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རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཏོག་གི་གཟུངས།

The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī
Chapter 3

Ratna­ketu­dhāraṇī
འཕགས་པ་འདུས་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཏོག་གི་གཟུངས་ཤེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa ’dus pa chen po rin po che tog gi gzungs shes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī” from the Great Collection
Ārya­mahā­sannipāta­ratna­ketu­dhāraṇī­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra

Toh 138

Degé Kangyur, vol. 56 (mdo sde, na), folios 187.b–277.b

ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ
  • Śilendrabodhi
  • 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 2020

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
+ 13 chapters- 13 chapters
h. Homage
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
c. Colophon
+ 1 section- 1 section
· Tibetan Translators’ Colophon
ab. Abbreviations
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Primary literature (manuscripts and editions)
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Sanskrit
· Tibetan
· Translations and secondary literature:
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī is one of the core texts of the Mahāsannipāta collection of Mahāyāna sūtras that dates back to the formative period of Mahāyāna Buddhism, from the first to the third century ᴄᴇ. Its rich and varied narratives, probably redacted from at least two independent works, recount significant events from the lives, past and present, of the Buddha Śākyamuni and some of his main followers and opponents, both human and nonhuman. At the center of these narratives is the climactic episode from the Buddha’s life when Māra, the personification of spiritual death, sets out to destroy the Buddha and his Dharma. The mythic confrontation between these paragons of light and darkness, and the Buddha’s eventual victory, are related in vivid detail. The main narratives are interwoven with Dharma instructions and interspersed with miraculous events. The text also exemplifies two distinctive sūtra genres, “prophecies” (vyākaraṇa) and “incantations” (dhāraṇī), as it includes, respectively, prophecies of the future attainment of buddhahood by some of the Buddha’s followers and the potent phrases that embody the Buddha’s teachings and are meant to ensure their survival and the thriving of its practitioners.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the extant parts from the Sanskrit and wrote the introduction. Timothy Hinkle compared the translation from the Sanskrit against the Tibetan translation and translated from the Tibetan the parts that are lost in the original Sanskrit.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.


ac.­2

The generous sponsorship of Twenty and family, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is gratefully acknowledged. They would like to dedicate their sponsorship to Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche.


i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī presents the dramatic events in the life of the Buddha when Māra attempts to destroy the Buddha, break up the Saṅgha, and annihilate the Dharma, a struggle from which the Buddha eventually emerges victorious. This epic confrontation is told with tremendous verve and poignancy, and features characters, dialogue, and plot twists that rank among the best in Buddhist literature. The narrative starts with its own version of the well-known story of the conversion of two of the Buddha’s most prominent early disciples, Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, and is soon embellished with quaint stories from the past lives of some of the characters, ranging from well-known buddha figures down to (at one time) ordinary human and nonhuman beings. The parts of the narrative that unfold on earth are centered around the city of Rājagṛha, the capital of Magadha. They provide some interesting insight into the everyday life of India at the time, with its division into secular and religious members of society, and vividly capture the experiences that Buddhist monks might have had when going on their daily alms-rounds in the city streets. This is interspersed with lively dialogue that is at once didactic and aesthetically captivating. Especially moving is the conversation that Māra has with his children, when the daughters try to console their distraught father, who bitterly despairs over the impending loss of his realm and the humiliation of seeing his minions, even his own children, desert him, with all the pathos of a broken old man and all the obduracy of a petulant child.


Text Body

The Translation
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī
from the Great Collection

h.

Homage

[F.187.b] [B1]10


h.­1

Homage to the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance!


h.­2

Homage to the one with the melodious voice of Mahābrahmā!


h.­3

Having paid homage to him, one should employ the dhāraṇī called unharmed by the assemblies of Māra. May I accomplish the following mantra:11

h.­4

Avāme avāme amvare amvare {TK4} parikuñja naṭa naṭa puṣkaravaha jalukha khama khaya ili mili kili mili kīrtipara mudre mudramukhe svāhā! {TK5}


1.

Chapter 1

1.­1

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Veṇuvana, at the Kalandakanivāpa, near the city of Rājagṛha, with a great saṅgha of a thousand monks, all of whom were noble ones. They had all exhausted defilements, were free from the afflictions, were powerful, had liberated minds, had liberated insight, were of noble birth, were great elephants,12 had done what needed to be done, had completed their mission, had cast off the burden, had achieved their own welfare, had severed the bonds that tied them to existence, had liberated their minds with genuine knowledge, and had perfected all mental powers. There was also a great saṅgha of ten thousand bodhisattvas, including [F.188.a] {TK6} the princely youth Holder of Meru’s Peak, the princely youth Varuṇamati, the princely youth Sumati, the princely youth Jayamati, the princely youth Jinamati, the princely youth Intelligent Light, the princely youth Intelligent Sky, the princely youth Intelligent Lightning, the princely youth Mañjuśrī, the princely youth Durdharṣa, the princely youth Varuṇa, the princely youth Vimala, the bodhisattva great being Maitreya, and others. Each of these ten thousand bodhisattvas had achieved acceptance, retention, and absorption. {TK7} Each possessed the wisdom that is unobscured by any phenomenon, had equal concern for all beings, had transcended all the domains of Māra, and had entered the domain of all the thus-gone ones. Each was knowledgeable, possessed great love and compassion, and was skilled in means.


2.

Chapter 2

2.­1

The daughters and sons of Māra, accompanied by their retinues, said to the Blessed One, “The extent to which the Thus-Gone One is endowed with means and wisdom is incredible! We seek, O Blessed One, the same sort of Dharma vehicle, wisdom, magical powers, compassion, means, and eloquence. What are the qualities, O Blessed One, that a person should have in order to not fall into the hands of evil companions, but instead swiftly realize unsurpassed and perfect awakening?”


3.

Chapter 3

3.­1

While the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī was being recited by the thus-gone Śākyamuni, the entire Sahā world became clearly visible, illuminated by a powerful light. The one hundred billion lords of sensual pleasure, each one a māra active in one of the one hundred billion worlds of four continents in this buddha field of Śākyamuni, became alarmed by this display of the Buddha’s power and directed their eyes toward this world of four continents. “Where is this light emanating from?” they wondered. “Surely this must be through the power of Māra, the evil one, who lives in that particular world of four continents. He is stronger, mightier, and more powerful than us.”

3.­2

As they looked, however, the māras saw Māra, the evil one, overcome with grief151 and utterly dejected. So the one billion māras went to the world of four continents where Māra, the evil one, lived and asked, “Why is it, O lord of sensual pleasures, that you are just sitting there, miserable and overcome with grief, when your entire world sphere is awash with light?” {K53}

3.­3

Māra, the lord of sensual pleasures, {TK66} then explained the matter at length to the one hundred billion māras:

“As you know, friends, there is a monk from the Śākya clan, [F.208.a] a trickster and rogue of the worst kind. As soon as he was born here, the entire Sahā152 world became filled with light, shook, and trembled. Whatever intelligent beings there were in this entire world sphere‍—the lords of brahmās, nāgas, yakṣas, asuras, mahoragas, garuḍas, kinnaras, and other intelligent human and nonhuman beings‍—all went to him to offer worship for the last six years. Sitting alone on his seat, without a companion, he has been creating inauspicious illusions.

3.­4

“I, for my part, desirous to make a show of my military might, approached him in the company of soldiers numbering three hundred sixty billion and surrounded him with displays of power, valor, magical skill, and transformations of my entire army, but I was unable to stir or disturb even a single hair on his body, let alone dislodge him from his seat or assault him some other way. That villain, however, displayed the magical power that he did and made the earth tremble.

3.­5

“Defeated along with my military, I was like a cut-down tree, prostrate upon the surface of the earth, while he, {K54} sitting there on his seat, produced inauspicious illusions {TK67} of such a kind that my entire domain was overpowered. Having accomplished the knowledge he sought, he rose from his seat and started instructing beings. Thereupon, all the learned and knowledgeable beings in this world of four continents became astounded, so that I am unable to divine their thoughts or their future destiny within the six realms. I am unable to stir or disturb even a single hair of those who took refuge with him, let alone mislead them about him, or pry them away from him.

3.­6

“And now my five hundred daughters with their retinues, as well as my twenty thousand sons with their followers, have taken refuge with that villainous monk, Gautama, and sit in front of him in order to listen to the Dharma,153 while I no longer have the power to persuade them to leave him. For this reason, [F.208.b] you, being powerful, full of merits, knowledgeable, and mighty, must help me. We need to stamp the life out of that villainous son of the Śākyas. And whatever beings have taken refuge with him, we must annihilate them too. {K55} We will defeat the black faction of that deceitful monk, and bring glory to the white faction of Māra. We will then be able to live happily ever after.”

3.­7

Now, the māra Jyotiṣprabha looked toward Jambudvīpa where the Thus-Gone One {TK68} was sitting and teaching the Dharma. When he saw the Blessed One’s body and heard the sound of his Dharma talk, he was awed and the thrill of it caused the hairs on his body to stand on end. He said to Māra, the evil one:

3.­8
“With his exquisite form, he stands supreme over the entire buddha field.
He has long been purified through merit and wisdom.
Having applied himself to the path over a long time, he is free from the afflictions.
As all his links in the chain of becoming have ceased, he is free from sorrow. {3.1}
3.­9
“Do not fall under the sway of anger any more‍—this is not right!
As the most eminent and best in the threefold universe, he is an object of refuge.154
He in whom burns even a slight feeling of hatred toward him
Is deluded indeed and will be deprived of happiness in this world.” {3.2} {K56}
3.­10

Then another māra, Sannimika by name, addressed Māra, the evil one, thus:

“He possesses great magical power and the excellent marks of merit.
Not stuck anywhere, he is free from all destinies.
He shows the way leading to the cessation of all suffering
And cannot possibly be harmed even by hundreds of māras.” {3.3}
3.­11

The evil one replied:

“He brought my followers under his control,
And your followers will be brought under his power too.
Soon he will empty our entire domain.
Where shall we resort to after that?” {3.4} {TK69}
3.­12

The māra Navarāja said this to Māra, the evil one:

“If you had superior magical power,
You would be able to prove your prowess.
Your force, however, is spent and all hope is gone.
Why, then, do you still compete with him, the Omniscient One?” {3.5}
3.­13

The māra Khaḍgasoma said:

“There is no enmity in his mind toward anyone.
Purified by meditation, he does not belong anywhere.155
The sphere he resides in is independent of the three realms. [F.209.a]
He cannot possibly be assailed by others.” {3.6} {K57}
3.­14

The evil one replied:

“Whatever beings there are in the desire realm‍—
Attached to sense pleasures and stupefied by arrogance and pride‍—
They are my servants who always follow me.
How could it be impossible to kill him156 if we all joined forces?” {3.7}
3.­15

The māra Kṣititoya said:

“Knowing that objects are without essence
Like an illusion, a mirage, or a reflected image, he has subdued his craving.
Unattached to existence, with a sky-like nature,
How could he possibly be obstructed?” {3.8}
3.­16

The evil one replied:

“He also depends on things in this threefold universe;
He relies on gourmet food and drink and fine clothes, {TK70}
And the three feelings157 are firmly rooted in his mind.
How then could it be impossible to destroy him?” {3.9} {K58}
3.­17

The māra Tṛṣṇājaha said:

“Any magical powers that exist in our domain,
Whether they are of the evil one himself or the mahoragas,
Do not even come close to the powers of Siddhartha.
How then could it be possible to destroy him?” {3.10}
3.­18

The evil one replied:

“I will cut off his food supply,
Hurl rocks at him,
And abuse him verbally‍—
Will he not be forced out of his living place then?” {3.11}
3.­19

The māra Bodhākṣa asked:

“When you launched your assaults upon him,
Did he ever angrily show you his disapproval,
Or show you a scowling face?
Did you directly hear any bad words from him?” {3.12}
3.­20

The evil one replied:

“He always endures things patiently, considering them carefully.
He has exhausted his passions, and has no hatred or ignorance. {K59}
His mind is lovingly disposed toward all beings,
Though he is always socially engaged.”158 {3.13}
3.­21

The māra Durdharṣa said:

“We can certainly set out to assail those
Ensnared by the three fetters, {TK71}
But how could we possibly destroy one
Who has eliminated faults and the snares of delusion?” {3.14}
3.­22

The evil one replied:

“You, gentlemen, my powerful supporters,
Must stay coolheaded, right now!
I will transform the entire earth into water‍— [F.209.b]
All its quarters with their mountain ranges. {3.15}
3.­23
“I will release a terrible rain of hard rocks
And heaps of iron filings.
I will throw at his body arrows, javelins,
Razor blades, and spears, to crush him into dust. {3.16}
3.­24
“With these missiles emitting flames on impact
I will crush the lion of the Śākyas to dust.”159 {3.17}
3.­25

And so this exchange between the evil one and the other māras continued until ten million stanzas were spoken by the ten million māras, after which all the māras spoke with a single voice:

3.­26

“So be it! We will go! We will now go to our individual abodes, don our armor, and come along with our military cohorts. {K60} Whatever magical powers we have at our disposal, we will display them all. You will then know for yourself, at that time, what valor the monk Gautama will exhibit.”160

3.­27

These tens of millions of māras {TK72} then departed for their respective homes to don their armor, each māra accompanied by tens of thousands of millions of followers. All of them donned their coats of mail, armed themselves with different types of weapons, and girded themselves with different types of body armor. As night fell, they traveled to Jambudvīpa and arrayed themselves in the sky above Aṅga-Magadha.

3.­28

Any gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, and kumbhāṇḍas in this world of four continents who harbored ill will toward the Blessed One and who had not attained respect and devotion for him and were also ill-disposed toward the Dharma and the Saṅgha were all mobilized under the command of the evil Māra for the sake of killing the Blessed One. Brandishing various weapons and types of armor, they hovered there in the sky. Māra, too, went to one side of the Himalaya Mountains where there lived, [F.210.a] with a retinue of five hundred, the sage Jyotīrasa, a devotee of Maheśvara who was accomplished in the eighteen branches of knowledge and who had attained excellence in the field of magical arts. Having assumed the form of Maheśvara, Māra stood before the sage and said:

3.­29
“Born into the Gautama clan, the supreme sage has recourse to ordinary knowledge as well as the superknowledges. {TK73}
He lives in Magadha, where he is now doing alms rounds in the city of Rājagṛha. {K61}
You must engage him in conversation at length, being resolute in the pursuit of various topics.161
You will thus certainly obtain the mastery of the five superknowledges.” {3.18}
3.­30

Having spoken this stanza, Māra, the evil one, disappeared right there and, having gone to his abode, declared the following to his retinue of māras:

“Please hear from me today what an incomparable scheme I have hatched:
Those of you who are endowed with magical powers should unreservedly engage the son of the Śākyas in a friendly conversation.
If you keep your great pride, particular to māras, in check, he will not see your deception.
If you continually say nice words, he will be kind to you as one of his disciples, just like a mother is with her children. {3.19}
3.­31
“When his disciples finally go undistractedly to town,
As they do every morning,162 we will promptly captivate them
With the sweetest sentiments expressed through song and dance.
The bull of the Śākyas will surely lose his composure
When he hears about this event.” {3.20} {TK74}
3.­32

Another māra said:

“We shall swiftly produce, outside of this town, many unpleasant sounds‍—
The wild and fierce sounds of lions, tigers, elephants, and camels, like roaring summer thunder. {K62}
We shall wait with our weapons at the ready, so that he will see the miraculous display with his own eyes.
Baffled, he will lose his magical power and flee, losing his bearings and sense of direction.”163 {3.21}
3.­33

Another māra said:

“Standing in great numbers by the four gateways straddling the four main roads with contorted faces,
Brandishing various weapons‍—sharp spears, arrows, barbed missiles, and swords‍—
We shall attack from the sky with loud shrieks, releasing bolts from the clouds.
Terrified by the earthquakes, he will soon lose all control and meet his doom.” {3.22}
3.­34

And, as far as the extent of the māras’ magical power would allow, they enacted everything in full. The Blessed One, however, turned this entire world sphere‍—the great trichiliocosm‍—into diamond. Subsequently no māras were able to make any sounds, and no mountains of fire stood in the four directions. [F.210.b] There were no black clouds {TK75} and no unseasonable winds. No nāga was able to send even a single drop of rain‍—all this through the power of the Buddha’s blessing.

3.­35

Around that time, in the morning, four great hearers put on their lower garments and robes and, bearing their alms bowls, entered the great city of Rājagṛha to beg alms. Venerable Śāriputra entered the city through the southern gate to beg alms. {K63} There, in the city, fifty māra youths, endowed with supreme youthful beauty, attired to resemble sons of distinguished personages, roamed about dancing and singing. They seized Venerable Śāriputra by both hands and pranced along the street. Dancing and singing, they urged him, “Dance, monk! Sing, monk!”

Śāriputra replied, “Listen, friends, as I sing you a song that you have not heard before.”

3.­36

All the māra youths, moving onward, then sang the following in unison with Śāriputra:

“Enough of the sense bases;
We are deceived by them.
Sense bases are killers;
I will put an end to them. {3.23} {TK76}
3.­37
“Enough of the aggregates;
We are deceived by them.
Aggregates are killers; I
will put an end to them. {3.24}
3.­38

“The mantra is:

bahara bahara bhārabaha marīci­baha satya­baha āmabaha svāhā!”

