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བསོད་ནམས་ཐམས་ཅད་བསྡུས་པའི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།

The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit
Glossary

Sarvapuṇya­samuccaya­samādhi
འཕགས་པ་བསོད་ནམས་ཐམས་ཅད་བསྡུས་པའི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་ཅེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin ces bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit”
Ārya­sarva­puṇya­samuccaya­samādhi­nāma­mahā­yāna­sūtra

Toh 134

Degé Kangyur, vol. 56 (mdo sde, na), folios 70.b–121.b

ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ
  • Prajñāvarma
  • Śīlendrabodhi
  • Bandé Yeshé Dé

Imprint

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Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2016

Current version v 2.1.8 (2024)

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84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgments
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
+ 2 chapters- 2 chapters
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
c. Colophon
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit tells the story of Vimalatejā, a strongman renowned for his physical prowess, who visits the Buddha in order to compare abilities and prove that he is the mightier of the two. He receives an unexpected, humbling riposte in the form of a teaching by the Buddha on the inconceivable magnitude of the powers of awakened beings, going well beyond mere physical strength. The discussions that then unfold‍—largely between the Buddha, Vimalatejā, and the bodhisattva Nārāyaṇa‍—touch on topics including the importance of creating merit, the centrality of learning and insight, and the question of whether renunciation entails monasticism. Above all, however, Vimalatejā is led to see that the entirety of the Great Vehicle path hinges on the practice that forms the name of the sūtra, which is nothing other than the mind of awakening (bodhicitta).


ac.

Acknowledgments

ac.­1

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Zachary Beer produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor compared the translation with the original Tibetan and edited the text. The translators are grateful to Khenpo Trokpa Tulku from Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery for his assistance in resolving several difficult passages.

This translation was sponsored by Shakya Dewa, and has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.


i.

Introduction

i.­1

Like a number of other Great Vehicle sūtras, The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit consists of a rich and at times disjointed amalgam of stories, teachings, and conversations. Although the sūtra begins in a seemingly historical setting in the vicinity of Vaiśālī, in the course of the narration we travel throughout our world system in times past, present, and future, as well as other world systems presided over by their respective awakened beings. Beginning in the voice of a general narrator who returns to describe supernatural events from a bird’s-eye view‍—earthquakes, cascading flowers, flashes of light, and the like‍—the text for the most part unfolds as a discussion, and thus emerges from the mouths of a cast of characters with whom we are gradually acquainted. Some of these characters are familiar: the Buddha, of course, and bodhisattvas like Mañjuśrī and Nārāyaṇa, as well as the śrāvakas Maudgalyāyana and Ānanda, who make brief guest appearances in what is largely a Great Vehicle ensemble.


Text Body

The Translation
The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra
The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit

1.

Chapter 1

[F.70.b]


1.­1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!


1.­2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Vaiśālī in the mansion in Āmrapālī’s great grove, together with a great assembly of ten thousand monks. All these monks were foe-destroyers whose defilements were exhausted. They were without afflictions and controlled. Their minds were perfectly free, their insight perfectly liberated. They were noble beings, great elephants, successful and accomplished. They had laid down their burden and fulfilled their aims. They had eliminated the bondages of existence and, thanks to their correct knowledge, their minds were perfectly liberated. They had obtained supreme perfection in mastering all mental states.


2.

Chapter 2

2.­1

Then the mighty strongman Vimalatejā inquired of the Blessed One, “Blessed One, what are the instructions for attaining this absorption that encapsulates all merit?”

The Blessed One replied to the mighty strongman Vimalatejā, “Son of noble family, there is one single instruction for attaining this absorption that encapsulates all merit. What is it? It is to not forsake the omniscient mind. Son of noble family, through this instruction alone will one attain the absorption that encapsulates all merit.


c.

Colophon

c.­1

Translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptors Prajñāvarman and Śīlendrabodhi, the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé, and others.


n.

