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དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་གསང་བ།

The Secrets of the Realized Ones
Introduction

Tathāgataguhya
འཕགས་པ་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་གསང་བ་བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པ་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Teaching of the Mysteries and Secrets of the Realized Ones”
Ārya­tathāgatācintyaguhya­nirdeśa­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra

Toh 47

Degé Kangyur, vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ka), folios 100.a.–203.a

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First published 2023

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· Synopsis of the Sūtra
· The Title of the Sūtra
· Later Reception History and Modern Scholarship
· Source Texts and Classical Translations
tr. The Translation
+ 25 chapters- 25 chapters
1. Chapter 1: On Saumya
2. Chapter 2: The Secret of the Bodhisattva’s Speech
3. Chapter 3: The Secret of the Bodhisattva’s Mind
4. Chapter 4: The Coming of Resounding Musical Sound
5. Chapter 5: The Past-Life Story of Dhṛtarāṣṭra
6. Chapter 6: The Path of Awakening
7. Chapter 7: The Secret of the Realized One’s Body
8. Chapter 8: The Teaching of the Mystery and Secret of the Realized One’s Speech
9. Chapter 9: The Secret of the Realized One’s Mind
10. Chapter 10: Celebrating the Virtues of Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas
11. Chapter 11: The Exalted Nature of the Severe Ascetic Practices: The Method of Acquiring Food to Bring Beings to Maturity
12. Chapter 12: The Journey to the Seat of Awakening
13. Chapter 13: The Taming of the Māras
14. Chapter 14: The Turning of the Wheel of Dharma
15. Chapter 15: The Bases of Cognition
16. Chapter 16: The Prediction for Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas
17. Chapter 17: Articulating Nonduality
18. Chapter 18: Enjoying a Meal After Going to Aḍagavatī
19. Chapter 19: The Protectors of the World
20. Chapter 20: Going and Coming
21. Chapter 21: On Śūrabala
22. Chapter 22: The Explanation of Ajātaśatru’s Questions
23. Chapter 23: On Bhadrarāja
24. Chapter 24: The Inexhaustible Nature of the Analogies in Praise of the Virtues of Powerful Memory and the Formulas That Support It
25. Chapter 25: Entrusting the True Dharma
c. Colophon
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Primary Source Texts
· Editions, Translations, and Other Sources
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

In this sūtra, the narrative largely revolves around the figures of Vajrapāṇi, the yakṣa lord and constant companion of the Buddha, and the Buddha himself. In the first half of the sūtra, Vajrapāṇi gives a series of teachings on the mysteries or secrets of the body, speech, and mind of bodhisattvas and the realized ones. In the second half of the sūtra, Vajrapāṇi describes several events in the Buddha’s life: his practice of severe asceticism, his approach to the seat of awakening, his defeat of Māra, his awakening, and his turning of the wheel of Dharma. Following this, the Buddha gives a prediction of Vajrapāṇi’s future awakening as a buddha and travels to Vajrapāṇi’s abode for a meal. Interspersed throughout the sūtra are sermons, dialogues, and marvelous tales exploring a large number of topics and featuring an extensive cast of characters, including several narratives about past lives of Vajrapāṇi, Brahmā Sahāṃpati, and the Buddha himself. The sūtra concludes with the performance of two long dhāraṇīs, one by Vajrapāṇi and one by the Buddha, for the protection and preservation of the Dharma.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

Translated by David Fiordalis and the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. A first draft was made from the Tibetan by Timothy Hinkle with the assistance of Tulku Tenzin Rigsang and others. David Fiordalis thoroughly revised the translation with close reference to the extant Sanskrit manuscript, as well as the Tibetan translation. Fiordalis also wrote the summary, introduction, annotations, and most of the glossary entries. Fiordalis would like to acknowledge Paul Harrison, who furnished him with his own digital images of the Sanskrit manuscript, and Péter-Dániel Szántó, who generously made his transcription of the manuscript available for readers.

ac.­2

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Rory Lindsay and Nathaniel Rich edited the translation and the introduction, and Ven. Konchog Norbu copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.


ac.­3

The translation of this text has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of Jane and Leo Tong Chen, and their family.


i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Secrets of the Realized Ones (Tathāgataguhya) can be called, without exaggeration, a great work of Mahāyāna Buddhist literature. It deserves to be considered a work of literature in the narrower sense of a form of verbal expression of enduring artistic merit, a work of the creative imagination that may elicit pleasure, wonder, and many other responses from an audience, and not simply in the broader sense of literature as a body of written (or oral) works in general. In that narrower sense, it is comparable to better known works of Mahāyāna Buddhist literature, such as The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimalakīrti­nirdeśa, Toh 176), the literary merits of which are already well established, and The Play in Full (Lalitavistara, Toh 95), which deserves more recognition in this regard.1 Both of these latter works would seem to bear a close relationship to The Secrets of the Realized Ones in other respects as well, and it to them.

i.­2

If The Teaching of Vimalakīrti is already recognized as a great work of Mahāyāna Buddhist literature, what should we make of the fact that in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti itself, the goddess who lives in Vimalakīrti’s house informs Śāriputra (and consequently the audience) that among the eight “wonderful and marvelous things” (āścaryādbhuta­dharma) that occur in Vimalakīrti’s house, the seventh is the fact that countless buddhas, including Śākyamuni, come there whenever Vimalakīrti requests it and teach “the point of entry into the Dharma (dharma­mukhapraveśa) named The Secrets of the Realized Ones (Tathāgataguhya)”? Also, earlier in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti, when Mañjuśrī first responds to the Buddha’s request that he visit the sick bodhisattva to inquire about his health, Mañjuśrī describes Vimalakīrti as someone who has gained full access to the secrets (guhya) of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas.2 From a text-historical point of view, at least, these passages are strong indications that The Teaching of Vimalakīrti knew The Secrets of the Realized Ones, and regarded it highly. In the current context, the fact that it is mentioned by another great work of Buddhist literature could be considered one piece of evidence of its own literary merit and status.

i.­3

The Secrets of the Realized Ones also seems to have enjoyed a relatively high degree of popularity, for some time at least, among an elite group of Buddhist scholar-monks in India and abroad. It is quoted by Vasubandhu or whoever wrote The Commentary on the Adornment to the Mahāyāna Sūtras (Mahāyāna­sūtrālaṃkāra­bhāṣya), by Candrakīrti in The Clear Words (Prasannapadā), by Kamalaśīla in the third Stages of Meditative Cultivation (Bhāvanākrama), and by the author of the Bṛhaṭṭīkā or The Long Explanation of the longer Perfection of Wisdom sūtras.3 Several excerpts from it are also found in The Sūtra Anthology (Sūtrasamuccaya), the ancient anthology attributed to Nāgārjuna, and in Śāntideva’s compendium, The Training Anthology (Śikṣāsamuccaya).4 In addition to the references to it in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti, it also seems to be referenced in The Descent into Laṅka (Laṅkāvatāra).5 Two longer passages from it also seem to be reworked in The Collected Teachings on the Bodhisattva (Bodhisattvapiṭaka, Toh 56).6 The sūtra is also quoted several times by whoever was responsible for The Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom (Da zhidu lun 大智度論, *Mahā­prajñā­pāramitopadeśa), the commentary on The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines attributed to Nāgārjuna and translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva at the beginning of the fifth century ᴄᴇ.7 While it was undoubtedly a common practice to attribute texts to major figures of the tradition, it is nevertheless the case that Nāgārjuna, Vasubandhu, Śāntideva, Candrakīrti, Kamalaśīla, and even Kumārajīva are regarded as major figures. The fact that they may all have known and cited The Secrets of the Realized Ones is another indication of its degree of influence.

i.­4

Nonetheless, it may strike some readers as controversial or simply wrong to call such works as these “literature” in the first place, perhaps because of the common association of literature with fiction and religious works with nonfiction. Yet, many of the same arguments that have been used for decades to justify the claim that the Bible, whatever else it may be, is a great work of literature would hold for these works of Buddhist literature, too.8 Whether or not one believes that religious works such as The Long Discourses of the Buddha (Dīgha Nikāya) or The Secrets of the Realized Ones portray actual historical events or individuals, it is demonstrably the case that these works contain the characteristics of sophisticated literature, such as the artful and carefully crafted use of figurative language, thematic unity, and narrative tension. One could argue further that the recognition and careful study of these literary characteristics enable one to appreciate more deeply the historical, doctrinal, and even practical significance of such literature.

i.­5

While the literary dimensions of The Secrets of the Realized Ones have been emphasized above, that is not at all to suggest that the doctrinal elements are less worthy of serious and careful consideration. Indeed, the sūtra and the characters in it make some rather remarkable claims, and the doctrinal and literary dimensions are deeply interwoven throughout. For example, among the most striking claims in the sūtra is one made about the Buddha, a claim that is restated in The Descent into Laṅka and is quoted by Candrakīrti and also by the author of the Long Explanation (Bṛhaṭṭīkā) of the longer Perfection of Wisdom sūtras. At one point, Vajrapāṇi says the following:

i.­6

“During the period of time, Śāntamati, from the night when the Realized One awakens to unsurpassable and perfect awakening until the night when, having relinquished his life force, the Realized One passes into complete cessation, the Realized One has not articulated and will not pronounce even a single syllable.”

i.­7

If taken at face value, how can such an astonishing claim be true? Vajrapāṇi will explain further that over the same period of time the Buddha does not form any thought whatsoever but dwells in a constant state of meditative absorption. Nevertheless, Vajrapāṇi continues, various beings hear the Dharma and believe that the Buddha is speaking to them in accordance with their own aspirations and motivations. Here is an example of how the sūtra employs a literary device to explain this complex idea with a concrete analogy:

i.­8

“Śāntamati, this is analogous to a well-crafted musical instrument, a wind bell, which makes a sweet sound without being touched by a hand, but rather when it is moved by the wind. It does not make any special effort to produce a sound, but still it makes a sweet sound because of the special nature of its previous preparation. In the same way, Śāntamati, a realized one’s speech comes out when it is moved by knowledge of beings’ motivations, but a realized one does not make any special effort in this regard to produce it. Rather, a realized one’s speech conforms to the sense perceptions of all beings because of the special nature of a realized one’s previous preparation.”

i.­9

This is one of three analogies Vajrapāṇi uses to explain this idea, all of which are quoted in Candrakīrti’s Clear Words. It is just one example that serves to illustrate how the sūtra addresses one of the major questions posed by the work: what is the true nature of a buddha? In answering this question, the whole work could be said to promote the idea that a buddha, by the very nature of becoming awakened to the true nature of reality, exists in a state of all-pervasive, unlimited, and pure potentiality, a state that is identical to the true nature of reality itself. As a result, the Buddha simultaneously actualizes an infinite number of different forms while remaining constantly in that state of pure potentiality. The work explains the mechanism behind this process to some extent, using analogies like the one just quoted above, but at the same time it remains to a large degree mysterious or incomprehensible: it is the secret and the mystery of a realized one’s body, speech, and mind.

i.­10

In this way, The Secrets of the Realized Ones expresses an idea about the Buddha that has sometimes been compared with docetism, which is the early Christian idea that the body of Jesus Christ was not a body of flesh and blood, but a phantasm. On the face of it, The Secrets of the Realized Ones would seem to make a similar claim about the body of the Buddha. Yet, its doctrinal and metaphysical framework is different enough from the one in which docetism arose that one can at least debate the appropriateness of the comparison. Nevertheless, it is a comparison that has been made and continues to be made, and thus it is worth mentioning here.9

i.­11

The title of the sūtra suggests that it discloses the secrets and mysteries of the Buddha, and from the point of view of its narrative, the same could be said about the one who discloses those secrets, namely Vajrapāṇi, the yakṣa who is called throughout the sūtra “the lord of the guhyakas” (guhyakādhipati); that is, the lord of “the hidden ones” or perhaps even the lord of “the guardians of what is hidden.” Narratives tell of events, sequenced, structured into a plot, and featuring characters who perform actions and experience their effects. Since this narrative largely centers on Vajrapāṇi, he could be considered its protagonist or the “hero” of the story. He is called the Buddha’s constant companion, eyewitness to his many deeds, and guardian of his secrets. The Buddha tells of Vajrapāṇi’s past lives, explaining how he came to serve in that capacity and to possess such a capability. In this respect, he is put on the same level with Brahmā Sahāṃpati, who requests the Buddha to teach the Dharma. The Buddha also gives a prediction of Vajrapāṇi’s future awakening as a buddha in his own right, after which the Buddha accepts Vajrapāṇi’s invitation to come to his home for a meal. The sūtra tells of the Buddha’s visit and of the teachings the Buddha offers to the various nonhuman creatures who live in Vajrapāṇi’s abode. In this way, the sūtra develops the character of Vajrapāṇi and explains his close relationship with the Buddha.

i.­12

Vajrapāṇi has been the subject of previous scholarly research, and yet he remains a mysterious figure.10 It is noteworthy that he makes an appearance in two suttas of the Pali canon, the Ambaṭṭha Sutta of the Dīgha Nikāya and the Cūḷasaccaka Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya.11 Therein, he is described hovering over the heads of Ambaṭṭha and Saccaka, respectively, who are the Buddha’s interlocutors in those suttas, while brandishing his flaming vajra and threatening to break their heads into seven pieces if the proud young men do not answer the Buddha’s questions. Vajrapāṇi appears somewhat more frequently throughout Buddhist narrative literature, such as the avadānas and other story collections, as well as Mahāyāna Buddhist literature. For instance, in The Play in Full, there is a somewhat obscure passage that mentions Vajrapāṇi and “the lord of the guhyakas” together:

i.­13

“Then Śakra, Lord of the Gods; the Four Great Kings; the twenty-eight great generals of the yakṣas; and the one named ‘Lord of the Guhyakas’ (guhyakādhipati) from whose yakṣa family Vajrapāṇi is arisen, having become aware of the fact that the Bodhisattva had entered his mother’s womb, all became bound to him constantly and perpetually.”12

i.­14

The grammar of this passage doesn’t make it entirely clear whether Vajrapāṇi or the Lord of the Guhyakas is an individual or a class of beings, or whether they are meant to be identified or not. The Indian epic literature, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, also speak of beings called guhyakas and associate them with Vaiśravaṇa or Kubera, the god of wealth. Vaiśravaṇa is himself sometimes called Lord of the Guhyakas (guhyakādhipati) therein, and the guhyakas carry his chariot.13 Vaiśravaṇa is also considered to be one of the Four Great Kings in Buddhist literature, and these characters feature in The Secrets of the Realized Ones as well. Furthermore, Vaiśravaṇa’s place of residence is called Alakāvatī in the Mahābhārata, while Vajrapāṇi’s place of residence is called Aḍagavatī in The Secrets of the Realized Ones, and there is even a point in this sūtra in which they seem actually to be the same place.14 Yet, Vaiśravaṇa and Vajrapāṇi are distinct characters in Buddhist literature. Throughout The Secrets of the Realized Ones, Vajrapāṇi is the one who is called Lord of the Guhyakas, and there seems to be a play on words in the work between guhya, “secret,” and guhyaka, maybe “keeper of what is hidden.” In general, The Secrets of the Realized Ones seems to establish some kind of close relationship between the Buddha and Vajrapāṇi, with the latter being an important representative of the heterogenous class of nonhuman beings that serve and support the Buddha, including guhyakas, yakṣas, kinnaras, nāgas, gandharvas, and asuras.

i.­15

Before concluding this section, it is also worth making a few further comments about the word tathāgata, translated throughout this work as “realized one” or capitalized “the Realized One,” when it refers specifically to the Buddha or another particular buddha. This term tathāgata has bedeviled translators for many centuries, and many translators today opt to leave it untranslated. The Tibetan translators chose to render it in a way that can be translated as “the one gone thus” (de bzhin gshegs pa), and “thus-gone one” has become a common translation into English, as well. One sometimes also finds “thus-come one,” which the grammar of the compound in Pali and Sanskrit can easily tolerate, and indeed, there is something quite compelling about the specific narrative context in which the Buddha, when he first approaches his five former companions shortly after he has attained awakening, refers to himself in the third person as “the one who has come thus” (tathāgata).

i.­16

The term also comes to be used well outside this specific narrative context as one of the most common epithets of the Buddha and for the buddhas, generally speaking. In Pali literature, it is the most common way that the Buddha refers to himself, and when he does so in this way he is often also speaking by implication about the nature of a buddha in general. Oftentimes in The Secrets of the Realized Ones, however, as well as in many other contexts, it is not clear whether the speaker, such as the Buddha or Vajrapāṇi in this sūtra, is speaking in particular about the Realized One (the Buddha Śākyamuni himself), often on the basis of something the speaker has himself witnessed, or if a broader generalization is being made about the realized ones. So, when we have felt that the speaker is making a more general claim, we have sometimes translated the term tathāgata as “a realized one.” Even still, it is important for the reader to bear in mind that what goes for the Realized One in particular generally goes for all the realized ones, and vice versa.

i.­17

Furthermore, the ancient Buddhist scholar-monks and commentators recognized the term tathāgata to have several semantic levels. For instance, in the Pali commentaries, the great scholar-monk Buddhaghosa offers eight different explanations of the meaning of the term.15 Without going into such depth of explanation here, one may note that the term suggests not only literal movement, “going” (gamana) and “coming” (āgamana), but also a sense of having “understood” (gata) or “realized” something, of becoming it or making it real. In this context, the adverb tathā, “thus” or “in that way,” is connected to tathatā, “the way things truly are.” In this way one can understand the comment made in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti about the love of a bodhisattva: “it is the love of a realized one (tathāgata), because it understands the way things truly are (tathatānu­bodhanatayā).”16 The point to be kept in mind is that whenever the term “realized one” is found in the translation‍—and it is found over four hundred times in this sūtra‍—it refers to the buddhas, to those who have come and gone in the way they do, and it carries the sense that they have understood directly the way things are, and even that this understanding has made them the way they are.

i.­18

In summary, The Secrets of the Realized Ones is a work filled with entertaining stories, beautiful poetry, thought-provoking metaphors, surprising and sometimes even strange analogies and images, clever plays on words, sophisticated dialogue and argumentation, and profound insights into the nature of things and the human condition from a Buddhist point of view. It bears the marks throughout of creative imagination at work, an expert grasp of the categories and concepts of Buddhist doctrine and of its narrative and scholastic heritage, and the intent to put Buddhist concepts and concerns into a literary form.