3.­39

Elder Śāriputra sang this stanza and recited the words of the mantra while bounding along with the fifty māra youths, who, supremely thrilled and kindly disposed, said: {K64}

“We now ask you, our protector, for forgiveness.
You are truly a kinsman of beings, a great teacher.
We will always bear witness to the fact
That the aggregates are fraught with danger, just as you have declared.” {3.25}
3.­40

They all bowed their heads to the feet of Śāriputra [F.211.a] and sat down in front of him, in the middle of the street, to hear the Dharma.


3.­41

Around the same time, the great Venerable Maudgalyāyana entered the great city of Rājagṛha through the eastern gate, in order to beg alms. But as before, fifty māra youths sang the following in unison with Maudgalyāyana:164

3.­42
“Enough of the elements;
We are deceived by them.
The elements are killers;
I will put an end to them. {3.26} {TK77}
3.­43
“Enough of sensations;
We are deceived by them.
Sensations are killers;
I will put an end to them. {3.27}
3.­44
“Enough of intentions;
We are deceived by them.
Intentions are killers;
I will put an end to them. {3.28}
3.­45
“Enough of perception;
We are deceived by it.
Perception is a killer;
I will put an end to it. {3.29} {K65}
3.­46
“Enough of saṃsāra;
We are deceived by it.
Saṃsāra is a killer;
I will put an end to it. {3.30}
3.­47

“The mantra is:

āmava āmava āmava āmava āraja ranajaha śamyatha śamyatha śamyatha gagana­vama svāhā!”

3.­48

The great Maudgalyāyana sang these stanzas and recited the words of the mantra to the sons of Māra while bounding along with them. Subsequently, the fifty māra youths, supremely thrilled and kindly disposed, said:

3.­49
“O son of the lord of sages, endowed with magical power and protected by the noble path!
You are the lamp of Dharma who shows how to pacify the evils of saṃsāra.
We have now renounced evil and developed respect and devotion.
Today we take refuge in the Buddha, the supreme Dharma, and the Saṅgha.” {3.31}
3.­50

The fifty māra youths bowed their heads to the feet of Venerable Maudgalyāyana and sat down in front of him, in the middle of the street, to hear the Dharma.


3.­51

Around the same time, Venerable Pūrṇa, the son of Maitrāyaṇī, entered the city through the northern gate to beg alms. {K66} As before, fifty māra youths sang in unison with him: [F.211.b] {TK78}

3.­52
“Enough of sensory contact;
We are deceived by it.
Sensory contact is a killer;
I will put an end to it. {3.32}
3.­53
“Enough of the controlling forces;
We are deceived by them.
Controlling forces are killers;
I will put an end to them. {3.33}
3.­54
“Enough of saṃsāra;
We are deceived by it.
Saṃsāra is a killer;
I will put an end to it. {3.34}
3.­55
“Enough of all becoming;
We are deceived by it.
Becoming is a killer;
I will put an end to it. {3.35}
3.­56
“Enough of delight in sense pleasure;
We are deceived by it.
Delight in sense pleasure is a slaughterhouse;
I will put an end to it.165 {TK79}
3.­57
“Life passes quickly, my friends;
Fast flows the water.166
A naive person doesn’t know this‍—
Such a fool gets infatuated with form. {3.36}
3.­58
“Likewise, as before,167 he gets infatuated with sound, {3.37}
He gets infatuated with odor, {3.38}
He gets infatuated with taste, {3.39}
And he gets infatuated with touch. {3.40} {K67}
3.­59
“Life passes quickly, my friends;
Fast flows the water.
A naive person doesn’t see this‍—
Such a fool gets infatuated with phenomena. {3.41}
3.­60
“Likewise, as before, he gets infatuated with the aggregates, {3.42}
He gets infatuated with the psycho-physical elements, {3.43}
He gets infatuated with sensual enjoyments, {3.44}
He gets infatuated with comforts, {3.45}
He gets infatuated with caste, {3.46}
And he gets infatuated with sex. {3.47} {TK80}
3.­61
“Life passes quickly, my friends;
Fast flows the water.
A naive person doesn’t know this‍—
Such a fool gets infatuated with everything. {3.48}
3.­62

“The mantra is:

khargava khargava khargava mujñini āvarta vivarta khavarta bramārtha jyotivarta svāhā!”

3.­63

Venerable Pūrṇa sang these stanzas and recited the words of the mantra to the sons of Māra while bounding along with them. Subsequently, the fifty māra youths, supremely thrilled [F.212.a] and kindly disposed, said:

3.­64
“You have shown us the path of calming the mind.
The elements are illusory like a mirage or a reflected image.
This world of beings is produced by concepts.
We go for refuge to the Three Jewels, who are ready to answer our prayers.” {3.49} {K68}
3.­65

All fifty of the māra youths bowed their heads to the feet of Venerable Pūrṇa and sat down in front of him, in the middle of the street, to hear the Dharma.


3.­66

Around the same time, Venerable Subhūti entered the great city of Rājagṛha through the western gate {TK81} to beg alms. There, at the gate to the city, fifty māra youths, endowed with supreme youthful beauty, attired to resemble sons of distinguished personages, gallivanted about, dancing and singing. They seized Venerable Subhūti by both hands and, prancing along the street, urged him, “Dance, monk! Sing, monk!”

3.­67

Subhūti replied, “Listen, friends, as I sing you a song that you have not heard before.”

Then all of them fell silent. Moving along with them, Venerable Subhūti sang the following:

3.­68
“All things are impermanent; they are like illusions or bubbles on water.
All conditioned things are impermanent and by nature unstable.
Just as a mirage disappears as soon as it is seen, so, too, is there no permanence in them.
An intelligent person knows that all phenomena are easily destroyed. {3.50} {K69}
3.­69
“All sensory contact brings suffering, as sensation has no essence.
All naive people get stuck right there, afflicted by painful phenomena.
There is no friend who would liberate one from all suffering
Like the faith that leads to awakening and the practice of meditation. {3.51} {TK82}
3.­70
“All phenomena have one trait in common‍—they are good once conceptions are abandoned.
All conduct has no self and is insubstantial.
There is no living entity, vital principle, person, or agent.
You should reject the deceptions of Māra168 and incline your mind toward awakening. {3.52}
3.­71
“Consciousness operates within the sense faculties like lightning in the sky.
All sensory contact, sensation, and mental activity are devoid of self.
Everything, when examined appropriately, is insubstantial. [F.212.b]
Naive people, stupefied, function like automatons. {3.53}
3.­72
“ If the aggregates are comprehended to the core, no agent can be found.
Ultimately, everything is peaceful, empty, and free from extremes.169 {K70}
This is called the sphere of nondelusion and constitutes the path to awakening.
To attain awakening, you must follow the guide and protector.”170 {3.54}
3.­73

“The mantra is:

sumunde vimunde munda jahi sili sili sili avasili tathātva­sili bhūta­koṭi­sili svāhā!”

3.­74

Venerable Subhūti sang these stanzas and recited the words of the mantra to the sons of Māra while bounding along with them. {TK83} Subsequently, the fifty māra youths, supremely thrilled and kindly disposed, said:

3.­75
“Not having heard these teachings before, we were under the influence of bad friends.171
Whatever bad actions we have thus committed through delusion and ignorance,172 {3.55}
We now confess before you, O son of the victorious ones!
We make a solemn vow to attain buddhahood for the benefit of the world.” {3.56}
3.­76

All fifty of the māra youths bowed their heads to the feet of Venerable Subhūti and sat down in front of him, in the middle of the street, to hear the Dharma. At the same time, through the power of the Buddha, the street appeared stretched to a radius of one hundred leagues. In the middle were seated Elder Śāriputra, {K71} the great Maudgalyāyana, Pūrṇa, and Subhūti, facing north, west, south, and east respectively and positioned at a distance of half a league from one another. In the center of the area between these great four hearers a lotus appeared‍—fifty cubits in diameter, with a golden stalk, petals of blue beryl, stamens of śrīgarbha,173 and a pericarp of pearl.174 {TK84}

3.­77

From this lotus, which appeared to tower above the street to three times the height of a man, great light streamed forth, visible as far as the gods’ realm of the Four Great Kings, [F.213.a] to whom the lotus appeared to be fifty “celestial leagues” tall. In the realm of the Thirty-Three Gods, it appeared to be one hundred leagues tall. It could be seen as far as the Akaniṣṭha realm, where it appeared to be half a league tall. From the petals of this lotus emanated various stanzas with words rich in meaning.175 All beings on this earth heard the following stanzas: {K72}

3.­78
“A unique, faultless man has arisen in this buddha field.
By him alone Māra and his forces‍—soldiers and mounts‍—were defeated. {3.57}
3.­79
“Through the unique courage of the Buddha, the wheel of the Dharma was turned.
He alone has come,176 without a doubt, in order to benefit the world. {3.58}
3.­80
“In this world, the two most disciplined men, proficient in moral precepts, are Upatiṣya and Kaulita.177
They are knowledgeable and proficient in many treatises, and their purpose is the Dharma and liberation.178
The great learned sage, skilled in the affairs that benefit the entire world, teaches the sacred Dharma.
This best of teachers, revered by the whole world, is coming today. {3.59} {TK85}
3.­81
“This teacher who demonstrates the knowledge of the three times, king of all monks, promoter of the three types of instructions,179
Protector of human and divine beings, knower of the infinite significance of the Dharma,
Expert in what helps and benefits the world, great lamp of wisdom,
Speaker of truth who is free from the three stains,180 will teach everything today.181 {3.60}
3.­82
“He exerted himself for the sake of all people, and his mind never growing weary,
Thus liberating all beings, afflicted as they are by suffering.
To those whose eyes are veiled by ignorance
He gives, accordingly, the eye of the sacred Dharma. {3.61} {K73}
3.­83
“As his entire congregation has gathered together here,
This leonine speaker who reveals182 the absolute truth,
Supremely beautiful, endowed with the ten strengths,
Knower of what is and is not supreme, will arrive here before long. {3.62}
3.­84
“Seeing that beings are immersed in a great ocean of suffering,
He will come to beat the drum of the Dharma.
His six senses are completely under control,
And his six knowledges follow from the six superknowledges.183 {3.63}
3.­85
“This leonine preacher, endowed with the six seeds,184
Will come here to give the six supreme, essential teachings.185 {TK86}
He defeats those who live in the city186 of the six sense faculties [F.213.b]
And is the lord of guides recalling the six supreme goals.”187 {3.64}
3.­86

The following stanzas, also emanating from the lotus, could be heard as far as the realms of the six classes of the gods of desire.

“You now indulge in every possible pleasure
With careless minds, obscured by craving and self-aggrandizement.
You are always beguiled and intoxicated by the drink of pleasure.
Because of your heedlessness, you do not worship the Well-Gone One. {3.65} {K74}
3.­87
“Sensual enjoyments are ephemeral like reflections of the moon in water.
The noose of saṃsāra, binding all beings, is extremely strong.
Those not freed from it, distracted by pleasures,
Will never reach nirvāṇa. {3.66}
3.­88
“Always distracted, you do not practice mental tranquility
And do not see what you did in the past as virtuous or unvirtuous.
You will be seized with the fear of aging, disease, and death,
And someday will have to descend to the lower realms. {3.67}
3.­89
“You should practice generosity, self-control, restraint, and nondistraction
And guard your previously accumulated merit.188
You should give up impure sensual desires, which are endless,
And instead approach the Well-Gone One for refuge. {3.68}
3.­90
“You should go to him and listen to his teaching,
Which is eloquent, rich in meaning,
And the cause of knowledge, liberation, and peace.
There is great value in listening to him who possesses the sacred Dharma. {3.69} {TK87}
3.­91

The following stanzas, also emanating from the lotus, could be heard as far as the sixteen desire god realms. {K75}

“You should cultivate the Dharma assiduously
And delight in one-pointed contemplation, eliminating the afflictions.
Undistracted in mind and longing for liberation,
You will find an intelligence that relinquishes hatred. {3.70}
3.­92
“
You should cultivate the supreme acceptance,
The elucidation of the signs of the thirteen aspects.189
Only through acceptance will you swiftly
Obtain ultimate liberation, free from disease and old age. {3.71}
3.­93
“For those who put their faith in a multitude of forms and ideas190
And see things as lasting, stable, and truly existent,
There will be no severance of the stream of rebirths.
They are destined for the lower realms. {3.72}
3.­94
“But those who have ascertained the three realms to be selfless,
Insubstantial, non-independent, and inactive
And who cultivate the acceptance of phenomena concurring with reality
Will all be liberated from the course of their rebirths. {3.73} [F.214.a]
3.­95
“There will be no death, aging, sickness,
Unhappy rebirth, or meeting with anything unpleasant {K76}
For those who meditate on all the phenomena in this world
As being equal to the sky, free from arising and destruction. {3.74}
3.­96
“This path is infinitely pure and is sublime. {TK88}
Those whose minds are not caught up in the senses
Will defeat the four types of māras,
Just as did the lion of the Śākyas. {3.75}
3.­97
“This supreme path is taught
For those who cultivate the single principle
That relinquishes sheer absence and all signs,
And for those who train in behavior191 in order to abandon duality. {3.76}
3.­98
“Those who meditate on all phenomena in this world as empty,
Being without agent and without action,192
Will directly experience the awakening of the sky-like nature,
Unequaled and devoid of expectation.”193 {3.77}
3.­99

While these expressions of the Dharma, pregnant with meaning, were issuing forth from the lotus, the human and nonhuman beings present in this world sphere gathered together in the middle of the street and took their seats around the lotus. They included many beings up to the countless Akaniṣṭha gods, who descended from their realm in infinite numbers and took their seats around the lotus to hear the Dharma.

3.­100

The same stanzas were overheard by Māra, the evil one. Looking around, he saw, in the middle of the street in the great city of Rājagṛha, the lotus from which these stanzas were issuing {K77} and, seated around the lotus to hear the Dharma, infinite hundreds of thousands of millions of people. He then looked up and saw the same lotus in every abode of the gods throughout the six realms of desire. Those lotuses too were surrounded by infinite numbers of hundreds of thousands of millions of gods, seated in order to hear the Dharma. {TK89}

3.­101

Consequently, Māra, the evil one, became even more frustrated, upset, and dejected. Covered in goosebumps and sweat, shivering, he flew up into the sky and, in a loud voice, angrily addressed the other māras:

3.­102
“Listen to my out-of-character speech attentively!194
I have no control over my dominion anymore, and no power in this world.
The power of this sage and his immaculate qualities
Spread throughout this world, confirming beings in their allegiance to him.195 {3.78} [F.214.b]
3.­103
“And furthermore, a lotus196 has sprung up to delight humans and gods.
All the good people have come to it, well disciplined
And eager to savor the fine teachings of the Well-Gone One.
Full of extraordinary qualities, they follow the path of calming the mind. {3.79} {K78}
3.­104
“The magical illusion unleashed by this monk fools this entire threefold universe.
The multitudes of humans and gods, fully attentive, stand around the lotus.
Quickly cast down a rain of rocks along with terrifying cries!
He will perish today, if attacked by the fierce soldiers of Māra.” {3.80}
3.­105

Another māra said to the evil one:

“Listen to this beneficial advice from us. Do you really understand what your duty is
If, even though you’ve seen the ruin of your army, you still don’t want to make peace?
It is we who are in error, considering that the splendorous body of the Well-Gone One is a receptacle of good fortune,
And that apart from the Buddha‍—a guide in truth‍—there is no other refuge in this world so exalted.”197 {3.81}
3.­106

Then another māra, lamenting loudly, his words198 full of utmost indignation, said this to Māra, the evil one:

“You have lost your way and are on a lowly course!
Don’t you know that we have no such strength or might?
Have you no shame and no compunction, {TK90}
That you are competing against the Guide? {3.82}
3.­107
“While our force has been ruined,
All the world’s inhabitants, through the power of the Buddha,
Have been drawn near the lotus,
Their pure bodies nourished by hearing the Dharma. {3.83}
3.­108
“We, on the other hand, have become repulsive;199
Our bodies stink and our strength and valor are gone. {K79}
We should take refuge with the lord of sages,
So that we don’t perish immediately.” {3.84}
3.­109

Other māras said with folded hands:

“You, O evil one, have given up right conduct and delight in evil acts,
But the Buddha is the protector skilled in bringing benefit to beings, the best among the good.
We should promptly go to the city of Rājagṛha, putting on a pleasant and peaceful appearance.200
Let us go for the refuge that is revered by the threefold universe‍—a universal medicine for all beings!” {3.85}
3.­110

There was a māra there in the sky called Ghoṣavati. He proposed in a loud voice:

“All of you together, please listen to my words in a spirit of devotion and friendliness.
Let us renounce our wrong views, bow down to him, and likewise pay homage with speech and mind.
Having renounced anger, may we be thrilled [F.215.a] by the teachings of the Sage, with feelings of devotion201 and faith welling up in us.
Let us go to the Buddha in person to seek the refuge so difficult to obtain; let us worship him today with devotion.” {3.86}
3.­111

At this moment all the māras descended from the sky and constructed gates to the city of Rājagṛha from the seven gems. Some, taking on the appearance of universal monarchs, {TK91} stood in front of the Blessed One, making every effort to worship him. Some took on the appearance of Brahmā, some of Vaśavartin, some of Maheśvara, some of Nārāyaṇa, some of a Tuṣita god, {K80} some of Yāma, some of Śakra, and some of a god from the realm of the Thirty-Three. Some took on the form of Kumāra, Vaiśravaṇa, Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, or Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and some, the form of the mundane Four Great Kings.202 Some took on the appearance of Sūrya, Candra, or Tāraka; some, the appearance of an asura, garuḍa, kinnara, or mahoraga; and some, the appearance of jewel mountains, golden ornaments, various gems, or jeweled trees. Some took on the appearance of a kṣatriya; some, the appearance of members of religions other than Buddhism; some, the appearance of the precious wheel,203 the precious jewel, the elephant Airāvaṇa, Bālāha the king of steeds, or the precious consort; and some, the appearance of a respected merchant or a royal minister. Magically transformed into these forms, they stood in front of the Blessed One in order to worship him.