Notes

n.­1
The catalogue of the Narthang Kangyur (F.94a) says that the Tshalpa (tshal pa) catalogue lists this text as having two chapters (le’u), but that the Great Fifth Dalai Lama considered this to be a scribal error. Neverheless, the 16th century Tibetan commentator Pekar Zangpo (pad dkar bzang po, p 193) does identify a thematic distinction, writing that the first chapter deals with the nature of the absorption while the second explains its causes and the benefits of training in it. Curiously, however, both the Narthang and Degé catalogues also list the text as having no less than 50 le’u. It may be that in this and similar catalogue entries (see also Dharmachakra 2016, Introduction i.15) the term le’u is being used to denote “episodes” or “scenes,” rather than in its more usual sense of formal sections or chapters.
n.­2
The fragment attests to the Sanskrit names Uttara and Vimalakīrtirāja, as it includes a small portion of their dialogue. See Salomon 2014, p. 7, and Harrison et al. 2016.
n.­3
The Degé Kangyur, in common with the other Kangyurs predominantly of the Tshalpa tradition, here reads dgon par bgyi ba lta bu ni ’jig rten gnas pa lags so, which is difficult to interpret in the context. This (and some other details of this passage) appear less erroneous in the Kangyurs of the Thempangma tradition. The Stok Palace (stog pho brang) manuscript Kangyur reads dgum par bgyi ba lta bu ni … which is the reading we have translated here.
n.­4
Tib: gang kho na na gnas pa de kho nar ’gags pa. “Remaining in themselves and ceasing in themselves” is our best guess at translating this obscure phrase.
n.­5
The occurrence in this passage of the term bar ma dor yongs su myang ngan las ’da’ ba / anantarā­parinirvāyī is the only occurrence in any of the Kangyur sūtra sections, except for one mention in the longer Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtras in relation to the Buddha’s qualities. The term is included in the Mahā­vyutpatti (section 46, 1015), and the sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa makes it clear that the Tibetans interpreted it as attaining the śrāvaka’s nirvāṇa in the interval between one life and the next (antara­parinirvāṇi zhes bya ba phyir mi ’ong ba srid pa gcig nas ’phos pa pha rol tu yang ma skyes par srid pa bar mdo’i tshe dgra bcom pa’i ’bras bu mngon du byas nas mya ngan las ’da’ bas na bar ma dor yongs su mya ngan las ’da’ ba zhes bya). According to Edgerton the Pāli sources interpret the term as meaning simply “attaining parinirvāṇa prematurely” i.e. in the middle of life, and the Prajñā­pāramitā occurrence could be interpreted as prematurely in the sense of before having perfected the qualities. Here it could be interpreted either simply as attaining nirvāṇa “without any interval,” i.e. immediately, or possibly as in the interval after death; in both cases the implication is, of course, that the bodhisattva will not continue to live to benefit beings.
n.­6
Tib: bdag gi sdug bsngal dang ’dra bar ’dod pa (or, in the Stok Palace Kangyur, bdag gis sdug bsngal …). The meaning of this expression is unclear to us.
n.­7
Tib: sgra dang sgra ma yin pa so sor brtag pa la mkhas pa. The Tibetan sgra has a wide range of meanings, including “sound,” “voice,” “speech,” “language,” “word,” “term,” and “grammar.” It is not clear what this expression means in the context of this sentence.
n.­8
Tib: snying rje ni kun tu spyod pa med pa’i mtshan nyid do. This way of defining compassion is surprising; it could possibly carry the sense of not having a fixed type of conduct, though this is not clear.

b.

Bibliography

’phags pa bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin ces bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya­sarva­puṇya­samuccaya­samādhi­nāma­mahā­yāna­sūtra). Toh 134, Degé Kangyur, vol. 56 (mdo sde, na), folios 70b–121b.

’phags pa bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin ces 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. 56, p. 196–317.

’phags pa bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin ces bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya­sarva­puṇya­samuccaya­samādhi­nāma­mahā­yāna­sūtra). sTog 107, Stok Palace (stog pho brang bris ma) Kangyur, vol. 63 (mdo sde, na), folios 80b–161b.

