
A future buddha mentioned in this sūtra, but in a passage not found in the Sanskrit manuscript.
A term that can also mean a “stark naked” person. It is used to describe wrestlers’ and ascetics’ bodies, as well as beings who possess strong muscular bodies and those with perfect physical form. The Tibetan translation, tshan po che chen po, emphasizes the feature of great physical prowess.
The belief in a permanent, substantial, essentially real individuality or personhood. It is a difficult expression to translate literally, because the term kāya is a common word for the body. The Sanskrit word kāya apparently derives from the verb root ci (“to accumulate”), and this meaning is captured in the Tibetan translation, tshog. Sometimes this etymological sense of the word is drawn out in literary and doctrinal contexts, as it is in this sūtra. However, the term in this particular context refers more to the core of the person, and in common pan-Buddhist usage, as Edgerton points out, it is used in this expression more or less synonymously with ātman, the “self.”
A god whose name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.
One of two merchant brothers, the other being Trapuṣa, who make offerings to the Buddha shortly after his awakening.
A common epithet of great bodhisattvas, the precise meaning of which is contested but that seems to describe someone as possessing great courage, magnanimity, and great strength of character. The term is explained in the *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa, which has a short chapter on this term, also as a being who possesses great love and great compassion.
A class of yakṣa whose name means “having bowls in their hands.”
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).
The brahmā deity who is sometimes called Sahāṃpati, “sovereign of this Sahā world.” This is the name given to the great brahmā deity described in this sūtra as the lord (īśvara) of the cosmos of a billion worlds. The name attested in the Sanskrit manuscript. Also called Great Brahmā (mahābrahmā) or even simply Brahmā in this sūtra and elsewhere, as well as vaśavartin, the “powerful one.” In this sūtra, he also seems to be identified with Brahmā Śikhin, but at the same time Brahmā should be distinguished from the class of brahmā deities who dwell in the Brahmā heavens over which Great Brahmā is also lord.
A name for nickname for Brahmā, which could be rendered Brahmā, “the one with the topknot” (śikhin), who in this sūtra seems to be identical to Great Brahmā, sovereign of this Sahā world (mahābrahmā sahāṃpati).
A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra, whose name is attested in the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa.
’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryatathāgatācintyaguhyanirdeśanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 47, Degé Kangyur vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ka), folios 100.a–203.a.
’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa 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), 2006–9, vol. 39, pp. 289–542.
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