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རྒྱ་ཆེར་རོལ་པ།

The Play in Full

Lalitavistara

འཕགས་པ་རྒྱ་ཆེར་རོལ་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།

’phags pa rgya cher rol pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Play in Full”

Āryalalitavistaranāmamahāyānasūtra

Toh 95

Degé Kangyur, vol. 46 (mdo sde, kha), folios 1.b–216.b

ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ

Jinamitra
Dānaśīla
Munivarman
Yeshé Dé

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

First published 2013

Current version v 4.49.4 (2025)

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

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co.

Summary

s.1

The Play in Full tells the story of how the Buddha manifested in this world and attained awakening, as perceived from the perspective of the Great Vehicle. The sūtra, which is structured in twenty-seven chapters, first presents the events surrounding the Buddha’s birth, childhood, and adolescence in the royal palace of his father, king of the Śākya nation. It then recounts his escape from the palace and the years of hardship he faced in his quest for spiritual awakening. Finally the sūtra reveals his complete victory over the demon Māra, his attainment of awakening under the Bodhi tree, his first turning of the wheel of Dharma, and the formation of the very early saṅgha.

ac.

Acknowledgments

ac.1

This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche.

Cortland Dahl, Catherine Dalton, Hilary Herdman, Heidi Koppl, James Gentry, and Andreas Doctor translated the text from Tibetan into English. Andreas Doctor and Wiesiek Mical then compared the translations against the original Tibetan and Sanskrit, respectively. Finally, Andreas Doctor edited the translation and wrote the introduction.

The Dharmachakra Translation Committee would like to thank Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche for blessing this project, and Khenpo Sherap Sangpo for his generous assistance with the resolution of several difficult passages.

This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

ac.2

The generous sponsorship of 簡源震及家人江秀敏，簡暐如，簡暐丞 Chien YuanChen (Dharma Das) and his wife, daughter, and son for work on this sūtra is gratefully acknowledged.

Introduction

i.1

The Play in Full (Lalitavistara) is without a doubt one of the most important sūtras within Buddhist Mahāyāna literature. With parts of the text dating from the earliest days of the Buddhist tradition, this story of the Buddha’s awakening has captivated the minds of devotees, both ordained and lay, as far back as the beginning of the common era.

i.2

In brief, The Play in Full tells the story of how the Buddha manifested in this world and attained awakening. The sūtra, which is structured in twenty-seven chapters, begins with the Buddha being requested to teach the sūtra by several gods, as well as the thousands of bodhisattvas and hearers in his retinue. The gods summarize the sūtra in this manner (chap. 1, 1.14):

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra
The Play in Full

Chapter 2

The Inspiration

2.1

Now, monks, what is this extensive discourse on the Dharma known as The Play in Full?

Monks, the Bodhisattva dwelt in the supreme realm of the Heaven of Joy, where he was honored by offerings, received consecration, and was praised and revered by one hundred thousand gods. [8] He had achieved his goal and was elevated by his former aspirations. His intelligence was such that he had attained the entire range of the Buddhadharma. Indeed his eye of wisdom was at once both vast and utterly pure. Radiating with mindfulness, intelligence, realization, modesty, and joyfulness, his mind was extremely powerful. He had mastered the perfections of generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, mental stability, knowledge, and skillful means, and was adept in the fourfold path of Brahmā: great love, great compassion, great joy, and great equanimity. With great awareness, he was free of obscurations and had manifested the vision of wisdom free from attachment. Likewise he had perfected each and every quality of awakening: the applications of mindfulness, the thorough relinquishments, the bases of miraculous power, [F.6.a] the faculties, the powers, the branches of awakening, the path, and the factors of awakening.

Chapter 3

The Purity of the Family

3.1

Monks, in this way the Bodhisattva was exhorted that the time for the Dharma had come. Emerging from that great celestial palace, [F.9.b] the Bodhisattva went to the great Dharmoccaya Palace, where he taught the Dharma to the gods in the Heaven of Joy. In the palace, he seated himself upon a lion throne known as Sublime Dharma. He was joined in the palace by a group of gods whose good fortune equaled that of the Bodhisattva, and who had entered the same vehicle. Bodhisattvas with similar conduct to the Bodhisattva gathered from throughout the ten directions. Retinues with equally pure intentions accompanied the gods, without the assembly of divine maidens and even without ordinary gods. Altogether a retinue of 680 million entered the palace, each sitting on a lion throne according to rank.

Chapter 4

The Gateways to the Light of the Dharma

4.1

Monks, while the Bodhisattva was seeing the family of his birth, he dwelt in the Heaven of Joy in Uccadhvaja, a great celestial palace measuring sixty-four leagues around, where he taught the Dharma to the gods of the Heaven of Joy. The Bodhisattva had come to this great celestial palace where he now addressed all the gods of the Heaven of Joy. “Come, gather here,” he said. “Come listen to the Bodhisattva’s final teaching on the Dharma, a recollection of the Dharma entitled ‘The Application of Passing.’ ” [30]

Chapter 5

Setting Out

5.1

Monks, in that way the Bodhisattva taught this Dharma discourse to the large congregation of gods, [F.24.a] instructed them, inspired them, delighted them, and caused them to be receptive. He then said to that assembly of fortunate gods:

“Friends, I will now proceed to Jambudvīpa. In the past when I practiced the conduct of a bodhisattva, I attracted sentient beings through the four activities of giving, pleasant speech, beneficial activity, and demonstrating consistency in speech and aims. But friends, I would be acting without gratitude, and it would be inappropriate, if I were not now to achieve unexcelled, perfect, and complete awakening.”

