The Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha—the three objects of Buddhist refuge. In the Tibetan rendering, “the three rare and supreme ones.”
Vajrapāṇi means “Wielder of the Vajra.” In the Pali canon, he appears as a yakṣa guardian in the retinue of the Buddha. In the Mahāyāna scriptures he is a bodhisattva and one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha.” In the tantras, he is also regarded as an important Buddhist deity and instrumental in the transmission of tantric scriptures.
A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.
Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.
rmi lam mthong ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs. Toh 460a, Degé Kangyur vol. 83 (rgyud ’bum, ja), folio 39.b.
rmi lam mthong ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs. Toh 952, Degé Kangyur vol. 102 (gzungs, waM), folios 45.b–46.a.
rmi lam mthong ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs. 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. 98, p. 128.
rmi lam mthong ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs. Narthang Kangyur, vol. 85 (rgyud, cha), folio 56.a.
rmi lam mthong ba zhes bya ba’i gzungs. Stok Palace MS Kangyur, vol. 109 (rgyud, tsha), folio 84.a.
Nāgārjuna. dge ba’i ’dod ’jo (Kalyāṇakāmadhenu). Toh 3067, Degé Tengyur vol. 74 (rgyud ’grel, pu), folios 131.b–140.a.