Synopsis of the Sūtra

i.­19

While the narrative generally flows rather well, maintaining a sense of continuity and movement from beginning to end, The Secrets of the Realized Ones is a fairly long work. It covers just over two hundred pages in the Tibetan translation, which are divided into twenty-five chapters. The same material is divided into eleven chapters in the partially extant Sanskrit manuscript. Thus, it may be helpful for readers to have a short synopsis of its contents here.

i.­20

The sūtra opens at Vulture Peak with a list of the characters in attendance and their various attributes. The Buddha Śākyamuni gives an opening teaching on the supplies (saṃbhāra) the bodhisattva must accumulate for the purpose of achieving awakening. Vajrapāṇi explains his understanding of what the Buddha has just taught, and then a bodhisattva named Śāntamati asks Vajrapāṇi to explain the secrets of the bodhisattvas and the realized ones. Vajrapāṇi remains silent, but after the Buddha Śākyamuni intercedes on Śāntamati’s behalf, Vajrapāṇi begins to give the teaching.

i.­21

Vajrapāṇi’s teaching of these secrets of bodhisattvas and of realized ones is structured in terms of their body, speech, and mind, and their mysterious or inconceivable nature. Beginning with an explanation of the secret of the bodhisattva’s body, Vajrapāṇi provides a number of memorable images. He tells a story of the ancient past about the Buddha when he was still a bodhisattva and had been born as Śakra, King of the Gods, a close parallel telling of which is also found in the Collected Teachings on the Bodhisattva. During a great pandemic, Śakra manifests himself as a magical creature that heals everyone by offering them its body to eat. Vajrapāṇi also gives an analogy that is quoted in The Training Anthology in which he compares the healing power of the bodhisattva’s body to the healing powers of a girl made from medicinal herbs by the king of physicians. In his teaching, Vajrapāṇi expounds upon the implications of the fact that bodhisattvas and buddhas possess the Dharma body (dharmakāya) and thereby manifest all forms but are bound by none. [Tibetan chapter 1 ends.]

i.­22

Vajrapāṇi then goes into an explanation of the secret of the bodhisattva’s speech. The import of the teaching here is that bodhisattvas are capable of speaking and understanding all languages and teach by means of any kind of sound or means of communication whatsoever. Their speech is infused with their extraordinary knowledge and power. In this regard, Vajrapāṇi tells another past life story about Śāriputra when he was a renunciant with the incredible, superhuman knowledge to know how many leaves there are on a huge banyan tree without even looking at it or counting the leaves. [Tibetan chapter 2 ends.]

i.­23

Vajrapāṇi concludes with an explanation of the secret of the bodhisattva’s mind, focusing again on the superhuman nature of the bodhisattva’s knowledge, and making the connection between the bodhisattva’s extraordinary knowledge and other qualities and traits developed by the bodhisattva over the course of the path. At the conclusion of this teaching, there is an earthquake. [Tibetan chapter 3 ends.] Then, the voice of a bodhisattva from another buddha domain is heard, and this bodhisattva appears and pays homage to the Buddha and to Vajrapāṇi. [Tibetan chapter 4 ends; hypothetical end of Sanskrit chapter 1.]

i.­24

At this point, an unnamed bodhisattva asks for background information on Vajrapāṇi and how he came to serve as the Buddha’s constant companion and to possess inspired eloquence. In his answer, the Buddha tells a story of the past about a king named Dhṛtarāṣṭra and his thousand sons who take vows to become the buddhas of this Fortunate Eon, different versions of which are told in other sūtras, such as The Fortunate Eon (Bhadrakalpika) and The Lotus of Compassion (Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka).17 In this version of the story, the Buddha explains not only the original vow of Vajrapāṇi, which explains why Vajrapāṇi is the Buddha’s constant companion, but also that of Brahmā Sahāṃpati, who vows to request all the buddhas of this Fortunate Eon to teach the Dharma. There is also a description of the bodhisattva vow of the last of the other nine hundred and ninety-nine buddhas of this Fortunate Eon. [Tibetan chapter 5 ends.] The Buddha then explains in brief the path to awakening. [Tibetan chapter 6 ends; hypothetical end of Sanskrit chapter 2.]

i.­25

Śāntamati then asks Vajrapāṇi to explain the secret of the realized ones, and Vajrapāṇi begins by telling him that the secret of the realized ones is threefold, as it pertains to the body, speech, and mind. Vajrapāṇi begins with the body, which he explains can appear as virtually anything, depending on the inclinations of the ones who are seeing it. Vajrapāṇi also explains that the Buddha possesses the Dharma body and therefore does not eat any food, even though the Buddha may appear to eat food. The body of a realized one is vast as space. Vajrapāṇi’s explanation also features a wonderful story about a bodhisattva named Vegadhārin who attempts to look down upon the top of the Buddha’s head and finds himself unable to do so, even after traveling upward through millions upon billions of worlds. [Tibetan chapter 7 ends; Sanskrit chapter 3 ends.]

i.­26

Vajrapāṇi then explains the secret of a realized one’s speech. Perhaps the main idea of this chapter is that the Buddha never utters a single syllable, while all beings still hear his words and understand his message in their various languages and forms of communication as a result of the operation of their own desires. This statement is quoted in The Descent into Laṅka, by Candrakīrti in his Clear Words, and by the author of the Long Explanation of the longer Perfection of Wisdom sūtras.18 Vajrapāṇi uses three metaphors to illustrate this idea, perhaps the most famous of which compares the Buddha’s speech to a wind chime or wind bell that makes sound when the wind passes through it. The wind here is analogous to the wishes of beings. The chapter also contains a list of the sixty qualities of a realized one’s speech, which is quoted and explained in the commentary on The Adornment to the Mahāyāna Sūtras.

i.­27

This chapter also features a rather humorous story about Maudgalyāyana, cited in The Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom (Da zhidu lun 大智度論). He uses his superhuman powers to travel to a distant buddha domain in a futile attempt to measure the limit of the Buddha’s voice. There is also an interesting and somewhat challenging passage in which the names of the four truths of the noble ones are given in all the languages of the different god realms in order to demonstrate the way the Buddha’s message can vary while remaining the same. The chapter also contains a long list of ethnic groups in the world of the reader or imagined audience in order to show the many languages in which the Buddha’s message can be heard here in our world. The chapter concludes with a series of wonders, including an earthquake, the appearance of a great light, and a jet of water that shoots out of the ground and rises up into the heavens. [Tibetan chapter 8 ends; Sanskrit chapter 4 ends.]

i.­28

Vajrapāṇi then describes, in brief, the secret of a realized one’s mind: it is a mind in which no conceptual thought is generated, and yet it serves the Buddha to meet the demands of all beings. The point is made, similar to the one about the Realized One’s speech, that from the night of the Buddha’s awakening until his final nirvāṇa, the Buddha experiences no modification of mind whatsoever. [Tibetan chapter 9 ends.] This concludes Vajrapāṇi’s explanation of the secrets of the realized ones, after which Śāriputra asks the Buddha whether it is true that Vajrapāṇi appears behind each and every bodhisattva leading the holy life throughout the cosmos. The Buddha enables Śāriputra to see Vajrapāṇi standing not only behind the Buddha himself but also behind Maitreya, and then he explains that Vajrapāṇi stands behind all the magically created forms of all the bodhisattvas of the Fortunate Eon, due to the power of his vow and his superhuman powers. [Tibetan chapter 10 ends; Sanskrit chapter 5 ends.]

i.­29

The above comprises almost the first half of the sūtra. Next, Śāntamati asks Vajrapāṇi to describe four events in the Buddha’s life: his practice of severe asceticism, his defeat of Māra, his awakening, and his turning of the wheel of Dharma. Vajrapāṇi does so, and describes in detail various wonders and episodes related to these events. In the presentation of these events, there are some close similarities with versions found in other sūtras, particularly The Play in Full, but Vajrapāṇi’s telling emphasizes the fact that different beings perceive these events differently based on their own needs and suppositions. For instance, when the Buddha delivers the first sermon, Vajrapāṇi notes that the innumerable beings on hand to witness the event hear different teachings about different topics, based on their own thoughts and motivations. [Tibetan chapters 11 through 14 end.] After Vajrapāṇi completes his description of these events, the Buddha affirms the accuracy of Vajrapāṇi’s retelling. [Sanskrit chapter 6 ends.]

i.­30

Then, after being prompted by Śāntamati, the Buddha offers some teachings of his own on the nature of calming the mind or bringing it to rest, as well as bringing one’s emotions and, indeed, all things to rest. It is a highly sophisticated dialogue that takes one deeply into the philosophy of emptiness and its connection to other elements of Buddhist doctrine, including the explanation of the process of cognition whereby the mind generates thoughts on the basis of specific objects or bases of cognition (ālaṃbana). This chapter is quoted at some length by Candrakīrti in The Clear Words, a few lines are quoted by Śāntideva in The Training Anthology, and Kamalaśīla also quotes from it in the third Stages of Meditative Cultivation. [Tibetan chapter 15 ends.] After this teaching, some bodhisattvas desire to know when Vajrapāṇi will become a buddha. Knowing their thoughts in his mind, the Buddha then smiles and gives a prediction of Vajrapāṇi’s future awakening. [Tibetan chapter 16 ends; Sanskrit chapter 7 ends.]

i.­31

This prediction then becomes the basis for a profound and rather complex dialogue between Śāntamati and Vajrapāṇi, reminiscent of certain dialogues in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti. In this dialogue, Śāntamati makes assertions and poses questions largely from a conventional point of view, beginning with the assertion that Vajrapāṇi has just received a prediction of his future awakening. Vajrapāṇi, on the other hand, responds to Śāntamati’s assertions and answers his questions from the standpoint of emptiness. The logic of the exchange employs a number of puns and plays on words, stretching the ordinary and technical meanings of terms and relying on dual meanings to argue for the nondual and empty nature of all phenomena. In some ways, the dialogue constitutes a further explanation of the paradoxical claims made earlier that the Buddha does not speak a word and yet the Dharma is expressed nonetheless. [Tibetan chapter 17 ends.]

i.­32

Vajrapāṇi then invites the Buddha to his home for a meal. The Buddha agrees, and Vajrapāṇi goes home to prepare for the Buddha’s visit. The whole episode includes a rather ornate series of miraculous performances, a marvelous display that again bears some similarities with wonders described elsewhere in Buddhist literature. The Buddha arrives and has a meal. [Tibetan chapter 18 ends.] Afterward, he gives a profound and difficult teaching on the Dharma to the nonhuman and divine beings gathered there, touching upon a variety of complex topics in the Buddhist philosophy of the path, organized around a number of themes and concepts, including the nature of faith or strong belief, how a person can know if a teacher is a true companion in the good, the twelvefold chain of dependent arising and its connection to emptiness, and the nature and benefit of being watchful and attentive to one’s thoughts. Parts of this teaching are quoted in both The Sūtra Anthology and The Training Anthology, and there is also a long parallel with The Collected Teachings on the Bodhisattva. Toward the end of the sermon, the four Lokapālas ask for a teaching on how to protect the world, which the Buddha gives to them in such a way that it forms a kind of synopsis of many key elements of Buddhist doctrine. [Tibetan chapter 19 ends.] As the Buddha gets ready to leave Vajrapāṇi’s abode, he asks Vajrapāṇi to recite a dhāraṇī for the protection and preservation of the Dharma, which Vajrapāṇi does, and then the Buddha returns to Vulture Peak. [Tibetan chapter 20 ends.]

i.­33

Once the Buddha has returned to Vulture Peak, King Ajātaśatru comes to visit him, and he asks him a series of questions about Vajrapāṇi and the reasons why the Buddha visited his home. In response, the Buddha tells a past life story about a bodhisattva named Śūrabala, which serves to explain the reason for or source of Vajrapāṇi’s marvelous inspired eloquence. This story contains some rather complex teachings in the dialogue narrated by the Buddha between Śūrabala and a past buddha named Vaiśramaṇa about the nature of the bodhisattva path and the paradoxical nature of the bodhisattva’s field of action, a dialogue that concludes with a series of artful metaphors by Śūrabala. [Tibetan chapter 21 ends; Sanskrit chapter 9 ends.]

i.­34

The next chapter features an entertaining episode in which Vajrapāṇi sets his vajra on the ground, and Ajātaśatru, Śakra, and Maudgalyāyana all try to lift it. None of them is able to do so. The Buddha then directs Vajrapāṇi to lift the vajra, which he does as a demonstration of his extraordinary power. He then throws it into the air, and after it circles the cosmos several times, it returns to him, like Thor’s hammer. The episode prompts a discussion of how it is possible for a bodhisattva to attain such incredible power. This, again, leads to another profound dialogue between the Buddha and Ajātaśatru on the natural consequences of practicing the Buddhist path. [Tibetan chapter 22 ends; Sanskrit chapter 10 ends.]

i.­35

After this dialogue between the Buddha and the king has concluded, Śāntamati and Vajrapāṇi return to the foreground of the narrative. Śāntamati asks Vajrapāṇi to request the Buddha to empower the teachings given in the sūtra so that they will last for a long time. This request forms the basis of a dialogue on the nature and means of remembering the Dharma, taking into account the ultimate perspective that nothing is truly grasped or retained. During the conversation, a god named Bhadrarāja stands up and offers some perspectives on the nature of the inspired eloquence needed to teach the Dharma. [Tibetan chapter 23 ends.]

i.­36

Śāntamati asks the Buddha to explain how Bhadrarāja could possess such inspired eloquence, and the Buddha responds by exploring the connection between inspired eloquence and the development of a powerful memory and the mnemonic formulas that support it (dhāraṇī). The Buddha explains that Bhadrarāja possesses a powerful mnemonic formula that affords him the ability to teach the Dharma with inspired eloquence. What follows is another dazzling display of word play as the Buddha explains how this mnemonic formula provides access to the nature of reality as well as the true teachings. Bhadrarāja underscores the Buddha’s teaching with a series of beautiful analogies about the bodhisattva who has acquired a powerful memory and the formulas that support it. [Tibetan chapter 24 ends.]

i.­37

The sūtra concludes with the performance of two long dhāraṇīs, one by Vajrapāṇi and a second one by the Buddha. Both of them are spoken for the purpose of preserving the Dharma and seemingly this sūtra in particular. Afterward, the Buddha tells one more brief story from a past life of his own, about the value of remembering the Dharma. He then asks the audience to remember this sūtra. Various characters come forward and promise to do so, and finally the Buddha entrusts the sūtra to Ānanda and directs him to teach it to others. This draws the sūtra to a close. [Tibetan chapter 25 ends; Sanskrit chapter 11 ends.]

The Title of the Sūtra

i.­38

This sūtra seems to have been known by several different titles, and this has led at times to confusion and the need to disambiguate it from other works. The most stable title of the sūtra, the one most used across a variety of sources, appears to be its shorter title, The Secret(s) of the Realized One(s) (Tathāgataguhya). For this reason, we have referred to the work mostly by this shorter form of the title throughout this introduction and translation.

i.­39

The question of how to understand and translate its fuller title, as it is given in the Tibetan translation and in a Sanskrit transliteration in the Kangyur, is a somewhat complicated issue. The Tibetan translation gives the title in Tibetan as ’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa, and it renders the title in Sanskrit as Ārya­tathāgatācintyaguhya­nirdeśa. These titles correspond closely to one another, except for the fact that the order of the Sanskrit words corresponding to gsang ba and bsam gyis mi khyab pa‍—that is, guhya and acintya, respectively‍—are reversed in the Sanskrit title. There are various ways to account for the difference. The key issue is to decide on an interpretation of the relationship between these words. Since both terms can be used as a noun or adjective, it must be decided if one is functioning as a noun and the other as an adjective, or if they should both be understood as nouns.

i.­40

To answer this basic grammatical question, it is useful to consider the different titles the Buddha gives for this sūtra at the end of the sūtra itself, other key passages found in the sūtra, and the way other Indian Buddhist texts and authors refer to it. To take the last point first, The Commentary on the Adornment to the Mahāyāna Sūtras refers to the sūtra by the title Guhyakādhipati­nirdeśa, The Teaching of the Lord of the Guhyakas. In The Clear Words, Candrakīrti calls it Ārya­tathāgata­guhya­sūtra, The Noble Sūtra of the Secret(s) of the Realized One(s). So does Kamalaśīla. In Śāntideva’s Training Anthology, too, it is called the Tathāgataguhya Sūtra. And then beyond the Indian Buddhist texts extant in Sanskrit, The Sūtra Anthology (in Tibetan translation) and The Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom (in Chinese) also seem to refer to it in the same way Candrakīrti, Kamalaśīla, and Śāntideva do.

i.­41

At the end of the sūtra itself, in a passage for which the Sanskrit is not extant, Ānanda asks the Buddha by what title the sūtra should be remembered, and the Buddha gives four different titles: (1) lag na rdo rje’i le’u (*Vajrapāṇi­parivarta, The Chapter of Vajrapāṇi); (2) de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bstan pa’i le’u (*Tathāgata­guhya­nirdeśaparivarta, The Chapter of the Teaching of the Secret(s) of the Realized One(s)); (3) sangs rgyas kyi chos bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa (*Acintya­buddha­dharmanirdeśa, The Teaching of the Mysterious/Inconceivable Qualities of the Buddha(s)); and (4) bsod nams tshad med pa ’byung ba (*Apramāṇa­puṇyodaya, The Arising of Immeasurable Merit). None of these titles corresponds precisely to the full title of the sūtra as it is given in Tibetan or Sanskrit by the canonical Tibetan translation, nor to the shorter Sanskrit title by which the sūtra is often known.

i.­42

However, there is another passage found earlier in the text19 in which the phrase tathāgata­kāyaguhyācintya­nirdeśa is extant in the Sanskrit manuscript. While the corresponding Tibetan translation of this phrase, de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa, lacks the word for kāya (“body”), it is otherwise identical to it, and it is identical as well to the main part of the Tibetan title given for the sūtra as a whole. Furthermore, in another passage near the beginning of the sūtra, for which the Sanskrit is unfortunately lacking, Vajrapāṇi speaks of four “inconceivables” or “mysteries” (bsam gyis mi khyab pa ’di bzhi), one of which is “the mystery of the buddha(s)” (sangs rgyas bsam gyis mi khyab pa). Here, the term translated as “mystery”‍—that is, something incomprehensible or inconceivable‍—would seem to be used as a noun and as a shorter form of the phrase “the mysterious qualities of the buddha(s)” (sangs rgyas kyi chos bsam gyis mi khyab pa, *acintya­buddha­dharma). It also appears to be used here almost as a synonym for the word guhya‍—that is, something “hidden” or “concealed,” or a “secret.”

i.­43

Based on the evidence above, it looks as though the full title in the Tibetan translation may be the result of a process of development based on a combination of at least two of the ways the text refers to itself and to its subject matter. The terms guhya (gsang ba) and acintya (bsam gyis mi khyab pa) can be used as nouns and as near synonyms or close equivalents. That is to say, “the incomprehensible or mysterious qualities of the buddhas” (acintya­buddha­dharma) are basically equivalent to “the secrets of the realized ones” (tathāgataguhya). At the same time, both terms can function as adjectives of one another, and thus it is still possible to understand the relevant phrases in the title as either “secret/hidden mysteries” or “mysterious/incomprehensible (number of) secrets.” Given all these possibilities, we have simply chosen to translate the phrase as if both terms were used as nouns and as near synonyms, and thus we have translated the long title as The Teaching of the Mysteries and Secrets of the Realized Ones.

i.­44

At the same time, we should remember that the sūtra has been called The Teaching of the Lord of the Guhyakas (Guhyakādhi­pati­nirdeśa), and the Buddha calls it The Chapter of Vajrapāṇi (*Vajra­pāṇiparivarta) in the sūtra itself. Since Vajrapāṇi is called the Lord of the Guhyakas throughout the sūtra and he is arguably its main protagonist, as well as being the speaker of the majority of the teachings in the sūtra, it is easy to understand why it has acquired these titles. However, they also highlight the need to understand the relationship between the words guhya and guhyaka, as well as the relationship between the guhyakas and Vajrapāṇi, which is not a straightforward matter, as we have seen above.

i.­45

There is still one more wrinkle to mention regarding the titles of the sūtra. At some point, it seems that the sūtra also came to be known by the title Tathāgata­guhyaka. This is the title given to the manuscript G10765 by the archivists at the Asiatic Society in Bengal, perhaps because this phrase is part of the description of the work in the colophon to the final chapter, or perhaps it was because the first page of the manuscript seems to be from the Guhyasamāja Tantra, which for some reason also seems to have gone by the name Tathāgata­guhyaka in Nepal.20 This has given rise to some confusion, such that Maurice Winternitz, who translated a couple of the passages from The Secrets of the Realized Ones that are quoted in The Training Anthology, felt it necessary to disambiguate this work from the Guhyasamāja Tantra.21 Precisely why the Guhyasamāja Tantra came to be known as the Tathāgata­guhyaka in Nepal, apart from the fact that it also discusses the secrets of the body, speech, and mind of the realized ones, as well as the precise nature of the broader intertextual relationship between the Tathāgata­guhya Sūtra, translated here, and the various Buddhist tantras, are topics that await further investigation.