Chapter 6

Entering the Womb

6.1

Monks, the cold season had passed and it was the third month of spring. It was the finest season, when the moon enters the constellation Viśākhā. The leaves of trees unfurled and the most exquisite flowers blossomed. It was neither cold nor hot, and there was no fog or dust in the air. Fresh green grass covered the grounds everywhere.

6.2

The Lord of the Three Worlds, [55] revered by all the worlds, now judged that the time had come. On the fifteenth day, during the full moon, while his future mother was observing the poṣadha precepts during the constellation of Puṣya, the Bodhisattva moved, fully conscious and aware, from the fine realm of the Heaven of Joy to the womb of his mother. [F.32.a]

Chapter 7

The Birth

7.1

Monks, in this way ten months passed, and the time came for the Bodhisattva to take birth. At that time thirty-two omens occurred in King Śuddhodana’s parks:

All flowers budded and blossomed. In the ponds, all the blue, red, and white lotus flowers also budded and blossomed. New fruit and flower trees sprung from the earth, budded, and came into blossom. Eight trees of precious gems appeared. Twenty thousand great treasures emerged and remained on the grounds. [F.42.b] Inside the women’s quarters, jeweled shoots sprouted forth. Scented water, saturated with fragrant oils, flowed forth. Lion cubs descended from the snow mountains. They joyfully circled the sublime city of Kapilavastu and then rested by the gates without harming anyone. Five hundred young white elephants arrived, stroking King Śuddhodana’s feet with the tips of their trunks, and then settling down next to him. Divine children, wearing sashes, [77] were seen moving back and forth between the laps of the women in the retinue of King Śuddhodana’s queen.

Chapter 8

Going to the Temple

8.1

Monks, on the very evening of the Bodhisattva’s birth, there were twenty thousand girls born among the ruling class, the priestly class, the merchants, and the householders, such as the landowners. All of them were offered to the Bodhisattva by their parents to serve and honor him. King Śuddhodana also gave twenty thousand girls to the Bodhisattva to serve and honor him. His friends, his ministers, his [118] kinfolk, and his blood relatives also offered twenty thousand girls to serve and honor the Bodhisattva. [F.63.a] Finally the members of ministerial assemblies also offered twenty thousand girls to serve and honor the Bodhisattva.

Chapter 9

The Ornaments

9.1

Monks, at the time of the constellation of Citrā, after the constellation of Hastā had passed, the chief priest of the king, who was called Udayana, the father of Udāyin, [F.64.b] went before King Śuddhodana surrounded by some five hundred priests and said, “Your Majesty, please know that it is now proper for ornaments to be made for the prince.”

The king replied, “Very well, then do it.”

9.2

At that time King Śuddhodana had five hundred types of ornaments made by five hundred Śākyas. He commissioned bracelets, anklets, crowns, necklaces, rings, earrings, armbands, golden belts, golden threads, nets of bells, nets of gems, shoes bedecked with jewels, garlands adorned with various gems, jeweled bangles, chokers, and diadems. When the ornaments were completed the Śākyas went before King Śuddhodana at the time of the constellation of Puṣya and said, “King, please ornament the prince.”

10.

Chapter 10

The Demonstration at the Writing School

10.1

Monks, when the young child had grown a little older, he was taken to school. He went there amid hundreds of thousands of auspicious signs, and he was surrounded and attended by tens of thousands of boys, along with ten thousand carts filled with hard food, soft food, and condiments, and ten thousand carts filled with gold coins and gems. These were distributed in the streets and road junctions, and the entrances to the markets of the city of Kapilavastu. At the same time a symphony of eight hundred thousand cymbals was sounded, and a heavy rain of flowers fell.

11.

Chapter 11

The Farming Village

11.1

Monks, on another occasion when the prince had grown a little older, he went with the sons of the ministers and some other boys to visit a farming village. After seeing the village, he entered a park at the edge of the fields. The Bodhisattva wandered around there in complete solitude. As he was strolling through the park, he saw a beautiful and pleasant rose apple tree, and he decided to sit down cross-legged under its shade. Seated there, the Bodhisattva attained a one-pointed state of mind. [129]

12.

Chapter 12

Demonstrating Skill in the Arts

12.1

Monks, one time, when the prince had grown older, King Śuddhodana was sitting in the meeting hall together with the assembly of Śākyas. There some of the Śākya elders spoke to King Śuddhodana:

“Your Majesty, you know that the priests who are skilled in making predictions, as well as the gods who have definite knowledge, have foretold that if Prince Sarvārthasiddha renounces the household, he will become a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a completely perfect buddha. Yet if he does not renounce the household, he will become a universal monarch, a righteous Dharma king who has conquered the four quarters and is equipped with the seven treasures. The seven treasures that will be his are the precious wheel, the precious elephant, the precious horse, the precious wife, the precious jewel, [F.71.b] the precious steward, and the precious minister. He will have one thousand sons, all of them full, fierce warriors with well-built bodies that destroy the armies of the enemy. He will conquer the entire earth without the use of violence or weapons, and then he will rule [137] according to the Dharma. Therefore we must arrange a marriage for the prince. Once he is surrounded by a group of women, he will discover pleasure and not renounce the household. In that way the line of our universal monarchy will not be cut, and we will be irreproachably respected by all the kings of the realm.”

