The god of fire.
An ingredient used to make incense.
An incantation goddess in this sūtra
A goddess in this sūtra.
A goddess in this sūtra.
A class of nonhuman beings believed to cause epilepsy, fits, and loss of memory. As their name suggests—the Skt. apasmāra literally means “without memory” and the Tib. brjed byed means “causing forgetfulness”—they are defined by the condition they cause in affected humans, and the term can refer to any nonhuman being that causes such conditions, whether a bhūta, a piśāca, or other.
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.
Mindfulness, discrimination, diligence, joy, pliability, absorption, and equanimity.
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 lowest hell, the eighth of the eight hot hells.
An asura lord.
A goddess.
This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.
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 king of Vārāṇasī.
A goddess.
The Tibetan translates both stūpa and caitya with the same word, mchod rten, meaning “basis” or “recipient” of “offerings” or “veneration.” Pali: cetiya.
A caitya, although often synonymous with stūpa, can also refer to any site, sanctuary or shrine that is made for veneration, and may or may not contain relics.
A stūpa, literally “heap” or “mound,” is a mounded or circular structure usually containing relics of the Buddha or the masters of the past. It is considered to be a sacred object representing the awakened mind of a buddha, but the symbolism of the stūpa is complex, and its design varies throughout the Buddhist world. Stūpas continue to be erected today as objects of veneration and merit making.
The moon personified.
Astronomical bodies that are believed to exert influence on individuals and the world according to Indic astrological lore. There are traditionally nine: the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the eclipse (Rāhu), and comets/meteors (Ketu).
Tibetan scholar and translator.
A class of nonhuman beings.
A great śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha Śākyamuni known for possessing miraculous powers.
A class of powerful nonhuman female beings who play a variety of roles in Indic literature in general and Buddhist literature specifically. Essentially synonymous with yoginīs, ḍākinīs are liminal and often dangerous beings who can be propitiated to acquire both mundane and transcendent spiritual accomplishments. In the higher Buddhist tantras, ḍākinīs are often considered embodiments of awakening and feature prominently in tantric maṇḍalas.
A member of the audience in this sūtra.
An Indian scholar who was resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries.
A member of the audience in this sūtra.
A member of the audience in this sūtra.
A great yakṣī.
See “dhāraṇī.”
A prominent merchant in Kuśinagara.
One of the Four Great Kings, he presides over the eastern quarter and rules over the gandharvas.
The kinnara king Druma is a well-known figure in canonical Buddhist literature, where he frequently appears, mostly in minor roles. For example, King Druma appears in The White Lotus of the Good Dharma (Toh 113), where he is one of the four kinnara kings attending the Buddha’s teaching. He is also included in The King of Samādhis Sūtra (Toh 127), where he arrives with his queens to make an offering of his music to the Buddha. He is also a bodhisattva who teaches and displays a profound understanding of the doctrine of emptiness in The Questions of the Kinnara King Druma (Toh 157), where his future awakening is also prophesied by the Buddha.
(His name has been translated into Tibetan both as “sdong po” and “ljon pa.”)
A female “messenger” deity.
The danger from or fear of (1) drowning, (2) thieves, (3) lions, (4) snakes, (5) fire, (6) threatening spirits, (7) imprisonment, and (8) elephants.
The eighty secondary physical characteristics of a buddha and of other great beings (mahāpuruṣa), they include such details as the redness of the fingernails and the blackness of the hair. They are considered “minor” in terms of being secondary to the thirty-two marks of a great being.
A rākṣasī.
The five kinds of “eye” or vision possessed by a buddha. They are (1) the physical eye, (2) the divine eye, (3) the wisdom eye, (4) the Dharma eye, and (5) the eye of the buddhas.
The two arms, two legs, and head.
These basic precepts are five in number for the laity: (1) not killing, (2) not stealing, (3) chastity, (4) not lying, and (5) avoiding intoxicants. For monks, there are three or five more; avoidance of such things as perfumes, makeup, ointments, garlands, high beds, and afternoon meals. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)
Jayā, Vijayā, Ajitā/Jayantī, and Aparājitā. Along with their brother Tumburu (a form of Śiva), they comprise an important cult in the Vidyāpiṭha tradition of tantric Śaivism. This set of deities appears frequently in Buddhist literature, especially in Dhāraṇīs and Kriyātantras.
Four gods who live on the lower slopes (fourth level) of Mount Meru in the eponymous Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Cāturmahārājika, rgyal chen bzhi’i ris) and guard the four cardinal directions. Each is the leader of a nonhuman class of beings living in his realm. They are Dhṛtarāṣṭra, ruling the gandharvas in the east; Virūḍhaka, ruling over the kumbhāṇḍas in the south; Virūpākṣa, ruling the nāgas in the west; and Vaiśravaṇa (also known as Kubera) ruling the yakṣas in the north. Also referred to as Guardians of the World or World Protectors (lokapāla, ’jig rten skyong ba).
The ancient Indian army was composed of four branches (caturaṅga)—infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants.
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.”
Another name of Gaṇeśa, the elephant-headed god invoked to remove obstacles.
In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.
There are three, namely emptiness as a gateway to liberation, signlessness as a gateway to liberation, and wishlessness as a gateway to liberation. Among them, emptiness is characterized as the absence of inherent existence, signlessness as the absence of mental images, and wishlessness as the absence of hopes and fears.
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 Śākya girl.
A type of nonhuman being known to exert a harmful influence on the human body and mind, they are thought to be responsible for epilepsy and seizures.
A yakṣī or rākṣasī. Once an eater of children, she was converted by the Buddha to become a protector.
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