Pekar Zangpo (pad dkar bzang po). mdo sde spyi’i rnam bzhag. Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang [Minorities Publishing House], 2006.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee (tr.). The Illusory Absorption (Māyopama­samādhi, Toh 130). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2016.

Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.

Harrison, Paul, Timothy Lenz, Qian Lin, and Richard Salomon. “A Gāndhārī Fragment of the Sarva­puṇya­samuccaya­samādhi­sūtra”. In Braarvig, Jens (ed.), Buddhist Manuscripts, Volume IV. Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection. Oslo: Hermes Publishing, 2016.

Saloman, Richard. “Gāndhārī Manuscripts in the British Library, Schøyen and Other Collections.” In Harrison, Paul, and Jens-Uwe Hartmann (eds.), From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances in Buddhist Manuscript Research. Papers Presented at the Conference Indic Buddhist Manuscripts: The State of the Field. Standord, June 15–19, 2009. Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2014.


g.

Glossary

Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language

AS

Attested in source text

This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.

AO

Attested in other text

This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.

AD

Attested in dictionary

This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.

AA

Approximate attestation

The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.

RP

Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.

RS

Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.

SU

Source unspecified

This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.

g.­1

abodes of Brahmā

Wylie:
  • tshangs pa’i gnas
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པའི་གནས།
Sanskrit:
  • brahmavihāra

Love, compassion, joy, equanimity.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­200-201
g.­2

Āmrapālī

Wylie:
  • a mras bsrungs pa
Tibetan:
  • ཨ་མྲས་བསྲུངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • āmrapālī

A famous and beautiful patron of the Buddha’s, courtesan in the city of Vaiśālī.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4-5
  • i.­15
g.­3

Āmrapālī’s great grove

Wylie:
  • a mras bsrungs pa’i tshal chen po
Tibetan:
  • ཨ་མྲས་བསྲུངས་པའི་ཚལ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • āmrapālīvana

The grove donated to the Buddha by the courtesan Āmrapālī.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­12
g.­4

Ānanda

Wylie:
  • kun dga’ bo
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།
Sanskrit:
  • ānanda

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • i.­12
  • 2.­98
  • 2.­107-108
  • 2.­219-221
g.­5

Anantamati

Wylie:
  • blo gros mtha’ yas
Tibetan:
  • བློ་གྲོས་མཐའ་ཡས།
Sanskrit:
  • anantamati

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­3
g.­6

beryl

Wylie:
  • bai dU rya
Tibetan:
  • བཻ་དཱུ་རྱ།
Sanskrit:
  • vaiḍūrya

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­109
  • 2.­197
g.­7

bodhisattva collection

Wylie:
  • byang chub sems dpa’i sde snod
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྡེ་སྣོད།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhi­sattva­piṭaka

The sūtras and teachings of the bodhisattva vehicle in general (not to be confused with the sūtra of the same name, Toh 56, in the Ratnakūṭa).

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 2.­109
g.­8

Brahmā

Wylie:
  • tshangs pa
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • brahmā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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).

Located in 19 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­38-41
  • 1.­49-50
  • 1.­52
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­40
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­79
  • 2.­97
  • 2.­171
  • 2.­177
  • 2.­180
  • 2.­212
  • 2.­215
  • g.­43
g.­9

Cakravāla

Wylie:
  • khor yug
Tibetan:
  • ཁོར་ཡུག
Sanskrit:
  • cakravāla

Means “Periphery.” Name of mountain range that surrounds the world according to Buddhist cosmology.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­33
g.­10

Caryamati

Wylie:
  • spyod pa’i blo gros
Tibetan:
  • སྤྱོད་པའི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • caryamati

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­3
g.­11

Constant Stable Diligence

Wylie:
  • rtag tu brtson ’grus brtan
Tibetan:
  • རྟག་ཏུ་བརྩོན་འགྲུས་བརྟན།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­167-168
  • 2.­178
g.­12