13.

Chapter 13

Encouragement

13.1

Monks, while the Bodhisattva was staying in the midst of his retinue of consorts, there were numerous gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, demigods, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, as well as [160] Śakra and Brahmā and the guardians of the world, who were eager to make offerings to the Bodhisattva. They arrived calling out in joyous voices. However, monks, as time went on, many of these gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, demigods, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, as well as Śakra, Brahmā, and the world protectors, began to think to themselves:

14.

Chapter 14

Dreams

14.1

Monks, while the god in this way was encouraging the Bodhisattva, a dream occurred to King Śuddhodana. As he was sleeping, King Śuddhodana dreamed that the Bodhisattva was leaving the palace in the quiet of the night, [186] surrounded by a host of gods. As the Bodhisattva left the palace, the king saw that he had become ordained and was wearing the saffron-colored robes.

As soon as the king awoke, he immediately asked the chamberlain, “Is the young prince with the consorts?”

15.

Chapter 15

Leaving Home

15.1

Monks, in the meantime the Bodhisattva thought to himself, “It would not be right if I did not share my plans with the great king Śuddhodana and simply left home without his permission. It would be very ungrateful of me.”

So that night when everything became quiet, he left his own quarters and entered the quarters of King Śuddhodana. As soon as the Bodhisattva stepped foot on the palace floor, the entire palace became illuminated with light. The king woke up and, when he saw the light, he promptly asked his chamberlain, “Did the sun rise? It is such a beautiful light!”

16.

Chapter 16

The Visit of King Bimbisāra

16.1

Monks, through the blessing of the Bodhisattva, Chanda told King Śuddhodana, the Śākya princess Gopā, the retinue of consorts, and everyone else among the Śākyas what had happened in order to alleviate their suffering. [238]

Monks, the Bodhisattva first gave his silken robes to a god in the form of a hunter, and then he donned the hunter’s saffron-colored robes. He adopted the lifestyle of a renunciant in order to act in agreement with the perception of worldly people, and also because he felt compassion for others and wished to mature them.

17.

Chapter 17

Practicing Austerities

17.1

Monks, at that time a son of Rāma by the name of Rudraka arrived in Rājagṛha, where he stayed with a large group of seven hundred of his students. He was teaching his students the principles of the disciplined conduct necessary for attaining the state where there is neither perception nor nonperception. [F.120.a]

Monks, the Bodhisattva saw that Rudraka, the son of Rāma, was in charge of a group, indeed a large group, and that as the head of the congregation, he was well-known, popular, venerated by the masses, and recognized by all scholars. Witnessing this, the Bodhisattva thought to himself:

18.

Chapter 18

The Nairañjanā River

18.1

Monks, during the six years that the Bodhisattva practiced austerities, he was continually followed by Māra, the evil one. Yet, although Māra tried his best to harm the Bodhisattva, he never found an opportunity. As it became apparent that it would be impossible to harm the Bodhisattva, Māra, sad and dejected, finally left. [261]

18.2

It is also expressed in this way:

There is a pleasant wilderness

With forest thickets full of herbs

To the east of Urubilvā,

Where the Nairañjanā River flows.

19.

Chapter 19

Approaching the Seat of Awakening

19.1

Monks, when the Bodhisattva bathed in the Nairañjanā River and enjoyed a meal, his physical strength came back to him. With a triumphant gait, he now began the walk toward the great Bodhi tree. This tree was the king of trees and was found at a place characterized by sixteen unique features.

19.2

He walked with the gait of a great being. It was an undisturbed gait, a gait of the nāga Indrayaṣṭi, a steadfast gait, a gait as stable as Mount Meru, the king of mountains. He walked in a straight line without stumbling, not too fast and not too slow, without stomping heavily or dragging his feet. It was a graceful stride, a stainless stride, a beautiful stride, a stride free from anger, a stride free from delusion, and a stride free from attachment. It was the stride of a lion, the stride of the king of swans, the stride of the king of elephants, the stride of Nārāyaṇa, the stride that floats above the surface, the stride that leaves an impression of a thousand-spoked wheel on the ground, the stride of he whose fingers are connected through a web and who has copper-colored nails, the stride that makes the earth resound, and the stride that crushes the king of the mountains.

20.

Chapter 20

The Displays at the Seat of Awakening

20.1

Monks, as the Bodhisattva sat down at the seat of awakening, the gods of the six classes within the desire realm decided to protect the Bodhisattva from obstacles. These gods therefore took position in the eastern direction. Likewise the southern, western, and northern directions were taken over by other classes of gods.

Monks, when the Bodhisattva sat down at the seat of awakening, he began to emit a light known as inspiring the bodhisattvas. The light shone in all the ten directions, illuminating all the boundless and immeasurable buddha realms‍—the realms that filled the entire field of phenomena.

21.

Chapter 21

Conquering Māra

21.1

Monks, in order to venerate the Bodhisattva, the other bodhisattvas manifested many such displays at the seat of awakening. The Bodhisattva himself, however, caused all the displays that ornamented all the seats of awakening of the past, present, and future buddhas in all the buddha realms in the ten directions to become visible right there at the seat of awakening.