Later Reception History and Modern Scholarship

i.­46

One might still pose the question, if The Secrets of the Realized Ones is such a great work of Buddhist literature and had such an influence, why does it seem to have fallen into obscurity at a later point in time, even as the transmission and study of other Buddhist sūtras continued to flourish? It is true that a text called the Tathāgata­guhyaka came to be listed among the nine dharmas or books (grantha) of Newari Buddhism in Nepal sometime in the early to middle of the second millennium, which suggests it may have continued to enjoy a high status there for some time. This conclusion, however, is mitigated by the fact that it is not clear whether this title was initially meant to refer to this sūtra or to the Guhyasamāja Tantra, which also came to be known in Nepal as the Tathāgata­guhyaka.22 So, the popularity of this sūtra in Nepal is not a given; yet, neither can the possibility of its popularity there be entirely discounted. If it was meant to be one of the nine dharmas at one time, then perhaps the lack of availability of the sūtra as a complete manuscript contributed to its replacement by the Guhyasamāja Tantra in the list of nine dharmas at a later point, or perhaps it was not meant to be one of the nine dharmas in the first place. These historical questions require more research, as do the questions of its reception and influence in the Buddhist traditions of Tibet and East Asia.

i.­47

If the lack of attention it has so far received from modern scholarship is any indication, however, then evidently the sūtra fell into relative obscurity at some point. If one were to indulge in further speculation, perhaps the fact that The Teaching of Vimalakīrti features a wealthy layman contributed to its popularity in China, which in turn led to the greater attention it has received to this point from modern scholars in Japan and the West. By contrast, the main character of The Secrets of the Realized Ones is a powerful, enigmatic, and somewhat threatening nonhuman creature who brandishes a mighty weapon. While Vajrapāṇi may be a crucial figure in the history of Buddhist literature for several reasons, including his association with the preservation and promulgation of the tantras, perhaps The Secrets of the Realized Ones came to be superseded at some point by other works, or perhaps Vajrapāṇi’s enigmatic status lessened its popularity over time. Then again, maybe it is just an accidental occurrence over the long history of Buddhism that The Secrets of the Realized Ones has only recently begun to receive the renewed attention it deserves.

i.­48

Whatever the case may be, apart from a few notable exceptions, it is only since 2012 or so that the sūtra has begun to receive much more than a cursory footnote or simple acknowledgement of its existence in published scholarly research. The most sustained scholarly attention has come from Japanese and Chinese scholars, particularly from the Japanese scholar Ikuma Hiromitsu 伊久間洋光, who has published more than fifteen articles on the sūtra since 2012, as well as completing a doctoral dissertation on it in 2019. During this time, a handful of other scholars in East Asia have also published short studies of it, while Hamano Tetsunori 滨野哲敬 published a brief article on it in 1987.23 Among scholars in Europe, the Belgian scholar Étienne Lamotte devoted a short section to it in his longer article on the history of Vajrapāṇi in India, which he published in 1966.24 Additionally, in December 2021, a complete English translation of the eleventh-century Chinese translation of the sūtra was self-published by Shaku Shingan and made available online.25 About a month earlier, Péter-Dániel Szántó, then of the Open Philology Project at Leiden University, made available online his unpublished diplomatic edition of the partial Sanskrit manuscript of the sūtra held by the Asiatic Society in Kolkata, on which see below.26

Source Texts and Classical Translations

i.­49

A single, incomplete Nepalese manuscript of the sūtra in the original Sanskrit is held in the library of the Asiatic Society in Kolkata, India.27 This paper manuscript has been dated to approximately the seventeenth century, and it preserves about 47 percent of the whole sūtra, according to Szántó’s estimation based on a comparison with the complete Tibetan translation. The various citations of the sūtra in other texts for which there is Sanskrit, including The Clear Words, The Training Anthology, The Collected Teachings on the Bodhisattva, and the third Stages of Meditative Cultivation, increase this percentage slightly, while the repetition of words and phrases within the sūtra also increases the percentage of the text for which one can be fairly confident about the underlying source text.

i.­50

The colophon to the complete canonical Tibetan translation states that the sūtra was translated by Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Munivarman, along with the translator-monk Yeshé Dé, all of whom flourished in the late eighth and early ninth centuries ᴄᴇ. Its relatively early date of translation into Tibetan is also supported by its inclusion in the Denkarma (lhan kar ma) and Phangthangma (’phang thang ma), the catalogs of Tibetan translations compiled in the ninth century.28 According to Lalou, there are also a few pages from an unidentified commentary found at Dunhuang, Pelliot tibétain 2101, which contains some quotations from this sūtra, as well as several other Mahāyāna sūtras.29

i.­51

The Secrets of the Realized Ones was also translated into Chinese twice. The first translation (Taishō 310–3) is said to have been completed in 280 ᴄᴇ, and is among those attributed to the early translator Dharmarakṣa (竺法護).30 A second translation (Taishō 312) was done in the eleventh century by another translator named Dharmarakṣa or Dharmapāla (法護).31

i.­52

This English translation has been made on the basis of the preserved Sanskrit manuscript, the quotations preserved in other texts for which there is Sanskrit, and the complete Tibetan translation. For the Tibetan text, the Degé edition was used as the basis, but variations attested in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) were also consulted, and for large portions of the text, the Stok Palace edition was also read for comparison. The footnotes to the translation primarily describe differences between these various witnesses to the text, while also giving various notes on the translation of specific terms and phrases, intertextual references to other primary sources, and references to scholarly work. Unfortunately, the two Chinese translations were not taken into account as part of the translation or editing process.


Text Body

The Translation
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
The Teaching of the Mysteries and Secrets of the Realized Ones

1.

Chapter 1: On Saumya

[F.100.a] [B1]


1.­1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.


Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying at Vulture Peak in Rājagṛha together with a great monastic assembly of forty-two thousand monks, as well as eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas of great courage, who were well known on account of their fame, a great many of whom had come from other buddha domains. All of them had attained the state of acceptance.32 They could not be turned back. They were limited to only one more life. They had acquired a powerful memory and the formulas that support it. They had acquired states of meditative concentration. Their inspired eloquence was without impediment. They were adept at traveling to limitless buddha domains throughout the ten directions. They had made child’s play of the forms of knowledge including the supernormal faculties.33 They were undefeated in argument by any and all proponents of rival doctrines. They had vanquished their adversaries and Māra in all his forms.34


2.

Chapter 2: The Secret of the Bodhisattva’s Speech

2.­1

[B2] Once again, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, spoke to the bodhisattva Śāntamati: “Śāntamati, what is the secret of the Bodhisattva’s speech and the purity of his verbal action? Śāntamati, the succession of the bodhisattvas’ rebirths continues for precisely so long as beings continue to be reborn, and for as long as they continue to be reborn, these bodhisattvas make use of language. The knowledge and vision of the bodhisattvas penetrates without impediment beings’ use of language in all the ways they express linguistic utterances, verbal expressions, explanations, conventions, speeches, descriptions of reality, signs, actions, and happiness and suffering. Their knowledge and vision even penetrate the languages used by worms, mosquitoes, flies, bees, and moths. [F.111.a] Since their knowledge and expression of language enables them to relieve the bodies and minds of beings, such verbal expressions emerge from the mouths of those bodhisattvas who know and use language. This is in accordance with the nature of things. In this respect, it should be said:


3.

Chapter 3: The Secret of the Bodhisattva’s Mind

3.­1

Once again, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, spoke to the bodhisattva Śāntamati: “Now, Śāntamati, what is the secret of a bodhisattva’s mind and the purity of his mental action?

3.­2

“Śāntamati, bodhisattvas undertake their work by means of knowledge, not by taking pride in it. Also, they undertake their work with knowledge without weakening any of the supernormal faculties. They manifest all sorts of actions while making child’s play of the supernormal faculties. They have attained the great mastery that is the mastery of the supernormal faculties. The supernormal faculties they possess are an aspect of knowledge because they are connected with the supreme knowledge of all aspects. The supernormal faculties they possess are an aspect of wisdom because they provide a direct vision of all things. The supernormal faculties they possess have the aspect of inexhaustibility because they conform with everything. Because all forms do not have a form, the supernormal faculties they possess can see all forms. [F.114.b] Because the sounds of the past are the same as the sounds of the future, the supernormal faculties they possess can comprehend all sounds. The supernormal faculties they possess perceive the thoughts of all beings, because they can perceive and thoroughly investigate the true nature of mind. The supernormal faculties they possess can recollect limitless eons, because they do not place any limits on the past or the future. The supernormal faculties they possess can produce every kind of wondrous transformation with their superhuman powers because they have the defining characteristic of being unconditioned. The supernormal faculties they possess conform to the cessation of the defilements, because they perceive the moment and they never miss the moment. The supernormal faculties they possess are conducive to the forms of penetrating insight that are fixed upon what is transcendent and noble. The supernormal faculties they possess are difficult for the disciples and solitary buddhas to understand. The supernormal faculties they possess have profound meaning and defeat their adversaries, Māra in all his forms. The supernormal faculties they possess produce the essence of awakening and are the most supreme form of awakening, which brings about a perfect realization of all the qualities of a buddha. The supernormal faculties they possess are consistent with the turning of the wheel of Dharma. The supernormal faculties they possess can tame all beings. The supernormal faculties they possess secure empowering authority because they have mastery over all things.


4.

Chapter 4: The Coming of Resounding Musical Sound

4.­1

Then the Blessed One spoke to the bodhisattva of great courage, Śāntamati, saying, “Do you hear the voice issuing from the sounds of the cymbals and musical instruments?”

4.­2

“Blessed One, I hear it! Whose power is causing the voice to issue from them?”

“Śāntamati,” replied the Blessed One, “in the world called Meghavatī resides the blessed realized one Melodious King of Clouds. In his presence resides the bodhisattva of great courage Resounding Musical Sound, who has now arrived here in this Sahā world to see me; to honor, worship, and serve me; and to hear the Dharma. He has also come to hear the Dharma that is being taught by Vajrapāṇi and to see the bodhisattvas of great courage who have gathered here from throughout the ten directions. Although his body is invisible, Śāntamati, the bodhisattva Resounding Musical Sound is there in the space above us. In order to pay homage to me and this teaching of the Dharma, he has rained these flowers down upon us. He is playing the music of the cymbals and instruments and it is his voice that we are hearing.”


5.

Chapter 5: The Past-Life Story of Dhṛtarāṣṭra

5.­1

At that point, a certain bodhisattva from the assembly wondered, “How did the Lord of the Guhyakas grow these roots of virtue? How long has he served the Blessed Buddha? What sort of vow did he make by means of which he has come to possess such inspired eloquence?”

5.­2

With his own mind, the Blessed One knew the thoughts in the mind of that bodhisattva, and so he addressed the bodhisattva Śāntamati: “Once upon a time, Śāntamati, in a past eon, going back an incalculable eon, going back more than an incalculable eon, going back a limitless, inconceivable, and measureless span of time, there was an eon called Lovely Illumination. At that time, in a world called Full Array, there appeared a realized one, a worthy one, [F.118.a] a perfectly awakened one, one perfected in knowledge and conduct, a sublime one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassable trainer of those ready to be trained, a teacher of gods and humans, a blessed buddha, whose name was King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End.


6.

Chapter 6: The Path of Awakening

6.­1

“Śāntamati, bodhisattvas of great courage who also wish to awaken to unsurpassable and perfect awakening should follow the example of these great beings in this regard. They should undertake the core practices intent upon the path to awakening and not place their focus on words. And what is this path to awakening?

6.­2

“It eliminates anger toward all beings by cultivating a mind that is suffused with love. On it one strives to accomplish the perfections. One develops the methods of drawing others to oneself. One achieves the four dwellings of Brahmā. One strives to acquire the constitutive factors of awakening. One acquires and refines the supernormal faculties. One becomes a master of skill in means. One who accomplishes all these things gathers a supply of all the virtuous qualities. This is called the path of awakening.


7.

Chapter 7: The Secret of the Realized One’s Body

7.­1

At that point, the bodhisattva Śāntamati asked Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, “Lord of the Guhyakas, what are the secrets of the realized ones? Please use your inspired eloquence to describe, at least partially, the secrets of the realized ones.” [F.126.b]

7.­2

Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, answered the bodhisattva Śāntamati, “Listen, noble son, as I teach through the majestic power and empowering authority of the Buddha. Śāntamati, the secrets of the realized ones are threefold. What are these three? They are the secret of body, the secret of speech, and the secret of mind.


8.

Chapter 8: The Teaching of the Mystery and Secret of the Realized One’s Speech

8.­1

Once again, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, spoke to the bodhisattva of great courage, Śāntamati: “Śāntamati, what is the secret of the speech and the purity of the verbal action of the Realized One? During the period of time, Śāntamati, from the night when the Realized One awakens to unsurpassable and perfect awakening until the night when, having relinquished his life force, a realized one passes into complete cessation, the Realized One has not articulated and will not pronounce even a single syllable.106 [F.133.a] What is the cause of this? It is because, Śāntamati, a realized one is in a continuous state of meditative concentration. The realized one does not breathe in or breathe out. He does not begin any thought process or continue any thought process, and no speech emerges from what does not begin or continue any thought process. So, a realized one does not begin any thought process or continue any thought process or form any idea. He does not form any concept. He does not speak anything, he does not articulate anything, he does not pronounce anything; and yet, beings have the thought, ‘The Realized One is speaking.’


9.

Chapter 9: The Secret of the Realized One’s Mind

9.­1

Once more Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, spoke to the bodhisattva of great courage, Śāntamati: “In this regard, Śāntamati, what is the secret of the mind of the realized ones and the purity of their mental action? Śāntamati, let me draw an analogy: Those beings who have been reborn among the classes of gods in the formless realm remain focused upon a single object of consciousness for eighty-four thousand eons. They do not change the object of their consciousness to a different object of consciousness so long as their concentration lasts until the time they die and acquire another rebirth in accordance with their accumulation of karma. In precisely the same way, Śāntamati, a realized one has a mind that is not fixed on anything, in such a way that from the night when the bodhisattva awakens to unsurpassable and perfect awakening until the night when the Realized One passes into complete cessation, the state of cessation that is free of any remaining thing, during the intervening time there is no modification of the Realized One’s mind; no mental activity; no mental examination; no forgetfulness of mind;143 no mental alteration;144 no measurement of mind; no excitement of mind;145 no mental conflict;146 no mental avoidance;147 no mental distraction; no mental elation; no mental depression; no mental protection; no movement of mind; no excessive joyfulness in the mind; no mental disturbance;148 no malice in the mind; no vacillation of mind; no special comprehension of mind; no mental stimulation; no mental pressure; no application of mind; no wandering of the mind; no formation of ideas in the mind; no mental conceptualization; no mental imagination; no calming state of mind, no deep mental insight; [F.144.b] no consciousness that chases after thoughts; no dwelling on one’s own thoughts; no mental perception of the thoughts of others; no support from the mind for the eye; no support from the mind for the intellect, the physical body, the tongue, nose, or ear; no support from the mind for visual forms; no support from the mind for thoughts, tactile sensations, tastes, smells, or sounds; no support from the mind for mental objects; no place in the mind for mental appearances; no mind that is without a place; no internal place for the mind; and no external place for the mind. He also has a mind that does not engage with things, a mind that does not engage with knowledge,149 and also a mind that is not perceived as being past, present, or future.


10.

Chapter 10: Celebrating the Virtues of Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas

10.­1

Venerable Śāriputra then spoke to the Blessed One: “Throughout the ten directions, Blessed One, bodhisattvas of this Fortunate Eon are leading the holy life in the presence of blessed buddhas. Is there a Lord of the Guhyakas standing behind all these bodhisattvas?”

10.­2

The Blessed One responded, “Enough, Śāriputra, such activity is inconceivable. The world including its gods would fall into confusion about the conduct of the bodhisattvas. Nevertheless, Śāriputra, those who have faith will be embraced by [F.146.a] companions in what is good and will not worry about this subject at all.”


11.

Chapter 11: The Exalted Nature of the Severe Ascetic Practices: The Method of Acquiring Food to Bring Beings to Maturity

11.­1

The bodhisattva Śāntamati then requested Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, “Please use your inspired eloquence, Lord of the Guhyakas, to shine light on those occurrences that were the causes of wonders, beginning with a description of the splendid array of the Bodhisattva’s severe ascetic practices, his arrival at the seat of awakening, his defeat of Māra, and his turning of the wheel of Dharma, all of which you have witnessed.”


12.

Chapter 12: The Journey to the Seat of Awakening

12.­1

“As soon as the Bodhisattva had washed his body and strength had returned to his body after he had eaten the food, he went to the seat of awakening. An earth-dwelling deity nearby there, named Subhūma, addressed all the earth-dwelling deities, saying:

12.­2
“ ‘An earth bearer, unwavering and unshakeable,
Without craving and devoid of enmity,
The Bodhisattva is approaching that tree.
I will decorate the surface of the fertile ground.’

13.

Chapter 13: The Taming of the Māras

13.­1

“Just as soon as the Bodhisattva took his seat upon the lion’s seat, Śāntamati, a ray of light issued from the tuft of hair between his eyebrows. This light is called challenging Māra, [F.154.a] and it reached a billion māras throughout the cosmos of a billion worlds and touched each of them in their respective abodes, which immediately gave them goose bumps. When they realized that their abodes were being consumed by the light and made dim in comparison, they thought to themselves, ‘What is the cause of this? For what reason have these abodes seemingly been made dim? Could it not be that a bodhisattva is seated on the seat of awakening and is awakening to unsurpassable, perfect awakening?’ Looking down, they saw that the Bodhisattva was seated at the seat of awakening.


14.

Chapter 14: The Turning of the Wheel of Dharma

14.­1

“Indeed, Śāntamati, some gods and humans thought that the conquest of the māras had immeasurable differences in this way, while some thought that Māra was not approaching in any way at all.191 Some thought the Bodhisattva was seated upon a mat of grass, while some saw the Bodhisattva seated upon a lion’s seat resting on a splendid arrangement of lotus flowers made of jewels. Some saw the Bodhisattva situated upon the surface of the earth, while some saw the Bodhisattva seated upon a lion’s seat situated in the vault of the sky. Some saw the tree of awakening as the king of trees, the sacred fig tree; some saw it as the divine Pārijāta tree; some saw it as the divine Kovidāra grove.192 Some saw the tree of awakening as entirely made of jewels. Some gods and humans saw the tree of awakening as being equal in height to a palm tree, and they saw the lion’s seat as equal to half the height of a palm tree. Some saw the tree of awakening as being equal in height to seven palm trees, and they saw the lion’s seat to be equal in height to three and a half palm trees. Some saw the tree of awakening to be eighty-four thousand leagues in height and the lion’s seat to be forty-two thousand leagues in height.


15.

Chapter 15: The Bases of Cognition

15.­1

Now Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, said to the Blessed One, “I hope, Blessed One, that I have not made any false statements about the Realized One in this teaching. Indeed, I hope that what I have said aligns with the teaching of the realized ones. Blessed One, the teaching of the realized ones is deep; Blessed One, the secret of the realized ones is profound. It runs counter to the whole world. The understanding of the minds of the realized ones, Blessed One, is truly difficult to grasp. What I have taught, Blessed One, is whatever knowledge of the realized ones has been established in my body and comes out in that way. It is not due to my own personal effort.”


16.

Chapter 16: The Prediction for Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas

16.­1

At that point, some the bodhisattvas in the assembly had the thought, “When will Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, awaken to unsurpassable and perfect awakening and become a perfect buddha? What will his buddha realm be called? What will be his name when he attains awakening? [F.166.a] What will his assembly of bodhisattvas be like?”


17.

Chapter 17: Articulating Nonduality

17.­1

At that point, the bodhisattva Śāntamati said this to Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas: “The Realized One has made a prediction for you, Lord of the Guhyakas.”

Vajrapāṇi responded, “The prediction made for me, noble son, is one that has the nature of a dream.”

17.­2

“What have you been predicted to obtain?”

“The prediction I have obtained, noble son, is for what does not obtain.”


18.

Chapter 18: Enjoying a Meal After Going to Aḍagavatī

18.­1

Now, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, was satisfied, overjoyed, pleased, and glad. He felt both delight and cheerfulness of mind at having received the prediction of the fulfillment of his intention. So he said to the Blessed One, “Would you please show compassion for me, Blessed One, and come with these bodhisattvas and great disciples to the capital city of Aḍagavatī in my abode of guhyakas and stay there for seven days? The reason, Blessed One, is that there are many different types of beings, such as yakṣas, kumbhāṇḍas, rākṣasas, piśācas, gandharvas, and mahoragas, dwelling in the capital city of Aḍagavatī. Seeing the Blessed One and hearing the Dharma will be to their benefit, prosperity, bliss, and aims for a long time, and from then on they will abstain from thoughts that are sullied by wickedness and anger. For the Four Great Kings and their assemblies, too, [F.171.a] it will be to their benefit, prosperity, bliss, and aims for a long time.”


19.

Chapter 19: The Protectors of the World

19.­1

Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, then asked [F.175.b] the Blessed One to teach the Dharma: “Please give a teaching that will introduce the guiding principles of the Dharma in such a way that those beings who have not yet conceived the aspiration for awakening will conceive the aspiration for awakening, and become firmly established in the state of being unable to be turned back from unsurpassable and perfect awakening, and so that it will be to the benefit, prosperity, bliss, and aims of this assembly of yakṣas, rākṣasas, pretas, piśācas, gandharvas, guhyakas, and mahoragas for a long time, and so that by this distinction they will rise to a state of distinction and will not give up any part of it.”


20.

Chapter 20: Going and Coming

20.­1

At that point, the Blessed One had the thought, “I should make it so that the words of a mantra are heard in this assembly, the articulation of which ensures the well-being of the entire assembly and ensures the long-term availability of the awakening of the realized ones, too.”

20.­2

The Blessed One then spoke to Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas: “Lord of the Guhyakas, do you remember the words of the mantra that were spoken by me in the abode of the nāga king Apalāla, which I recalled as I was at the supreme point of the seat of awakening and spoke again for the well-being and benefit of the world?”


21.