Delighting in Emanations

Wylie:
  • ’phrul dga’
Tibetan:
  • འཕྲུལ་དགའ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirmāṇarata

The fifth (second highest) of the six levels of gods of the Desire Realm.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­20
g.­13

Dharmamati

Wylie:
  • chos kyi blo gros
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmamati

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­3
g.­14

Dīpaṃkara

Wylie:
  • mar me mdzad
Tibetan:
  • མར་མེ་མཛད།
Sanskrit:
  • dīpaṃkara

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 2.­161
g.­15

eight unfree states

Wylie:
  • mi khom pa brgyad
Tibetan:
  • མི་ཁོམ་པ་བརྒྱད།
Sanskrit:
  • aṣṭākṣaṇa

Lives led in circumstances that do not provide the freedom to practice the Buddhist path, i.e., the realms of (1) the hells, (2) pretas, (3) animals, and (4) long-lived gods; (in the human realm) among (5) barbarians, (6) extremists, and (7) in places where the Buddhist teachings do not exist; and (8) without adequate faculties to understand the teachings where they do exist.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­109
  • 2.­180
g.­16

Ever Ecstatic

Wylie:
  • rtag tu myos
Tibetan:
  • རྟག་ཏུ་མྱོས།
Sanskrit:
  • saḍāmāda

Name of a class of gods on the slopes of Sumeru.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­19
g.­17

Four Great Kings

Wylie:
  • rgyal po chen po bzhi
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་པོ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • caturmahārāja

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­19
  • g.­19
g.­18

Free of Demons

Wylie:
  • bdud bral
Tibetan:
  • བདུད་བྲལ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­14
  • 2.­152
  • 2.­154
  • 2.­157
g.­19

Garland Bearer

Wylie:
  • lag na phreng thogs
Tibetan:
  • ལག་ན་ཕྲེང་ཐོགས།
Sanskrit:
  • mālādhāra

Name of a class of gods, a group of yakṣa associated with the Four Great Kings.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­18-19
g.­20

Gautama

Wylie:
  • go’u ta ma
Tibetan:
  • གོའུ་ཏ་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • gautama

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • 1.­11
g.­21

Gopā

Wylie:
  • sa ’tsho ma
Tibetan:
  • ས་འཚོ་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • gopā

The maiden whom the Buddha married while he was still a bodhisattva.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­13
g.­22

great sage

Wylie:
  • drang srong chen po
Tibetan:
  • དྲང་སྲོང་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • i.­10
  • 2.­63
  • 2.­66-72
  • 2.­78-80
  • g.­57
g.­23

Heaven Entirely Free of Strife

Wylie:
  • rab ’thab bral
Tibetan:
  • རབ་འཐབ་བྲལ།
Sanskrit:
  • suyāma

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­20
g.­24

Heaven Free of Strife

Wylie:
  • ’thab bral
Tibetan:
  • འཐབ་བྲལ།
Sanskrit:
  • yāma

The third (fourth highest) of the six levels of gods of the Desire Realm.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­19-20
g.­25

Heaven of the Thirty-three

Wylie:
  • sum cu rtsa gsum pa
Tibetan:
  • སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • trayatriṃśa

The second (fifth highest) of the six levels of gods of the Desire Realm.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­19
  • 2.­58
  • g.­45
  • g.­48
g.­26

incantation

Wylie:
  • gzungs
Tibetan:
  • གཟུངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dhāraṇī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings‍—an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula‍—that distills and “holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulas.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 2.­81
g.­27

Īṣādhāra

Wylie:
  • gshol mda’ ’dzin
Tibetan:
  • གཤོལ་མདའ་འཛིན།
Sanskrit:
  • īṣādhāra

Name of a class of gods, as well as one of the ranges of mountains around Sumeru.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­16-18
g.­28