Monks, as the Bodhisattva now sat at the seat of awakening, he thought to himself, “Māra is the supreme lord who holds sway over the desire realm, the most powerful and evil demon. [F.147.b] [300] There is no way that I could attain unsurpassed and complete awakening without his knowledge. So I will now arouse that evil Māra. Once I have conquered him, all the gods in the desire realm will also be restrained. Moreover, there are some gods in Māra’s retinue who have previously created some basic goodness. When they witness my lion-like display, they will direct their minds toward unsurpassed and complete awakening.”

22.

Chapter 22

Perfect and Complete Awakening

22.1

Monks, once the Bodhisattva had destroyed his demonic opponents, vanquished his enemies, triumphed in the face of battle, and raised high the parasols, standards, and banners of conquest, he settled into the first meditative concentration. That state is free from desires, free of factors connected with evil deeds and nonvirtues, accompanied by thought and analysis, and imbued with the joy and pleasure born of discernment.

23.

Chapter 23

Exaltation

23.1

Then the gods from the pure realms circumambulated the Thus-Gone One, who sat at the seat of awakening. They showered him with a rain of divine sandalwood powder and praised him with these fitting verses: [358]

23.2

“You are a light that has dawned upon this world!

Illuminating Lord of the World,

You have given eyes for abandoning afflictions

To this world gone blind!

23.3

“You are victorious in battle!

Through merit you have fulfilled your aim!

Replete with virtuous qualities,

You will satisfy beings!

24.

Chapter 24

Trapuṣa and Bhallika

24.1

Monks, while the Thus-Gone One was being praised by the gods after he had reached perfect and complete awakening, he stared at the king of trees without blinking and without getting out of his cross-legged position. Seven days passed in this way while he was at the foot of the Bodhi tree experiencing bliss from the sustenance of concentration and joy.

24.2

Then, once the seven days had passed, the gods from the desire realm approached the Thus-Gone One, carrying tens of thousands of vases containing scented water. The gods from the form realm also approached the Thus-Gone One, carrying tens of thousands of vases containing scented water. When they arrived, they bathed the Bodhi tree and the Thus-Gone One with the scented water. Innumerable gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, demigods, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas anointed their own bodies with the scented water that had come into contact with the body of the Thus-Gone One. This engendered among them the intention set on unexcelled, perfect, and complete awakening. Even after the gods and the others had returned to their respective realms, they did not part from the scented water and desired no other scent. [370] Through the joy and the supreme joy that are born from respectfully taking to heart the Thus-Gone One, they became irreversible from unexcelled, perfect, and complete awakening.

25.

Chapter 25

Exhortation

25.1

Monks, while the Thus-Gone One was seated at the foot of the Bodhi tree, in the privacy of solitude after he had first attained perfect and complete awakening, he had the following thought about the conventions of the world: [F.187.b]

25.2

“Alas! This truth that I realized and awakened to is profound, peaceful, tranquil, calm, complete, hard to see, hard to comprehend, and impossible to conceptualize since it is inaccessible to the intellect. Only wise noble ones and adepts can understand it. It is the complete and definitive apprehension of the abandonment of all aggregates, the end of all sensations, the absolute truth, and freedom from a foundation. It is a state of complete peace, free of clinging, free of grasping, unobserved, undemonstrable, uncompounded, beyond the six sense fields, inconceivable, unimaginable, and ineffable. It is indescribable, inexpressible, and incapable of being illustrated. It is unobstructed, beyond all references, a state of interruption through the path of tranquility, and imperceptible like emptiness. It is the exhaustion of craving and it is cessation free of desire. It is nirvāṇa. If I were to teach this truth to others, they would not understand it. Teaching the truth would tire me out and be wrongly contested, and it would be futile. Thus I will remain silent and keep this truth in my heart.”

26.

Chapter 26

Turning the Wheel of Dharma

26.1

Monks, at that point the Thus-Gone One had accomplished everything he had to do. [F.193.a] With nothing more to achieve, all his fetters had been cut. All negative emotions had been cleared away, along with his mental stains. He had conquered Māra and all hostile forces, and [403] now he joined the Dharma-way of all awakened ones. He had become omniscient and perceived everything. He possessed the ten powers and had discovered the fourfold fearlessness. All the eighteen unique qualities of a buddha had unfolded within him. Equipped with the fivefold vision, he surveyed the entire world with the unobscured eye of an awakened one and began to reflect:

27.

Chapter 27

Epilogue

27.1

The gods, who had requested this Dharma teaching from the Thus-Gone One, were now gathered for the turning of the wheel of Dharma. In total there were more than 18,000 divine beings from the Pure Realms, led by such beings as Maheśvara, Nanda, Sunanda, Candana, Mahita, Śānta, Praśānta, and Vinīteśvara. At that point the Thus-Gone One addressed the divine beings, headed by Maheśvara, who had come from the pure realms, in the following way: [F.213.b]

Colophon

Colophon to the Sanskrit Edition

c.1

The Thus-Gone One explained the causes

Of those dharmas that have a cause

And also their cessation.

This is the teaching of the Great Ascetic.

May there be good goodness! May there be goodness in every way!

Colophon to the Tibetan Translation

c.2

This was taught and translated by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Munivarman, and the translator-editor Bandé Yeshé Dé, who proofed and finalized the translation.