Chapter 21: On Śūrabala

21.­1

At that point, the Blessed One remained at the hill, Vulture Peak, together with the bodhisattvas and great disciples. The Blessed One rested in the afternoon and then he got up and taught the Dharma. Then the sixty thousand inhabitants of the great city of Rājagṛha, including King Ajātaśatru and his household, came to know that the Blessed One had returned. So in the afternoon they took flowers, incense, garlands, and scented oils, left the great city of Rājagṛha and came to the hill, Vulture Peak, and into the presence of the Blessed One. They bowed their heads at the Blessed One’s feet and sat to one side. As they were sitting to one side, King Ajātaśatru spoke to the Blessed One.


22.

Chapter 22: The Explanation of Ajātaśatru’s Questions

22.­1

At that point, it occurred to King Ajātaśatru, “The vajra that Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, is holding in his right hand must be heavy, because if it is light, why is Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, said to possess incredibly great strength?”

22.­2

Then, knowing with his own mind the train of thought of King Ajātaśatru, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, said to him, “It is, indeed, heavy, Great King, and it is light.”


23.

Chapter 23: On Bhadrarāja

23.­1

At that point, the bodhisattva of great courage, Śāntamati, said this to Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas: “When the Blessed One creates magically created forms of himself, Lord of the Guhyakas, do you create magically created forms of yourself, too?”

23.­2

Vajrapāṇi responded, “I am an eyewitness to what comes directly before the eyes of the Blessed One, Śāntamati, and therefore, even if the Realized One were to create magically created forms of the Realized One equal in number to the grains of sand in the Ganges River, then precisely that many magically created forms of me would accompany them, taking a variety of forms and making child’s play in a variety of ways. This, Śāntamati, is a natural consequence of the purification of my motivation in the past.”


24.

Chapter 24: The Inexhaustible Nature of the Analogies in Praise of the Virtues of Powerful Memory and the Formulas That Support It

24.­1

The bodhisattva Śāntamati then asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, what kind of powerful mnemonic formula is the one called accessing the aspects of the Dharma?”

24.­2

“Śāntamati,” the Blessed One answered, “accessing the aspects of the Dharma is the knowledge that accesses the imperishable in syllables.287 Śāntamati, all things have the syllable ā as their point of entry.288 All things have the syllable ā as their gateway; they are created from the syllable ā; they reach their end in the syllable ā. The syllable ā does the action in verbal action, [F.195.b] but the syllable ā does not know; it does not ascertain, and yet it is the point of entry to all things. This is why the powerful mnemonic formula is called accessing the aspects of the Dharma.


25.

Chapter 25: Entrusting the True Dharma

25.­1

Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, then said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, empower this formulation of the Dharma so that it may be circulated in the latter time.”311

25.­2

The Blessed One replied, “Lord of the Guhyakas, do you remember the words that protect the form of the Dharma,312 which were heard by me in the presence of the realized one Ratnacandra, so that I would take possession of the true Dharma?”


c.

Colophon

c.­1

Translated, edited, corrected according to the revised terminology, and finalized by the Indian scholars Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Munivarman, along with the chief editor and translator monk, Bandé Yeshé Dé.


n.

Notes

n.­1
For example, Étienne Lamotte once called the Vimalakīrti­nirdeśa “perhaps the crown jewel of the Buddhist literature of the Great Vehicle,” in L’Enseignment de Vimalakīrti (Lamotte 1987, p. v), while more recently Jonathan Silk has made a softer claim, describing it as “one of the most radiant stars in the firmament of Mahāyāna sūtra literature,” on the back cover of Vimalakīrtinirdeśa: The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Gómez and Harrison 2022). On the appreciation (or lack thereof) of the Lalitavistara as a literary work, see Silk 2022, especially pp. 285 and following. We would also like to acknowledge here our indebtedness to Gómez and Harrison’s translation of the Vimalakīrti­nirdeśa. We have used many of their translation choices of terms and phrases in this translation, as well as their explanations for our glossary.
n.­2
For the Sanskrit text of these passages, see Study Group on Buddhist Sanskrit Literature 2005, which also includes the Tibetan and Chinese translations. For a translation from Tibetan of the above passages, see Robert A. F. Thurman, trans., The Teaching of Vimalakīrti, Toh 176, 6.­13 and 4.­1 (2017).
n.­3
The relevant passages are noted in the body of the translation. For the Sanskrit editions of these works, see the following: Lévi 1907; La Vallée Poussin 1903; and Tucci 1971; and for a translation of the final work, which is not extant in Sanskrit, see Gareth Sparham, trans., The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines, Toh 3808 (2022).
n.­4
The relevant passages are cited in the body of the translation. For the former, a partial Sanskrit manuscript has recently been identified in Tibet, on which see Wang et al., 2020. A complete translation of it was made from Tibetan into English by Bhikkhu Pāsādika and published serially in the journal Linh-Son publication d’études bouddhiques, beginning with “The Sūtrasamuccaya – An English Translation from the Tibetan Version of the Sanskrit Original (I).” For the latter, the classical Sanskrit edition is Cecil Bendall’s Çikshāsamuccaya: A Compendium of Buddhistic Teaching; it has also been translated into English on two occasions: Cecil Bendall’s and W. H. D. Rouse’s Śikṣā Samuccaya (1922) and Charles Goodman’s The Training Anthology of Śāntideva (2016).
n.­5
The relevant passages are cited in the body of the translation. Sanskrit edition: Bunyiu Nanjio, The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (1923); English translation: Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, The Lankavatara Sutra: A Mahayana Text (1932).
n.­6
The relevant passages are cited in the body of the translation. It is also possible that the Tathāgataguhya reworks the passages as they are found in the Bodhisattvapiṭaka, or that both texts share a common source or sources. Parts of both passages are also quoted in the Śikṣāsamuccaya and Sūtrasamuccaya, and there they are explicitly attributed to the Tathāgataguhya. A Sanskrit edition of the Bodhisattvapiṭaka will be published in Liland et al. (forthcoming).
n.­7
The relevant passages are cited in the body of the translation. For the list of citations of the sūtra in this text, see Lamotte 1970, p. 1638, n. 1. On the question of authorship and the nature of this important work, see Zacchetti 2021.
n.­8
For a recent approach to the study of Buddhist literature as a form of literature, see Shaw 2021. A classic in the field of literary studies of the Bible is Robert Alter’s The Art of Biblical Narrative (2011).
n.­9
See, for example, Anesaki 1911, and Radich 2015, especially p. 105 ff.
n.­10
See Lamotte 1966 and Zin 2009.
n.­11
For an English translation of the former, see Walshe 1995, p. 114; for the latter, see Bodhi and Ñāṇamoli 1995, p. 326.
n.­12
This translation is based on the Sanskrit, for which see Vaidya 1987, p. 50 (or p. 54 of the second edition); for an alternate English translation based on the Tibetan translation, see The Play in Full, Toh 95, 6.­47, (Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2013).
n.­13
See Hopkins 1915, pp. 10, 31, 61, and 142–48.
n.­14
See 18.­22
n.­15
For a study and translation of this passage, see Bodhi 1978.
n.­16
This translation is based on the Sanskrit, for an alternative translation of which, see Gómez and Harrison2022, p. 71; another alternative translation, based on the Tibetan translation, may be found in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti, Toh 176, 6.­3 (Thurman 2017).
n.­17
For a discussion of the different versions, see The Good Eon (Bhadrakalpika), Toh 94, i.­15–i.­18 (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, 2022).
n.­18
For the quotation in the latter, see The Long Explanation, Toh 3808, 1.­8 (Sparham 2022). It is also worth comparing this statement with what is found in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti, Toh 176, 1.­24-1.­27 (Thurman 2017).
n.­19
See n.­102.
n.­20
On this point, see the remarks by Cecil Bendall on Cambridge MS Adds. 901, 1365, and 1617 in his Catalogue of the Buddhist Sanskrit Manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge (1883), pp. 15–17, 70–73, and 140–41.
n.­21
Winternitz 1933, pp. 394–95 and 635.
n.­22
Lewis 2000, pp. 15–16; Tuladhar-Douglas 2014, pp. 86 and 130 ff., especially pp. 132–33, and ch. 4, n. 46.
n.­23
The bibliographic information for these articles by Ikuma and for several more by other Japanese and Chinese scholars may be found in the bibliographic entry for this sūtra on the website of the Open Philology project.
n.­24
Étienne Lamotte, “Vajrapāṇi en Inde,” pp. 140–44, wherein Lamotte gives a three-page summary of the past-life story told in chapter 5 of the sūtra (according to the chapter divisions of the eleventh-century Chinese translation, which seems to follow those of the Tibetan translation), in which Brahmā and Vajrapāṇi each take a vow. The former vows to request each of the thousand buddhas of this fortunate era to teach the Dharma, and the latter vows to become the constant companion of each and every one of these buddhas. However, it seems as though Lamotte did not finish reading the sūtra, because after his synopsis of the story he claims that no mention is made in the sūtra of when or how Vajrapāṇi attains future awakening as a buddha, but this information is given in a later chapter of the sūtra (chapter 16 according to the Tibetan chapter divisions).
n.­25
Shingan 2021.
n.­26
Szántó 2021.
n.­27
Shāstri 1917, pp. 17–21.
n.­28
Denkarma, folio 295.b; see also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, pp. 18–19. Phangthangma 2003, p. 6.
n.­29
For the description, see Marcel Lalou 1961, p. 200. The scan of this Dunhuang manuscript can be seen here. We have not yet identified the quotations of the sūtra in this manuscript or noted them in this translation.
n.­30
On this date and various scholarly opinions on the accuracy of its attribution to Dharmarakṣa, see the entry on Taishō 310 in the Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions database.
n.­31
For more on this version of the text, see Taishō 312 in the Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions database. See also the entry on K 1486 in Lewis R. Lancaster’s Descriptive Catalogue of the Korean Buddhist Canon.
n.­32
“Acceptance” (bzod pa, kṣānti) likely refers here to anutpattika­dharmakṣānti, “acceptance of the fact that things do not arise,” which is said to constitute a definitive understanding of the emptiness of all phenomena. Possibly the same expression is used to describe Vimalakīrti in the Vimalakīrti­nirdeśa, section 2.1, the Sanskrit for which reads prati­labdhakṣāntika. The Tibetan translation here and there is identical: bzod pa thob pa.
n.­33
The Tibetan translation reads mngon par shes pa’i ye shes gyis rnam par rtsen pa, which we understand to be translating a Sanskrit compound similar to abhijñā­jñāna­vikrīḍita.
n.­34
The Tibetan translation here is identical to what is also found in the Vimalakīrti­nirdeśa, section 1.3, for which the underlying Sanskrit is likely nihatamāra­pratyarthika. The Tibetan renders this compound as a dvandva, “x and y,” whereas one could interpret it differently to say that the adversaries actually are Māra in all his forms. The idea behind the translation of “Māra in all his forms” is that Buddhist literature generally recognizes several types of Māra. See, for instance, the entry on Māra in Buswell and Lopez, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.
n.­106
This sentence is quoted, but without explicit reference to the Tathāgataguhya, and placed in the voice of the Buddha in a passage in the Lankāvatāra Sūtra, for which see Nanjio, pp. 142–43 and 240, for the Sanskrit, and the English translation by Suzuki, pp. 123–24 and 207. This passage is also quoted twice in Candrakīrti’s Prasannapadā, where it is explicitly said to come from the Tathāgataguhya Sūtra. The first citation is in the commentary on chapter 18, verse 7 of the Mūla­madhyamakakārikā; the second citation is in the commentary on chapter 25, verse 24, the last verse in the chapter on the analysis of nirvāṇa. For the Sanskrit text, see La Vallée Poussin 1903, pp. 366–67 and 539–40. There are slight differences between the sentence as it is quoted in the Prasannapadā and the passage as found in the Sanskrit manuscript and the Tibetan translation of this sūtra, but after quoting this sentence, Candrakīrti appears to continue to cite or paraphrase this sūtra. In neither case, however, does there seem to be an exact equivalency to what is found in the extant Sanskrit manuscript or the Tibetan translation. In this respect, it would be interesting to compare the Prasannapadā with the earlier Chinese translation of the sūtra. After the first quotation of the sentence above, Candrakīrti says, “How, then, is the teaching of the Dharma taught by the Blessed One to all the various kinds of folk who are ready to the trained, beginning with gods (sura), asuras, humans (nara), kinnaras, siddhas, vidyādharas, and uragas (i.e., nāgas)? With the mere utterance of speech for a single moment, [a speech that is] a great light, reddish like the sun in autumn, a light that removes the darkness from the minds of those beings (tatajjanamanastamoharaṇī), opens the manifold thickets of the lotuses of their intellects, dries up the oceans and rivers of old age and death, and surpasses the magnitude of the light rays from the seven suns of the fiery conflagration [at the end] of the eon.” Then follows the quotation of the three metaphors in verse from this sūtra for which the references are given when they occur. What follows the second quotation by Candrakīrti of the sentence above is the following: “Moreover, all beings, whose aspirations and constituent elements vary, understand the speech that comes from the Realized One variously in accordance with their level of dedication. And each and every one of them has the thought, ‘The Blessed One is teaching this Dharma to us; we are hearing the Realized One’s teaching of the Dharma.’ In this regard, the Realized One does not form an idea; he does not form a concept. For, indeed, Śāntamati, the Realized One is devoid of all vain imaginings or lingering traces of the web of thoughts and concepts.” This second passage seems quite similar to parts of the passage that follows this one in the main text and part of a passage found a few paragraphs further below in the sūtra. After what was just translated, the second quotation in the Prasannapadā continues with a verse and several more lines that pursue a similar theme, at the end of which Candrakīrti says, “All of this has been explained at length in ‘The Chapter on the Secret of the Speech of the Realized One’ (tathāgata­vāgguhya­parivarta).” The main statement above is also quoted at the beginning of The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines‍—see section 1.­81.8‍—where again the quotation appears to differ slightly from the passage as found in the extant Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.
n.­143
Following the Sanskrit manuscript, which reads cittavismṛti. This phrase seems to be absent from the Tibetan translation, as the next Tibetan phrase reads thugs la ’gyur ba mi mnga’, which looks like a translation of the Sanskrit phrase cittapariṇāma or “alteration of mind,” which is absent in the Sanskrit manuscript.
n.­144
This phrase is added from the Tibetan translation. It seems to be absent from the Sanskrit manuscript, as stated in the previous note.
n.­145
Following the Sanskrit manuscript, which reads citta­saṃharṣanaṃ. This phrase seems to be absent from the Tibetan translation, as the next phrase reads thugs la ’grug pa or thugs la ’grul pa, “mental conflict” or “mental confusion.”
n.­146
This phrase is added from the Tibetan translation. It seems to be absent from the Sanskrit manuscript, as stated in the previous note.
n.­147
This phrase, thugs la sel ba mi mnga’, is added from the Tibetan translation. It seems to be absent from the Sanskrit manuscript.
n.­148
Following the Tibetan rnam par ’khrug pa, which suggests emending the Sanskrit manuscript to vikopana from its present reading, vilokana.
n.­149
This phrase follows the Tibetan. It is lacking in the Sanskrit manuscript.
n.­191
The Sanskrit manuscript here reads kecid sarveṇa sarvaṃ māraṃ nopasaṃkrāmantam iti saṃjāṃte [sic], and the Tibetan translation seems to reflect this reading: kha cig gis ni bdud yongs thams cad du ma ’ongs par shes so. The Tibetan interprets the verb form upasaṃkrāmanta in the common sense of “approaching” or “arriving,” and it is used several times in this way previously in this sūtra. However, as Edgerton notes in his entry on the term upasaṃkramati, the same verb can be used in the sense of “violently attack,” and thus it is possible to see a play on words here or simply to translate it as follows: “some thought that Māra was not assaulting him in any way at all.”
n.­192
Following the Sanskrit, which reads kecit pārijātaṃ kecit kovidāraṃ, seemingly suggesting that there is a distinction to be made between the two. The Tibetan translation reads kha cig gis ni byang chub kyi shing yongs ’du sa brtol du mthong ngo, which suggests that the translators understood pārijāta and kovidāra to be referring to a single tree, perhaps a huge banyan tree with multiple trunks forming a single canopy. See Edgerton’s entries on pāriyātra and kovidāra for explanation and disambiguation.
n.­287
There are several layers of punning that occur in this paragraph. The first point is simply to note that the term rendered here and below as “accessing,” anupraveśa in Sanskrit and translated into Tibetan as rjes su ’jug pa, has the primary sense of entering, and the strong secondary meaning here of understanding. Both meanings are implied here simultaneously. Secondly, in this sentence there seems to be a play on the word akṣara, first in the meaning of what is “imperishable” or “unchangeable” (that is, nirvāṇa), and secondly in the sense of “a syllable” or a written character of a syllabary, what an English speaker would call a letter of the alphabet. This pun seems to have been missed by the Tibetan translation, which translates both uses of the term with yi ge (“syllable”), and thus the Tibetan could be translated as “the knowledge that accesses the syllables in the syllables.”
n.­288
There is a pun here on the word ākāra, which can mean both “aspect,” as it does in the name of this dhāraṇī, and “the syllable ā.” The Tibetan translation also picks up on this pun and translates here accordingly, a shes bya ba. There is also the play again on the two meanings of the word dharma, “teaching” and “thing.” Also, we alternated the translation of anupraveśa here with “point of entry.”
n.­311
Following the Sanskrit manuscript here, and translating the verb pracaret as “may be circulated,” as it was translated in a similar context earlier. The Tibetan translation of spyod pa is closer to “may be practiced.” The Tibetan translation here also has the slightly more elaborate expression in the second half of the sentence, similar to what was seen earlier in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, and may be translated as “…so that it may be practiced (spyod pa) in Jambudvīpa in the latter time, that is, in the final five-hundred-year period of the Dharma.”
n.­312
On the translation of gupti here as “form” in the phrase “words that protect the form of the Dharma” (dharma­guptyāra­kṣaṇapada), see Edgerton’s entry on the term gupti. The Tibetan translation of this term is sba ba (“hiding” or “place of concealment”), which reflects the ordinary meaning of the term in Sanskrit.

b.

Bibliography

Primary Source Texts

’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya­tathāgatācintyaguhya­nirdeśa­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra). Toh 47, Degé Kangyur vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ka), folios 100.a–203.a.

’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa zhes 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. 39, pp. 289–542.

*Tathāgata­guhya­nirdeśa­sūtra. Manuscript G10765. The Asiatic Society, Kolkata. [For an unpublished transcription of this manuscript, see Szántó 2021.]

Editions, Translations, and Other Sources

Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Narrative. New York: Basic Books, 2011. First published 1981.

Anesaki, Masaharu. “Docetism (Buddhist).” In The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 4, edited by James Hastings et al., 835–40. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1911.

Bendall, Cecil (1883). Catalogue of the Buddhist Sanskrit Manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bendall, Cecil, ed. (1902). Çikshāsamuccaya: A Compendium of Buddhistic Teaching. Bibliotheca Buddhica I. St. Petersburg: Académie Impériale des Sciences.

Bendall, Cecil, and W. H. D. Rouse, trans. Śikṣā Samuccaya. London: John Murray, 1922.

Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1978). “The Meaning of the Word ‘Tathāgata’ According to the Pāli Commentaries: Text and Introductory Essay.” Pali Buddhist Review 3.2: 65–83.

Bodhi, Bhikkhu, trans. (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom.

Bodhi, Bhikkhu, trans. (2012). The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom.

Bodhi, Bhikkhu, and Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, trans. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom, 1995.

Buswell, Robert E., Jr., and Donald S. Lopez, Jr., eds. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014.

Cowell, Edward B. and Robert Alexander Neil, eds. The Divyāvadāna: A Collection of Early Buddhist Legends. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1886.

Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Play in Full (Lalitavistara, Toh 95). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.

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

Gómez, Luis, and Paul Harrison, trans. Vimalakīrtinirdeśa: The Teaching of Vimalakīrti. Berkeley, CA: Mangalam, 2022.

Goodman, Charles. The Training Anthology of Śāntideva. London: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Hamano, Tetsunori 滨野哲敬. 如來秘密経の佛陀觀 [The Conception of the Buddha in the Nyoraihimitsu-kyō]. Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū 印度學 佛教學 研究第 38.1 (1987): 42–46.

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

Hidas, Gergely. Powers of Protection: The Buddhist Tradition of Spells in the Dhāraṇīv­saṃgraha Collections. Beyond Boundaries 9. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021.

Hopkins, Edward Washburn. Epic Mythology. Strassburg: K. J. Trübner, 1915.

Ikuma, Hiromitsu 伊久間洋光 (2013). 『如来秘密経』の梵文写本について [On the Sanskrit Manuscript of the Nyoraihimitsu-kyō]. 印度學 佛教學 研究第 Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū 61.2: 171–79.

Ikuma, Hiromitsu (2018). “Lalitavistara と『如来秘密経』の仏伝の対応関係” [On the Correspondence of the Lalitavistara with the Buddha’s Biography in the Nyoraihimitsu-kyō]. 印度學 佛教學 研究第 Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū 67.1: 126–30.