3.­112

Some of them, who were blue with a blue complexion, magically adorned their bodies with white ornaments.204 In order to worship the Blessed One they floated in the sky at the height of a palm tree, [F.215.b] holding red parasols, banners, flags, and strings of pearls. Some were dazzling white with a white complexion and adorned with bright red ornaments;205 they floated in the sky holding yellow parasols, {TK92} banners, flags, and strings of pearls.206 {K81} Some were bright red with a red complexion and adorned with ornaments207 of a golden color. They floated aloft, holding blue parasols, banners, and flags. Some were red with a red complexion and rained down white pearls. Some were white with a white complexion and rained down red pearls. Some, magically appearing as celestial ṛṣis, rained flowers from the sky in great profusion. Some, appearing as the Blessed One’s hearers, rained divine fragrances of various kinds from the sky. Some, appearing as gandharvas, strummed various divine instruments. Some, appearing as celestial nymphs, sprinkled the ground with perfumed water from vessels made of various gems. Some, of obsidian-black complexion, burned incense of various fragrances. Some, appearing as gods, danced and sang. Some, of varying complexion, praised the Blessed One with their folded hands directed toward him. Some māras, and even their retinues, turned to face the direction where the Blessed One resided and, holding various jewels, offered them to him in worship. Some, having placed themselves by the upper windows of houses and buildings along the street or upon gateways, tall buildings, houses at crossroads of three or four roads, gates, trees, or palaces, were sitting there for the purpose of worshiping the Blessed One.

3.­113

When Māra, the evil one, saw all those māras with their retinues going for refuge in the monk Gautama, he became even more rattled, frightened, and confused. Wailing aloud, he said: {K82}

3.­114
“I have no friends anymore
And have today been deprived of all my glory. {TK93} [F.216.a]
Separated now from my dominion,
I will make my final effort. {3.87}
3.­115
“I will cut down at its root
the lotus where all the beings went.
After cutting it, they will all be flummoxed‍—
this will be my last stand.” {3.88}
3.­116

Having thus made up his mind, Māra, the evil one, descended from the sky, fast as wind, to the street where the lotus was, and, having crept up to its stalk, tried to uproot it but could not even touch it. He tried to cut the petals but could not even see them. He also tried to smash the pericarp with his fist but could not even grasp it. Just as lightning, or a shadow, can be seen but not grasped, in the same way he could see the lotus but not grasp it.

3.­117

When he thus saw the lotus without being able to touch it or seize it, he tried to let loose a most horrific deafening cry in order to frighten the entire congregation, but this too he was unable to do. He tried further, with great vehemence and force, to strike the great earth with both his hands to make it shake, but was unable, in this case too, to touch it or to seize it. Just as someone wanting to hit the sky cannot reach it, in the same way Māra, the evil one, saw the earth but could not touch it or seize it.

3.­118

He then thought, “If I could only punch the beings assembled here, or distract their minds.”208 But while he could see these beings, {TK94} he was unable to touch or seize even one of them. Then Māra, the evil one, wept bitterly. Through the power of the Buddha, his entire body shook like a tree. {K83} With a tear-streaked face he looked in the four directions and lamented:

3.­119
“This miraculous feat, performed by this monk today, will attract the entire world to him.
Because of my earlier delusion, I suddenly became dispossessed,
And I am now separated from my dominion, my merit,209 and my strength.
My life is finished. Banished, I will promptly go to my abode, while I am still alive.” {3.89}
3.­120

But even though he tried to go home, he could not. Frightened still more, he could only weep. He thought, “I am deprived of my magical power completely. Woe is me! May I not fall under the control of the monk Gautama! And may I now disappear, so that I do not die in front of him, my enemy. [F.216.b] As no being should see me die in his buddha field, may I die as soon as I am out of the Sahā world buddha field.”

3.­121

But still, he was unable to disappear from sight or flee in any direction, cardinal or intermediate. Instead, he perceived himself, still at the same location, tied around the neck with a fivefold noose,210 and became even more upset and frightened. Howling in a raucous voice, he lamented, “Woe is me! I will never again see my dear sons or kinsmen.”

3.­122

Then the māra by the name Ghoṣavati, seated in the manner of a universal monarch, asked Māra, the evil one: {K84}

3.­123
“Sir, why are you today, in your anguish, loudly lamenting and crying?
Discarding fear, you should promptly go to the exalted sage, the best in the entire world, for refuge.
He is the protector, refuge, and defender of the world,211 who removes the three sufferings.
Surely, if you devote yourself to him, you will obtain peace and happiness.” {3.90}
3.­124

Māra, the evil one, then thought, “If I approach the monk Gautama, with pleasing words, to take refuge, I would then be freed from these fetters.” {TK95}

Bowing with folded hands toward the Blessed One, he said, “Homage to you, the most eminent person and the ultimate deliverer from birth,212 aging, disease, and death! I herewith go to the Blessed Buddha to take refuge.”

3.­125

Then he continued:

“Release me from this unbearable, terrifying noose, O sage213 and protector!
Today and henceforth, I take refuge with the Well-Gone One, the greatest and most important being.214
Having committed grave offenses against you when I was angry and blinded by my ignorance,
I confess all of them before you, taking you as my witness.” {3.91}
3.­126

When Māra, the evil one, thus took refuge in the Blessed Buddha, saying pleasant words, he had the sense that he was released. But when he had the thought to escape from the assembly, he had the sense that his neck was once again bound by a fivefold noose. {K85} [F.217.a] When he was again unable to go anywhere and thought, once again, of seeking refuge and protection from the Blessed One, he had the sense that he was released. Staying right in that spot, he had the sense of being bound and released seven times over.

3.­127

This concludes the chapter on the taming of Māra, the third in the “Ratnaketu Sūtra” from the Great Collection. {K86} {TK96} [B4]


4.

Chapter 4

4.­1

When the four great hearers were, as described before, in the great city of Rājagṛha collecting alms, they were rudely accosted by the māra youths who urged them, “Dance, monk! Sing, monk!” When, subsequently, the great hearers, running along the street, sang their verses with lyrics that describe the path to nirvāṇa, this great earth trembled. At that moment many hundreds of thousands of gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, inspired with faith in the Blessed One’s instructions,215 said this, their faces awash with tears:


5.

Chapter 5

5.­1

The millions of māras then thought, “We should adorn the gates of the city through which the Blessed One is to enter, as well as the earth surrounding them, with sublime and magnificent ornaments in the same manner as the gods, nāgas, and yakṣas have adorned the surroundings of the city.”

5.­2

With his mind, however, the Blessed One knew the thoughts of the millions of māras,[F.227.a] and he manifested a miracle such that through the twelve gates of the city, twelve blessed buddhas entered the city of Rājagṛha. The millions of māras then, while hovering in the sky, adorned the city gates, the area around them, the city walls, its trees, and the surface of the earth with magical ornaments of the māra realm, as well as countless other magnificent miraculous manifestations set in the finest and most beautiful arrangements. Some of the millions of māras transformed into guises ranging from that of Brahmā to those of great sages. {TK131} From their perch in the sky, they placed various flowers, incense, scented powders, garlands, gold, silver, jewels, and pearls on the windows, ledges, and turrets of the mansions in the city, as well as in the trees. They also cast down a rain of cloth, cotton, linen, and ornaments, played many instruments, and venerated the Blessed One with songs of praise, extolling his qualities. The Blessed One then entered Rājagṛha’s city gates, adorned as they were with a supremely extensive and elevating display made in such a novel, incredible, and miraculous fashion.


6.

Chapter 6

6.­1

At that time the thus-gone Akṣobhya set out from the world in the east called Abhirati in the company of an infinite number of bodhisattva great beings. Through the power and mastery of miracles particular to a buddha, he arrived instantaneously in the buddha field that includes the central world with its four continents, where the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Śākyamuni was staying. Having arrived, he sat upon a lotus seat that appeared just as needed. The bodhisattva great beings [F.237.a] from his retinue also sat upon lotus seats that appeared through their own magical power.


7.

Chapter 7

7.­1

At that time, a bodhisattva great being called Discriminating Intellect was seated before the blessed, thus-gone [F.250.a] Glorious and Brilliantly Shining Jewel, not far from the blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni. For a short time he was in the guise of Brahmā, before instantaneously appearing in the form of Māra. He likewise briefly appeared in the forms of Śakra, as well as a lord of the gods in the heavens of Making Use of Others’ Emanations, Delighting in Emanations, Tuṣita, Free from Strife, and the Four Great Kings, as well as in the form of Maheśvara, and also as a yakṣa, an asura, a garuḍa, a kinnara, a mahoraga, a rākṣasa, a preta, a piśāca, a kumbhāṇḍa, a kṣatriya, a brahmin, a vaiśya, a śūdra, a lion, an elephant, a buffalo, and myriad other species of the animal realm. Instantaneously he appeared in the form of a bird, a tree, a mountain, fruit, clothing, bedding, heavy cloth, a vase, ornaments, jewelry, medicinal herbs, and a jewel. Instantaneously he also appeared in the form of a monk, a nun, and a buddha. Instantaneously he appeared in eighty-four different colors, characteristics, shapes, and forms.


8.

Chapter 8

8.­1

At that time, the thus-gone Akṣobhya addressed the entire assembly: “Noble children, all of you śakras, brahmās, world protectors, and lords of the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and so forth, as well as human and nonhuman beings, who have arrived here out of faith in the buddhas’ teaching‍—I will uplift you! It is rare to find such a congregation of the blessed buddhas, bodhisattva great beings, śakras, [F.252.a] brahmās, world protectors, and lords of the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, and so forth, as well as human and nonhuman beings! Therefore, now that you have seen this, may those of you who are happy to sustain this sacred Dharma‍—this Dharma method‍—and propagate the lineage of the Three Jewels in the future in this buddha field each make an aspiration before the Blessed One.” {TK204}


9.

Chapter 9

9.­1

The blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni then said, “O all you [F.258.a] blessed buddhas who have come here to this buddha field motivated by compassion to engage in discussion, please give these beings your attention. These noble children will satisfy others with clothing, food, drink, medicine, and supplies. They will use the female form to mature others for unsurpassed and perfect awakening. From the moment they developed the mind of awakening in order to mature others, they have been dedicated to emanating and providing clothing, food, drink, medicine, and supplies to fulfill their hopes‍—no matter what, why, or how these things are desired. These sublime beings will enact this great power and be able to serve beings with what is enjoyable and useful.”


10.

Chapter 10

10.­1

The thus-gone Māndāravagandharoca then addressed the thus-gone Śākyamuni, saying, “In the past, previous thus-gone ones came from their disparate buddha fields and congregated in buddha fields that were afflicted and rife with the five degenerations. They excellently blessed this sacred Dharma method. They defeated billions of māras and gazed upon all beings with the eyes of great love and compassion. They freed them from evil views, lit the lamp of insight, and laid out the peaceful path. They delivered this Dharma discourse, this exposition of the dhāraṇī-seal, including its verbal formula, which is called the terminator of birth based on the essential nature of phenomena in their vajra-like indivisibility. Thus they defeated the black faction and planted the banner of the Dharma. In the same way, right now, so many of us blessed buddhas who live and spend our time in the ten directions have assembled in this buddha field filled with the afflictions and the five degenerations out of our concern for others. We have performed acts such as excellently blessing this Dharma method and so forth, as well as planting the banner of the Dharma. However, Śākyamuni, [F.260.a] after your sun has set, who will reign supreme in this buddha field? Who will uphold this sacred Dharma? {TK230} Who will nurture these Dharma methods? Who will bring beings to maturity? Who will be included in this great assembly? Into whose hands shall I entrust this Dharma discourse?”


11.

Chapter 11

11.­1

Now the blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni addressed Śakra, Brahmā, Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Kubera:

“O sublime beings, I have fully realized unsurpassed and perfect awakening in this buddha field, which is afflicted by the five degenerations and lacking in Dharma, through my compassionate dedication to sentient beings. In order to quell the pain of beings441 thrown into the darkness of ignorance and overwhelmed by the thieves and rogues of the afflictions,442 I have conquered the faction of Māra, raised the banner of the sacred Dharma, delivered countless beings from suffering, rained showers of the sacred Dharma, and defeated ten million māras.


12.

Chapter 12

12.­1

The great general of the yakṣas, [F.271.b] Āṭavaka, in the form of the yakṣa Bhīṣaṇaka, and Saṃjñika in the form of a deer, Jñānolka in the form of a monkey, Tṛṣṇājaha in the form of a jackal,455 and Chinnasrotas in the form of an elephant‍—these five great beings‍—were sitting not too far from the thus-gone Śākyamuni and in front of the thus-gone Kauṇḍiṇyārcis. From each of their bodies a pure light radiated, suffused with fragrance. Each of these five great beings was holding in his hands a great precious gem called Starlight for the sake of worshipping the Blessed One.456


13.

Chapter 13

13.­1

At this time, all the blessed buddhas displayed the signs of rising and returning472 to their respective buddha fields. At the same moment, the beings of this entire assembly, who were on earth as well as in the sky, shuddered, and so did the entire earth. A rain of flowers poured from the sky, millions of instruments resounded in midair, and all kinds of fragrances of perfume and incense were released. As the entire buddha field filled with light, those in the assembly pressed their hands together. Then Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, asked the thus-gone Mahācandanagandha, “How many roots of virtue, O Blessed One, will those beings accumulate who in the future uphold and preserve this Dharma discourse‍—who read it, master it, and teach it authentically and extensively to others? How many roots of virtue will those beings accumulate who set it down in writing and uphold it in writing?473 What qualities will they be rewarded with by the blessed buddhas?”


c.

Colophon

c.­1
Because of the special merit that I have accumulated when refining, with all my devotion, care, and a joyous mind,
The text of this Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī‍—the dhāraṇī that removes great fear‍—
May this entire world obtain in this very moment this Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī
Adorned with words of the Sage’s doctrine, clear in meaning, and resplendent with great qualities!

Tibetan Translators’ Colophon

c.­2

This sūtra was translated by the Indian preceptor Śilendrabodhi and the translator-editor Yeshé Dé. It was later standardized in line with the new terminological register.


ab.

Abbreviations

D Tibetan Degé edition
G Gilgit manuscript
K Kurumiya 1978 (page numbers entered in braces, e.g. {K26} denotes page 26)
TK Kurumiya 1979 (page numbers entered in braces, e.g. {TK26} denotes page 26)

n.