Notes

n.1

See Miller (forthcoming).

n.2

We are grateful to Jonathan Silk (Silk 2022, p. 273, n. 15) for pointing out a number of significant errors and omissions in an earlier version of this paragraph.

n.3

Hokazono 1994, 2019a, 2019b.

n.4

At the time this translation was made, the edition of Hokazono (Hokazono 1994, 2019a, 2019b) mentioned above was unavailable to us. Since it appears to be a considerable improvement on Lefman’s (as pointed out by Silk 2022, pp. 273, 281–2), we expect to benefit from a close reading of it in a planned future update of this translation. Silk’s appendix (Silk 2022, pp. 288–296) correlating our milestone numbers to both Hokazono’s and Lefmann’s editions will no doubt prove a helpful resource in that task.

n.5

The Sanskrit here has Kauṇḍinya, who (with his title Ajñāta-) has already been mentioned. However, Negi cites this and one another instance to suggest the possibility that the Tibetan gsus po che is sometimes used to refer to Kauṇḍinya.

n.6

The four rivers is a technical term for the streams (ogha) that are identical to the four “outflows” (āśrava), namely, sensual desires, desire for cyclic existence, wrong views, and ignorance.

n.7

We are grateful to Jonathan Silk (Silk 2022 p. 276 n19) for pointing out that these two stanzas are indeed verses, not prose as an earlier version of this translation had formatted them.

n.8

The translation is based on the Sanskrit.

Bibliography

Source Texts

’phags pa rgya cher rol pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryalalitavistaranāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 95, Degé Kangyur vol. 46 (mdo sde, kha), folios 1b–216b.

’phags pa rgya cher rol 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), 2006–2009, vol 46, pp. 3–434.

Foucaux, Phillipe Édouard. Rgya Tch’er Rol Pa ou Développement des Jeux, Contenant l’Histoire du Bouddha Çakya-mouni. Première Partie‍—Texte Tibétain. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1847.

Hokazono, Kōichi (1994). Raritavisutara no Kenkyu. Volume 1 [study of Lalitavistara, chs. 1–14]. Tokyo: Daitō Shuppansha, 1994.

Hokazono, Kōichi (2019a). Raritavisutara no Kenkyu. Volume 2 [study of Lalitavistara, chs. 15–21]. Tokyo: Daitō Shuppansha, 2019.

Hokazono, Kōichi (2019b). Raritavisutara no Kenkyu. Volume 3 [study of Lalitavistara, chs. 22–27]. Tokyo: Daitō Shuppansha, 2019.

Lefmann, Salomon. Lalita Vistara. Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1882.

Mitra, R. L. (1853–1877). The Lalita Vistara or Memoirs of the Early Life of S’a’kya Siñha. Bibliotheca Indica: A Collection of Oriental Works, Old Series, nos. 51, 73, 143, 144, 145, 237. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1853–1877.

Secondary Sources

Bays, Gwendolyn. The Voice of the Buddha, The Beauty of Compassion: The Lalitavistara Sutra. Tibetan Translation Series, vol. 2. Berkeley, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1983.

Foucaux, Phillipe Édouard (1848). Rgya Tch’er Rol Pa ou Développement des Jeux, Contenant l’Histoire du Bouddha Çakya-mouni: Traduit sur la version Tibétaine du Bkahhgyour, et revu sur l’original Sanscrit (Lalitavistara). Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1848.

Foucaux, Phillipe Édouard (1870). Étude sur le Lalita Vistara pour une édition critique du texte sanskrit, précédée d’ un coup d’oeil sur la publication des livres bouddhiques en Europe et dans l’Inde. Paris: Maisonneuve, 1870.

Foucaux, Phillipe Édouard (1884). Le Lalitavistara, Développement des Jeux: l’histoire traditionnelle de la vie du Bouddha Çakyamuni. Première partie. Annales du Musée Guimet, vol. 6 Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1884.

Foucaux, Phillipe Édouard (1892). Le Lalitavistara, Développement des Jeux: l’histoire traditionnelle de la vie du Bouddha Çakyamuni. Seconde partie: notes, variantes, et index. Annales du Musée Guimet, vol. 19. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1892.

Lefmann, Salomon (1874). Lalitavistara: Erzählung von dem Leben und der Lehre des Çâkya Simha. Berlin: Dümmler, 1874.

Lenz, Robert. “Analyse du Lalita-Vistara-Pourana, l’un des principaux ouvrages sacrés des Bouddhistes de l’Asie centrale, contenant la vie de leur prophète, et écrit en Sanscrit.” Bulletin Scientifique publié par l’Académie impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg I.7: 49–51; I.8: 57–63; I.9: 71–72; I.10: 75–78; I.11: 87–88; I.12: 92–96; I.13: 97–99. St. Petersburg: Académie impériale des sciences, 1836.

Miller, Robert. The Chapter on Schisms in the Saṅgha (Saṅghabhedavastu, Toh 1-17). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, forthcoming.

Mitra, R. L. (1881–1886). The Lalita Vistara or Memoirs of the Early Life of S’a’kya Siñha, Translated from the Original Sanskrit. Bibliotheca Indica: A Collection of Oriental Works, New Series, nos. 455, 473, 575. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1881–1886. Republished, Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1998.

Silk, Jonathan A. “Serious Play: Recent Scholarship on the Lalitavistara.” Indo-Iranian Journal 65: 267–301. Leiden: Brill, 2022.

Vaidya, P. L. Lalitavistara. Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, vol. 1. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute, 1958.

Winternitz, Maurice (1927). “The Lalita-Vistara.” In A History of Indian Literature, Vol. 2, 249–56. 3rd ed. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1991.

Further Resources

Goswami, Bijoya. Lalitavistara. Bibliotheca Indica Series, vol. 320. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, 2001.