Ikuma, Hiromitsu (2020).『如来秘密経』梵文写本における地名と民族名のリスト: 『大毘婆沙論』における並行説話との比較 [A List of the Place and Ethnic Names in the Sanskrit Manuscript of the Nyoraihimitsu-kyō: A Comparison with the Parallel Narrative in the *Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā]. 印度學 佛教學 研究第 Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū 68.2: 101–5.

Jamspal, Lozang, et al., trans. The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra). New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2004.

Jones, J. J., trans. The Mahāvastu, Vol. 2. Sacred Books of the Buddhists. London: Pali Text Society, 1976.

Lalou, Marcel. Inventaire des manuscrits tibétains de Touen-houang: conservés à la Bibliothèque nationale (Fond Pelliot tibétain). Vol. 3. Paris: Librairie d’Amérique et d’Orient, 1961.

Lamotte, Étienne (1966). “Vajrapāṇi en Inde.” In Mélanges de Sinologie offerts à Monsieur Paul Demiéville, 113–59. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Lamotte, Étienne (1970). Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahā­prajñā­pāramitopadeśa). Tome III: Chapitres XXXI-XLII. Louvain-la-neuve: Institute Orientaliste de la Université Catholique de Louvain.

Lamotte, Étienne (1976). Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahā­prajñā­pāramitopadeśa). Tome IV: Chapitres XLII(suite)-XLVIII. Louvain-la-neuve: Institute Orientaliste de la Université Catholique de Louvain.

Lamotte, Étienne (1981). Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahā­prajñā­pāramitopadeśa). Tome I: Chapitres I-XV. Louvain-la-neuve: Institute Orientaliste de la Université Catholique de Louvain.

Lamotte, Étienne, trans. (1987). L’Enseignment de Vimalakīrti. Louvain-la-neuve: Institute Orientaliste de la Université Catholique de Louvain.

La Vallée Poussin, Louis de, ed. Mūlamadhyamakakārikās (Mādhyamikasūtras) de Nāgārjuna avec la Prasannapadā Commentaire de Candrakīrti. Bibliotheca Buddhica 4. St. Petersburg: Académie Impériale des Sciences, 1903.

Liland, Fredrik et al. Bodhisatvapiṭaka: A Critical Edition. Sanskrit Texts from the Tibetan Autonomous Region (STTAR). Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, forthcoming.

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Lewis, Todd. Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal: Narratives and Rituals of Newar Buddhism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000.

Malalasekera, G. P. Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names. Vol. 1. London: John Murray, 1937.

Nanjio, Bunyiu, ed. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. Kyoto: Otani University Press, 1923.

Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology, trans. The Collected Teachings on the Bodhisatva (Toh 56). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.

Pāsādika, Bhikkhu, trans. (1978a). “The Sūtrasamuccaya‍—An English Translation from the Tibetan Version of the Sanskrit Original (I).” Linh-Son publication d’études bouddhiques 2: 19–30.

Pāsādika, Bhikkhu, trans. (1978b). “The Sūtrasamuccaya‍—Nāgārjuna’s Anthology of (Quotations from) Discourses: English Translation (III).” Linh-Son publication d’études bouddhiques 4: 26–33.

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

Radich, Michael. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra and the Emergence of Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press, 2015.

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Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, trans. The Lankavatara Sutra: A Mahayana Text. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1932.

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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

a feeling of remorse

Wylie:
  • khrel yod pa
Tibetan:
  • ཁྲེལ་ཡོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • apatrāpya

One of a common list of eleven positive mental states (kuśalacaittya) found in Buddhist abhidharma lists. Remorse is what one feels after having realized that one has done something wrong, and it serves as a mental state that hinders one from engaging in such wrong actions again. Often paired with hrī (ngo tsha shes pa).

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 19.­47
g.­2

a sense of shame

Wylie:
  • ngo tsha shes pa
Tibetan:
  • ངོ་ཚ་ཤེས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • hrī

One of a common list of eleven positive mental states (kuśalacaittya) found in Buddhist abhidharma lists. Shame is what one feels after having realized that one has done something wrong, and it serves as a mental state that hinders one from engaging in such wrong actions again. Often paired with apatrāpya (khrel yod pa).

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 19.­47
g.­3

Abhiratī

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

The buddha domain of the Buddha Akṣobhya.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 16.­10
  • 23.­20
  • g.­15
g.­7

acceptance

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

See “patience.”

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 5.­42
  • 7.­46
  • 15.­10
  • 20.­17
  • 21.­22
  • 25.­37
  • n.­32
  • n.­104
  • g.­8
  • g.­9
  • g.­246
g.­8

acceptance of the fact that things do not arise

Wylie:
  • mi skye ba’i chos la bzod pa
Tibetan:
  • མི་སྐྱེ་བའི་ཆོས་ལ་བཟོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • anutpattika­dharmakṣānti

The third and final stage of the three levels of intellectual receptivity or acceptance (kṣānti) of the Dharma. Tantamount to an acceptance of the emptiness of all things, the fact that they do not arise or cease as substantial or essentially real phenomena. It follows from the second level of acceptance, which brings one into conformity with the Dharma (ānulomika­dharmakṣānti), which is in turn preceded by a first stage of acceptance in which one follows the voice (ghoṣānugā kṣānti) of the teacher of the Dharma. This is a distinctive but related use of the term kṣānti, which is also translated in this sūtra as “patience,” when it refers to the perfection (pāramitā) and virtue of patience more generally.

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­11-12
  • 5.­50
  • 7.­49
  • 8.­89
  • 13.­12
  • 15.­41
  • 17.­35
  • 20.­16-17
  • n.­32
  • g.­9
  • g.­353
g.­10

accumulation

Wylie:
  • tshogs
Tibetan:
  • ཚོགས།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃbhāra

See “supply.”

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­29
  • 9.­1
  • 12.­15
  • 18.­5
  • g.­328
g.­11

Aḍagavatī

Wylie:
  • lcang lo can
Tibetan:
  • ལྕང་ལོ་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • aḍagavatī

The name of the capital city in the abode of Vajrapāṇi, as attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra. The manuscript of the sūtra contains the variant spelling Abhagavatī, which could be a spelling error, though it occurs multiple times in the manuscript. The spelling of the name can vary in other texts, too, as the same term is attested for Alakāvatī, Aḍakavatī, and Aṭakāvatī in other sources. Its precise relationship to Alakāvatī, the capital of Vaiśravaṇa, as given in the Mahābhārata, is not entirely clear.

Located in 16 passages in the translation:

  • i.­14
  • 18.­1-2
  • 18.­5
  • 18.­7-9
  • 18.­20
  • 18.­22-23
  • 18.­32
  • 18.­34-35
  • 20.­26
  • 21.­2-3
g.­14

Ajātaśatru

Wylie:
  • ma skyes dgra
Tibetan:
  • མ་སྐྱེས་དགྲ།
Sanskrit:
  • ajātaśatru

King of Magadha after his father, Bimbisāra, whom he is said to have imprisoned and had killed, an act to which this sūtra alludes. Both he and his father are often portrayed in Buddhist texts as great supporters of the Buddha and his community.

Located in 17 passages in the translation:

  • i.­33-34
  • 1.­5
  • 21.­1
  • 21.­5
  • 22.­1-2
  • 22.­4-6
  • 22.­18
  • 22.­24
  • 22.­55
  • 22.­58
  • 25.­38
  • n.­282
  • g.­120
g.­19

Ānanda

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).

Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • i.­37
  • i.­41
  • 8.­29-31
  • 25.­32-36
  • 25.­38
g.­29

Apalāla

Wylie:
  • sog ma med
Tibetan:
  • སོག་མ་མེད།
Sanskrit:
  • apalāla

A nāga king whose name is attested in the Mahāvyutpatti.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 20.­2
g.­32

ascetic

Wylie:
  • dge sbyong
Tibetan:
  • དགེ་སྦྱོང་།
Sanskrit:
  • śramaṇa

A general term for a person who is living a religious life, often involving renunciation, a broader category that includes both non-Buddhist religious renunciants and Buddhist monastics, used especially in the context of the phrase “ascetics and brahmins.”

Located in 21 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­9
  • 3.­6
  • 7.­14
  • 8.­10
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­3-4
  • 11.­7-8
  • 11.­12-13
  • 14.­18
  • 14.­26
  • 15.­32
  • 19.­7
  • 19.­35
  • 25.­5
  • g.­35
  • g.­40
  • g.­177
  • g.­284
g.­33

aspiration for 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 28 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­11-12
  • 5.­26
  • 5.­35-36
  • 7.­34-35
  • 7.­38-39
  • 7.­42
  • 7.­44
  • 8.­89
  • 12.­62
  • 14.­11
  • 15.­15
  • 15.­39
  • 18.­24
  • 19.­1
  • 19.­24
  • 20.­8
  • 20.­16
  • 22.­45-46
  • 22.­48-49
  • 24.­22
  • 24.­25
  • 25.­28
g.­34

asura

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).

Located in 25 passages in the translation:

  • i.­14
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­28
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­29
  • 7.­14
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­81
  • 14.­17
  • 19.­20
  • 20.­27
  • 22.­7
  • 25.­38
  • n.­106
  • n.­171
  • g.­68
  • g.­255
  • g.­264
  • g.­288
  • g.­291
  • g.­320
  • g.­341
  • g.­343
  • g.­374
g.­36

avadāna

Wylie:
  • rtogs pa brjod pa
Tibetan:
  • རྟོགས་པ་བརྗོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • avadāna

A type of Buddhist biographical tale, typically including a story of the present and a story of a past life and the karmic connection between them. It is listed as one of the twelve types of Buddhist literature.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • 8.­4
  • 15.­35
  • g.­167
  • g.­244
g.­42

Bhadrarāja

Wylie:
  • rgyal po bzang
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་པོ་བཟང་།
Sanskrit:
  • bhadrarājan

A god whose name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • i.­35-36
  • 23.­14
  • 23.­16
  • 23.­19-21
  • 24.­13-15
  • 24.­28
  • 25.­18
  • 25.­38
g.­44

bodhisattva of great courage

Wylie:
  • byang chub sems dpa’ chen po
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ

A common epithet of great bodhisattvas, the precise meaning of which is contested but that seems to describe someone as possessing great courage, magnanimity, and great strength of character. The term is explained in the *Mahā­prajñā­pāramitopadeśa, which has a short chapter on this term, also as a being who possesses great love and great compassion.

Located in 23 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­6
  • 1.­14-16
  • 1.­19
  • 1.­22-24
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­63
  • 4.­1-2
  • 6.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­88
  • 9.­1
  • 16.­3
  • 16.­9
  • 18.­7
  • 20.­10
  • 23.­1
g.­46

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 44 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­5
  • 1.­28
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­6
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­14
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­67
  • 8.­90
  • 10.­5
  • 12.­22
  • 12.­24
  • 12.­32
  • 12.­51
  • 14.­12-15
  • 15.­20
  • 16.­2
  • 16.­21
  • 18.­20
  • 20.­14
  • 20.­27
  • 22.­12
  • 22.­23
  • 24.­8
  • 24.­11
  • 25.­9
  • 25.­24-26
  • 25.­29-31
  • n.­24
  • n.­178-179
  • n.­244
  • n.­296
  • g.­47
  • g.­109
  • g.­121
g.­47

Brahmā Śikhin

Wylie:
  • tshangs pa gtsug phud can
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པ་གཙུག་ཕུད་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • brahmā śikhī

A name for nickname for Brahmā, which could be rendered Brahmā, “the one with the topknot” (śikhin), who in this sūtra seems to be identical to Great Brahmā, sovereign of this Sahā world (mahābrahmā sahāṃpati).

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­64
  • 14.­12-14
  • 25.­20
  • 25.­24
  • g.­121
g.­55

celibacy

Wylie:
  • tshangs par spyod pa
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པར་སྤྱོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • brahmacarya

See “holy life.”

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­32
  • g.­155
g.­56

cessation

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Sanskrit, the term nirvāṇa literally means “extinguishment” and the Tibetan mya ngan las ’das pa literally means “gone beyond sorrow.” As a general term, it refers to the cessation of all suffering, afflicted mental states (kleśa), and causal processes (karman) that lead to rebirth and suffering in cyclic existence, as well as to the state in which all such rebirth and suffering has permanently ceased.

More specifically, three main types of nirvāṇa are identified. (1) The first type of nirvāṇa, called nirvāṇa with remainder (sopadhiśeṣanirvāṇa), is the state in which arhats or buddhas have attained awakening but are still dependent on the conditioned aggregates until their lifespan is exhausted. (2) At the end of life, given that there are no more causes for rebirth, these aggregates cease and no new aggregates arise. What occurs then is called nirvāṇa without remainder ( anupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa), which refers to the unconditioned element (dhātu) of nirvāṇa in which there is no remainder of the aggregates. (3) The Mahāyāna teachings distinguish the final nirvāṇa of buddhas from that of arhats, the nirvāṇa of arhats not being considered ultimate. The buddhas attain what is called nonabiding nirvāṇa (apratiṣṭhitanirvāṇa), which transcends the extremes of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, i.e., existence and peace. This is the nirvāṇa that is the goal of the Mahāyāna path.

In this text:

This has also been rendered as “nirvāṇa.”

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­35
  • 6.­5
  • 9.­1
  • 14.­23
  • 15.­16
  • 19.­32
  • 23.­18
  • g.­235
g.­57

chastity

Wylie:
  • tshangs par spyod pa
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པར་སྤྱོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • brahmacarya

See “holy life.”

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­31-32
  • g.­155
g.­58

child’s play

Wylie:
  • rnam par ’phrul pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་འཕྲུལ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vikrīḍita

Derived from a verb that means “to play with” or “to engage in sport,” the term often has the sense in Buddhist literature of doing things easily or making easy work of something as a result of having attained great knowledge and power.

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 3.­2
  • 7.­16
  • 13.­12
  • 14.­2-3
  • 14.­26
  • 18.­20
  • 19.­18
  • 20.­27
  • 23.­2
  • n.­203
g.­59

companion in the good

Wylie:
  • dge ba’i bshes gnyen
Tibetan:
  • དགེ་བའི་བཤེས་གཉེན།
Sanskrit:
  • kalyāṇamitra

A mentor or teacher who guides one’s pursuit of good or virtuous behavior and supports one on the spiritual path.

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • i.­32
  • 1.­12
  • 6.­5
  • 10.­2
  • 19.­7-8
  • 19.­12
  • 19.­19
  • 20.­12
  • 22.­24
  • 22.­57
  • 24.­18
  • n.­46
g.­60

complete cessation

Wylie:
  • yongs su mya ngan las ’das pa
  • yongs su mya ngan las ’da’ ba
Tibetan:
  • ཡོངས་སུ་མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
  • ཡོངས་སུ་མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདའ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • parinirvāṇa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

This refers to what occurs at the end of an arhat’s or a buddha’s life. When nirvāṇa is attained at awakening, whether as an arhat or buddha, all suffering, afflicted mental states (kleśa), and causal processes (karman) that lead to rebirth and suffering in cyclic existence have ceased, but due to previously accumulated karma, the aggregates of that life remain and must still exhaust themselves. It is only at the end of life that these cease, and since no new aggregates arise, the arhat or buddha is said to attain parinirvāṇa, meaning “complete” or “final” nirvāṇa. This is synonymous with the attainment of nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa).

According to the Mahāyāna view of a single vehicle (ekayāna), the arhat’s parinirvāṇa at death, despite being so called, is not final. The arhat must still enter the bodhisattva path and reach buddhahood (see Unraveling the Intent, Toh 106, 7.14.) On the other hand, the parinirvāṇa of a buddha, ultimately speaking, should be understood as a display manifested for the benefit of beings; see The Teaching on the Extraordinary Transformation That Is the Miracle of Attaining the Buddha’s Powers (Toh 186), 1.32.

The term parinirvāṇa is also associated specifically with the passing away of the Buddha Śākyamuni, in Kuśinagara, in northern India.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6
  • 7.­44
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­23
  • 9.­1
  • 19.­24
  • 20.­17
  • 25.­12
  • 25.­15
g.­61

concentration

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 29 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­3
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­9
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­46
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­3
  • 14.­16-18
  • 15.­31-32
  • 16.­16
  • 18.­5
  • 18.­7
  • 19.­41-45
  • 20.­10
  • 24.­7
  • n.­96
  • g.­50
  • g.­69
  • g.­342
  • g.­354
g.­62

conducive to the forms of penetrating insight

Wylie:
  • nges par ’byed pa’i cha dang ’thun pa
Tibetan:
  • ངེས་པར་འབྱེད་པའི་ཆ་དང་འཐུན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirvedhabhāgīya

Four stages in the development of insight upon the path to awakening, which are given the following names in the Mahāyāna­sūtrālaṃkāra, chapter 14, verse 26ff: “heat” (uṣmagata), “the summit” (mūrdhan), “patience” (kṣānti), and “the highest worldly dharma” (laukikāgra­dharma).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­2
  • 19.­45
g.­63

confidence

Wylie:
  • ’jigs pa med pa
  • mi ’jigs pa
Tibetan:
  • འཇིགས་པ་མེད་པ།
  • མི་འཇིགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vaiśaradya

See “self-assurance.”

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­26
  • 6.­3
  • 12.­10
  • 19.­5
  • 19.­20
  • n.­230
  • n.­257
  • g.­160
g.­66

constitutive factors of awakening

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi yan lag
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག
Sanskrit:
  • bodhyaṅga

A list of factors conducive to and forming the components of awakening, including the following: mindfulness (smṛti), analytic observation of things (dharma­pravicaya), heroic effort (vīrya), joy (prīti), tranquility (praśrabdhi), concentration (samādhi), and equanimity (upekṣā).

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­19
  • 3.­9
  • 6.­2
  • 13.­5
  • 14.­24
  • 15.­24
  • 15.­34
  • 16.­11
  • g.­263
g.­67

cosmos of a billion worlds

Wylie:
  • stong gsum gyi stong chen po’i ’jig rten gyi khams
Tibetan:
  • སྟོང་གསུམ་གྱི་སྟོང་ཆེན་པོའི་འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས།
Sanskrit:
  • trisāhasramahāsāhasra­loka­dhātu

Sometimes rendered “trichiliocosm,” this term refers to a container (dhātu) of worlds (loka) numbering one thousand to the third power, which equals one billion. It is sometimes contrasted with smaller groups of worlds translated herein as “a galaxy of a thousand worlds” and “a galaxy of a hundred thousand worlds.” While in English, the cosmos refers to the entire universe of many billions of galaxies, in present usage following Buddhist cosmology, it may represent only one of many universes.

Located in 37 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­5
  • 1.­32-33
  • 1.­62
  • 2.­21
  • 3.­12
  • 7.­6
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­39
  • 8.­41
  • 8.­57
  • 8.­90
  • 10.­4
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­5
  • 12.­12-13
  • 12.­15
  • 12.­28
  • 13.­1
  • 14.­16-17
  • 15.­27
  • 16.­18
  • 16.­24
  • 20.­24
  • 22.­4
  • 22.­11
  • 22.­14
  • 22.­17
  • 24.­25
  • 25.­6
  • 25.­11
  • g.­121
  • g.­285
  • g.­392
g.­70

Deer Park

Wylie:
  • ri dags kyi nags
Tibetan:
  • རི་དགས་ཀྱི་ནགས།
Sanskrit:
  • mṛgadāva

A place near Vārāṇasī where the Buddha is said to have taught the first sermon.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­15
  • 14.­14-15
  • g.­284
  • g.­373
g.­75

desire realm

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Buddhist cosmology, this is our own realm, the lowest and most coarse of the three realms of saṃsāra. It is called this because beings here are characterized by their strong longing for and attachment to the pleasures of the senses. The desire realm includes hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras, and the lowest six heavens of the gods‍—from the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (cāturmahā­rājika) up to the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (para­nirmita­vaśa­vartin). Located above the desire realm is the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu).