Notes

n.­1
Braarvig 1993.
n.­2
Kurumiya 1978.
n.­3
Denkarma, folio 297.a.4. See also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008), p. 52, no. 91.
n.­4
Phangthangma, p. 7 (with abbreviated title ’phags pa rin po che’i tog).
n.­5
Interestingly, the catalog of the Narthang Kangyur records the tradition that The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī was first translated into Tibetan by Tönmi Sambhoṭa (thon mi sam+b+ho Ta), the legendary seventh century minister and scholar credited with the development of the Tibetan alphabet during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (ca. 617–650). See Narthang Catalog, folio 14.a.1, and Skilling 1997, p. 89.
n.­6
Lamotte 2001, pp. 1541–42.
n.­7
This information is based on a private communiqué from Peter Skilling, who does not recall seeing the feminine form vyākaraṇī in any other sūtra.
n.­8
Toh 1-1, 1.233 et seq.; see translation in Miller et al. (2018). The Chapter on Going Forth contains a much longer and more detailed account of the story of Upatiṣya and Kaulita (Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana), but the culmination of their story in their encounter with Aśvajit and meeting with the Buddha is related in the present text with a little more detail, including some verses of which the Vinayavastu account has much briefer equivalents. The main additional element in the story in the present version‍—the advent of Māra following that meeting with Aśvajit‍—is of course the narrative theme that ties together all the component parts of The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī.
n.­10
The following section, up to “I must make them embrace the view of the evil one” at 1.­19, has been translated entirely from the Tib., filling a lengthy lacuna in the Skt. text.
n.­11
Because of their magical character, uncertain readings, and the extent of corruption, the Sanskrit dhāraṇī formulae in this text would be impossible to translate in full. Although some individual words and phrases are intelligible, it would be risky to attempt a coherent translation‍—the alliterations (which possibly are part of the magic), for example, would be impossible to replicate in English. These dhāraṇīs have therefore been quoted throughout the translation in the original Sanskrit, with some editorial emendments that affect mainly word divisions and orthography. These emendments by no means make the Sanskrit text correct or even consistent, and have not been reported in the critical apparatus.
n.­12
The Buddha and his hearer disciples are often compared to elephants or “great elephants” (mahānāga).
n.­151
“Overcome with grief” (śokāgāre niṣaṇṇa) has been translated into the Tib. literally as “sitting in the house of grief.”
n.­152
“Sahā” is not in the Tib.
n.­153
“In order to listen to the Dharma” has been supplied from the Tib.
n.­154
In the Tib., this verse reads, “A supreme one, he emanates the threefold existence.”
n.­155
“He does not belong anywhere” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­156
“To kill him” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­157
The three feelings are those of those of pleasure, pain, and indifference.
n.­158
It is not quite clear what type of social engagements are meant, but the Skt. word used (saṃsarga) could suggest the sexual. The Tib. is vague.
n.­159
In the Tib. this verse is longer and a little different: “I will throw terribly sharp vajras, / Spears, swords, and hammers. / When these flaming missiles strike him, / The scion of the Śākyas will be crushed to dust.”
n.­160
In the Tib., the last two sentences are, “We will immediately show whatever magical powers we have at our disposal to the monk Gautama. Know that [we will do this].”
n.­161
The Tib. reads, “You must engage with him in conversation at great length about many edifying topics.”
n.­162
The Tib. has “to dispel their hunger.”
n.­163
In the Tib. the last verse reads, “Confused and senseless, they will be scattered by our magical power, running off into different directions.”
n.­164
It is indicated in the Skt. text that this last sentence ought to be expanded into the corresponding passage from the section on Venerable Śāriputra above, with the substitution of names.
n.­165
This verse in absent in the Skt. text; it has been supplied from the Tib. To preserve the verse numbering as in the Kurumiya edition, no separate number has been given to it here.
n.­166
Instead of “fast flows the water,” the Tib. has, “like the swiftly moving, rough water on a steep slope.”
n.­167
The expression “likewise, as before” (Skt. peyālam; Tib. de bzhin du sbyar) signifies that the passage “Life passes quickly, my friends; fast flows the water. A naive person doesn’t know this‍—” is elided and to be repeated in the text that follows (the next three stanzas).
n.­168
The translation here follows the Tib. G has “deceits of illusion.”
n.­169
The Tib. could be interpreted as, “The ultimate reality is empty and free from all limits.”
n.­170
The Skt. of the last two lines is very unclear. The last two lines in the Tib. seem to be, “Being led along through practicing the path of awakening, awakening is found. / It is taught that undeluded reality itself is protected in the Dharma.”
n.­171
The Tib. reads instead, “Under the influence of bad friends, we have never heard these teachings before.”
n.­172
“Through delusion and ignorance” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­173
A kind of gem, reddish in color (Edgerton).
n.­174
The Tib. adds at this point, “Its scent surpassed divine incense. It occurred through world-transcending roots of virtue.”
n.­175
Instead of “various stanzas with words rich in meaning,” the Tib. reads, “various words, meaning, and verse.”
n.­176
The phrase “has come” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­177
I.e., Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana respectively.
n.­178
The Tib. reads, “Upatiṣya and Kaulita, proficient in moral precepts, are guided by [this] teacher. / They are knowledgeable and skilled in many treatises, and their final aim is the Dharma.”
n.­179
The “three types” are the instructions in the vināya (disciplinary code), the sūtra (collection of discourses), and the abhidharma (the science of the mind and phenomena).
n.­180
The “three stains” are the stains of ignorance, hatred, and greed.
n.­181
The phrase “will teach everything today” has been supplied from the Tib.; the Skt. seems to be saying “will now depart.”
n.­182
Instead of “reveals,” the Tib. has “sees.”
n.­183
“Follow from” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­184
The Tib. has “preacher of the six seeds.” It is not clear what the “six seeds” refers to, possibly the six perfections.
n.­185
Instead of “essential teachings” (sāradharma), the Tib. has “transcendent (pha rol) teachings.”
n.­186
“He defeats those who live in the city” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­187
It is not clear what the “six supreme goals” (ṣaḍuttamārtha) refers to. Possibly the six perfections.
n.­188
The Skt. duranta can mean “leading to a bad end” and “infinite.” This is not reflected in the Tibetan, which we have followed here.
n.­189
It is unclear what “signs of the thirteen aspects” refers to.
n.­190
This line in the Tib. reads, “For those who are attached to their concepts about form and so on.”
n.­191
Instead of “train in behavior” (vinītaceṣṭāḥ),” the Tib. has “curb/discipline their deceit/fickleness.”
n.­192
The phrase “without agent and without action” is provided from the Tibetan and Chinese (Skt. lacuna).
n.­193
In the Tib., this verse reads, “If those who meditate on all phenomena in this world as empty, / Being without agent and action, / Abandon their wishes, they will reach / Unsurpassed awakening of the sky-like nature.”
n.­194
The translation of asama as “out-of-character” is uncertain. The Tib. seems to be saying in this verse something different altogether: “Listen to my words with minds of unchanging [fealty]!”
n.­195
The Tib. reads, “He with power and might, whose qualities are totally immaculate, / Lives in this world in order to stabilize beings.”
n.­196
Instead of “lotus,” the Tib. has “something sublime” (dam pa).
n.­197
The Tib. reads “there is no other supreme refuge.”
n.­198
The Tib. reflects the reading vadana (“face”) rather than vacana (“speech,” “words”), the reading of G, which has been adopted here.
n.­199
The Tib. reads, “We, [on the other hand,] are scared and terrified.”
n.­200
In the Tib., this verse reads, “We should go to see [him] with eagerness and faith, in the city where he’s come.”
n.­201
Instead of “devotion,” the Tib. has “enthusiasm.”
n.­202
This seems to refer to four kings of the mundane (phal pa), i.e., human, realm as distinct from the four great heavenly kings just mentioned, but we cannot confirm their identities.
n.­203
This and the next five items belong to the seven precious emblems of royalty (saptaratna, “seven precious ones”), which comprise a precious wheel, precious wish-granting jewel, precious queen, precious minister, precious elephant, precious general, and precious horse.
n.­204
The Tib. has “dangling white ornaments.”
n.­205
Tib. “dangling green ornaments.”
n.­206
“Strings of pearls” is omitted in the Skt.
n.­207
The Tib. has “dangling ornaments.”
n.­208
The Tib. reads, “If these beings would just acknowledge [me], I could disturb their minds.”
n.­209
“My merit” is missing from the Tib.
n.­210
The “fivefold noose” metaphorically refers to the five aggregates (cf. 5.­40: “By totally comprehending the five aggregates, one is freed from their noose”).
n.­211
The reading “refuge, and defender of the world” is taken from the Tib. The Skt. seems to be saying “refuge from the ways of the world.”
n.­212
“Birth” has been supplied from the Tib.
n.­213
The reading “O sage” (supported by the Tib.) has been obtained by emending Kurumiya’s reading muner to mune.
n.­214
“The greatest and most important being” has been supplied from the Tib., as the Skt. is unclear.
n.­215
“Instructions” is not in the Tib.
n.­441
“In order to quell the pain of beings” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­442
“Overwhelmed by the thieves and rogues of the afflictions” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­455
In place of “jackal,” the Tib. reads “goat.”
n.­456
In place of “Starlight,” the Tib. reads “Firelight.”
n.­472
The reading “returning” was obtained by emending the Skt. gagana to gamana (supported by the Tib. and the Chinese).
n.­473
The passage from “who read it…” up to this point has been supplied from the Tib.; it is absent in the Skt. text.

b.

Bibliography

Primary literature (manuscripts and editions)

Sanskrit

Dutt, Nalinaksha, ed. Gilgit Manuscripts. Vols. 1–4. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1984.

Kurumiya, Yenshu, ed. Ratnaketuparivarta: Sanskrit Text. Kyoto: Heirakuji-shoten, 1978.

Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī‍—the Gilgit manuscript. National Archives of India, New Delhi.

Tibetan

’phags pa ’dus pa rin po che tog gi gzungs shes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Toh 138, Degé Kangyur vol. 56 (mdo sde, na), folios 187.b–277.b.

’phags pa ’dus pa rin po che tog gi gzungs shes 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, pp. 509–734.

Kurumiya, Yenshu, ed. ’Dus Pa Chen Po Rin Po Che Tog Gi Gzungs, ’Dus Pa Chen Po Dkon Mchog Dbal Zes Bya Ba’i Gzungs: being the Tibetan translation of the Ratnaketu Parivarta. Kyoto: Heirakuji-shoten, 1979.

Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan[/lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.

Narthang Catalog (bka’ ’gyur dkar chag ngo mtshar bkod pa rgya mtsho’i lde mig). Narthang Kangyur vol. 102 (dkar chag), folios 1.a–124.a.

Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.

Translations and secondary literature:

Braarvig, Jens (1993). Akṣaya­mati­nirdeśa­sūtra. Vol. 2, The Tradition of Imperishability in Buddhist Thought. Oslo: Solum Verlag, 1993.

Braarvig, Jens (1985). “Dhāraṇī and Pratibhāna: Memory and Eloquence of the Bodhisattvas.” The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 8, no. 1: 17–29. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1985.

Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.

Lamotte, Étienne. The Treatise of the Great Virtue of Wisdom of Nāgārjuna (Mahā­prajñā­pāramitā­śāstra). Translated from the French by Karma Migme Chodron, 2001.

Mak, Bill M. “Ratnaketu-parivarta, Sūryagarbha-parivarta, and Candragarbha-parivarta of Mahā­sannipāta­sūtra (MSN): Indian Jyotiṣa through the lens of Chinese Buddhist Canon.” Paper presented at the World Sanskrit Conference, New Delhi, January 8, 2012.

Miller, Adam T. “To Feel Like We Feel: Reading the Precious Banner Sūtra as Affective Regime.” PhD dissertation. University of Chicago, 2022.

Miller, Adam T. (2013). “The Buddha Said That Buddha Said So: A Translation and Analysis of ‘Pūrvayogaparivarta’ from the Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī Sūtra.” MA thesis. University of Missouri-Columbia, 2013.

Miller, Robert, et al., trans. The Chapter on Going Forth (Pravrajyāvastu, Toh 1-1). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.

Negi, J. S. Bod skad daṅ Legs-sbyar gyi tshig mdzod chen mo. Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary. Sarnath: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993.

Skilling, Peter. “From bKa’ bstan bcos to bKa’ ’gyur and bsTan ’gyur.” In Transmission of the Tibetan Canon: Papers Presented at a Panel of the 7th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Graz 1995, edited by Helmut Eimer, 87–111. Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997.

Ui, Hakuju. A catalogue-index of the Tibetan Buddhist canons (Bkaḥ-ḥgyur and Bstan-ḥgyur). Sendai: Tōhoku Imperial University, 1934.


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

Abhirati

Wylie:
  • mngon par dga’ ba
Tibetan:
  • མངོན་པར་དགའ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • abhirati

The celestial realm of the tathāgata Akṣobhya in the east.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 6.­1
g.­2

absorption

Wylie:
  • ting nge ’dzin
Tibetan:
  • ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
Sanskrit:
  • samādhi

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.

In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference without getting distracted.

Located in 28 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­55
  • 1.­73
  • 2.­27
  • 4.­65
  • 4.­74
  • 4.­117
  • 4.­131
  • 4.­147
  • 4.­151
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­63
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­20
  • 6.­33
  • 7.­3-4
  • 7.­6
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­2
  • 11.­16
  • 13.­3
  • g.­78
  • g.­162
  • g.­215
g.­3

acceptance

Wylie:
  • bzod pa
Tibetan:
  • བཟོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • kṣānti

Intellectual and spiritual readiness to accept certain tenets, such as the nonarising of phenomena or the law of karma. Also translated here as “patience.”

Located in 32 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­18
  • 2.­27-28
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­92
  • 3.­94
  • 4.­64
  • 4.­71
  • 4.­77
  • 4.­143
  • 5.­34-35
  • 5.­49-50
  • 5.­79
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­33
  • 6.­38
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­18
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­20
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­13
  • n.­453
  • n.­479
  • g.­191
g.­6

affliction

Wylie:
  • nyon mongs
Tibetan:
  • ཉོན་མོངས།
Sanskrit:
  • kleśa

Mental and emotional traits that bind one to saṃsāra; the fundamental three are ignorance, desire, and anger. When the term refers to the fundamental three, it tends to be translated as “the afflictions.”

Located in 44 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­7-8
  • 1.­13-17
  • 1.­41
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­44
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­91
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­13
  • 4.­33
  • 4.­41
  • 4.­66
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­91
  • 4.­134
  • 4.­138
  • 5.­32
  • 5.­54
  • 5.­78
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­70
  • 6.­73
  • 8.­29
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­14
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­16-17
  • 13.­4-5
  • 13.­15
  • n.­367
  • n.­442
  • g.­86
  • g.­95
  • g.­187
g.­8

aggregate

Wylie:
  • phung po
Tibetan:
  • ཕུང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • skandha

See “five aggregates.”

Located in 21 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­12
  • 1.­17
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­26
  • 3.­37
  • 3.­39
  • 3.­60
  • 3.­72
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­81
  • 5.­92
  • 6.­57
  • 6.­75
  • 7.­5
  • n.­88
  • n.­106
  • n.­260
  • n.­336
  • g.­89
  • g.­95
g.­9

Airāvaṇa

Wylie:
  • sa srung
Tibetan:
  • ས་སྲུང་།
Sanskrit:
  • airāvaṇa

The elephant of Indra.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­111
g.­10

Akaniṣṭha

Wylie:
  • ’og min
Tibetan:
  • འོག་མིན།
Sanskrit:
  • akaniṣṭha

One of the gods’ realms.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­77
  • 3.­99
g.­12

Akṣobhya

Wylie:
  • mi ’khrugs pa
Tibetan:
  • མི་འཁྲུགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • akṣobhya

In the Ratnaketudhāraṇī, he is one of the six “directional” tathāgatas.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­1-2
  • 8.­1
  • 13.­13
  • g.­1
g.­14

Aṅga-Magadha

Wylie:
  • ang ga ma ga d+hA
Tibetan:
  • ཨང་ག་མ་ག་དྷཱ།
Sanskrit:
  • aṅgamāgadha

At the time of the Buddha, the countries of Aṅga and Magadha were referred to as a single entity.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­19
  • 1.­72
  • 3.­27
  • n.­63
g.­20

asura

Wylie:
  • lha ma yin
Tibetan:
  • ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།
Sanskrit:
  • asura

A class of titans or demigods.

Located in 35 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­111
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­74
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 13.­16
  • n.­123
  • n.­150
  • n.­216
  • n.­380
g.­23

Āṭavaka

Wylie:
  • ’brog gnas
Tibetan:
  • འབྲོག་གནས།
Sanskrit:
  • āṭavaka

One of the five yakṣa generals.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • 12.­1-3
  • 12.­8
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­16-17
  • 12.­21-22
  • n.­467
g.­24

awakening

Wylie:
  • byang chub
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhi

I.e., awakening to the reality of phenomena (inner and outer) as they actually are.

Located in 112 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6
  • 1.­54
  • 1.­73
  • 1.­83-84
  • 2.­1-2
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­13-21
  • 2.­47
  • 2.­51-52
  • 2.­59-64
  • 2.­66
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­69-70
  • 3.­72
  • 3.­98
  • 4.­8
  • 4.­28
  • 4.­35
  • 4.­55
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­126-127
  • 4.­134
  • 4.­136
  • 4.­142-143
  • 4.­148
  • 4.­151
  • 5.­5-6
  • 5.­8-9
  • 5.­13
  • 5.­26
  • 5.­29-30
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­67
  • 5.­76
  • 5.­79
  • 6.­17-19
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­25
  • 6.­39
  • 6.­41-42
  • 6.­72
  • 6.­75-77
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­6
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­14
  • 8.­16-17
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­27
  • 8.­31
  • 8.­36-37
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­6
  • 9.­9
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­14-16
  • 11.­22-23
  • 12.­3-7
  • 12.­13
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • n.­101
  • n.­145
  • n.­170
  • n.­193
  • n.­356
  • n.­393
  • g.­67
  • g.­77
  • g.­82
  • g.­162
  • g.­179
  • g.­201
  • g.­279
g.­25

Bālāha

Wylie:
  • sprin gyi shugs can
Tibetan:
  • སྤྲིན་གྱི་ཤུགས་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • bālāha

A mythical horse.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­111
g.­27

becoming

Wylie:
  • srid pa
Tibetan:
  • སྲིད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • bhava

One of the twelve links of dependent origination.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­9
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­55
  • n.­92
g.­29

Bhīṣaṇaka

Wylie:
  • ’jigs ’jigs
Tibetan:
  • འཇིགས་འཇིགས།
Sanskrit:
  • bhīṣaṇaka

One of the five yakṣa generals.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 12.­1
g.­31

black faction

Wylie:
  • nag po’i phyogs
Tibetan:
  • ནག་པོའི་ཕྱོགས།
Sanskrit:
  • kṛṣṇapakṣa

The army, divisions, or factions of Māra, the deity who personifies spiritual death; from Māra’s point of view, this is the “white faction.” Also refers to the dark fortnight of the lunar month.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­6
  • 6.­11
  • 10.­1
  • 12.­16
  • 13.­2
  • g.­320
g.­32

blessed one

Wylie:
  • bcom ldan ’das
Tibetan:
  • བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
Sanskrit:
  • bhagavat

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term‍—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa‍—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).