Khosla, Sarla. Lalitavistara and the Evolution of Buddha Legend. New Delhi: Galaxy Publications, 1991.

Thomas, E. J. “The Lalitavistara and Sarvastivada.” Indian Historical Quarterly 16:2 (1940): 239–45.

Glossary

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

Attested in source text

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

Attested in other text

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

Attested in dictionary

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

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.

Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

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

Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

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

Source unspecified

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

g.1

Ābhāsvara

’od gsal

འོད་གསལ།

ābhāsvara

g.2

Able One

thub pa

ཐུབ་པ།

muni

g.3

absorption

ting nge ’dzin

ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།

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.

g.10

Ājñātakauṇḍinya

kun shes kau N+Di nya

ཀུན་ཤེས་ཀཽ་ཎྜི་ཉ།

ājñātakauṇḍinya

One of the monks attending this teaching in Śrāvastī, at Jeta’s Grove. He was one of the five companions who joined Prince Siddhārtha while practicing austerities and attended his first turning of the wheel of Dharma at the Deer Park, after the Buddha’s awakening. As he was the first to understand the teachings on the four truths, he received the name Ājñātakauṇḍinya, meaning “Kauṇḍinya who understood.” Also known simply as Kauṇḍinya.

g.17

Amogharāja

don yod rgyal po

དོན་ཡོད་རྒྱལ་པོ།

amogharāja

g.19

Ānanda

kun dga’ bo

ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།

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.

In this text:

One of the monks attending this teaching in Śrāvastī, at Jeta’s Grove.

g.21

Anāthapiṇḍada

mgon med zas sbyin

མགོན་མེད་ཟས་སྦྱིན།

anathapiṇḍada

g.25

Aniruddha

ma ’gags pa

མ་འགགས་པ།

aniruddha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Lit. “Unobstructed.” One of the ten great śrāvaka disciples, famed for his meditative prowess and superknowledges. He was the Buddha's cousin‍—a son of Amṛtodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana‍—and is often mentioned along with his two brothers Bhadrika and Mahānāma. Some sources also include Ānanda among his brothers.

In this text:

One of the monks attending this teaching in Śrāvastī, at Jeta’s Grove.

g.34

applications of mindfulness

dran pa nye bar bzhag pa

དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་བཞག་པ།

smṛtyupasthāna

g.49

aspiration

smon lam

སྨོན་ལམ།

praṇidhāna

g.52

Aśvajit

rta thul

རྟ་ཐུལ།

aśvajit

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The son of one of the seven brahmins who predicted that Śākyamuni would become a great king. He was one of the five companions with Śākyamuni in the beginning of his spiritual path, abandoning him when he gave up asceticism, but then becoming one of his first five pupils after his buddhahood. He was the last of the five to attain the realization of a “stream entrant” and became an arhat on hearing the Sūtra on the Characteristics of Selflessness (Anātmalakṣaṇasūtra), which was not translated into Tibetan. Aśvajit was the one who went to meet Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana so they would become followers of the Buddha.

In this text:

One of the monks attending this teaching in Śrāvastī, at Jeta’s Grove.

g.59

awakened one

sangs rgyas

སངས་རྒྱས།

buddha

g.63

bases of miraculous power

rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa

རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ།

ṛddhipāda
ṛddhipada

g.64

Bāṣpa

rlangs pa

རླངས་པ།

bāṣpa

g.66

beneficial activity

don spyad pa

དོན་སྤྱད་པ།

arthakriyā

g.68

bhadraṃkara gem

rin po che bzang byed

རིན་པོ་ཆེ་བཟང་བྱེད།

ratnabhadraṃkara

g.70

Bhadrika

bzang po

བཟང་པོ།

bhadrika

g.81

blessed one

bcom ldan ’das

བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།

bhagavān

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

g.83

Bodhi tree

byang chub kyi shing
byang chub shing

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཤིང་།
བྱང་ཆུབ་ཤིང་།

bodhivṛkṣa

g.84

bodhisattva

byang chub sems dpa’

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།

bodhisattva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

In this text:

Here, “Bodhisattva” is also used to refer specifically to the Buddha prior to his awakening, both during this life, as Prince Siddhārtha, and during his previous life, as Śvetaketu, in the Heaven of Joy.

g.85

Brahmā

tshangs pa

ཚངས་པ།

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).

g.94

branches of awakening

byang chub kyi yan lag
byang chub yan lag

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག
བྱང་ཆུབ་ཡན་ལག

bodhyaṅga

g.95

buddha

sangs rgyas

སངས་རྒྱས།

buddha

The Indic term buddha is used in Buddhism as an epithet for fully awakened beings in general and, more specifically, often refers to the historical buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, also known as the Buddha Śākyamuni. The term buddha is the past participle of the Sanskrit root budh, meaning “to awaken,” “to understand,” or “to become aware.”