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­3
  • 3.­6
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­21-22
  • 12.­37
  • 14.­18
  • 15.­37
  • g.­106
  • g.­146
  • g.­149
  • g.­150
  • g.­151
  • g.­286
  • g.­398
g.­78

dhāraṇī

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

From the Sanskrit verb dhṛ (“to hold”), the term refers to the ability to hold or retain the Buddha’s teachings in the memory, and the specific mnemonic formulas or aids to doing so, which also distill the teachings into shorter utterances. From there the term also carries a strong sense that such formulas or devices, when spoken or rehearsed in the mind, have extraordinary power to effect change in the world and in oneself.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­32
  • i.­36-37
  • n.­283
  • n.­288
  • n.­303
  • g.­252
g.­81

Dharma body

Wylie:
  • chos kyi sku
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྐུ།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmakāya

A polyvalent term that can refer to the collection of qualities (dharma), which taken together constitute the true nature of a buddha, such as great wisdom, great compassion, and so on, but it can also refer to the body or collection of the Dharma; that is, to the Buddha’s teachings (dharma) taken as a whole; and by extension it also can refer to the true nature of things (dharma) as such.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • i.­21
  • i.­25
  • 1.­57-60
  • 7.­9
  • 7.­12
  • 21.­13
  • n.­67
g.­84

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

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

In this sūtra, a wheel-turning king in the past whose thousand sons vow to become the buddhas of this fortunate eon; also in this sūtra, used once seemingly to refer to the blind king in the Mahābhārata epic. Finally, although not used in this sūtra, the name of one of the Four Great Kings, the one who presides over the eastern quarter and rules over the gandharvas.

Located in 46 passages in the translation:

  • i.­24
  • 5.­6-8
  • 5.­10
  • 5.­20-23
  • 5.­31
  • 5.­33-34
  • 5.­38
  • 5.­51-52
  • 5.­64-66
  • 7.­5
  • 14.­12
  • n.­91
  • n.­195
  • g.­5
  • g.­26
  • g.­28
  • g.­71
  • g.­72
  • g.­74
  • g.­86
  • g.­89
  • g.­100
  • g.­110
  • g.­170
  • g.­180
  • g.­214
  • g.­243
  • g.­247
  • g.­250
  • g.­298
  • g.­299
  • g.­330
  • g.­352
  • g.­359
  • g.­377
  • g.­378
  • g.­383
g.­87

discernment

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

See “wisdom.”

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­46
  • 15.­32
  • 15.­34
  • 22.­26
  • n.­252
  • g.­69
  • g.­390
g.­88

disciple

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

A term for the Buddha’s followers, those who heard his teachings and were responsible for preserving and spreading them. The term derives from the verb śru (“to hear”), and can thus mean “one who hears,” but it is also closely connected to the senses of “learning” (śravaṇa) and of “causing (something) to be heard” (śrāvaṇa). In these ways, the term has some similarities in the meaning and usage to the English word disciple, which derives from a Latin verb that means to learn. The term śrāvaka is used in some Buddhist texts, such as this sūtra, as distinct from and sometimes in opposition to the “solitary buddha” (pratyekabuddha) and the bodhisattva.

Located in 39 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­18
  • 1.­28
  • 2.­29
  • 3.­2
  • 5.­3
  • 5.­26
  • 5.­60
  • 6.­5-6
  • 8.­13
  • 14.­24
  • 15.­14
  • 15.­18
  • 15.­23
  • 15.­39
  • 16.­13
  • 18.­1-2
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­19
  • 18.­22
  • 18.­26
  • 19.­7
  • 20.­27
  • 21.­1
  • 21.­10
  • 21.­12
  • 21.­14
  • 21.­19
  • 22.­10
  • 22.­12-13
  • g.­90
  • g.­91
  • g.­177
  • g.­215
  • g.­296
  • g.­313
  • g.­388
g.­90

divine eyesight

Wylie:
  • lha’i mig
Tibetan:
  • ལྷའི་མིག
Sanskrit:
  • divyacakṣus

Superhuman eyesight, one of the five or six supernormal faculties possessed by the gods, as well as by buddhas and some advanced disciples, bodhisattvas, and other superhuman beings.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­40
  • 7.­9
  • 9.­2
  • 24.­18-19
  • g.­327
  • g.­342
g.­91

divine hearing

Wylie:
  • lha’i rna ba
Tibetan:
  • ལྷའི་རྣ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • divyaśrotra

Superhuman hearing, one of the five or six supernormal faculties possessed by the gods, as well as by buddhas and some advanced disciples, bodhisattvas, and other superhuman beings.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­40
  • 9.­2
  • g.­327
g.­94

element

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

Eighteen collections of similar elements or factors of experience, under which all compounded and uncompounded things may be included: the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, plus their objects: visible forms, sounds, smells, flavors, tangible things, and mental phenomena, plus the six elements of consciousness that arises from the interaction of each of the preceding twelve. They constitute one system of categorizing the constituent parts of sentient experience.

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­55
  • 1.­57
  • 6.­5
  • 7.­8
  • 9.­5
  • 14.­22
  • 15.­36
  • 17.­3
  • 23.­10
  • n.­106
  • n.­201
  • g.­342
g.­95

empowering authority

Wylie:
  • byin gyi rlabs
Tibetan:
  • བྱིན་གྱི་རླབས།
Sanskrit:
  • adhiṣṭhāna

A challenging term that derives from a Sanskrit verb that can mean to authorize or empower as well as to stand over, depend on, or serve as a basis for something. As a noun, it can refer to one’s determination or resolve that something be the case, and the object of one’s resolution. Its noun and verb forms are also used in this and other sūtras to convey a sense of extraordinary mastery and power, a kind of superhuman willpower to make things happen.

Located in 19 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­21
  • 1.­24
  • 3.­2
  • 7.­2
  • 8.­13
  • 8.­23
  • 10.­5
  • 14.­9
  • 16.­15
  • 18.­31
  • 20.­7
  • 20.­17
  • 22.­4
  • 22.­7-8
  • 22.­13
  • 24.­30
  • n.­158
  • g.­96
g.­103

field of action

Wylie:
  • spyod yul
Tibetan:
  • སྤྱོད་ཡུལ།
Sanskrit:
  • gocara

An individual’s sphere of activity and influence; literally, a pasture or place where cows roam.

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • i.­33
  • 21.­9-18
  • 21.­21
g.­106

form realm

Wylie:
  • gzugs kyi khams
Tibetan:
  • གཟུགས་ཀྱི་ཁམས།
Sanskrit:
  • rūpadhātu

The second of the three realms of saṃsāra, situated above the desire realm and below the formless realm. It is characterized by a subtle degree of materiality and divided into a seventeen different heavens.

Located in 20 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­6
  • 7.­12
  • 12.­22
  • 14.­18
  • 15.­37
  • 18.­3
  • 18.­10
  • g.­137
  • g.­138
  • g.­139
  • g.­140
  • g.­141
  • g.­142
  • g.­143
  • g.­144
  • g.­145
  • g.­147
  • g.­152
  • g.­312
  • g.­331
g.­107

formless realm

Wylie:
  • gzugs med pa’i khams
Tibetan:
  • གཟུགས་མེད་པའི་ཁམས།
Sanskrit:
  • ārūpyadhātu
  • arūpadhātu

The highest of the three realms of saṃsāra, characterized by the fact that the beings reborn there dwell in deep states of meditation. It is divided in four levels according to each of the four formless meditations (ārūpyāvacara­dhyāna), namely, the Sphere of Infinite Space (Ākāśānantyāyatana), the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness (Vijñānānantyāyatana), the Sphere of Nothingness (Akiñcanyāyatana), and the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-perception (Naivasaṃjñānāsaṃ­jñāyatana).

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­28
  • 3.­6
  • 9.­1
  • 15.­37
  • g.­106
g.­109

four dwellings of Brahmā

Wylie:
  • tshangs pa’i gnas pa bzhi
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པའི་གནས་པ་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • caturbrahmavihāra

Love, compassion, joy, and equanimity; the cultivation of these four mental qualities puts one in the company of Brahmā. Also known as the four immeasurable states (apramāṇa).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­2
  • 20.­14
g.­110

Four Great Kings

Wylie:
  • rgyal chen bzhi
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་ཆེན་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • cāturmahārāja

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 17 passages in the translation:

  • i.­13-14
  • 14.­9
  • 18.­1
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­23-24
  • 18.­33
  • 19.­38-39
  • n.­195
  • g.­84
  • g.­125
  • g.­194
  • g.­364
  • g.­380
  • g.­381
g.­113

Full Array

Wylie:
  • rnam par brgyan pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་བརྒྱན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The name of a buddha domain of the past where there lived a buddha named King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Jewels of Virtues Without End.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­2-4
  • g.­197
g.­117

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 24 passages in the translation:

  • i.­14
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­38
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­29
  • 8.­3-4
  • 8.­81
  • 11.­10-11
  • 12.­11
  • 14.­17
  • 18.­1
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­24
  • 18.­32
  • 19.­1
  • 20.­27
  • 25.­38
  • n.­171
  • g.­84
  • g.­110
g.­121

Great Brahmā, sovereign of this Sahā world

Wylie:
  • tshangs pa chen po mi mjed kyi bdag po
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པ་ཆེན་པོ་མི་མཇེད་ཀྱི་བདག་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahā­brahmā sahāṃpatiḥ

The brahmā deity who is sometimes called Sahāṃpati, “sovereign of this Sahā world.” This is the name given to the great brahmā deity described in this sūtra as the lord (īśvara) of the cosmos of a billion worlds. The name attested in the Sanskrit manuscript. Also called Great Brahmā (mahābrahmā) or even simply Brahmā in this sūtra and elsewhere, as well as vaśavartin, the “powerful one.” In this sūtra, he also seems to be identified with Brahmā Śikhin, but at the same time Brahmā should be distinguished from the class of brahmā deities who dwell in the Brahmā heavens over which Great Brahmā is also lord.

Located in 16 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­11
  • i.­24
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­14-16
  • 12.­28-29
  • 18.­20
  • n.­178
  • g.­46
  • g.­47
  • g.­83
  • g.­251
  • g.­285
g.­125

guhyaka

Wylie:
  • gsang ba pa
Tibetan:
  • གསང་བ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • guhyaka

A class of nonhuman beings, similar to yakṣas and perhaps synonymous with them in some contexts. They are closely associated with Kubera or Vaiśravaṇa, the lokapāla and god of wealth who is one of the Four Great Kings, but they also have a strong association with Vajrapāṇi, especially in this sūtra. Guhyakas are sometimes considered the guardians of Vaiśravaṇa’s treasure, or even hidden treasures in general, such as veins of gold and other lodes of precious substances concealed or hidden (guhya) beneath the ground. In this way, the terms guhyaka (“divine guardian of hidden treasure”), and guhya (“secret” or “hidden treasure”), play off each other throughout this sūtra.

Located in 124 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11-14
  • i.­44
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­18-20
  • 1.­22
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­53
  • 2.­1
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­12
  • 4.­3-4
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­64
  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­49-50
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­39
  • 8.­86-89
  • 9.­1
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­3-6
  • 11.­1-2
  • 15.­1-4
  • 16.­1
  • 16.­9
  • 16.­17-18
  • 16.­24-25
  • 17.­1
  • 17.­7
  • 17.­24
  • 17.­35
  • 18.­1-3
  • 18.­5
  • 18.­7-10
  • 18.­19
  • 18.­25
  • 18.­27
  • 18.­30-34
  • 19.­1-3
  • 19.­23-26
  • 19.­34-37
  • 20.­2-4
  • 20.­8-9
  • 20.­11
  • 20.­17-19
  • 20.­26-28
  • 21.­2-5
  • 21.­22
  • 22.­1-2
  • 22.­4
  • 22.­9
  • 22.­14-17
  • 23.­1
  • 23.­3-4
  • 23.­6
  • 23.­9
  • 23.­11
  • 23.­13
  • 23.­20
  • 25.­1-4
  • 25.­6
  • 25.­10
  • 25.­14
  • 25.­22
  • 25.­38
  • n.­206
  • n.­319
  • g.­304
  • g.­367
g.­137

Heaven of Brahmā’s Assembly

Wylie:
  • tshangs ris
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་རིས།
Sanskrit:
  • brahmakāyika

The first heaven of the form realm, counting from lowest to highest. Associated with the first state of meditation (dhyāna).

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­68
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­15
  • 12.­28-29
  • 14.­12
  • 18.­8
  • g.­46
g.­148

Heaven of the Four Great Kings

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the heavens of Buddhist cosmology, lowest among the six heavens of the desire realm (kāmadhātu, ’dod khams). Dwelling place of the Four Great Kings (caturmahārāja, rgyal chen bzhi), traditionally located on a terrace of Sumeru, just below the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Each cardinal direction is ruled by one of the Four Great Kings and inhabited by a different class of nonhuman beings as their subjects: in the east, Dhṛtarāṣṭra rules the gandharvas; in the south, Virūḍhaka rules the kumbhāṇḍas; in the west, Virūpākṣa rules the nāgas; and in the north, Vaiśravaṇa rules the yakṣas.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­60
  • 18.­9
  • g.­75
g.­149

Heaven of the Thirty-Three

Wylie:
  • sum cu rtsa gsum
Tibetan:
  • སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • trāyastriṃśa

The second heaven of heavens of the desire realm, situated on the summit of Mount Meru and ruled by Śakra, whose Vaijayanta Palace is located there.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­52
  • 8.­61
  • 12.­39
  • 18.­9
  • n.­173
  • g.­286
  • g.­362
g.­150

Heaven of Those Who Possess the Power to Transform Others’ Delight into Their Own

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

The highest of the six heavens of the desire realm. Also rendered poetically in this sūtra as The Heaven of Transforming Others’ Delight.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­65
  • 18.­9
  • g.­75
g.­154

heroic effort

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

One of the perfections (pāramitā), implying diligence, courage, and the great effort of a hero (vīra).

Located in 29 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­7
  • 2.­25
  • 3.­7-8
  • 5.­24
  • 6.­4
  • 7.­46
  • 11.­7
  • 13.­5
  • 15.­20
  • 15.­28
  • 18.­13
  • 19.­9
  • 19.­18-19
  • 19.­26
  • 19.­28
  • 20.­10
  • 21.­6
  • 21.­8
  • 21.­22
  • 22.­29
  • 24.­11
  • 24.­16
  • 24.­20
  • 24.­22
  • 25.­31
  • g.­66
  • g.­105
g.­155

holy life

Wylie:
  • tshangs par spyad pa spyod pa
  • tshangs par spyod pa
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པར་སྤྱད་པ་སྤྱོད་པ།
  • ཚངས་པར་སྤྱོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • brahmacarya

A term that can refer in some contexts to chastity or complete celibacy, it can also be used in the sense of the overall practice of a religious or spiritual life as a devout person or a renunciant.

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • i.­28
  • 8.­86
  • 10.­1
  • 12.­63
  • 16.­10
  • 19.­41-45
  • 21.­5
  • 22.­57
  • 25.­14
  • g.­55
  • g.­57
g.­156

incalculable eon

Wylie:
  • bskal pa grangs med pa
Tibetan:
  • བསྐལ་པ་གྲངས་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • asaṃkhyeyakalpa

The name of a certain kind of kalpa that literally means “incalculable.” The number of years in this kalpa differs in the various sūtras that give it a number. Also, twenty intermediate kalpas are said to be one incalculable kalpa, and four incalculable kalpas are one great kalpa. In light of that, those four incalculable kalpas represent the kalpas of the creation, presence, destruction, and absence of a world. Buddhas are often described as appearing in a second “incalculable” kalpa.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­2
  • 21.­6
  • 25.­22
g.­157

inconceivable

Wylie:
  • bsam gyis mi khyab pa
Tibetan:
  • བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • acintya

See “mystery.”

Located in 20 passages in the translation:

  • i.­21
  • i.­42
  • 1.­63
  • 2.­2
  • 5.­2
  • 7.­42
  • 8.­87
  • 9.­6
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­5
  • 11.­9
  • 18.­4
  • 20.­11-12
  • 21.­6
  • 25.­32
  • n.­51
  • n.­99
  • n.­139
  • n.­158
g.­160

inspired eloquence

Wylie:
  • spobs pa
Tibetan:
  • སྤོབས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • pratibhāna

The trait of being able to speak readily and fluently and with inspiration and confidence about the Dharma and, indeed, in any teaching situation. Connected with the Sanskrit term pratibhā, which can have the sense of coming into view, appearing to the mind, becoming clear, and thus it has the sense of brilliance and clarity of thought expressed in speech.

Located in 26 passages in the translation:

  • i.­24
  • i.­33
  • i.­35-36
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­8
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­20
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­28
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­91
  • 11.­1
  • 20.­3
  • 21.­4-5
  • 23.­16-20
  • 24.­4
  • 24.­7
  • 24.­30
  • 24.­32
  • g.­314
g.­166

Jambudvīpa

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

The southern continent in a four-continent world, and the location where this sūtra assumes its implied audience lives in the narrative present of the work. According to Buddhist cosmology, this continent is shaped somewhat like an isosceles trapezoid with a wide top side and a very narrow bottom side, a shape that is not too dissimilar from that of the Indian subcontinent. It takes its name from the jambu fruit, which is often translated “rose apple”.

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­37
  • 1.­40
  • 1.­42
  • 1.­45-46
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­62
  • 8.­82
  • 20.­17
  • 25.­37
  • n.­311
  • g.­186
g.­180

King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End

Wylie:
  • yon tan mtha’ yas rin chen sna tshogs bkod pa’i rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • ཡོན་ཏན་མཐའ་ཡས་རིན་ཆེན་སྣ་ཚོགས་བཀོད་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

A buddha at the time of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­2-3
  • 5.­9-10
  • 5.­21
  • 5.­23
g.­181

kinnara

Wylie:
  • mi’am ci
Tibetan:
  • མིའམ་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 14 passages in the translation:

  • i.­14
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­28
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­29
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­81
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­37
  • 14.­17
  • n.­106
  • n.­171
  • g.­128
g.­182

knowledge

Wylie:
  • ye shes
Tibetan:
  • ཡེ་ཤེས།
Sanskrit:
  • jñāna

A general term for knowledge, divisible into a variety of different types. In sūtras like this one, though, it is often a term that designates a kind of certain knowledge of the Dharma as well as a more direct experience of its truth.

Located in 96 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • i.­23
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­8
  • 1.­12-13
  • 1.­16
  • 1.­44
  • 1.­57-58
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­28-30
  • 2.­36
  • 3.­2
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­28-29
  • 5.­45
  • 6.­4-5
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­32-33
  • 7.­46
  • 8.­6-7
  • 8.­84
  • 9.­1-3
  • 9.­5
  • 10.­4-5
  • 11.­9
  • 12.­18
  • 12.­62
  • 13.­5
  • 14.­3
  • 14.­6
  • 14.­11
  • 15.­1
  • 15.­9
  • 15.­15
  • 15.­22
  • 15.­24
  • 15.­26-27
  • 16.­11
  • 16.­13
  • 16.­20
  • 17.­4-6
  • 19.­7
  • 19.­20
  • 19.­24
  • 19.­32-33
  • 20.­10
  • 20.­12
  • 20.­15
  • 21.­6
  • 21.­14
  • 21.­19
  • 23.­18
  • 24.­2
  • 24.­7
  • 24.­10
  • 24.­16
  • 24.­21
  • 24.­26
  • 24.­30
  • 24.­32
  • 25.­5
  • n.­96
  • n.­153
  • n.­158
  • n.­234
  • n.­258
  • n.­287
  • n.­293
  • n.­316
  • g.­58
  • g.­65
  • g.­277
  • g.­314
  • g.­327
  • g.­329
  • g.­344
  • g.­354
  • g.­358
g.­185

kumbhāṇḍa

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of dwarf beings subordinate to Virūḍhaka, one of the Four Great Kings, associated with the southern direction. The name uses a play on the word aṇḍa, which means “egg” but is also a euphemism for a testicle. Thus, they are often depicted as having testicles as big as pots (from kumbha, or “pot”).

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 18.­1
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­24
  • g.­110
  • g.­380
g.­189

league

Wylie:
  • dpag tshad
Tibetan:
  • དཔག་ཚད།
Sanskrit:
  • yojana

A unit of measuring distance, calculated differently in various systems but in the range of four to nine miles.

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­4-5
  • 5.­7
  • 5.­20
  • 7.­16
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­90
  • 13.­2
  • 14.­1
  • 14.­14
  • 18.­5
  • 18.­10
  • 22.­7
g.­193

limited to only one more life

Wylie:
  • skye ba gcig gis thogs pa
Tibetan:
  • སྐྱེ་བ་གཅིག་གིས་ཐོགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ekajāti­prati­baddha

A stage on the path at which a bodhisattva will require only one more lifetime beyond the present one in order to achieve complete awakening.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 8.­89
g.­194

lokapāla

Wylie:
  • ’jig rten skyong ba
Tibetan:
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་སྐྱོང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • lokapāla

Literally, protector of the world, this term is another way of referring to the Four Great Kings.