Located in 255 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­25-26
  • 1.­28-31
  • 1.­33-34
  • 1.­36-37
  • 1.­39-40
  • 1.­42
  • 1.­46
  • 1.­48
  • 1.­52-55
  • 1.­57-59
  • 1.­62
  • 1.­73-75
  • 1.­86-88
  • 2.­1-2
  • 2.­11-12
  • 2.­14-15
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­28-31
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­38
  • 2.­42
  • 2.­48-49
  • 2.­52-53
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­34
  • 3.­111-112
  • 3.­124
  • 3.­126
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3-7
  • 4.­9-12
  • 4.­15-17
  • 4.­19-21
  • 4.­25
  • 4.­29
  • 4.­36-37
  • 4.­39
  • 4.­45-46
  • 4.­57-58
  • 4.­70-75
  • 4.­78
  • 4.­81-82
  • 4.­115
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­121
  • 4.­131-132
  • 4.­145-147
  • 4.­150-151
  • 5.­1-4
  • 5.­10
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­15-17
  • 5.­19-21
  • 5.­23-24
  • 5.­38
  • 5.­50-51
  • 5.­54
  • 5.­58-61
  • 5.­77-78
  • 5.­80-85
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­6-7
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­18-23
  • 6.­27-28
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­36-37
  • 6.­48
  • 6.­50-55
  • 6.­58
  • 6.­60-62
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­71-73
  • 6.­75
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­81-85
  • 7.­1-7
  • 8.­1-7
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­16-17
  • 8.­19-20
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­26
  • 8.­28
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­38
  • 9.­1-2
  • 9.­5-7
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­3-4
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­16
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­20-22
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­26
  • 11.­1-6
  • 11.­11-13
  • 11.­15-16
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­1-2
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­21
  • 13.­1-7
  • 13.­12
  • 13.­15-16
  • n.­75-76
  • n.­119
  • n.­243
  • n.­291
  • n.­378
  • n.­461
  • n.­483
g.­34

Bodhākṣa

Wylie:
  • shes mig
Tibetan:
  • ཤེས་མིག
Sanskrit:
  • bodhākṣa

One of the māras.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­19
g.­35

bodhisattva

Wylie:
  • byang chub sems dpa’
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhisattva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A being who is dedicated to the cultivation and fulfilment of the altruistic intention to attain perfect buddhahood, traversing the ten bodhisattva levels (daśabhūmi, sa bcu). Bodhisattvas purposely opt to remain within cyclic existence in order to liberate all sentient beings, instead of simply seeking personal freedom from suffering. In terms of the view, they realize both the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.

Located in 161 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­52
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­16-18
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­22
  • 2.­25-28
  • 2.­34
  • 2.­66
  • 4.­68
  • 4.­131
  • 4.­150-151
  • 5.­10-15
  • 5.­39
  • 5.­51
  • 5.­77-79
  • 5.­81-85
  • 5.­94
  • 6.­1-2
  • 6.­5-6
  • 6.­9
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­32-33
  • 6.­35
  • 6.­39
  • 6.­44-45
  • 6.­48
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­60-63
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­75
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­3-4
  • 7.­6-7
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­16-17
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­26
  • 8.­28
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­36-37
  • 9.­5
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­17-18
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­12-13
  • 11.­15-16
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20-22
  • 12.­2
  • 13.­2-4
  • 13.­7
  • n.­107
  • n.­109
  • n.­148
  • n.­323
  • n.­348
  • n.­389
  • n.­453
  • g.­4
  • g.­11
  • g.­18
  • g.­33
  • g.­53
  • g.­58
  • g.­67
  • g.­68
  • g.­70
  • g.­72
  • g.­76
  • g.­81
  • g.­111
  • g.­116
  • g.­117
  • g.­119
  • g.­121
  • g.­123
  • g.­124
  • g.­125
  • g.­128
  • g.­129
  • g.­147
  • g.­160
  • g.­163
  • g.­164
  • g.­172
  • g.­176
  • g.­189
  • g.­192
  • g.­199
  • g.­205
  • g.­215
  • g.­216
  • g.­222
  • g.­242
  • g.­247
  • g.­258
  • g.­260
  • g.­261
  • g.­262
  • g.­263
  • g.­269
  • g.­280
  • g.­286
  • g.­291
  • g.­292
  • g.­298
  • g.­302
  • g.­303
  • g.­304
  • g.­307
  • g.­310
  • g.­311
  • g.­318
g.­36

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 22 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­3
  • 6.­55
  • 6.­59
  • 6.­61-63
  • 6.­66-67
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4-7
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­21
  • n.­430
g.­37

Brahmā

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

One of the trinity of Hindu gods, a protagonist and ally of the Buddha; when spelled with the lower case, it denotes any god from the multiple worlds of Brahmā.

Located in 24 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­40
  • 1.­74
  • 2.­20
  • 3.­111
  • 4.­57-58
  • 4.­74
  • 5.­2-3
  • 6.­50
  • 7.­1
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­4-6
  • 13.­1-3
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­15
  • n.­429
  • g.­36
  • g.­113
  • g.­167
g.­38

branches of knowledge

Wylie:
  • rig pa’i gnas
Tibetan:
  • རིག་པའི་གནས།
Sanskrit:
  • vidyāsthāna

Traditionally, there are eighteen branches of knowledge; they include the great philosophical systems of India (Sāṅkhya, Yoga, etc.) as well as ordinary sciences and arts, such as arithmetic, medicine, astrology, music, archery, etc.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­2
  • 3.­28
g.­39

Buddha

Wylie:
  • sangs rgyas
Tibetan:
  • སངས་རྒྱས།
Sanskrit:
  • buddha

A fully awakened being; when spelled with a capital letter it refers to the Buddha Śākyamuni, one of the Three Jewels.

Located in 328 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­5-10
  • i.­14-15
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­9-10
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­56
  • 1.­63
  • 1.­73-74
  • 1.­85-87
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­42-43
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­62
  • 2.­67
  • 2.­69
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­34
  • 3.­49
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­78-79
  • 3.­105
  • 3.­107
  • 3.­109-110
  • 3.­118
  • 3.­120
  • 3.­124
  • 3.­126
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­23
  • 4.­33
  • 4.­38
  • 4.­42
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­64
  • 4.­66
  • 4.­68-70
  • 4.­74
  • 4.­124
  • 4.­130-131
  • 4.­135-137
  • 4.­140-142
  • 4.­144
  • 4.­146-147
  • 4.­149-150
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­4
  • 5.­9
  • 5.­11-17
  • 5.­24
  • 5.­26
  • 5.­34
  • 5.­41
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­55
  • 5.­72-73
  • 5.­77-85
  • 5.­90
  • 5.­93
  • 5.­95
  • 6.­1-2
  • 6.­5-7
  • 6.­9-10
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­18-23
  • 6.­27-30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­34
  • 6.­37
  • 6.­48
  • 6.­50-51
  • 6.­53-54
  • 6.­58
  • 6.­61-63
  • 6.­67
  • 6.­69-70
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­75-78
  • 6.­81-85
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­3-7
  • 8.­1-7
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­15-20
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­35
  • 8.­38
  • 9.­1-2
  • 9.­5-7
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­3-7
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­13-14
  • 10.­16-22
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­26
  • 11.­1-2
  • 11.­4-5
  • 11.­11-12
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­16-18
  • 11.­20-22
  • 12.­2-3
  • 12.­10
  • 12.­14-17
  • 12.­21
  • 13.­1-7
  • 13.­11
  • 13.­15
  • n.­8
  • n.­12-13
  • n.­16-17
  • n.­65
  • n.­70
  • n.­75-76
  • n.­129
  • n.­144
  • n.­149
  • n.­258
  • n.­290
  • n.­295
  • n.­333
  • n.­365
  • n.­378
  • n.­389
  • n.­391
  • n.­483
  • n.­486
  • g.­4
  • g.­11
  • g.­14
  • g.­18
  • g.­21
  • g.­32
  • g.­33
  • g.­37
  • g.­43
  • g.­56
  • g.­58
  • g.­67
  • g.­68
  • g.­70
  • g.­72
  • g.­73
  • g.­77
  • g.­81
  • g.­84
  • g.­104
  • g.­112
  • g.­115
  • g.­116
  • g.­117
  • g.­119
  • g.­120
  • g.­123
  • g.­124
  • g.­125
  • g.­128
  • g.­129
  • g.­130
  • g.­136
  • g.­138
  • g.­139
  • g.­141
  • g.­147
  • g.­149
  • g.­151
  • g.­160
  • g.­161
  • g.­163
  • g.­164
  • g.­172
  • g.­176
  • g.­177
  • g.­178
  • g.­189
  • g.­199
  • g.­201
  • g.­204
  • g.­205
  • g.­216
  • g.­227
  • g.­228
  • g.­229
  • g.­232
  • g.­235
  • g.­241
  • g.­243
  • g.­246
  • g.­247
  • g.­249
  • g.­257
  • g.­258
  • g.­261
  • g.­263
  • g.­269
  • g.­273
  • g.­279
  • g.­284
  • g.­286
  • g.­291
  • g.­298
  • g.­299
  • g.­302
  • g.­303
  • g.­304
  • g.­306
  • g.­307
  • g.­308
  • g.­310
  • g.­311
  • g.­317
  • g.­318
  • g.­319
g.­42

Candra

Wylie:
  • zla ba
Tibetan:
  • ཟླ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • candra

The moon personified as a god.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­111
  • 5.­3
g.­45

Chinnasrotas

Wylie:
  • rgyun bcad pa
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱུན་བཅད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • chinnasrotas

One of the five yakṣa generals.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 12.­1
  • 12.­5
g.­47

concentration

Wylie:
  • bsam gtan
Tibetan:
  • བསམ་གཏན།
Sanskrit:
  • dhyāna

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Dhyāna is defined as one-pointed abiding in an undistracted state of mind, free from afflicted mental states. Four states of dhyāna are identified as being conducive to birth within the form realm. In the context of the Mahāyāna, it is the fifth of the six perfections. It is commonly translated as “concentration,” “meditative concentration,” and so on.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­37
  • 8.­5
  • 11.­3
  • g.­92
  • g.­194
g.­48

consciousness

Wylie:
  • rnam par shes pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vijñāna

Fifth of the five aggregates.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­71
  • 4.­114
  • 6.­18
  • 13.­3
  • g.­79
  • g.­85
  • g.­245
  • g.­254
g.­52

Delighting in Emanations

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

One of the gods’ realms.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 7.­1
g.­54

dependent origination

Wylie:
  • rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba
  • rten ’brel
Tibetan:
  • རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་འབྱུང་བ།
  • རྟེན་འབྲེལ།
Sanskrit:
  • pratītya­samutpāda

The arising of beings explained as a chain of causation involving twelve interdependent links or stages.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • n.­92
  • g.­27
g.­55

desire realm

Wylie:
  • ’dod khams
Tibetan:
  • འདོད་ཁམས།
Sanskrit:
  • kāmadhātu

One of the three realms of saṃsāra (the other two being the form and formless realms).

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­51
  • 3.­14
  • g.­275
g.­59

dhāraṇī

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

Magical spell, usually a longer one with a specific purpose. Being also the name of a literary genre, this term may refer also to the entire text of the Ratnaketudhāraṇī or a section of text dealing with a particular dhāraṇī.

Located in 89 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­5-8
  • i.­11-15
  • h.­3
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­40-47
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­53
  • 2.­60
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­1
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­84
  • 6.­15-19
  • 6.­33
  • 6.­41-48
  • 6.­50-51
  • 6.­62-63
  • 6.­78-79
  • 6.­84
  • 6.­86
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­6
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­14-15
  • 10.­19
  • 11.­5-10
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­21-22
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­19
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • c.­1
  • n.­5
  • n.­11
  • n.­16
  • n.­129-132
  • n.­390
  • n.­405
  • n.­445
  • g.­60
  • g.­62
  • g.­63
  • g.­215
g.­60

dhāraṇī-seal

Wylie:
  • gzungs kyi phyag rgya
Tibetan:
  • གཟུངས་ཀྱི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ།
Sanskrit:
  • dhāraṇīmudrā

This is another term used for dhāraṇī that is meant to convey, among other meanings, the idea that a dhāraṇī seals or stamps upon the reciter or the targeted phenomenon the nature that it embodies.

Located in 21 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­80
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­36-37
  • 6.­68
  • 7.­7
  • 10.­1-2
  • 10.­21-22
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­11
  • 13.­4
  • n.­396
g.­61

Dharma

Wylie:
  • chos
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས།
Sanskrit:
  • dharma

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term dharma conveys ten different meanings, according to Vasubandhu’s Vyākhyā­yukti. The primary meanings are as follows: the doctrine taught by the Buddha (Dharma); the ultimate reality underlying and expressed through the Buddha’s teaching (Dharma); the trainings that the Buddha’s teaching stipulates (dharmas); the various awakened qualities or attainments acquired through practicing and realizing the Buddha’s teaching (dharmas); qualities or aspects more generally, i.e., phenomena or phenomenal attributes (dharmas); and mental objects (dharmas).

Located in 172 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­14-15
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­8-9
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­16
  • 1.­24
  • 1.­30
  • 1.­51
  • 1.­68
  • 1.­73
  • 1.­87-89
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­25
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­41
  • 2.­60
  • 2.­67
  • 3.­6-7
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­40
  • 3.­49-50
  • 3.­65
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­79-82
  • 3.­84
  • 3.­90-91
  • 3.­99-100
  • 3.­107
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­12-13
  • 4.­22-24
  • 4.­28
  • 4.­34
  • 4.­36
  • 4.­38
  • 4.­40-43
  • 4.­48-51
  • 4.­57
  • 4.­59
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­77
  • 4.­85
  • 4.­101
  • 4.­104
  • 4.­134
  • 4.­139-140
  • 4.­150
  • 5.­7
  • 5.­20
  • 5.­26-27
  • 5.­33
  • 5.­43
  • 5.­52-54
  • 5.­58-60
  • 5.­75
  • 5.­77-80
  • 5.­84
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­15-16
  • 6.­19-21
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­26
  • 6.­29-30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­41
  • 6.­43
  • 6.­46-47
  • 6.­53
  • 6.­61-62
  • 6.­67-68
  • 6.­78-79
  • 6.­81-82
  • 6.­85
  • 7.­8
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­38
  • 9.­5
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­3-5
  • 10.­7-10
  • 10.­13-16
  • 10.­18-22
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­3-5
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­16-18
  • 11.­24
  • 12.­4
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­9
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­7
  • 13.­13
  • n.­14
  • n.­29
  • n.­56
  • n.­153
  • n.­170
  • n.­178
  • n.­268
  • n.­379
  • n.­402
  • n.­404
  • n.­443
  • g.­63
  • g.­195
  • g.­273
g.­62

Dharma discourse

Wylie:
  • chos kyi rnam grangs
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་གྲངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmaparyāya

This may refer to the entire text of the Ratnaketudhāraṇī or to a section dealing with a particular dhāraṇī.

Located in 33 passages in the translation:

  • i.­13
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­68
  • 6.­78-79
  • 10.­1-2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­8-9
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­14-15
  • 10.­18-19
  • 10.­21-22
  • 10.­24-25
  • 11.­2-3
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­18
  • 13.­1-2
  • 13.­4-6
  • 13.­8
  • 13.­15
g.­63

Dharma method

Wylie:
  • chos kyi tshul
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཚུལ།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmanetrī

The Skt. term, which means “way,” “method,” or “system,” could be interpreted as that which is “conducive” to the Dharma, which “leads” to the Dharma or which “guides” in accordance with the principles of the Dharma. In the Ratnaketudhāraṇī, it variously refers to individual dhāraṇīs, the sections that deal with these dhāraṇīs, or the entire text of the Ratnaketudhāraṇī.

Located in 31 passages in the translation:

  • i.­14-15
  • 4.­12
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­29-30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­36
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­85
  • 7.­7
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­12
  • 9.­5
  • 10.­1-2
  • 10.­5-6
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­20-21
  • 10.­25-26
  • 11.­3-4
  • 11.­11
  • 13.­2
  • 13.­4
  • n.­440
g.­64

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Wylie:
  • yul ’khor srung
Tibetan:
  • ཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང་།
Sanskrit:
  • dhṛtarāṣṭra

One of the Four Great Kings.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­111
  • 6.­69
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­9
  • g.­94
g.­65

diligence

Wylie:
  • brtson ’grus
Tibetan:
  • བརྩོན་འགྲུས།
Sanskrit:
  • vīrya

The fourth of the six perfections.

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­70
  • 5.­79
  • 6.­23-24
  • 6.­73
  • 8.­5-6
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­18
  • 10.­10
  • 13.­13
  • g.­91
  • g.­162
  • g.­194
g.­66

discipline

Wylie:
  • tshul khrims
Tibetan:
  • ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས།
Sanskrit:
  • śīla

The second of the six perfections.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­32
  • 4.­36
  • 4.­64
  • 4.­92
  • 4.­101-102
  • 8.­5
  • g.­194
  • g.­240
g.­67

Discriminating Intellect

Wylie:
  • shin tu rnam par phye ba’i blo gros
Tibetan:
  • ཤིན་ཏུ་རྣམ་པར་ཕྱེ་བའི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • —

One of the bodhisattvas who received from the Buddha a prophecy of his future awakening.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­1
  • 7.­3-4
  • g.­116
g.­72

Durdharṣa

Wylie:
  • thub dka’
Tibetan:
  • ཐུབ་དཀའ།
Sanskrit:
  • durdharṣa

One of the bodhisattvas in the Buddha’s retinue; also one of the māras.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 3.­21
g.­79

element

Wylie:
  • khams
Tibetan:
  • ཁམས།
Sanskrit:
  • dhātu

Sphere; primary element (such as earth, water, etc.; see “six elements”); sensory “elements” that comprise six types of sense objects, six types of sense faculties, and six sense consciousnesses.