Joyous Heaven

Wylie:
  • dga’ ldan
Tibetan:
  • དགའ་ལྡན།
Sanskrit:
  • tuṣita

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Tuṣita (or sometimes Saṃtuṣita), literally “Joyous” or “Contented,” is one of the six heavens of the desire realm (kāmadhātu). In standard classifications, such as the one in the Abhidharmakośa, it is ranked as the fourth of the six counting from below. This god realm is where all future buddhas are said to dwell before taking on their final rebirth prior to awakening. There, the Buddha Śākyamuni lived his preceding life as the bodhisattva Śvetaketu. When departing to take birth in this world, he appointed the bodhisattva Maitreya, who will be the next buddha of this eon, as his Dharma regent in Tuṣita. For an account of the Buddha’s previous life in Tuṣita, see The Play in Full (Toh 95), 2.12, and for an account of Maitreya’s birth in Tuṣita and a description of this realm, see The Sūtra on Maitreya’s Birth in the Heaven of Joy, (Toh 199).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­20
  • 2.­108
g.­29

King of Many Arrangements

Wylie:
  • bkod pa mang po’i rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • བཀོད་པ་མང་པོའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­108-109
  • g.­59
g.­30

Krakucchanda

Wylie:
  • ’khor ba ’jig
Tibetan:
  • འཁོར་བ་འཇིག
Sanskrit:
  • krakucchanda

The first buddha of our eon; the fifth buddha of the “seven generations of buddhas” (sangs rgyas rab bdun); there are variants of the Sanskrit (Kakutsunda, Kukucchanda) and the Tibetan log pa da sel seems to refer to the same buddha.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 2.­116
g.­31

Layman Kṛṣṇa

Wylie:
  • dge bsnyen nag po’i mchog
Tibetan:
  • དགེ་བསྙེན་ནག་པོའི་མཆོག
Sanskrit:
  • upāsaka kṛṣṇa

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­50
g.­32

Mahācakravāla

Wylie:
  • khor yug chen po
Tibetan:
  • ཁོར་ཡུག་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahācakravāla

Means “Great Periphery.” Name of mountain range that surrounds the world according to Buddhist cosmology.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­33
g.­33

Mahāmeru

Wylie:
  • lhun po chen po
Tibetan:
  • ལྷུན་པོ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahāmeru

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­33
g.­34

Mahāmucilinda

Wylie:
  • btang zung chen po
Tibetan:
  • བཏང་ཟུང་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahāmucilinda

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­33
g.­35

Maitreya

Wylie:
  • byams pa
Tibetan:
  • བྱམས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • maitreya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The bodhisattva Maitreya is an important figure in many Buddhist traditions, where he is unanimously regarded as the buddha of the future era. He is said to currently reside in the heaven of Tuṣita, as Śākyamuni’s regent, where he awaits the proper time to take his final rebirth and become the fifth buddha in the Fortunate Eon, reestablishing the Dharma in this world after the teachings of the current buddha have disappeared. Within the Mahāyāna sūtras, Maitreya is elevated to the same status as other central bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, and his name appears frequently in sūtras, either as the Buddha’s interlocutor or as a teacher of the Dharma. Maitreya literally means “Loving One.” He is also known as Ajita, meaning “Invincible.”

For more information on Maitreya, see, for example, the introduction to Maitreya’s Setting Out (Toh 198).

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­3
g.­36

Mañjuśrī

Wylie:
  • ’jam dpal
Tibetan:
  • འཇམ་དཔལ།
Sanskrit:
  • mañjuśrī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Mañjuśrī is one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha” and a bodhisattva who embodies wisdom. He is a major figure in the Mahāyāna sūtras, appearing often as an interlocutor of the Buddha. In his most well-known iconographic form, he is portrayed bearing the sword of wisdom in his right hand and a volume of the Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtra in his left. To his name, Mañjuśrī, meaning “Gentle and Glorious One,” is often added the epithet Kumārabhūta, “having a youthful form.” He is also called Mañjughoṣa, Mañjusvara, and Pañcaśikha.

