One of the “twelve branches of excellent speech.”

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

One among the twelve sections of scripture.

Accounts of the lives of past buddhas and bodhisattvas. Literally “thus it has happened.” One of the twelve aspects of the wheel of Dharma.

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

Accounts of the lives of past buddhas and bodhisattvas. Literally “thus it has happened.” One of the nine aspects of the Dharma according to this sūtra. More commonly there are said to be twelve that include these nine.

As one of the twelve aspects of the Dharma, it means accounts of the lives of past buddhas and bodhisattvas.

See also “twelve wheels of the Dharma.”

Seventh of the twelve branches of the scriptures.

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.