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • i.­32
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­28
  • 2.­4
  • 5.­35
  • 10.­5
  • 12.­5
  • 14.­15
  • 20.­27
  • 24.­8
  • 25.­9
  • n.­244
  • g.­110
  • g.­125
  • g.­261
g.­196

Lovely Illumination

Wylie:
  • bskal pa mdzes pa
Tibetan:
  • བསྐལ་པ་མཛེས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

An eon long ago in which a past life of Vajrapāṇi is described.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 5.­2
g.­198

magically created form

Wylie:
  • sprul pa
Tibetan:
  • སྤྲུལ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirmita

Derived from the Sanskrit verb mā (“to measure out”, “to form”, “to create”, “to exhibit”), and thus probably connected to the term māyā (“magical illusion”), a nirmita in this sense is an object or image, often a replica of a person, that has been created through the superhuman power of creating magical illusions.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • i.­28
  • 7.­47
  • 9.­4
  • 10.­5
  • 23.­1-2
g.­201

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 14 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­5
  • 1.­28
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­29
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­81
  • 12.­11
  • 14.­17
  • 18.­1
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­32
  • 19.­1
  • n.­171
g.­202

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 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­28
  • 1.­4
  • 5.­55
  • 8.­10
  • 10.­4-5
  • n.­181
  • g.­299
g.­203

majestic power

Wylie:
  • sangs rgyas kyi mthu
Tibetan:
  • སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་མཐུ།
Sanskrit:
  • anubhāva

Specifically that of the Buddha, in most instances of the term, but used more generally, too, of the sun and the moon, as well as various beings in the phrase “great superhuman power and great majestic power” (mahārddhiko mahānubhāvaḥ). The term has the sense of the power that comes from the mere presence or nature of the thing, something like the classical sense of the term charisma.

Located in 20 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­21
  • 4.­3
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­15-16
  • 7.­21
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­23
  • 8.­29
  • 9.­4
  • 10.­3
  • 13.­2
  • 13.­8
  • 18.­20
  • 18.­30
  • 20.­27
  • 22.­12
  • 22.­57
  • 25.­10
  • 25.­33
g.­208

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 52 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­29
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­17
  • 1.­62
  • 2.­21
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­10
  • 5.­30
  • 6.­5
  • 7.­14
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­66
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­9
  • 12.­13-14
  • 12.­18
  • 12.­30
  • 12.­50
  • 12.­59
  • 12.­68-69
  • 13.­1-5
  • 13.­7-8
  • 13.­10-13
  • 14.­1-2
  • 14.­4
  • 14.­26
  • 15.­14
  • 20.­16
  • 20.­18
  • 24.­6
  • 25.­5-6
  • 25.­9
  • 25.­11
  • 25.­13-14
  • n.­34
  • n.­191
  • g.­120
g.­210

marks of a great person

Wylie:
  • skyes bu chen po’i mtshan
Tibetan:
  • སྐྱེས་བུ་ཆེན་པོའི་མཚན།
Sanskrit:
  • mahā­puruṣa­lakṣaṇa

The physical characteristics or attributes of the human body possessed by wheel-turning kings and perfect buddhas and of which there are said to be thirty-two.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­7
  • 3.­10
  • 5.­8
  • 16.­14
  • g.­351
  • g.­389
g.­217

meditation

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 24 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­2-3
  • 1.­7
  • 2.­25
  • 3.­3
  • 11.­8
  • 13.­5
  • 15.­20
  • 15.­24
  • 19.­7
  • 19.­9
  • 20.­14
  • 22.­30
  • 24.­11
  • 24.­22
  • n.­169
  • g.­6
  • g.­16
  • g.­50
  • g.­69
  • g.­107
  • g.­152
  • g.­191
  • g.­312
g.­218

Meghavatī

Wylie:
  • sprin ldan
Tibetan:
  • སྤྲིན་ལྡན།
Sanskrit:
  • meghavatī

A world mentioned in this sūtra as well as in the Lalitavistara.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­2
  • g.­219
  • g.­278
g.­219

Melodious King of Clouds

Wylie:
  • sprin dbyangs rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • སྤྲིན་དབྱངས་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

The buddha of the Meghavatī world. Similar names are attested in other texts. For instance, the Lalitavistara names the buddha of this world as Cloud King (Megharāja) while the Gaṇḍavyūha makes reference to a bodhisattva by the name of Meghanirghoṣasvara (sprin gyi dbyangs kyi sgra).

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­2-3
  • g.­278
g.­222

motivation

Wylie:
  • bsam pa
Tibetan:
  • བསམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • āśaya

A general term for “inclination,” somewhat like adhimokṣa, but in sūtras such as this one, it is used as a term for the firm intent to pursue the Buddhist path.

Located in 33 passages in the translation:

  • i.­7-8
  • i.­29
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­13
  • 3.­12
  • 5.­8
  • 6.­3
  • 8.­7-8
  • 8.­54
  • 8.­87
  • 9.­5
  • 12.­13
  • 12.­64
  • 14.­3
  • 14.­18
  • 14.­25
  • 16.­8
  • 16.­15
  • 17.­25
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­34
  • 23.­2
  • 24.­6
  • 24.­11
  • 24.­27
  • n.­113
  • n.­153
  • n.­184
  • n.­303
  • g.­18
  • g.­354
g.­223

Mount Meru

Wylie:
  • ri rab
Tibetan:
  • རི་རབ།
Sanskrit:
  • sumeru

The huge mountain at the center of the world according to the classical Buddhist view. Sometimes named Sumeru, as it is in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra, as well as “the king of mountains” (parvatarāja, ri’i rgal po).

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­33
  • 8.­10
  • 12.­13
  • 15.­3
  • 22.­8
  • 22.­12-14
  • 24.­7
  • 24.­25
  • g.­110
  • g.­149
g.­225

mystery

Wylie:
  • bsam gyis mi khyab pa
Tibetan:
  • བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • acintya

Derived from a verb that means “to think,” this term can be used as a noun or an adjective to describe something that cannot be conceived or understood. In that sense, the term overlaps with the sense of the English word mystery. The term is often found in this sūtra in close association with the term guhya (“secret”), and also used as an adjective in combination with dharma (“thing” or “quality”). Rendered that way, it can also be used in the sense of an inconceivably large number of things.

Located in 16 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­9
  • i.­11
  • i.­21
  • i.­42-43
  • 1.­23
  • 4.­4
  • 7.­49
  • 8.­86
  • 8.­92
  • n.­51
  • n.­99
  • n.­103
  • g.­157
  • g.­304
g.­226

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 47 passages in the translation:

  • i.­14
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­38
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­29
  • 8.­3-4
  • 8.­81
  • 11.­10-11
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­37
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­45-46
  • 12.­48-49
  • 12.­55
  • 12.­61
  • 14.­17
  • 18.­24
  • 20.­2
  • 22.­12
  • 24.­10
  • 25.­32
  • n.­106
  • n.­171
  • n.­174
  • g.­25
  • g.­29
  • g.­97
  • g.­110
  • g.­128
  • g.­153
  • g.­173
  • g.­206
  • g.­232
  • g.­255
  • g.­282
  • g.­334
  • g.­335
  • g.­340
  • g.­357
  • g.­372
  • g.­381
g.­235

nirvāṇa

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Sanskrit, the term nirvāṇa literally means “extinguishment” and the Tibetan mya ngan las ’das pa literally means “gone beyond sorrow.” As a general term, it refers to the cessation of all suffering, afflicted mental states (kleśa), and causal processes (karman) that lead to rebirth and suffering in cyclic existence, as well as to the state in which all such rebirth and suffering has permanently ceased.

More specifically, three main types of nirvāṇa are identified. (1) The first type of nirvāṇa, called nirvāṇa with remainder (sopadhiśeṣanirvāṇa), is the state in which arhats or buddhas have attained awakening but are still dependent on the conditioned aggregates until their lifespan is exhausted. (2) At the end of life, given that there are no more causes for rebirth, these aggregates cease and no new aggregates arise. What occurs then is called nirvāṇa without remainder ( anupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa), which refers to the unconditioned element (dhātu) of nirvāṇa in which there is no remainder of the aggregates. (3) The Mahāyāna teachings distinguish the final nirvāṇa of buddhas from that of arhats, the nirvāṇa of arhats not being considered ultimate. The buddhas attain what is called nonabiding nirvāṇa (apratiṣṭhitanirvāṇa), which transcends the extremes of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, i.e., existence and peace. This is the nirvāṇa that is the goal of the Mahāyāna path.

In this text:

This has also been rendered as “cessation.”

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • i.­28
  • 1.­55
  • 3.­10
  • 17.­3
  • 19.­35-36
  • 21.­8-9
  • 22.­39
  • 23.­18
  • 25.­5
  • n.­106
  • n.­287
  • g.­56
  • g.­348
g.­238

noble son

Wylie:
  • rigs kyi bu
Tibetan:
  • རིགས་ཀྱི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • kulaputra

A common term of address for individuals in Buddhist sūtras who are deemed to have a good upbringing and are ready for spiritual teachings.

Located in 37 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­22
  • 1.­56
  • 4.­4
  • 5.­61
  • 7.­2-3
  • 7.­18
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­46
  • 8.­13
  • 8.­18
  • 15.­6
  • 16.­12
  • 16.­16
  • 17.­1-2
  • 17.­22
  • 17.­24
  • 19.­2
  • 19.­4
  • 19.­7-8
  • 19.­12
  • 19.­17
  • 20.­10
  • 21.­6
  • 21.­12
  • 21.­14
  • 23.­4
  • 23.­11
  • 23.­18
  • 24.­14
  • 25.­13-14
  • n.­125
  • n.­153
  • n.­250
g.­241

palm tree

Wylie:
  • shing ta la
Tibetan:
  • ཤིང་ཏ་ལ།
Sanskrit:
  • tāla

The palmyra palm tree, native to South and Southeast Asia, which can grow to a height of nearly one hundred feet.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­15
  • 14.­1
  • 16.­15
  • g.­341
g.­244

past-life story

Wylie:
  • sngon gyi tshul
Tibetan:
  • སྔོན་གྱི་ཚུལ།
Sanskrit:
  • pūrvayoga

A type of Buddhist past-life story, often used synonymously with avadāna and jātaka.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­66
  • 8.­4
  • n.­24
g.­246

patience

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

One of the perfections (pāramitā) as well as a term for a kind of mental receptivity to or acceptance of the way things are.

Located in 18 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­7
  • 2.­25
  • 3.­7
  • 6.­4
  • 13.­5
  • 15.­20
  • 15.­22
  • 15.­28
  • 19.­9
  • 20.­16
  • 22.­19
  • 22.­28
  • 24.­11
  • 24.­22
  • g.­7
  • g.­8
  • g.­9
  • g.­62
g.­249

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 4 passages in the translation:

  • 18.­1
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­32
  • 19.­1
g.­252

powerful memory and the formulas that support it

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

See “dhāraṇī.”

Located in 17 passages in the translation:

  • i.­36
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­10
  • 20.­15
  • 23.­20
  • 24.­1-2
  • 24.­6
  • 24.­12
  • 24.­27
  • 24.­29-30
  • 24.­33-34
  • n.­283
  • n.­303
  • n.­309
g.­258

prediction

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

A genre of Buddhist literature included in the list of nine or twelve types. In the Pali tradition, the Abhidharma is placed in this category, though it is also used to refer to any instances in which the Buddha gives a prophecy or prediction about the future‍—for example, the future awakening or attainment of some particular being.

Located in 28 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­11
  • i.­30-31
  • 1.­25
  • 3.­12
  • 5.­64-65
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­88
  • 12.­63
  • 16.­17-18
  • 16.­25
  • 17.­1-2
  • 17.­5-8
  • 18.­1
  • 18.­4
  • 19.­32
  • 21.­3
  • n.­232
  • n.­241
  • g.­353
  • g.­367
g.­259

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 5 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­44
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­32
  • 19.­1
  • g.­393
g.­261

protectors of the world

Wylie:
  • ’jig rten skyong ba
Tibetan:
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་སྐྱོང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • lokapāla

See “lokapāla”.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 19.­38-39
  • 19.­50
  • g.­110
g.­265

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 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 8.­10
  • 21.­1
g.­266

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 6 passages in the translation:

  • 18.­1
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­24
  • 18.­32
  • 18.­34
  • 19.­1
g.­269

Ratnacandra

Wylie:
  • rin chen zla ba
Tibetan:
  • རིན་ཆེན་ཟླ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • ratnacandra

A realized one whose name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 25.­2
  • 25.­10
  • 25.­12-14
  • g.­27
  • g.­257
  • g.­301
g.­274

realized one

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

A common epithet of the buddhas, translated into Tibetan as “the one gone thus,” from which one gets the translation “thus-gone one.” The term has a sense of literal movement, of having “gone” or “come” somewhere, but it also carries the sense of having “realized” something, in both senses of having understood it and made it real. In some traditional explanations of the term, the adverb tathā (“thus” or “in that way”) is therefore connected to tathatā (“the way things are”).

Located in 232 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­6
  • i.­8-9
  • i.­15-17
  • i.­20-21
  • i.­25-26
  • i.­28
  • i.­43
  • i.­45
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­17-25
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­57
  • 1.­60-63
  • 2.­29
  • 4.­2-4
  • 5.­2-3
  • 5.­9-10
  • 5.­21
  • 5.­23
  • 5.­28
  • 5.­31
  • 5.­47
  • 5.­55
  • 5.­60
  • 5.­62
  • 5.­64
  • 6.­5
  • 7.­1-17
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­43-51
  • 8.­1-13
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­26
  • 8.­32-33
  • 8.­35-37
  • 8.­40
  • 8.­57
  • 8.­82-88
  • 8.­92
  • 9.­1-7
  • 10.­3
  • 10.­5
  • 12.­13
  • 12.­62-63
  • 14.­6-15
  • 14.­18
  • 14.­25
  • 15.­1-2
  • 15.­16
  • 15.­19
  • 15.­22
  • 15.­26
  • 16.­9-17
  • 17.­1
  • 17.­9-10
  • 17.­24-25
  • 17.­34
  • 18.­3-4
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­19
  • 18.­27
  • 18.­30-31
  • 18.­34
  • 19.­18
  • 19.­24
  • 19.­35
  • 20.­1
  • 20.­7
  • 20.­16-17
  • 21.­3-4
  • 21.­6
  • 21.­9
  • 21.­11
  • 21.­14-15
  • 21.­17
  • 21.­22
  • 22.­19
  • 22.­55
  • 22.­57
  • 23.­2
  • 23.­4-5
  • 23.­14
  • 23.­20
  • 24.­12-13
  • 25.­2
  • 25.­10
  • 25.­12-15
  • 25.­18
  • 25.­22
  • 25.­24-25
  • 25.­27
  • 25.­31-32
  • n.­68
  • n.­88
  • n.­92
  • n.­103
  • n.­105
  • n.­106
  • n.­138-140
  • n.­153
  • n.­205-206
  • n.­316
  • n.­319
  • g.­4
  • g.­21
  • g.­51
  • g.­77
  • g.­127
  • g.­169
  • g.­171
  • g.­172
  • g.­231
  • g.­257
  • g.­269
  • g.­270
  • g.­278
  • g.­289
  • g.­301
  • g.­315
  • g.­320
  • g.­342
  • g.­344
g.­278

Resounding Musical Sound

Wylie:
  • sgra dbyangs bsgrags pa
Tibetan:
  • སྒྲ་དབྱངས་བསྒྲགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

A bodhisattva in the Meghavatī world of the realized one Melodious King of Clouds. The Sanskrit could be something like Svaraghoṣanirghoṣa.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­2-5
g.­285

Sahā

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

A name for the “world” or perhaps “galaxy” or “world system,” more literally, “the container of worlds” (lokadhātu), that forms the extent of the Buddha Śākyamuni’s domain. Its name suggests that it is a world in which beings experience suffering. It could also be described as the extent of the world over which Great Brahmā is said to be the lord and sovereign god (Sahāṃpati). Opinions vary over the precise extent of Sahā, and its expanse seems to have extended over time. For the purposes of this sūtra, it is sometimes equated with “the cosmos of a billion worlds.” More generally, it can also be conceived as the world in which the implied target audience of the sūtra can locate themselves, the place where we are located.

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­2
  • 7.­15
  • 7.­21
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­35
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­9
  • 12.­22
  • 12.­24
  • 12.­28
  • 12.­31-32
  • 22.­23
  • n.­178
  • g.­121
g.­286

Śakra

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

The chief god of the desire realm who is known as the King of the Gods and as the Lord of the Gods and dwells in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.

Located in 35 passages in the translation:

  • i.­13
  • i.­21
  • i.­34
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­40
  • 1.­48
  • 1.­51-52
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­7
  • 7.­4
  • 10.­5
  • 12.­6
  • 12.­35
  • 12.­51
  • 14.­13-15
  • 18.­20
  • 20.­27
  • 22.­6-7
  • 22.­10
  • 22.­23
  • 24.­8
  • 25.­9
  • 25.­20
  • n.­61-62
  • n.­244
  • g.­149
  • g.­178
  • g.­302
  • g.­325
g.­293

saṃsāra

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

The world of ongoing birth, death, and rebirth, and the apparent reality of this world.

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­55
  • 3.­10
  • 5.­18
  • 5.­36
  • 17.­3
  • 21.­8-10
  • 21.­12
  • n.­225
  • g.­75
  • g.­106
  • g.­107
g.­294

Śāntamati

Wylie:
  • zhi ba’i blo gros
Tibetan:
  • ཞི་བའི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • śāntamati

A bodhisattva in the audience of this sūtra, and one of the main interlocutors.

Located in 220 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6
  • i.­8
  • i.­20
  • i.­25
  • i.­29-31
  • i.­35-36
  • 1.­4
  • 1.­18-19
  • 1.­22-26
  • 1.­29-30
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­36-37
  • 1.­40
  • 1.­43
  • 1.­45-46
  • 1.­52-54
  • 1.­58-61
  • 1.­63
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­27-30
  • 2.­39
  • 3.­1-3
  • 3.­6-7
  • 3.­11
  • 4.­1-2
  • 5.­2-11
  • 5.­20
  • 5.­33-34
  • 5.­51
  • 5.­53-56
  • 5.­60-61
  • 5.­64-65
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­6
  • 7.­1-3
  • 7.­6-15
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­43-48
  • 8.­1-10
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­37-40
  • 8.­57-58
  • 8.­66
  • 8.­81-85
  • 8.­88
  • 8.­90-91
  • 9.­1-2
  • 9.­4-6
  • 11.­1-4
  • 11.­7-12
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­28
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­55
  • 12.­61-62
  • 12.­64-65
  • 12.­71
  • 13.­1
  • 13.­3-6
  • 13.­10
  • 13.­12
  • 14.­1-6
  • 14.­8-13
  • 14.­15
  • 14.­17-19
  • 14.­25
  • 15.­5
  • 15.­7-15
  • 15.­27-28
  • 15.­40
  • 16.­3
  • 16.­9
  • 16.­14
  • 16.­16
  • 17.­1
  • 17.­6
  • 17.­11
  • 17.­25
  • 17.­34
  • 23.­1-4
  • 23.­6
  • 23.­10
  • 23.­16
  • 23.­19-20
  • 24.­1-4
  • 24.­6
  • 24.­12-14
  • 25.­12-14
  • 25.­38
  • n.­58
  • n.­106
  • n.­125
  • n.­203
  • n.­207-208
  • n.­214
  • n.­232
  • n.­234
g.­296

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.­2
  • i.­22
  • i.­28
  • 2.­38
  • 8.­84
  • 10.­1-5
  • 14.­25
  • n.­58
  • n.­65
  • n.­156-157
  • g.­93
  • g.­215
g.­303

seat of awakening

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The place where the Buddha Śākyamuni achieved awakening and where every buddha will manifest the attainment of buddhahood. In our world this is understood to be located under the Bodhi tree, the Vajrāsana, in present-day Bodhgaya, India. It can also refer to the state of awakening itself.

Located in 28 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • 11.­1
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­14-15
  • 12.­17
  • 12.­19-20
  • 12.­25
  • 12.­28
  • 12.­36
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­61-63
  • 12.­65
  • 12.­71-72
  • 13.­1
  • 14.­2-4
  • 14.­11
  • 14.­26
  • 15.­39
  • 20.­2
  • 20.­18
g.­304

secret

Wylie:
  • gsang ba
Tibetan:
  • གསང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • guhya

Derived from a verb that means to hide, conceal, or keep secret, the term means a secret, a mystery, as well as a hiding place or secret location, such as a place where one finds buried treasure. In this way, the term also has the sense that what is kept secret or hidden is something precious and mysterious. It is closely connected with the term guhyaka, the guardians of hidden treasures.