Located in 28 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • i.­13-14
  • 2.­142-143
  • 2.­152-153
  • 2.­157-158
  • 2.­161-162
  • 2.­164
  • 2.­166-168
  • 2.­170-173
  • 2.­177
  • 2.­187-188
  • 2.­195
  • 2.­198-200
  • 2.­202
  • g.­37
g.­37

Mañjuśrī­kumāra­bhūta

Wylie:
  • ’jam dpal gzhon nur gyur pa
Tibetan:
  • འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་ནུར་གྱུར་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • mañjuśrī­kumāra­bhūta

“Mañjuśrī the ever youthful,” a common epithet of Mañjuśrī.

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­3
  • 2.­140-141
  • 2.­150
  • 2.­152
  • 2.­157
  • 2.­161
  • 2.­163
  • 2.­166-167
  • 2.­187
  • 2.­195
  • 2.­198
  • 2.­209
  • 2.­221
g.­38

Mastery Over Others’ Emanations

Wylie:
  • gzhan ’phrul dbang byed
Tibetan:
  • གཞན་འཕྲུལ་དབང་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • para­nirmita­vaśavartin

The highest of the six levels of gods of the Desire Realm.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­20
  • g.­62
g.­39

Maudgalyāyana

Wylie:
  • maud gal gyi bu
Tibetan:
  • མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • maudgalyāyana

One of the main śrāvaka disciples in the sūtras.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • i.­5
  • 1.­13-16
  • 1.­24-28
g.­40

Meru

Wylie:
  • lhun po
Tibetan:
  • ལྷུན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • meru

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to ancient Buddhist cosmology, this is the great mountain forming the axis of the universe. At its summit is Sudarśana, home of Śakra and his thirty-two gods, and on its flanks live the asuras. The mount has four sides facing the cardinal directions, each of which is made of a different precious stone. Surrounding it are several mountain ranges and the great ocean where the four principal island continents lie: in the south, Jambudvīpa (our world); in the west, Godānīya; in the north, Uttarakuru; and in the east, Pūrvavideha. Above it are the abodes of the desire realm gods. It is variously referred to as Meru, Mount Meru, Sumeru, and Mount Sumeru.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­33
  • 2.­86
g.­41

Mucilinda

Wylie:
  • btang bzung
Tibetan:
  • བཏང་བཟུང་།
Sanskrit:
  • mucilinda

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­33
g.­42

naked ascetics

Wylie:
  • gcer bu pa
Tibetan:
  • གཅེར་བུ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirgrantha

Ascetic religious practitioners, usually referring to Jains.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­4
g.­43

Nārāyaṇa

Wylie:
  • sred med kyi bu
Tibetan:
  • སྲེད་མེད་ཀྱི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • nārāyaṇa

In the ancient Indian tradition, the son of the first man; later seen as a powerful avatar of Viṣṇu, but also as the progenitor of Brahmā. In Buddhist texts, he figures in various ways including (as he does in most of this text) as a bodhisattva, while still one of the most powerful gods of the Realm of Form (as in 1.21).

Located in 98 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1-3
  • i.­6
  • i.­13
  • 1.­3-4
  • 1.­9-11
  • 1.­21
  • 1.­31-51
  • 2.­110-125
  • 2.­127
  • 2.­130
  • 2.­134-135
  • 2.­140-149
  • 2.­154-156
  • 2.­166
  • 2.­179-180
  • 2.­184-189
  • 2.­191-206
  • 2.­208
  • 2.­210-214
  • 2.­221
g.­44

non-Buddhist

Wylie:
  • mu stegs can
Tibetan:
  • མུ་སྟེགས་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • tīrthika

A follower of a non-Buddhist philosophy or religion.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­3-4
  • g.­67
g.­45

Palace of Victory

Wylie:
  • khang bzangs rnam par rgyal byed
Tibetan:
  • ཁང་བཟངས་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • vijayanta prāsāda