Located in 20 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­8
  • 2.­15
  • 3.­42
  • 3.­60
  • 3.­64
  • 5.­85-91
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­57
  • 10.­3
  • n.­88
  • n.­260
  • n.­338
  • n.­420
g.­80

exposition

Wylie:
  • lung bstan
Tibetan:
  • ལུང་བསྟན།
Sanskrit:
  • vyākaraṇa

A clear analysis or detailed presentation. Also translated here as “prophecy.”

Located in 19 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6
  • i.­9
  • 5.­78-84
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 7.­7
  • 10.­1
  • 11.­2
  • 13.­5
  • n.­333-334
  • g.­201
g.­83

fetter

Wylie:
  • kun tu sbyor ba
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་སྦྱོར་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃyojana

Fetters binding one to saṃsāra; they come in groups of three (ignorance, hatred, and desire) or ten.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­48
  • 1.­61
  • 2.­23
  • 3.­124
  • 5.­30
g.­85

five aggregates

Wylie:
  • phung po lnga
Tibetan:
  • ཕུང་པོ་ལྔ།
Sanskrit:
  • pañcaskandha

The five constituents of a living entity: form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­15
  • 5.­40
  • n.­210
  • g.­8
  • g.­48
  • g.­88
  • g.­193
  • g.­237
g.­86

five degenerations

Wylie:
  • snyigs ma lnga
Tibetan:
  • སྙིགས་མ་ལྔ།
Sanskrit:
  • pañcakaṣāya

Five signs that the later era of an eon has arrived: degenerate views, afflictions, beings, lifespan, and time.

Located in 16 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­30
  • 5.­17
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­78
  • 6.­10
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­27-28
  • 6.­78
  • 8.­7
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­5-6
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­16
  • 13.­3
g.­88

form

Wylie:
  • gzugs
Tibetan:
  • གཟུགས།
Sanskrit:
  • rūpa

First of the five aggregates.

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­87
  • 2.­5
  • 3.­57
  • 4.­75
  • 4.­131
  • 5.­17
  • 5.­36
  • 6.­57
  • 7.­1-2
  • n.­190
  • g.­85
  • g.­275
g.­89

formation

Wylie:
  • ’du byed
Tibetan:
  • འདུ་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃskāra

Predispositions; conditioning (as in “conditioned existence”) in general; also the fourth aggregate, that of volition.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­72
  • 5.­92
  • 6.­57
  • 6.­70
  • n.­339
  • n.­400
  • n.­428
  • g.­85
  • g.­272
g.­94

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 9 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­111
  • 4.­74
  • 7.­1
  • g.­64
  • g.­155
  • g.­300
  • g.­314
  • g.­315
  • g.­321
g.­100

Free from Strife

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

One of the gods’ realms.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­1
  • g.­325
g.­101

gandharva

Wylie:
  • dri za
Tibetan:
  • དྲི་ཟ།
Sanskrit:
  • gandharva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.”

Located in 27 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­44
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­112
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­16
  • n.­216
  • g.­94
g.­103

garuḍa

Wylie:
  • nam mkha’ lding
Tibetan:
  • ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།
Sanskrit:
  • garuḍa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.

Located in 26 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­111
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­73
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • n.­123
  • n.­216
g.­104

Gautama

Wylie:
  • gau ta ma
Tibetan:
  • གཽ་ཏ་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • gautama

One of the names of the Buddha, especially during his earlier life as an ascetic.

Located in 17 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­19
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­38
  • 1.­62
  • 1.­71
  • 1.­89
  • 2.­58
  • 3.­6
  • 3.­26
  • 3.­29
  • 3.­113
  • 3.­120
  • 3.­124
  • 4.­79
  • 5.­22
  • 11.­21
  • n.­160
g.­105

generosity

Wylie:
  • sbyin pa
Tibetan:
  • སྦྱིན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • dāna

The first of the six perfections.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­49
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­35
  • 3.­89
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­5
  • 12.­13
  • n.­42
  • n.­81
  • g.­5
  • g.­194
g.­106

Ghoṣavati

Wylie:
  • dbyangs kyi blo gros
Tibetan:
  • དབྱངས་ཀྱི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • ghoṣavati

One of the māras.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­110
  • 3.­122
g.­109

Glorious and Brilliantly Shining Jewel

Wylie:
  • nor bu ’od ’bar ba dpal
Tibetan:
  • ནོར་བུ་འོད་འབར་བ་དཔལ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

One of the tathāgatas.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 7.­1
g.­110

god

Wylie:
  • lha
Tibetan:
  • ལྷ།
Sanskrit:
  • deva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.

Located in 111 passages in the translation:

  • i.­13
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­56-57
  • 1.­74
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­44
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51-52
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­77
  • 3.­86
  • 3.­91
  • 3.­99-100
  • 3.­103-104
  • 3.­111-112
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­20-21
  • 4.­39
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­54
  • 4.­57
  • 4.­70-73
  • 4.­75-76
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­144
  • 4.­150
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­3
  • 5.­16
  • 5.­34
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­81
  • 5.­83
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­53
  • 6.­58
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­36-37
  • 9.­5-6
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­21
  • 11.­5-6
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­21
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­16
  • n.­65
  • n.­398
  • n.­407
  • n.­431
  • n.­453
  • g.­10
  • g.­36
  • g.­37
  • g.­42
  • g.­52
  • g.­100
  • g.­113
  • g.­146
  • g.­155
  • g.­156
  • g.­167
  • g.­169
  • g.­173
  • g.­203
  • g.­217
  • g.­218
  • g.­225
  • g.­226
  • g.­265
  • g.­289
  • g.­290
  • g.­300
  • g.­305
  • g.­324
  • g.­325
g.­115

hearer

Wylie:
  • nyan thos
Tibetan:
  • ཉན་ཐོས།
Sanskrit:
  • śrāvaka

A disciple of the Buddha; in the Mahāyāna sūtras this term refers to the followers of the Hīnayāna, or the Lesser Vehicle.

Located in 35 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­31
  • 2.­16
  • 2.­60
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­35
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­112
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­150
  • 5.­10-14
  • 5.­82-83
  • 5.­85
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­26
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61-63
  • 6.­73
  • 7.­3
  • 8.­37
  • n.­12
  • n.­141
  • g.­141
  • g.­171
  • g.­206
  • g.­252
  • g.­253
  • g.­280
g.­118

Himalaya Mountains

Wylie:
  • gangs kyi ri
Tibetan:
  • གངས་ཀྱི་རི།
Sanskrit:
  • himālaya

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­28
  • 4.­75
g.­119

Holder of Meru’s Peak

Wylie:
  • lhun po’i rtse ’dzin
Tibetan:
  • ལྷུན་པོའི་རྩེ་འཛིན།
Sanskrit:
  • —

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­122

insight

Wylie:
  • shes rab
Tibetan:
  • ཤེས་རབ།
Sanskrit:
  • prajñā

Direct gnosis without conceptuality or mental elaboration.

Located in 22 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­9
  • 1.­31-32
  • 1.­41
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­24
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­94
  • 7.­3
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­18-19
  • 8.­25
  • 10.­1
  • 13.­13
  • n.­30
  • n.­82
  • g.­194
  • g.­240
g.­123

Intelligent Light

Wylie:
  • ’od kyi blo gros
Tibetan:
  • འོད་ཀྱི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • —

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­124

Intelligent Lightning

Wylie:
  • glog gi blo gros
Tibetan:
  • གློག་གི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • —

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­125

Intelligent Sky

Wylie:
  • nam mkha’i blo gros
Tibetan:
  • ནམ་མཁའི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • —

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­127

Jambudvīpa

Wylie:
  • ’dzam bu’i gling
Tibetan:
  • འཛམ་བུའི་གླིང་།
Sanskrit:
  • jambudvīpa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The name of the southern continent in Buddhist cosmology, which can signify either the known human world, or more specifically the Indian subcontinent, literally “the jambu island/continent.” Jambu is the name used for a range of plum-like fruits from trees belonging to the genus Szygium, particularly Szygium jambos and Szygium cumini, and it has commonly been rendered “rose apple,” although “black plum” may be a less misleading term. Among various explanations given for the continent being so named, one (in the Abhidharmakośa) is that a jambu tree grows in its northern mountains beside Lake Anavatapta, mythically considered the source of the four great rivers of India, and that the continent is therefore named from the tree or the fruit. Jambudvīpa has the Vajrāsana at its center and is the only continent upon which buddhas attain awakening.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­7
  • 3.­27
  • 10.­10-11
g.­128

Jayamati

Wylie:
  • rgyal ba’i blo gros
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་བའི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • jayamati

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue; also one of Māra’s sons.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­65
g.­129

Jinamati

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • jinamati

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­132

Jñānolka

Wylie:
  • shes pa’i sgron ma
Tibetan:
  • ཤེས་པའི་སྒྲོན་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • jñānolka

One of the five yakṣa generals.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 12.­1
  • 12.­5
g.­134

Jyotīrasa

Wylie:
  • skar ma la dga’ ba
Tibetan:
  • སྐར་མ་ལ་དགའ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • jyotīrasa

A sage, originally a devotee of Maheśvara.

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­28
  • 4.­75
  • 4.­77-78
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­131
  • 4.­145
  • 4.­147
  • 4.­150-152
  • 5.­51
  • n.­323
  • g.­81
  • g.­120
g.­135

Jyotiṣprabha

Wylie:
  • me ’od
Tibetan:
  • མེ་འོད།
Sanskrit:
  • jyotiṣprabha

One of the māras.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­7
g.­138

Kalandakanivāpa

Wylie:
  • bya ka lan ta ka
Tibetan:
  • བྱ་ཀ་ལན་ཏ་ཀ
Sanskrit:
  • kalandaka­nivāpa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A place where the Buddha often resided, within the Bamboo Park (Veṇuvana) outside Rajagṛha that had been donated to him. The name is said to have arisen when, one day, King Bimbisāra fell asleep after a romantic liaison in the Bamboo Park. While the king rested, his consort wandered off. A snake (the reincarnation of the park’s previous owner, who still resented the king’s acquisition of the park) approached with malign intentions. Through the king’s tremendous merit, a gathering of kalandaka‍—crows or other birds according to Tibetan renderings, but some Sanskrit and Pali sources suggest flying squirrels‍—miraculously appeared and began squawking. Their clamor alerted the king’s consort to the danger, who rushed back and hacked the snake to pieces, thereby saving the king’s life. King Bimbisāra then named the spot Kalandakanivāpa (“Kalandakas’ Feeding Ground”), sometimes (though not in the Vinayavastu) given as Kalandakanivāsa (“Kalandakas’ Abode”) in their honor. The story is told in the Saṃghabhedavastu (Toh 1, ch.17, Degé Kangyur vol.4, folio 77.b et seq.). For more details and other origin stories, see the 84000 Knowledge Base article Veṇuvana and Kalandakanivāpa.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­18
g.­140

karma

Wylie:
  • las
Tibetan:
  • ལས།
Sanskrit:
  • karman

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Meaning “action” in its most basic sense, karma is an important concept in Buddhist philosophy as the cumulative force of previous physical, verbal, and mental acts, which determines present experience and will determine future existences.

Located in 60 passages in the translation:

  • i.­7-8
  • i.­14
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­21-22
  • 1.­41
  • 1.­79
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­24
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­41-43
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­58
  • 2.­67
  • 3.­71
  • 3.­75
  • 3.­98
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­119
  • 4.­142
  • 5.­88
  • 5.­92
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­46-47
  • 6.­67
  • 6.­81
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­5-6
  • 10.­10
  • 10.­13-14
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­2-4
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­18
  • 12.­14
  • 13.­5
  • n.­129
  • n.­132
  • n.­136
  • n.­192-193
  • n.­333
  • n.­371
  • n.­480
  • g.­3
  • g.­5
  • g.­77
  • g.­78
  • g.­269
  • g.­270
g.­143

Kaulita

Wylie:
  • pang nas skyes
Tibetan:
  • པང་ནས་སྐྱེས།
Sanskrit:
  • kaulita

Another name of Maudgalyāyana.

Located in 16 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­11-12
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­16
  • 1.­18-19
  • 1.­23-24
  • 1.­26
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­51
  • 3.­80
  • n.­8
  • n.­178
g.­145

Kauṇḍiṇyārcis

Wylie:
  • kauN+Di n+ya ’od ’phro ba
Tibetan:
  • ཀཽཎྜི་ནྱ་འོད་འཕྲོ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • kauṇḍiṇyārcis

One of the tathāgatas.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 12.­1
g.­148

Khaḍgasoma

Wylie:
  • ral gri zla ba
Tibetan:
  • རལ་གྲི་ཟླ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • khaḍgasoma

One of the māras.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­13
g.­150

kinnara

Wylie:
  • mi ’am ci
Tibetan:
  • མི་འམ་ཅི།
Sanskrit:
  • kinnara

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name‍—which means “is that human?”‍—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal. They are often depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.

Located in 27 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­111
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­21
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­73
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • n.­123
  • n.­216
g.­153

kṣatriya

Wylie:
  • rgyal rigs
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་རིགས།
Sanskrit:
  • kṣatriya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The ruling caste in the traditional four-caste hierarchy of India, associated with warriors, the aristocracy, and kings.

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­44-45
  • 3.­111
  • 5.­79
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­67
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­6
  • 10.­24
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­10-11
  • n.­124
g.­154

Kṣititoya

Wylie:
  • sa chu
Tibetan:
  • ས་ཆུ།
Sanskrit:
  • kṣititoya

One of the māras.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­15
g.­155

Kubera

Wylie:
  • lus ngan po
Tibetan:
  • ལུས་ངན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • kubera
  • kuvera

A god of wealth, sometimes (as in the Ratnaketudhāraṇī) identified with Vaiśravaṇa, one of the Four Great Kings.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 11.­1
  • 11.­10
g.­156

Kumāra

Wylie:
  • gzhon nu
Tibetan:
  • གཞོན་ནུ།
Sanskrit:
  • kumāra

Another name of Karttikeya, the god of war.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­111
g.­158

kumbhāṇḍa

Wylie:
  • grul bum
Tibetan:
  • གྲུལ་བུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • kumbhāṇḍa

A class of nonhuman beings.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­28
  • 6.­74
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 12.­11
  • 13.­3
  • g.­94
g.­165

Magadha

Wylie:
  • ma ga d+hA
Tibetan:
  • མ་ག་དྷཱ།
Sanskrit:
  • māgadha
  • magadha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

An ancient Indian kingdom that lay to the south of the Ganges River in what today is the state of Bihar. Magadha was the largest of the sixteen “great states” (mahājanapada) that flourished between the sixth and third centuries ʙᴄᴇ in northern India. During the life of the Buddha Śākyamuni, it was ruled by King Bimbisāra and later by Bimbisāra's son, Ajātaśatru. Its capital was initially Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir) but was later moved to Pāṭaliputra (modern-day Patna). Over the centuries, with the expansion of the Magadha’s might, it became the capital of the vast Mauryan empire and seat of the great King Aśoka.

This region is home to many of the most important Buddhist sites, including Bodh Gayā, where the Buddha attained awakening; Vulture Peak (Gṛdhra­kūṭa), where the Buddha bestowed many well-known Mahāyāna sūtras; and the Buddhist university of Nālandā that flourished between the fifth and twelfth centuries ᴄᴇ, among many others.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • 3.­29
  • g.­14
  • g.­211
  • g.­306
g.­168

Mahācandanagandha

Wylie:
  • tsan dan gyi dri chen po
Tibetan:
  • ཙན་དན་གྱི་དྲི་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahā­candana­gandha

One of the tathāgatas.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 13.­1-2
g.­169

Maheśvara

Wylie:
  • dbang phyug chen po
Tibetan:
  • དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • maheśvara

One of the forms of the god Śiva.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­37
  • 1.­40
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­111
  • 4.­74
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­73
  • 7.­1
  • g.­134
g.­170

mahoraga

Wylie:
  • lto ’phye chen po
Tibetan:
  • ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahoraga

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally “great serpents,” mahoragas are supernatural beings depicted as large, subterranean beings with human torsos and heads and the lower bodies of serpents. Their movements are said to cause earthquakes, and they make up a class of subterranean geomantic spirits whose movement through the seasons and months of the year is deemed significant for construction projects.

Located in 30 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­111
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­73
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­21
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • n.­123
  • n.­216
g.­171

Maitrāyaṇī

Wylie:
  • byams ma
Tibetan:
  • བྱམས་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • maitrāyaṇī

The mother of Pūrṇa, one of the four great hearers.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­51
  • 7.­2
g.­172

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 5 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­66
  • 10.­18
  • n.­148
g.­173

Making Use of Others’ Emanations

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

One of the gods’ realms.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­1
  • g.­305
g.­175

Māndāravagandharoca

Wylie:
  • me tog man dA ra ba’i dri mo
Tibetan:
  • མེ་ཏོག་མན་དཱ་ར་བའི་དྲི་མོ།
Sanskrit:
  • māndārava­gandha­roca

One of the tathāgatas.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 10.­1-3
  • 10.­17
g.­176

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.