Sometimes also translated here as “awakened one.”

g.99

Candana

tsan dan

ཙན་དན།

candana

g.104

celestial maiden

lha’i bu mo
lha yi bu mo
lha mo

ལྷའི་བུ་མོ།
ལྷ་ཡི་བུ་མོ།
ལྷ་མོ།

devakanyā
apsaras

g.105

celestial palace

gzhal med khang

གཞལ་མེད་ཁང་།

vimāna

g.106

Chanda

dun pa

དུན་པ།

chanda

g.107

Citrā

ga pa

ག་པ།

citrā

g.113

craving

sred pa

སྲེད་པ།

tṛṣṇā

g.117

Cunda

skul byed

སྐུལ་བྱེད།

cunda

g.118

Dānaśīla

dA na shI la

དཱ་ན་ཤཱི་ལ།

dānaśīla

g.120

Daṇḍapāṇi

lag na be con can

ལག་ན་བེ་ཅོན་ཅན།

daṇḍapāṇi

g.122

Deer Park

ri dags kyi nags

རི་དགས་ཀྱི་ནགས།

mṛgadāva

g.123

demigod

lha ma yin

ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།

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).

g.124

demon

bdud

བདུད།

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.

g.145

Dharmoccaya

chos kyis mtho ba

ཆོས་ཀྱིས་མཐོ་བ།

dharmoccaya

g.146

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

yul ’khor srung

ཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང་།

dhṛtarāṣṭra

g.148

diligence

brtson ’grus

བརྩོན་འགྲུས།

vīrya

g.152

discipline

tshul khrims

ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས།

śīla

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Morally virtuous or disciplined conduct and the abandonment of morally undisciplined conduct of body, speech, and mind. In a general sense, moral discipline is the cause for rebirth in higher, more favorable states, but it is also foundational to Buddhist practice as one of the three trainings (triśikṣā) and one of the six perfections of a bodhisattva. Often rendered as “ethics,” “discipline,” and “morality.”

g.153

disciplined conduct

brtul zhugs

བརྟུལ་ཞུགས།

vrata

g.169

eighteen unique qualities of a buddha

sangs rgyas kyi chos ma ’dres pa bco brgyad

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཆོས་མ་འདྲེས་པ་བཅོ་བརྒྱད།

aṣṭādaśāveṇikabuddhadharma

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Eighteen special features of a buddha’s behavior, realization, activity, and wisdom that are not shared by other beings. They are generally listed as: (1) he never makes a mistake, (2) he is never boisterous, (3) he never forgets, (4) his concentration never falters, (5) he has no notion of distinctness, (6) his equanimity is not due to lack of consideration, (7) his motivation never falters, (8) his endeavor never fails, (9) his mindfulness never falters, (10) he never abandons his concentration, (11) his insight (prajñā) never decreases, (12) his liberation never fails, (13) all his physical actions are preceded and followed by wisdom (jñāna), (14) all his verbal actions are preceded and followed by wisdom, (15) all his mental actions are preceded and followed by wisdom, (16) his wisdom and vision perceive the past without attachment or hindrance, (17) his wisdom and vision perceive the future without attachment or hindrance, and (18) his wisdom and vision perceive the present without attachment or hindrance.

g.177

equanimity

btang snyoms

བཏང་སྙོམས།

upekṣā

g.179

factors of awakening

byang chub kyi phyogs kyi chos

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་ཆོས།

bodhipakṣadharma

g.180

faculty

dbang po lnga

དབང་པོ་ལྔ།

pañcendriya

g.186

five faculties

dbang po lnga

དབང་པོ་ལྔ།

pañcendriya

g.187

five powers

stobs lnga

སྟོབས་ལྔ།

pañcabala

g.188

fivefold vision

spyan lnga

སྤྱན་ལྔ།

pañcacakṣuḥ

g.192

fortunate

bkra shis dang ldan pa

བཀྲ་ཤིས་དང་ལྡན་པ།

maṅgalya

g.194

Four Great Kings

rgyal po chen po bzhi

རྒྱལ་པོ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།

caturmahārāja

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Four gods who live on the lower slopes (fourth level) of Mount Meru in the eponymous Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Cāturmahārājika, rgyal chen bzhi’i ris) and guard the four cardinal directions. Each is the leader of a nonhuman class of beings living in his realm. They are Dhṛtarāṣṭra, ruling the gandharvas in the east; Virūḍhaka, ruling over the kumbhāṇḍas in the south; Virūpākṣa, ruling the nāgas in the west; and Vaiśravaṇa (also known as Kubera) ruling the yakṣas in the north. Also referred to as Guardians of the World or World Protectors (lokapāla, ’jig rten skyong ba).

In this text:

fourfold fearlessness

mi ’jigs pa bzhi

མི་འཇིགས་པ་བཞི།

caturabhaya

g.202

gandharva

dri za

དྲི་ཟ།

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.”

g.204

Ganges

gang gA

གང་གཱ།

gaṅgā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Gaṅgā, or Ganges in English, is considered to be the most sacred river of India, particularly within the Hindu tradition. It starts in the Himalayas, flows through the northern plains of India, bathing the holy city of Vārāṇasī, and meets the sea at the Bay of Bengal, in Bangladesh. In the sūtras, however, this river is mostly mentioned not for its sacredness but for its abundant sands‍—noticeable still today on its many sandy banks and at its delta‍—which serve as a common metaphor for infinitely large numbers.