The palace or meeting hall of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-three.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­58
  • 2.­200
g.­46

retention

Wylie:
  • gzungs
Tibetan:
  • གཟུངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dhāraṇī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings‍—an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula‍—that distills and “holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulas.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­3
  • 2.­180
g.­47

roots of goodness

Wylie:
  • dge ba’i rtsa ba
Tibetan:
  • དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • kuśalamūla

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to most lists (specifically those of the Pāli and some Abhidharma traditions), the (three) roots of virtue or the roots of the good or wholesome states (of mind) are what makes a mental state good or bad; they are identified as the opposites of the three mental “poisons” of greed, hatred, and delusion. Actions based on the roots of virtue will eventually lead to future happiness. The Dharmasaṃgraha, however, lists the three roots of virtue as (1) the mind of awakening, (2) purity of thought, and (3) freedom from egotism (Skt. trīṇi kuśala­mūlāni | bodhi­cittotpādaḥ, āśayaviśuddhiḥ, ahaṃkāramama­kāraparityāgaśceti|).

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­4
g.­48

Śakra

Wylie:
  • brgya byin
Tibetan:
  • བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
Sanskrit:
  • śakra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The lord of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (trāyastriṃśa). Alternatively known as Indra, the deity that is called “lord of the gods” dwells on the summit of Mount Sumeru and wields the thunderbolt. The Tibetan translation brgya byin (meaning “one hundred sacrifices”) is based on an etymology that śakra is an abbreviation of śata-kratu, one who has performed a hundred sacrifices. Each world with a central Sumeru has a Śakra. Also known by other names such as Kauśika, Devendra, and Śacipati.

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • i.­7
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­19
  • 1.­49-50
  • 1.­52
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­40
  • 2.­79
  • 2.­171
  • 2.­177
  • 2.­180
  • 2.­211-212
  • 2.­215
g.­49

Śāriputra

Wylie:
  • shA ri’i bu
Tibetan:
  • ཤཱ་རིའི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • śāriputra

One of the Buddha’s primary śrāvaka followers, known as the compiler of the Abhidharma teachings.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­45
  • 1.­50-51
g.­50

seat of awakening

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi snying po
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhimaṇḍa

Place at Bodh Gaya where the Buddha attained awakening.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­25
  • 1.­28
  • 2.­59
g.­51

Siṃhamati

Wylie:
  • seng ge’i blo gros
Tibetan:
  • སེང་གེའི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • siṃhamati

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­3
g.­52

Superknowledges

Wylie:
  • mngon par shes pa
Tibetan:
  • མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • abhijñā

Supernormal cognitive powers possessed to different degrees by bodhisattvas and buddhas. The five superknowledges are clairvoyance, clairaudience, knowledge of others’ minds, miraculous abilities, and knowledge of past lives; a sixth, mentioned in some lists and possessed only by fully enlightened buddhas, is knowlege of the exhaustion of outflows.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­3
  • 2.­63
  • 2.­110
  • 2.­118
g.­53

Supreme Emanations

Wylie:
  • rab ’phrul
Tibetan:
  • རབ་འཕྲུལ།
Sanskrit:
  • sunirmita

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­20
g.­54

teachings of the vinaya

Wylie:
  • chos ’dul ba
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་འདུལ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmavinaya

The teachings on monastic discipline, contained in the four main sections of the vinaya canon.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­128
  • 2.­135
g.­55

tight-fisted instructor

Wylie:
  • slob dpon dpe mkhyud
Tibetan:
  • སློབ་དཔོན་དཔེ་མཁྱུད།
Sanskrit:
  • ācāryamuṣṭi

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 2.­113
g.­56

Totally Immaculate

Wylie:
  • kun nas dri ma med pa
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ནས་དྲི་མ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The buddhafield of Vimalakīrtirāja.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­69
  • 2.­79
g.­57

Uttara

Wylie:
  • mchog
Tibetan:
  • མཆོག
Sanskrit:
  • uttara

Name of the Buddha in a previous life, when he was a great sage who sacrificed his own body in order to receive spiritual instruction.