In this text:

One of the bodhisattvas in the retinue of the Buddha.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­5
  • 1.­1
  • 2.­21-22
  • 2.­25
g.­177

Māra

Wylie:
  • bdud
Tibetan:
  • བདུད།
Sanskrit:
  • māra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Māra, literally “death” or “maker of death,” is the name of the deva who tried to prevent the Buddha from achieving awakening, the name given to the class of beings he leads, and also an impersonal term for the destructive forces that keep beings imprisoned in saṃsāra:

(1) As a deva, Māra is said to be the principal deity in the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (paranirmitavaśavartin), the highest paradise in the desire realm. He famously attempted to prevent the Buddha’s awakening under the Bodhi tree‍—see The Play in Full (Toh 95), 21.1‍—and later sought many times to thwart the Buddha’s activity. In the sūtras, he often also creates obstacles to the progress of śrāvakas and bodhisattvas. (2) The devas ruled over by Māra are collectively called mārakāyika or mārakāyikadevatā, the “deities of Māra’s family or class.” In general, these māras too do not wish any being to escape from saṃsāra, but can also change their ways and even end up developing faith in the Buddha, as exemplified by Sārthavāha; see The Play in Full (Toh 95), 21.14 and 21.43. (3) The term māra can also be understood as personifying four defects that prevent awakening, called (i) the divine māra (devaputra­māra), which is the distraction of pleasures; (ii) the māra of Death (mṛtyumāra), which is having one’s life interrupted; (iii) the māra of the aggregates (skandhamāra), which is identifying with the five aggregates; and (iv) the māra of the afflictions (kleśamāra), which is being under the sway of the negative emotions of desire, hatred, and ignorance.

Located in 212 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • h.­3
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­17
  • 1.­19-20
  • 1.­23-24
  • 1.­26
  • 1.­28-29
  • 1.­37
  • 1.­39-40
  • 1.­43-45
  • 1.­47
  • 1.­49
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­54-55
  • 1.­58-59
  • 1.­61-63
  • 1.­65
  • 1.­67
  • 1.­70-73
  • 1.­75
  • 1.­83
  • 1.­86-92
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­33
  • 2.­35
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­55-56
  • 2.­58
  • 2.­62
  • 2.­66-68
  • 3.­1-3
  • 3.­6-7
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­12-13
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­19
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­27-28
  • 3.­30
  • 3.­32-36
  • 3.­39
  • 3.­41
  • 3.­48
  • 3.­50-51
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­65-66
  • 3.­70
  • 3.­74
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­78
  • 3.­96
  • 3.­100-101
  • 3.­104-106
  • 3.­109-113
  • 3.­116-118
  • 3.­122
  • 3.­124
  • 3.­126-127
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­5-9
  • 4.­11
  • 4.­20-21
  • 4.­24
  • 4.­54-56
  • 4.­58
  • 4.­67
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­73
  • 4.­75
  • 5.­1-2
  • 5.­7
  • 5.­16-17
  • 5.­19
  • 5.­34
  • 5.­55
  • 5.­59-61
  • 5.­72
  • 5.­77
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­81
  • 5.­83
  • 6.­11-12
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­29-30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­37
  • 6.­53
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­67-69
  • 6.­73-79
  • 6.­84
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­9-13
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­8-9
  • 10.­1
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­12-13
  • 11.­16-18
  • 11.­20-23
  • 13.­2
  • 13.­5
  • n.­8
  • n.­19
  • n.­59
  • n.­109
  • n.­116
  • n.­136
  • n.­149
  • n.­354
  • n.­453
  • g.­7
  • g.­31
  • g.­34
  • g.­72
  • g.­87
  • g.­106
  • g.­128
  • g.­135
  • g.­148
  • g.­154
  • g.­157
  • g.­186
  • g.­233
  • g.­288
  • g.­309
  • g.­320
g.­178

Maudgalyāyana

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, paired with Śāriputra. He was renowned for his miraculous powers. His family clan was descended from Mudgala, hence his name Maudgalyā­yana, “the son of Mudgala’s descendants.” Respectfully referred to as Mahā­maudgalyā­yana, “Great Maudgalyāyana.”

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • 1.­35-37
  • 1.­53
  • 3.­41
  • 3.­48
  • 3.­50
  • 3.­76
  • n.­8
  • n.­34
  • n.­177
  • g.­143
  • g.­144
  • g.­182
g.­179

mind of awakening

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi sems
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhicitta

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­55
  • 1.­83
  • 4.­123
  • 4.­151
  • 6.­27
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­8
g.­184

nāga

Wylie:
  • klu
Tibetan:
  • ཀླུ།
Sanskrit:
  • nāga

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments, where they guard wealth and sometimes also teachings. Nāgas are associated with serpents and have a snakelike appearance. In Buddhist art and in written accounts, they are regularly portrayed as half human and half snake, and they are also said to have the ability to change into human form. Some nāgas are Dharma protectors, but they can also bring retribution if they are disturbed. They may likewise fight one another, wage war, and destroy the lands of others by causing lightning, hail, and flooding.

Located in 48 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­72
  • 1.­74
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­44
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­34
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­20
  • 4.­39
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­74
  • 4.­144
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­3
  • 5.­79
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­53
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­5-6
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 12.­11-12
  • 12.­21
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • n.­398
  • n.­407
  • n.­431
  • g.­94
g.­185

Nārāyaṇa

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

One of the epithets of Viṣṇu.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­111
  • 4.­74
  • 6.­69
g.­186

Navarāja

Wylie:
  • nags kyi rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • ནགས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • navarāja

One of the māras.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­12
g.­187

nirvāṇa

Wylie:
  • mya ngan las ’das pa
Tibetan:
  • མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirvāṇa

The state attained when the afflictions have been extinguished.

Located in 24 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­38
  • 1.­41-42
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­40
  • 2.­47
  • 3.­87
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­5
  • 4.­136-137
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­81
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­75
  • 7.­5
  • 11.­14
  • n.­39
  • n.­93
  • n.­106
  • g.­35
  • g.­190
  • g.­246
  • g.­252
g.­188

noble one

Wylie:
  • ’phags pa
Tibetan:
  • འཕགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ārya

This term in particular applies to stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, and worthy ones.

Located in 66 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­34
  • 1.­54
  • 1.­81
  • 1.­84
  • 2.­2-6
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­16
  • 2.­22
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­34
  • 2.­40-41
  • 2.­48
  • 2.­67
  • 3.­49
  • 4.­50
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­82
  • 5.­85-90
  • 5.­92-93
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­45
  • 6.­59-60
  • 6.­72
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­84-85
  • 7.­2-4
  • 8.­1
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­6
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­21
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­16-17
  • 11.­21
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­10-11
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­16
  • 13.­3
  • n.­80
  • n.­121
  • n.­468
  • n.­470
g.­191

patience

Wylie:
  • bzod pa
Tibetan:
  • བཟོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • kṣānti

Third of the six perfections. Also translated here as “acceptance.”

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­126
  • 5.­27
  • 5.­74
  • 5.­79
  • 8.­5
  • g.­3
  • g.­194
g.­193

perception

Wylie:
  • ’du shes
Tibetan:
  • འདུ་ཤེས།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃjñā

The third of the five aggregates.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­14
  • 3.­45
  • 5.­49
  • 6.­20
  • 8.­5
  • g.­85
  • g.­277
g.­194

perfection

Wylie:
  • pha rol tu phyin pa
Tibetan:
  • ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • pāramitā

Most of the time this term refers to any of the six perfections‍—generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and insight.

Located in 27 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­73
  • 1.­84
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­24
  • 2.­67
  • 4.­122
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­94
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­40
  • 7.­6
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­18-19
  • n.­81-82
  • n.­184
  • n.­187
  • g.­47
  • g.­65
  • g.­66
  • g.­105
  • g.­191
g.­195

phenomenon

Wylie:
  • chos
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས།
Sanskrit:
  • dharma

Quality or phenomenon in a general sense. See entry “Dharma.”

Located in 55 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­8
  • 1.­16
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­17-19
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­24
  • 2.­26-28
  • 2.­34-35
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­59
  • 3.­68-70
  • 3.­94-95
  • 3.­98
  • 4.­123
  • 4.­127-129
  • 5.­42
  • 5.­48
  • 5.­56-57
  • 5.­78-81
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­70
  • 7.­7
  • 8.­15
  • 9.­4
  • 10.­1
  • 11.­2
  • n.­81
  • n.­106-107
  • n.­179
  • n.­193
  • n.­260
  • g.­3
  • g.­24
  • g.­50
  • g.­60
g.­196

piśāca

Wylie:
  • sha za
Tibetan:
  • ཤ་ཟ།
Sanskrit:
  • piśāca

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that, like several other classes of nonhuman beings, take spontaneous birth. Ranking below rākṣasas, they are less powerful and more akin to pretas. They are said to dwell in impure and perilous places, where they feed on impure things, including flesh. This could account for the name piśāca, which possibly derives from √piś, to carve or chop meat, as reflected also in the Tibetan sha za, “meat eater.” They are often described as having an unpleasant appearance, and at times they appear with animal bodies. Some possess the ability to enter the dead bodies of humans, thereby becoming so-called vetāla, to touch whom is fatal.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­28
  • 6.­53
  • 6.­66
  • 6.­74
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
g.­200

preta

Wylie:
  • yi dags
Tibetan:
  • ཡི་དགས།
Sanskrit:
  • preta

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, into which beings are born as the karmic fruition of past miserliness. As the term in Sanskrit means “the departed,” they are analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. It is also commonly translated as “hungry ghost” or “starving spirit,” as in the Chinese 餓鬼 e gui.

They are sometimes said to reside in the realm of Yama, but are also frequently described as roaming charnel grounds and other inhospitable or frightening places along with piśācas and other such beings. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance. Detailed descriptions of their realm and experience, including a list of the thirty-six classes of pretas, can be found in The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma, Toh 287, 2.­1281– 2.1482.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­55
  • 3.­28
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­37
  • n.­138
  • g.­142
  • g.­274
g.­201

prophecy

Wylie:
  • lung bstan
Tibetan:
  • ལུང་བསྟན།
Sanskrit:
  • vyākaraṇa

A prophecy usually made by the Buddha or another tathāgata concerning the perfect awakening of one of their followers; a literary genre or category of works that contain such prophecies. Also translated here as “exposition.”

Located in 38 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­9
  • 1.­54
  • 2.­64
  • 4.­151
  • 5.­6
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­13
  • 6.­19
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­16-17
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­26
  • 8.­28
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­36-37
  • 8.­39
  • 11.­16
  • 12.­4
  • 12.­7
  • g.­53
  • g.­67
  • g.­76
  • g.­80
  • g.­120
  • g.­121
  • g.­222
  • g.­242
  • g.­260
  • g.­262
  • g.­292
g.­206

Pūrṇa

Wylie:
  • gang po
Tibetan:
  • གང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • pūrṇa

One of the four great hearers.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­51
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­65
  • 3.­76
  • 7.­2-6
  • g.­171
g.­211

Rājagṛha

Wylie:
  • rgyal po’i khab
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་པོའི་ཁབ།
Sanskrit:
  • rājagṛha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The ancient capital of Magadha prior to its relocation to Pāṭaliputra during the Mauryan dynasty, Rājagṛha is one of the most important locations in Buddhist history. The literature tells us that the Buddha and his saṅgha spent a considerable amount of time in residence in and around Rājagṛha‍—in nearby places, such as the Vulture Peak Mountain (Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata), a major site of the Mahāyāna sūtras, and the Bamboo Grove (Veṇuvana)‍—enjoying the patronage of King Bimbisāra and then of his son King Ajātaśatru. Rājagṛha is also remembered as the location where the first Buddhist monastic council was held after the Buddha Śākyamuni passed into parinirvāṇa. Now known as Rajgir and located in the modern Indian state of Bihar.

Located in 27 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • 1.­1-3
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­28
  • 3.­29
  • 3.­35
  • 3.­41
  • 3.­66
  • 3.­100
  • 3.­109
  • 3.­111
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­8
  • 4.­19
  • 4.­75
  • 5.­2-3
  • 5.­10
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­16
  • n.­17
  • g.­136
  • g.­267
  • g.­306
g.­212

rākṣasa

Wylie:
  • srin po
Tibetan:
  • སྲིན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • rākṣasa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that are often, but certainly not always, considered demonic in the Buddhist tradition. They are often depicted as flesh-eating monsters who haunt frightening places and are ugly and evil-natured with a yearning for human flesh, and who additionally have miraculous powers, such as being able to change their appearance.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­44
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­39
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 6.­74
  • 7.­1
  • 10.­11
  • 12.­11
  • 13.­3
g.­215

Ratnaketu

Wylie:
  • rin po che tog
Tibetan:
  • རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཏོག
Sanskrit:
  • ratnaketu

It occurs as the main title of the Ratnaketudhāraṇī and also as the name of the main dhāraṇī of the Ratnaketudhāraṇī. It is also used in Buddhist texts to designate a special meditative absorption, a tathāgata, and a bodhisattva. Generally, the term refers to something precious and illuminating, i.e., a guiding light.

Located in 26 passages in the translation:

  • i.­5
  • i.­7
  • i.­11
  • 1.­92
  • 2.­40
  • 2.­42-47
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­53
  • 2.­60
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­1
  • 4.­131
  • 5.­95
  • 6.­86
  • 7.­8
  • 8.­39
  • 9.­10
  • 11.­24
  • c.­1
  • n.­5
g.­217

Realm of the Four Great Kings

Wylie:
  • rgyal chen bzhi’i ris
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་ཆེན་བཞིའི་རིས།
Sanskrit:
  • catur­mahā­rāja­kāyika

One of the gods’ realms.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­77
g.­218

Realm of the Thirty-Three

Wylie:
  • sum bcu rtsa gsum pa
Tibetan:
  • སུམ་བཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • trayastṛṃśa

One of the gods’ realms.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­77
  • 3.­111
  • g.­225
  • g.­226
g.­223

sage

Wylie:
  • drang srong
Tibetan:
  • དྲང་སྲོང་།
Sanskrit:
  • ṛṣi

A person, usually endowed with some superhuman powers; also a class of superhuman beings (in the latter meaning this term is used in its Sanskrit form).

Located in 61 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­14
  • 1.­41
  • 1.­51
  • 1.­56-57
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­57
  • 3.­28-29
  • 3.­49
  • 3.­80
  • 3.­102
  • 3.­108
  • 3.­110
  • 3.­112
  • 3.­123
  • 3.­125
  • 4.­11
  • 4.­13
  • 4.­16
  • 4.­25
  • 4.­41
  • 4.­54
  • 4.­74-78
  • 4.­81-82
  • 4.­118-120
  • 4.­131-132
  • 4.­145-146
  • 4.­148
  • 4.­152
  • 5.­2-3
  • 5.­7
  • 5.­55
  • 5.­60
  • 5.­73
  • 6.­8
  • 6.­10
  • 6.­32
  • 9.­8-9
  • 11.­16
  • 13.­9-10
  • 13.­12
  • c.­1
  • n.­213
  • n.­219
  • n.­246
  • g.­120
  • g.­134
  • g.­228
g.­224

Sahā world

Wylie:
  • mi mjed
Tibetan:
  • མི་མཇེད།
Sanskrit:
  • sahā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The name for our world system, the universe of a thousand million worlds, or trichiliocosm, in which the four-continent world is located. Each trichiliocosm is ruled by a god Brahmā; thus, in this context, he bears the title of Sahāṃpati, Lord of Sahā. The world system of Sahā, or Sahālokadhātu, is also described as the buddhafield of the Buddha Śākyamuni where he teaches the Dharma to beings.

The name Sahā possibly derives from the Sanskrit √sah, “to bear, endure, or withstand.” It is often interpreted as alluding to the inhabitants of this world being able to endure the suffering they encounter. The Tibetan translation, mi mjed, follows along the same lines. It literally means “not painful,” in the sense that beings here are able to bear the suffering they experience.

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­49
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­120
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­14
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­82-84
  • 11.­4-5
  • 13.­1-2
  • n.­152
g.­225

śakra

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

Usually (when spelled with the capital letter) this is one of the names of Indra; in this case is denotes any of the ruling gods in the Realm of the Thirty-Three Gods.

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 18 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­55
  • 6.­59-60
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4-7
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­21
  • g.­244
g.­226

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 12 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­111
  • 4.­57
  • 4.­74
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 7.­1
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­6
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­15
  • n.­429
  • g.­146
g.­227

Śākya

Wylie:
  • shAkya
Tibetan:
  • ཤཱཀྱ།
Sanskrit:
  • śākya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Name of the ancient tribe in which the Buddha was born as a prince; their kingdom was based to the east of Kośala, in the foothills near the present-day border of India and Nepal, with Kapilavastu as its capital.

Located in 17 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­5
  • 1.­22
  • 1.­47
  • 1.­64
  • 1.­67-68
  • 1.­70
  • 1.­90
  • 2.­49
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­6
  • 3.­24
  • 3.­30-31
  • 3.­96
  • n.­159
  • g.­228
g.­228

Śākyamuni

Wylie:
  • shAkya thub pa
Tibetan:
  • ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • śākyamuni

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

An epithet for the historical Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama: he was a muni (“sage”) from the Śākya clan. He is counted as the fourth of the first four buddhas of the present Good Eon, the other three being Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, and Kāśyapa. He will be followed by Maitreya, the next buddha in this eon.