Located in 83 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­2
  • i.­9
  • i.­11
  • i.­14
  • i.­20-23
  • i.­25-26
  • i.­28
  • i.­42-43
  • i.­45
  • 1.­17-22
  • 1.­24-25
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­58
  • 1.­63
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­39-40
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­6-7
  • 3.­11-13
  • 4.­4
  • 5.­62
  • 7.­1-3
  • 7.­7
  • 7.­42-43
  • 7.­46-51
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­4-6
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 8.­57
  • 8.­83
  • 8.­85
  • 8.­92
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­6-7
  • 12.­13
  • 15.­1-2
  • 16.­9
  • 23.­20
  • 25.­32
  • n.­51
  • n.­90
  • n.­99
  • n.­101-103
  • n.­105
  • n.­106
  • n.­117
  • n.­142
  • n.­159
  • n.­205
  • g.­125
  • g.­225
g.­305

self-assurance

Wylie:
  • ’jigs pa med pa
  • mi ’jigs pa
Tibetan:
  • འཇིགས་པ་མེད་པ།
  • མི་འཇིགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vaiśaradya

Often rendered as fearlessness, of which there are commonly said to be four types.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­3
  • 9.­3
  • 12.­14
  • g.­63
g.­313

solitary buddha

Wylie:
  • rang sangs rgyas
Tibetan:
  • རང་སངས་རྒྱས།
Sanskrit:
  • pratyekabuddha

A category of awakened being (buddha) who is variously described as having attained awakening but not then teaching the Dharma to others, and as attaining awakening without relying on a teacher. In this way, the solitary buddha is sometimes contrasted with the “disciple” (śrāvaka) and the “perfect, fully awakened buddha” (saṃyaksam­buddha), as well as with the bodhisattava who aspires to become a fully awakened buddha.

Located in 22 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­18
  • 1.­28
  • 2.­29
  • 3.­2
  • 5.­26
  • 6.­5-6
  • 8.­39
  • 8.­41
  • 14.­24
  • 15.­14
  • 15.­18
  • 15.­23
  • 15.­39
  • 16.­13
  • 21.­10
  • 21.­12
  • 21.­14
  • 21.­17
  • 21.­19
  • 22.­13
  • g.­88
g.­322

Subhūma

Wylie:
  • bzangs
Tibetan:
  • བཟངས།
Sanskrit:
  • subhūma

An earth-dwelling deity whose name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 12.­1
g.­327

supernormal faculties

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

Derived from a verb that has the sense of direct knowing, this term refers to a number of types of extraordinary knowledge and powers, grouped as five or six. When stated to be five, they include the first five of the list that follows: (1) various superhuman powers (ṛddhi); (2) the ability to know others’ minds; (3) extraordinary powers of hearing, or the divine ear; (4) extraordinary powers of sight, or the divine eye; (5) the ability to remember one’s past lives, and (6) the knowledge that the defilements have been destroyed and it is one’s last lifetime. When the fifth is not specified, then oftentimes the sixth or all six types are implied. The last three of the list are the same as the three types of knowledge (vidyā), and are tantamount to the description of the awakening experience in some presentations.

Located in 23 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­35
  • 3.­2
  • 5.­11
  • 5.­45-46
  • 6.­2
  • 7.­16
  • 10.­4-5
  • 15.­20
  • 16.­15
  • 20.­14
  • 22.­34
  • 22.­41
  • 24.­11
  • n.­158
  • g.­50
  • g.­90
  • g.­91
  • g.­342
g.­329

supply

Wylie:
  • tshogs
Tibetan:
  • ཚོགས།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃbhāra

Usually of two kinds, the supply of merit and the supply of knowledge, but also more generally the supplies or provisions that a bodhisattva accumulates and stores, which then provide the fuel for the pursuit of the goal of the path. This sūtra provides a long list of such supplies, which are mainly qualities or virtues the bodhisattva develops.

Located in 22 passages in the translation:

  • i.­20
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­6-16
  • 3.­12
  • 6.­2
  • 15.­4
  • 21.­12
  • n.­46
  • n.­178
  • n.­196
  • g.­10
  • g.­328
g.­333

Śūrabala

Wylie:
  • dpa’ stobs
Tibetan:
  • དཔའ་སྟོབས།
Sanskrit:
  • śūrabala

Vajrapāṇi in a previous life as a bodhisattva during the lifetime of the buddha Vaiśramaṇa who engages that buddha in a dialogue in one chapter of this sūtra. His name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­33
  • 21.­7
  • 21.­11
  • 21.­15
  • 21.­22-23
  • n.­272
  • g.­188
g.­344

the way things are

Wylie:
  • de bzhin nyid
Tibetan:
  • དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • tathatā

An expression that conveys a sense of the true nature of things, formed from the word for “thus” or “in that way” (tathā) conjoined with the abstract suffix “-ness” or “state of” (-tā). The word is connected with tathāgata, “realized one,” and with the knowledge of things as they truly are (yathābhūta­jñāna), which is tantamount to awakening.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­17
  • 1.­56-57
  • 8.­83
  • 16.­10
  • 24.­31
  • g.­246
  • g.­274
g.­348

transcendent

Wylie:
  • ’jig rten las ’das pa
Tibetan:
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་ལས་འདས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • lokottara

Literally “above the world,” and mainly refers to nirvāṇa and awakening, the path and practices that lead to them, and the factors that constitute those states.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­2
  • 9.­5
  • 17.­3
  • 24.­11
g.­350

true nature

Wylie:
  • chos nyid
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmatā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The real nature, true quality, or condition of things. Throughout Buddhist discourse this term is used in two distinct ways. In one, it designates the relative nature that is either the essential characteristic of a specific phenomenon, such as the heat of fire and the moisture of water, or the defining feature of a specific term or category. The other very important and widespread way it is used is to designate the ultimate nature of all phenomena, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms and is often synonymous with emptiness or the absence of intrinsic existence.

Located in 18 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­11-12
  • 1.­29
  • 1.­62
  • 3.­2
  • 15.­2
  • 19.­16
  • 21.­13
  • 23.­5
  • 24.­4
  • 25.­5
  • n.­53
  • n.­138
  • n.­140
  • g.­69
  • g.­81
  • g.­277
  • g.­344
g.­351

tuft of hair

Wylie:
  • mdzod spu
Tibetan:
  • མཛོད་སྤུ།
Sanskrit:
  • ūrṇa

One of the thirty-two marks of a great person. It consists of a tuft of hair between the eyebrows.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­6
  • 8.­33
  • 13.­1
g.­353

unable to be turned back

Wylie:
  • phyir mi ldog pa
Tibetan:
  • ཕྱིར་མི་ལྡོག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • avaivartika

A description of a bodhisattva who has reached a particular stage along the path to becoming a buddha at which the bodhisattva is certain of doing so. Different Buddhist works place this stage at different points along the path. According to some works, it is a highly advanced stage that is connected with having received a prediction of future buddhahood. Modern scholars have also sometimes connected it to the acceptance of the fact that things do not arise, but it is also connected with other attainments.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­31
  • 5.­6
  • 12.­71
  • 14.­9-10
  • 14.­15
  • 15.­24
  • 15.­39
  • 19.­1
  • 20.­16
  • g.­163
g.­362

Vaijayanta Palace

Wylie:
  • rnam rgyal khang
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་རྒྱལ་ཁང་།
Sanskrit:
  • vaijayanta

The palace of Indra in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 12.­6
  • 12.­35
  • g.­149
g.­363

Vaiśramaṇa

Wylie:
  • rnam par zhi spyod
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་ཞི་སྤྱོད།
Sanskrit:
  • vaiśramaṇa

A past buddha whose name is attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • i.­33
  • 21.­6
  • 21.­11
  • 21.­15
  • 21.­22
  • g.­188
  • g.­333
g.­364

Vaiśravaṇa

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

One of the Four Great Kings and a god of wealth, he presides over the northern quarter and rules over the yakṣas.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • i.­14
  • 7.­5
  • 18.­22
  • 18.­25
  • 24.­9
  • 25.­20
  • n.­195
  • g.­11
  • g.­110
  • g.­125
g.­365

vajra

Wylie:
  • rdo rje
Tibetan:
  • རྡོ་རྗེ།
Sanskrit:
  • vajra

There are two meanings, not always easy to disambiguate in practice: (1) a type of cudgel or mace, wielded by Vajrapāṇi, whose name literally means “The One with the Vajra in his Hand,” as well as the thunderbolt, the mythical weapon of Indra, and a stylized ritual object used in Buddhist ritual; (2) adamant, the hard and unbreakable substance out of which the weapon is said to be made.

Located in 28 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • i.­34
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­53
  • 7.­45
  • 10.­5
  • 12.­25
  • 13.­4
  • 14.­3
  • 16.­9
  • 16.­18
  • 22.­1
  • 22.­4-17
  • g.­49
g.­367

Vajrapāṇi

Wylie:
  • lag na rdo rje
Tibetan:
  • ལག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།
Sanskrit:
  • vajrapāṇi

A yakṣa and the protagonist of this sūtra who is counted among the bodhisattvas in attendance at the beginning of the sūtra and called the lord of the guhyakas (guhyakādhipati) throughout the work. He gives various teachings, receives a prediction of his future awakening as a buddha, and is the subject of various past life stories to explain his current responsibilities and attributes; he also hosts the Buddha Śākyamuni at his home for a meal. See the introduction for a discussion of his place in Buddhist literature.

Located in 149 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­5
  • i.­7
  • i.­9
  • i.­11-14
  • i.­16
  • i.­20-26
  • i.­28-35
  • i.­37
  • i.­42
  • i.­44
  • i.­47-48
  • 1.­4
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­18-22
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­34
  • 1.­53
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­37
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­12
  • 4.­2
  • 5.­62
  • 5.­64
  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­49-50
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­38
  • 8.­40
  • 8.­86-89
  • 9.­1
  • 10.­3-6
  • 11.­1-2
  • 15.­1
  • 16.­1
  • 16.­9
  • 16.­17-18
  • 16.­24-25
  • 17.­1
  • 17.­5
  • 17.­11
  • 17.­35
  • 18.­1-3
  • 18.­5
  • 18.­7-10
  • 18.­19
  • 18.­25
  • 18.­27
  • 18.­33-34
  • 19.­1-3
  • 20.­2
  • 20.­4
  • 20.­8
  • 20.­18-19
  • 20.­26-28
  • 21.­2-5
  • 21.­22
  • 22.­1-2
  • 22.­4
  • 22.­9
  • 22.­14-17
  • 23.­1-3
  • 23.­13
  • 23.­20
  • 25.­1
  • 25.­4
  • 25.­6
  • 25.­10
  • 25.­14
  • 25.­22
  • 25.­38
  • n.­24
  • n.­48
  • n.­58
  • n.­62
  • n.­124-125
  • n.­157
  • n.­203
  • n.­232
  • n.­238-239
  • n.­241
  • n.­244
  • g.­11
  • g.­22
  • g.­82
  • g.­125
  • g.­128
  • g.­188
  • g.­196
  • g.­320
  • g.­333
  • g.­365
  • g.­368
  • g.­369
g.­370

Vārāṇasī

Wylie:
  • bA ra NA sI
Tibetan:
  • བཱ་ར་ཎཱ་སཱི།
Sanskrit:
  • vārāṇasī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Also known as Benares, one of the oldest cities of northeast India on the banks of the Ganges, in modern-day Uttar Pradesh. It was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kāśi, and in the Buddha’s time it had been absorbed into the kingdom of Kośala. It was an important religious center, as well as a major city, even during the time of the Buddha. The name may derive from being where the Varuna and Assi rivers flow into the Ganges. It was on the outskirts of Vārāṇasī that the Buddha first taught the Dharma, in the location known as Deer Park (Mṛgadāva). For numerous episodes set in Vārāṇasī, including its kings, see The Hundred Deeds, Toh 340.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­15
  • 14.­14-15
  • g.­70
g.­373

Vegadhārin

Wylie:
  • shugs ’chang
Tibetan:
  • ཤུགས་འཆང་།
Sanskrit:
  • vegadhārin

A bodhisattva who visits the Buddha while he is turning the wheel of Dharma at Deer Park after his awakening. The name attested in the Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­25
  • 7.­15-17
  • 7.­19
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­42
  • g.­31
g.­380

Virūḍhaka

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

One of the Four Great Kings, he presides over the southern quarter and rules over the kumbhāṇḍas.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • n.­195
  • g.­110
g.­381

Virūpākṣa

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

One of the Four Great Kings, he presides over the western quarter and rules over the nāgas.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • n.­195
  • g.­110
g.­385

Vulture Peak

Wylie:
  • bya rgod kyi phung po
Tibetan:
  • བྱ་རྒོད་ཀྱི་ཕུང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • gṛdhrakūṭa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Gṛdhra­kūṭa, literally Vulture Peak, was a hill located in the kingdom of Magadha, in the vicinity of the ancient city of Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir, in the state of Bihar, India), where the Buddha bestowed many sūtras, especially the Great Vehicle teachings, such as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras. It continues to be a sacred pilgrimage site for Buddhists to this day.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • i.­20
  • i.­32-33
  • 1.­1
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­29
  • 18.­19
  • 20.­28
  • 21.­1
g.­388

well known on account of their fame

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

A description of great disciples and bodhisattvas in some Mahāyāna sūtras, such as this one and the Vimalakīrti­nirdeśa.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­389

wheel-turning king

Wylie:
  • khor los sgyur ba’i rgyal po
Tibetan:
  • ཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • cakravartin

An ancient, pan-Indian concept of the ideal human sovereign who rules over the world in a just manner following the laws of Dharma. Like a buddha, the cakravartin possesses the thirty-two marks of a great person, and his appearance in the world is a rare and special event.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­6
  • 5.­64
  • 22.­23
  • 24.­22-24
  • g.­84
  • g.­210
  • g.­307
g.­390

wisdom

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

One of the perfections (pāramitā), but also a general mental state of discernment, the ability to understand and make fine distinctions among things, and to determine a proper course of action, which becomes actionable when wisdom is combined with skill in means (upāya).

Located in 63 passages in the translation:

  • i.­3
  • i.­5
  • i.­26
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­16
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­9
  • 5.­27
  • 5.­29-30
  • 6.­4
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­46
  • 8.­28
  • 8.­84
  • 8.­91
  • 9.­2
  • 12.­13
  • 12.­52
  • 13.­5
  • 14.­5
  • 15.­2
  • 15.­14-16
  • 15.­20
  • 15.­28
  • 15.­32
  • 15.­40
  • 16.­6
  • 18.­16-17
  • 19.­7-9
  • 19.­31
  • 20.­10
  • 20.­12
  • 20.­14-16
  • 21.­17-21
  • 22.­31
  • 24.­6
  • 24.­11
  • 24.­22
  • 24.­30
  • 24.­32
  • n.­96
  • n.­252
  • g.­64
  • g.­65
  • g.­81
  • g.­87
  • g.­105
  • g.­296
  • g.­308
  • g.­354
g.­391

wondrous transformation with superhuman powers

Wylie:
  • rdzu ’phrul dang rnam par ’phrul pa
Tibetan:
  • རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་དང་རྣམ་པར་འཕྲུལ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ṛddhivikurvaṇa

The term used generally to describe the performance of a wondrous display, but which often has the narrower sense of changing one thing into something else by means of superhuman powers.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­2
g.­392

world

Wylie:
  • ’jig rten
  • ’jig rten gyi khams
Tibetan:
  • འཇིག་རྟེན།
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས།
Sanskrit:
  • loka
  • lokadhātu

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term lokadhātu refers to a single four continent world-system illumined by a sun and moon, with a Mount Meru at its center and an encircling ring of mountains at its periphery, and with the various god realms above, thus including the desire, form, and formless realms.

The term can also refer to groups of such world-systems in multiples of thousands. A universe of one thousand such world-systems is called a chiliocosm (sāhasra­loka­dhātu, stong gi ’jig rten gyi khams); one thousand such chiliocosms is called a dichiliocosm (dvisāhasralokadhātu, stong gnyis kyi ’jig rten gyi khams); and one thousand such dichiliocosms is called a trichiliocosm (trisāhasra­loka­dhātu, stong gsum gyi 'jig rten gyi khams). A trichiliocosm is the largest universe described in Buddhist cosmology.

In this text:

In this translation, the term “world” is generally used as a translation for both loka (“world”) and lokadhātu (which could also be rendered “galaxy” or “universe,” or more literally, a “container of worlds”), except in the case of the phrases “cosmos of a billion worlds” (tri­sāha­sramahāsāhasra­lokadhātu), “galaxy of a thousand worlds” and “galaxy of a hundred thousand worlds,” since the English word “world” is flexible and can refer to both the earth and the universe more generally.

Located in 161 passages in the translation:

  • i.­25
  • i.­32
  • 1.­58
  • 1.­61
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­13
  • 2.­18
  • 2.­30
  • 3.­10
  • 4.­2
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­4-5
  • 5.­20
  • 5.­28
  • 5.­59
  • 7.­6
  • 7.­14-16
  • 7.­18
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­24
  • 7.­47
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­10-11
  • 8.­16-19
  • 8.­21-23
  • 8.­25
  • 8.­30-33
  • 8.­35
  • 8.­41
  • 8.­83-84
  • 8.­88-90
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­5
  • 12.­6-7
  • 12.­9
  • 12.­17
  • 12.­21-22
  • 12.­24
  • 12.­28
  • 12.­31-32
  • 12.­42
  • 12.­50
  • 12.­52
  • 12.­54
  • 12.­57
  • 12.­62
  • 12.­67
  • 12.­70
  • 13.­5-6
  • 14.­3-4
  • 14.­9
  • 14.­12
  • 14.­16
  • 14.­18
  • 15.­1
  • 15.­3
  • 15.­15-16
  • 16.­2
  • 16.­7-8
  • 16.­10-16
  • 16.­19-20
  • 16.­23
  • 18.­4
  • 18.­6
  • 18.­31
  • 19.­16
  • 19.­20
  • 19.­23
  • 19.­34
  • 19.­38-41
  • 19.­45-49
  • 20.­2
  • 20.­6
  • 20.­14
  • 21.­5-6
  • 21.­12
  • 21.­14
  • 22.­9
  • 22.­11-12
  • 22.­15
  • 22.­23
  • 23.­9-10
  • 24.­7-8
  • 24.­10
  • 24.­23
  • 25.­7
  • 25.­10
  • 25.­27
  • 25.­36
  • 25.­38
  • n.­141
  • n.­178
  • n.­196
  • n.­238
  • n.­316
  • g.­5
  • g.­12
  • g.­22
  • g.­27
  • g.­31
  • g.­49
  • g.­67
  • g.­78
  • g.­121
  • g.­156
  • g.­166
  • g.­188
  • g.­194
  • g.­197
  • g.­209
  • g.­218
  • g.­219
  • g.­223
  • g.­240
  • g.­267
  • g.­275
  • g.­278
  • g.­285
  • g.­293
  • g.­348
  • g.­389
g.­394

worthy one

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

In this sūtra, used only as an epithet of the buddhas, and traditionally used as an epithet for someone who has achieved awakening and thereby is worthy (arh). The Tibetan translation derives from one of the traditional Buddhist etymologies of the term, and could be translated “one who has destroyed (hata) one’s enemies” (ari), the enemies here referring to the afflictions of lust, hatred, ignorance, and so forth.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­2
  • 6.­5
  • 7.­14
  • 8.­13
  • 12.­51
  • 12.­62
  • 16.­11
  • 21.­4
  • 21.­6
  • n.­316
g.­396

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 31 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­11
  • i.­13-14
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­38
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­29
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­81
  • 11.­10-11
  • 13.­2
  • 13.­10
  • 13.­12
  • 14.­17
  • 18.­1
  • 18.­7
  • 18.­24
  • 18.­32
  • 18.­34
  • 19.­1
  • 20.­27
  • 24.­10
  • n.­171
  • g.­110
  • g.­125
  • g.­175
  • g.­364
  • g.­367
g.­397

Yama

Wylie:
  • gshin rje
Tibetan:
  • གཤིན་རྗེ།
Sanskrit:
  • yama

The king of the realm of the ancestors and the lord of death generally.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­28
  • 2.­18
  • 12.­40
  • g.­259
  • g.­393
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    84000. The Secrets of the Realized Ones (Tathāgataguhya, de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba, Toh 47). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025. https://84000.co/translation/toh47/UT22084-039-003-introduction.Copy
    84000. The Secrets of the Realized Ones (Tathāgataguhya, de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba, Toh 47). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025, 84000.co/translation/toh47/UT22084-039-003-introduction.Copy
    84000. (2025) The Secrets of the Realized Ones (Tathāgataguhya, de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba, Toh 47). (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh47/UT22084-039-003-introduction.Copy

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