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • i.­10
  • 2.­63
  • 2.­66-72
  • 2.­78-80
  • n.­2
g.­58

Uttaramati

Wylie:
  • blo gros bla ma
Tibetan:
  • བློ་གྲོས་བླ་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • uttaramati

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­3
g.­59

Utterly Purifying

Wylie:
  • kun nas dri ma med pa
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ནས་དྲི་མ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Name of buddhafield of Buddha King of Many Arrangements.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 2.­108
g.­60

Vaiśālī

Wylie:
  • yangs pa
Tibetan:
  • ཡངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vaiśālī

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1-2
  • i.­4
  • i.­15
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­11-12
  • g.­2
g.­61

Vardamānamati

Wylie:
  • phel ba’i blo gros
Tibetan:
  • ཕེལ་བའི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • vardamānamati

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­3
g.­62

Vaśavartin

Wylie:
  • lha’i rgyal po dbang byed
Tibetan:
  • ལྷའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་དབང་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • vaśavartin

The king of gods in the Heaven of Mastery Over Others’ Emanations.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­20-21
g.­63

Vimalakīrtirāja

Wylie:
  • dri ma med par grags pa’i rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་གྲགས་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • vimalakīrtirāja

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • i.­10-11
  • 2.­69-73
  • 2.­77
  • 2.­79-80
  • n.­2
  • g.­56
g.­64

Vimalatejā

Wylie:
  • dri ma med pa’i gzi brjid
Tibetan:
  • དྲི་མ་མེད་པའི་གཟི་བརྗིད།
Sanskrit:
  • vimalatejā

Located in 53 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­4-5
  • i.­8
  • i.­12-13
  • i.­15
  • 1.­11-13
  • 1.­29-30
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­11-12
  • 2.­31
  • 2.­33
  • 2.­50-52
  • 2.­54
  • 2.­56
  • 2.­81-86
  • 2.­88-89
  • 2.­96
  • 2.­107-111
  • 2.­116
  • 2.­118-121
  • 2.­123-127
  • 2.­130
  • 2.­132
  • 2.­136
  • 2.­139
  • 2.­151
  • 2.­221
g.­65

Vindhya Mountains

Wylie:
  • ri ’bigs byed
Tibetan:
  • རི་འབིགས་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • vindhyagiri

Several ranges of mountains in west and central India, traditionally held to be the boundary between North and South India.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­16
g.­66

Viśeṣamati

Wylie:
  • khyad par blo gros
Tibetan:
  • ཁྱད་པར་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • viśeṣamati

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­3
g.­67

wandering mendicant

Wylie:
  • kun tu rgyu
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་རྒྱུ།
Sanskrit:
  • parivrājaka

Wandering religious practitioners or śramaṇa, usually referring to non-Buddhists.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­4
g.­68

Wealthy as the Great Sal Tree

Wylie:
  • shing sA la chen po lta bur nor bzangs
Tibetan:
  • ཤིང་སཱ་ལ་ཆེན་པོ་ལྟ་བུར་ནོར་བཟངས།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­116
  • 2.­118
g.­69

Wholly Joyous Heaven

Wylie:
  • yongs su dga’ ldan
Tibetan:
  • ཡོངས་སུ་དགའ་ལྡན།
Sanskrit:
  • santuṣita

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­20
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    84000. The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit (Sarvapuṇya­samuccaya­samādhi, bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin, Toh 134). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024. https://84000.co/translation/toh134/UT22084-056-002-glossary.Copy
    84000. The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit (Sarvapuṇya­samuccaya­samādhi, bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin, Toh 134). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024, 84000.co/translation/toh134/UT22084-056-002-glossary.Copy
    84000. (2024) The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit (Sarvapuṇya­samuccaya­samādhi, bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin, Toh 134). (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh134/UT22084-056-002-glossary.Copy

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