Located in 79 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­2
  • i.­14
  • 2.­48-49
  • 2.­51-53
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­1
  • 5.­12-14
  • 5.­17-19
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­82-93
  • 6.­1-2
  • 6.­5-6
  • 6.­22
  • 6.­69-70
  • 6.­75
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 7.­1-2
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­12-13
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­21-22
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­8
  • 10.­1-2
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­11-12
  • 11.­16
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­15-17
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­12
  • n.­129
  • n.­378
  • g.­39
  • g.­53
  • g.­76
  • g.­121
  • g.­130
  • g.­222
  • g.­241
  • g.­242
  • g.­243
  • g.­249
  • g.­260
  • g.­262
  • g.­284
  • g.­292
  • g.­317
g.­230

Saṃjñika

Wylie:
  • yang dag shes
Tibetan:
  • ཡང་དག་ཤེས།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃjñika

One of the five yakṣa generals.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 12.­1
  • 12.­3
g.­231

saṃsāra

Wylie:
  • ’khor ba
Tibetan:
  • འཁོར་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃsāra

Conditioned existence fraught with suffering.

Located in 33 passages in the translation:

  • i.­7
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­17
  • 1.­23
  • 1.­41
  • 1.­49
  • 1.­60
  • 1.­79
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­58
  • 3.­46
  • 3.­49
  • 3.­54
  • 3.­87
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­67
  • 4.­77
  • 5.­5
  • 5.­36
  • 5.­42-43
  • 5.­92
  • 6.­75
  • 10.­3
  • 10.­13
  • n.­42
  • n.­93
  • n.­428
  • g.­6
  • g.­55
  • g.­83
  • g.­95
  • g.­110
g.­232

saṅgha

Wylie:
  • dge ’dun
Tibetan:
  • དགེ་འདུན།
Sanskrit:
  • saṅgha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Though often specifically reserved for the monastic community, this term can be applied to any of the four Buddhist communities‍—monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen‍—as well as to identify the different groups of practitioners, like the community of bodhisattvas or the community of śrāvakas. It is also the third of the Three Jewels (triratna) of Buddhism: the Buddha, the Teaching, and the Community.

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­73
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­49
  • 5.­26
  • 6.­8
  • n.­17
  • g.­84
  • g.­273
g.­233

Sannimika

Wylie:
  • mu khyud bzang po
Tibetan:
  • མུ་ཁྱུད་བཟང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • sannimika

One of the māras.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­10
g.­235

Śāriputra

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, he was renowned for his discipline and for having been praised by the Buddha as foremost of the wise (often paired with Maudgalyā­yana, who was praised as foremost in the capacity for miraculous powers). His father, Tiṣya, to honor Śāriputra’s mother, Śārikā, named him Śāradvatīputra, or, in its contracted form, Śāriputra, meaning “Śārikā’s Son.”

Located in 17 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • 1.­34
  • 1.­36-37
  • 1.­53
  • 3.­35-36
  • 3.­39-40
  • 3.­76
  • n.­8
  • n.­34
  • n.­164
  • n.­177
  • g.­234
  • g.­285
  • g.­293
g.­237

sensation

Wylie:
  • tshor ba
Tibetan:
  • ཚོར་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • vedanā
  • vedayita (bhs)

There are three types of sensation‍—pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral; they constitute the second of the five aggregates.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­7
  • 3.­43
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­71
  • 5.­46
  • g.­50
  • g.­85
  • g.­276
g.­238

sense bases

Wylie:
  • skye mched
Tibetan:
  • སྐྱེ་མཆེད།
Sanskrit:
  • āyatana

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

These can be listed as twelve or as six sense sources (sometimes also called sense fields, bases of cognition, or simply āyatanas).

In the context of epistemology, it is one way of describing experience and the world in terms of twelve sense sources, which can be divided into inner and outer sense sources, namely: (1–2) eye and form, (3–4) ear and sound, (5–6) nose and odor, (7–8) tongue and taste, (9–10) body and touch, (11–12) mind and mental phenomena.

In the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, only six sense sources are mentioned, and they are the inner sense sources (identical to the six faculties) of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­8
  • 2.­15
  • 3.­36
  • 4.­28
  • 5.­46
  • 5.­92
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­57
  • n.­88
  • n.­260
g.­239

sensory contact

Wylie:
  • reg pa
Tibetan:
  • རེག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • sparśa

The contact of the sense organs with the sense objects. Also translated here as “touch.”

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­52
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­71
  • g.­287
g.­241

Siddhartha

Wylie:
  • don grub
Tibetan:
  • དོན་གྲུབ།
Sanskrit:
  • siddhārtha

“One who accomplished his aim,” the name given to the Buddha Śākyamuni when he was a child.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­17
  • 4.­55
  • n.­237
g.­245

six elements

Wylie:
  • khams drug
Tibetan:
  • ཁམས་དྲུག
Sanskrit:
  • ṣaḍdhātu

The usual four‍—earth, water, fire, and air‍—plus space and consciousness.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • g.­79
g.­248

spirit

Wylie:
  • ’byung po
Tibetan:
  • འབྱུང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • bhūta

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­27
  • 6.­66-67
  • 9.­6
  • 12.­11-12
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­21
  • n.­381
  • n.­464
  • g.­196
  • g.­200
g.­250

Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance

Wylie:
  • ’od zhi spos snang dpal
Tibetan:
  • འོད་ཞི་སྤོས་སྣང་དཔལ།
Sanskrit:
  • jyotiḥ­saumya­gandhāvabhāsa­śrī

The name of a tathāgata.

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • h.­1
  • 2.­30-31
  • 2.­34
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­40
  • 2.­48
  • 2.­53-55
  • 2.­60-61
  • 2.­65
  • 2.­67
  • n.­129
g.­253

Subhūti

Wylie:
  • rab ’byor
Tibetan:
  • རབ་འབྱོར།
Sanskrit:
  • subhūti

One of the four great hearers.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­66-67
  • 3.­74
  • 3.­76
g.­256

śūdra

Wylie:
  • dmangs rigs
Tibetan:
  • དམངས་རིགས།
Sanskrit:
  • śūdra

The laborer caste in the fourfold division of the society.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­27
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­6
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­10
g.­258

Sumati

Wylie:
  • bzang po’i blo gros
Tibetan:
  • བཟང་པོའི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • sumati

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­259

superknowledge

Wylie:
  • mngon shes
Tibetan:
  • མངོན་ཤེས།
Sanskrit:
  • abhijñā

Most of the time this term refers to any of the five, sometimes six, superknowledges‍—the “divine eye,” “divine ear,” knowing the thoughts of others, knowing former lives, and the ability to produce miracles.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­73
  • 3.­29
  • 3.­84
  • 4.­122
  • 4.­143
g.­265

Sūrya

Wylie:
  • nyi ma
Tibetan:
  • ཉི་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • sūrya

The sun personified as a god.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­111
  • 5.­3
g.­268

Tāraka

Wylie:
  • skar ma
Tibetan:
  • སྐར་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • tāraka

The name of various mythical beings.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­111
g.­269

ten strengths

Wylie:
  • stobs bcu
Tibetan:
  • སྟོབས་བཅུ།
Sanskrit:
  • daśabala

The ten strengths of a buddha or a bodhisattva; they are ten types of clairvoyant knowledge. They should not be confused with the “ten powers” (daśavaśitā), which are powers to control various aspects of existence. The ten strengths are (1) the knowledge of what is possible and not possible, (2) the knowledge of the ripening of karma, (3) the knowledge of the variety of aspirations, (4) the knowledge of the variety of natures, (5) the knowledge of the different levels of capabilities, (6) the knowledge of the destinations of all paths, (7) the knowledge of various states of meditation, (8) the knowledge of remembering previous lives, (9) the knowledge of deaths and rebirths, and (10) the knowledge of the cessation of defilements.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­83
  • 4.­14
  • 13.­5
  • n.­220
g.­271

three fetters

Wylie:
  • kun tu sbyor ba gsum
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་སྦྱོར་བ་གསུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • trisaṃyojana

The three fetters are the belief in self or independent existence, doubt, and clinging to rites and rituals.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­15
  • 3.­21
g.­273

Three Jewels

Wylie:
  • dkon mchog gsum
Tibetan:
  • དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • triratna

The Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha‍—the three objects of Buddhist refuge.

Located in 25 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­59
  • 3.­64
  • 5.­33
  • 5.­79
  • 6.­18-19
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­29
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­37
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­35
  • 10.­3
  • 10.­26
  • 11.­2-3
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­16-17
  • 12.­9
  • 13.­5
  • n.­386
  • n.­458
  • g.­39
  • g.­232
g.­278

three sufferings

Wylie:
  • sdug bsngal gsum
Tibetan:
  • སྡུག་བསྔལ་གསུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • triduḥkha

The suffering experienced as actual pain, the suffering of change, and potential suffering.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­24
  • 3.­123
  • n.­22
g.­281

threefold existence

Wylie:
  • srid pa gsum
Tibetan:
  • སྲིད་པ་གསུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • tribhava

Existence in any of the three realms.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­48
  • 4.­48
  • n.­154
g.­283

threefold universe

Wylie:
  • ’jig rten gsum
Tibetan:
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་གསུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • traidhātuka
  • trailokya

The threefold universe is comprised of the realms of desire, form, and formlessness.

Located in 24 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­51
  • 1.­69
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­26
  • 3.­9
  • 3.­13
  • 3.­16
  • 3.­94
  • 3.­104
  • 3.­109
  • 4.­16
  • 4.­25
  • 4.­37-38
  • 4.­149
  • 5.­32
  • 5.­34
  • 5.­75
  • 11.­17
  • n.­88
  • g.­55
  • g.­281
g.­284

thus-gone one

Wylie:
  • de bzhin gshegs pa
Tibetan:
  • དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • tathāgata

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha­(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

Located in 155 passages in the translation:

  • h.­1
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­25-26
  • 1.­62
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­24
  • 2.­30-31
  • 2.­34
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­40
  • 2.­42-43
  • 2.­48-49
  • 2.­51-55
  • 2.­60-61
  • 2.­65
  • 2.­67-68
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­7
  • 4.­27
  • 4.­128-129
  • 4.­150
  • 5.­12-14
  • 5.­17-18
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­80
  • 5.­82-94
  • 6.­1-6
  • 6.­20
  • 6.­22
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­55-60
  • 6.­69-70
  • 6.­75
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­81
  • 6.­84
  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­5
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­6-7
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­12-13
  • 8.­16-17
  • 8.­21-22
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­8
  • 10.­1-3
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­17-18
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­11-12
  • 11.­16-17
  • 11.­22
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­6
  • 12.­15-17
  • 13.­1-2
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­8-9
  • 13.­11-14
  • n.­23
  • n.­103
  • n.­129
  • n.­135
  • n.­143
  • n.­226
  • g.­1
  • g.­12
  • g.­13
  • g.­32
  • g.­68
  • g.­71
  • g.­81
  • g.­107
  • g.­109
  • g.­117
  • g.­131
  • g.­137
  • g.­145
  • g.­159
  • g.­164
  • g.­168
  • g.­175
  • g.­201
  • g.­213
  • g.­214
  • g.­215
  • g.­243
  • g.­250
  • g.­299
  • g.­307
  • g.­308
  • g.­312
  • g.­313
  • g.­317
  • g.­322
g.­287

touch

Wylie:
  • reg pa
Tibetan:
  • རེག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • sparśa

The contact of the sense organs with the sense objects. Also translated here as “sensory contact.”

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­58
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­45
  • 6.­81
  • n.­369
  • g.­239
g.­288

Tṛṣṇājaha

Wylie:
  • sred spong
Tibetan:
  • སྲེད་སྤོང་།
Sanskrit:
  • tṛṣṇājaha

One of the māras; also one of the five yakṣa generals.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­17
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­5
g.­289

Tuṣita

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:

  • 3.­111
  • 7.­1
g.­293

Upatiṣya

Wylie:
  • nye rgyal
Tibetan:
  • ཉེ་རྒྱལ།
Sanskrit:
  • upatiṣya

Another name of Śāriputra.

Located in 23 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • 1.­2-6
  • 1.­8
  • 1.­10-13
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­18-19
  • 1.­23
  • 1.­26
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­34
  • 1.­51
  • 3.­80
  • n.­8
  • n.­31
  • n.­178
g.­300

Vaiśravaṇa

Wylie:
  • rnam thos kyi bu
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་ཐོས་ཀྱི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • vaiśravaṇa

One of the Four Great Kings; a god of wealth.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­111
  • 6.­69
  • g.­94
  • g.­155
g.­301

vaiśya

Wylie:
  • rje’u rigs
Tibetan:
  • རྗེའུ་རིགས།
Sanskrit:
  • vaiśya

The merchant caste in the fourfold division of the society.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­27
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­6
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­10
g.­303

Varuṇa

Wylie:
  • chu lha
Tibetan:
  • ཆུ་ལྷ།
Sanskrit:
  • varuṇa

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­304

Varuṇamati

Wylie:
  • chu lha’i blo gros
Tibetan:
  • ཆུ་ལྷའི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • varuṇamati

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­305

Vaśavartin

Wylie:
  • dbang byed
Tibetan:
  • དབང་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • vaśavartin

The king of gods in the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­111
g.­306

Veṇuvana

Wylie:
  • ’od ma’i tshal
Tibetan:
  • འོད་མའི་ཚལ།
Sanskrit:
  • veṇuvana

“Bamboo Grove,” a garden in Rājagṛha and a favorite residence of the Buddha and his disciples. It was situated on land donated by King Bimbisāra of Magadha and was the first of several landholdings donated to the Buddhist community during the time of the Buddha.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­52
  • 4.­9
  • 5.­10
  • g.­73
  • g.­138
  • g.­197
g.­308

victorious one

Wylie:
  • rgyal ba
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • jina

One of the epithets applied to a buddha or a tathāgata.

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­60
  • 3.­75
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­43
  • 5.­55
  • 6.­35
  • 8.­21
  • 8.­23
  • 8.­25
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­31
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16-17
g.­311

Vimala

Wylie:
  • dri med
Tibetan:
  • དྲི་མེད།
Sanskrit:
  • vimala

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­314

Virūḍhaka

Wylie:
  • ’phags skyes po
Tibetan:
  • འཕགས་སྐྱེས་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • virūḍhaka
  • virūḍha

One of the Four Great Kings.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­111
  • 6.­69
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­7
  • g.­94
g.­315

Virūpākṣa

Wylie:
  • mig mi bzang
Tibetan:
  • མིག་མི་བཟང་།
Sanskrit:
  • virūpākṣa

One of the Four Great Kings.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­111
  • 6.­69
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­8
  • g.­94
g.­318

Voice of Mahābrahmā

Wylie:
  • tshangs pa chen po dbyangs dang ldan pa
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པ་ཆེན་པོ་དབྱངས་དང་ལྡན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • h.­2
  • 6.­69-71
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­82-83
  • 6.­85
g.­319

well-gone one

Wylie:
  • bde bar gshegs pa
Tibetan:
  • བདེ་བར་གཤེགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • sugata

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the standard epithets of the buddhas. A recurrent explanation offers three different meanings for su- that are meant to show the special qualities of “accomplishment of one’s own purpose” (svārthasampad) for a complete buddha. Thus, the Sugata is “well” gone, as in the expression su-rūpa (“having a good form”); he is gone “in a way that he shall not come back,” as in the expression su-naṣṭa-jvara (“a fever that has utterly gone”); and he has gone “without any remainder” as in the expression su-pūrṇa-ghaṭa (“a pot that is completely full”). According to Buddhaghoṣa, the term means that the way the Buddha went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su) and where he went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su).

Located in 20 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­30
  • 2.­38
  • 3.­86
  • 3.­89
  • 3.­103
  • 3.­105
  • 3.­125
  • 4.­13-14
  • 4.­22
  • 4.­40
  • 4.­146
  • 4.­150
  • 5.­58
  • 6.­21
  • 8.­14
  • 8.­27
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­35
  • 11.­15
g.­320

white faction

Wylie:
  • dkar po’i phyogs
Tibetan:
  • དཀར་པོའི་ཕྱོགས།
Sanskrit:
  • śuklapakṣa

All good beings together (as opposed to the black faction of Māra); from Māra’s point of view, this is the “black faction.” The bright fortnight of the lunar month.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­6
  • 6.­41
  • 12.­9
  • 12.­16
  • g.­31
g.­321

world protectors

Wylie:
  • ’jig rten skyong ba bzhi
Tibetan:
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་སྐྱོང་བ་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • catvāro lokapālā

See “Four Great Kings.”

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­57
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­6-7
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­15
  • n.­430
g.­322

worthy one

Wylie:
  • dgra bcom pa
Tibetan:
  • དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • arhat

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • n.­348
  • g.­188
g.­323

yakṣa

Wylie:
  • gnod sbyin
Tibetan:
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
Sanskrit:
  • yakṣa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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.

Located in 66 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • 1.­72
  • 1.­74
  • 2.­44
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­28
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­39
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­144
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­3
  • 5.­79
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­68
  • 6.­73-74
  • 6.­77
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­6
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­11
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 12.­1-2
  • 12.­4-12
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­16-17
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­21
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • n.­380
  • n.­460
  • n.­467
  • g.­23
  • g.­29
  • g.­45
  • g.­94
  • g.­132
  • g.­230
  • g.­288
g.­325

Yāma

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

The chief god in the gods’ realm called Free from Strife (Yāma).

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­111
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    84000. The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī (Ratna­ketu­dhāraṇī, rin po che tog gi gzungs, Toh 138). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025, 84000.co/translation/toh138/UT22084-056-006-chapter-3.Copy
    84000. (2025) The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī (Ratna­ketu­dhāraṇī, rin po che tog gi gzungs, Toh 138). (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh138/UT22084-056-006-chapter-3.Copy

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