According to Buddhist cosmology, as explained in the Abhidharmakośa, it is one of the four rivers that flow from Lake Anavatapta and cross the southern continent of Jambudvīpa‍—the known human world or more specifically the Indian subcontinent.

g.205

garuḍa

nam mkha’ lding

ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།

garuḍa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.

g.208

Gautama

gau ta ma

གཽ་ཏ་མ།

gautama

g.209

Gavāṃpati

ba lang bdag

བ་ལང་བདག

gavāṃpati

g.210

Gayā

ga yA

ག་ཡཱ།

gayā

g.211

Gayākāśyapa

ga y’a ’od srung

ག་ཡའ་འོད་སྲུང་།

gayākāśyapa

g.212

generosity

sbyin pa

སྦྱིན་པ།

dāna

g.213

god

lha
lha’i bu

ལྷ།
ལྷའི་བུ།

kauṇḍinyadeva
devaputra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In the most general sense the devas‍—the term is cognate with the English divine‍—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth. The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable, it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.

g.215

goddess

lha’i bu mo
lha mo

ལྷའི་བུ་མོ།
ལྷ་མོ།

devakanyā
apsaras

g.217

Gopā

sa ’tsho ma

ས་འཚོ་མ།

gopā

g.219

great being

sems dpa’ chen po

སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāsattva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term can be understood to mean “great courageous one” or "great hero,” or (from the Sanskrit) simply “great being,” and is almost always found as an epithet of “bodhisattva.” The qualification “great” in this term, according to the majority of canonical definitions, focuses on the generic greatness common to all bodhisattvas, i.e., the greatness implicit in the bodhisattva vow itself in terms of outlook, aspiration, number of beings to be benefited, potential or eventual accomplishments, and so forth. In this sense the mahā- (“great”) is close in its connotations to the mahā- in “Mahāyāna.” While individual bodhisattvas described as mahāsattva may in many cases also be “great” in terms of their level of realization, this is largely coincidental, and in the canonical texts the epithet is not restricted to bodhisattvas at any particular point in their career. Indeed, in a few cases even bodhisattvas whose path has taken a wrong direction are still described as bodhisattva mahāsattva.

Later commentarial writings do nevertheless define the term‍—variably‍—in terms of bodhisattvas having attained a particular level (bhūmi) or realization. The most common qualifying criteria mentioned are attaining the path of seeing, attaining irreversibility (according to its various definitions), or attaining the seventh bhūmi.

g.222

Great Vehicle

theg pa chen po

ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāyāna

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

When the Buddhist teachings are classified according to their power to lead beings to an awakened state, a distinction is made between the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle (Hīnayāna), which emphasizes the individual’s own freedom from cyclic existence as the primary motivation and goal, and those of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna), which emphasizes altruism and has the liberation of all sentient beings as the principal objective. As the term “Great Vehicle” implies, the path followed by bodhisattvas is analogous to a large carriage that can transport a vast number of people to liberation, as compared to a smaller vehicle for the individual practitioner.

g.223

guardians of the world

’jig rten skyong ba

འཇིག་རྟེན་སྐྱོང་བ།

lokapāla

g.232

Hastā

དབོ།

hastā

g.234

hearer

nyan thos

ཉན་ཐོས།

śrāvaka

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”

In this text:

Also translated here as “listener.”

g.241

Heaven of Joy

dga’ ldan

དགའ་ལྡན།

tuṣita

g.256

householder

khyim bdag

ཁྱིམ་བདག

gṛhapati

g.266

Indrayaṣṭi

dbang po’i mchod sdong

དབང་པོའི་མཆོད་སྡོང་།

indrayaṣṭi

g.268

intelligence

blo gros

བློ་གྲོས།

mati

g.269

Īśvara

dbang phyug

དབང་ཕྱུག

īśvara

g.271

Jambudvīpa

’dzam bu’i gling

འཛམ་བུའི་གླིང་།

jambudvīpa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

g.276

Jeta’s Grove

rgyal bu rgyal byed

རྒྱལ་བུ་རྒྱལ་བྱེད།

jetavana

g.277

Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park

rgyal bu rgyal byed kyi tshal mgon med zas sbyin gyi kun dga’ ra ba

རྒྱལ་བུ་རྒྱལ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཚལ་མགོན་མེད་ཟས་སྦྱིན་གྱི་ཀུན་དགའ་ར་བ།

jetavanam anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ AO

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the first Buddhist monasteries, located in a park outside Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. This park was originally owned by Prince Jeta, hence the name Jetavana, meaning Jeta’s grove. The wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, sought to buy it from him, but the prince, not wishing to sell, said he would only do so if Anāthapiṇḍada covered the entire property with gold coins. Anāthapiṇḍada agreed, and managed to cover all of the park except the entrance, hence the name Anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ, meaning Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. The place is usually referred to in the sūtras as “Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park,” and according to the Saṃghabhedavastu the Buddha used Prince Jeta’s name in first place because that was Prince Jeta’s own unspoken wish while Anāthapiṇḍada was offering the park. Inspired by the occasion and the Buddha’s use of his name, Prince Jeta then offered the rest of the property and had an entrance gate built. The Buddha specifically instructed those who recite the sūtras to use Prince Jeta’s name in first place to commemorate the mutual effort of both benefactors.

Anāthapiṇḍada built residences for the monks, to house them during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It was one of the Buddha’s main residences, where he spent around nineteen rainy season retreats, and it was therefore the setting for many of the Buddha’s discourses and events. According to the travel accounts of Chinese monks, it was still in use as a Buddhist monastery in the early fifth century ᴄᴇ, but by the sixth century it had been reduced to ruins.

g.278

Jinamitra

dzi na mi tra

ཛི་ན་མི་ཏྲ།

jinamitra

Jinamitra was invited to Tibet during the reign of King Trisong Detsen (khri srong lde btsan, r. 742–98 ᴄᴇ) and was involved with the translation of nearly two hundred texts, continuing into the reign of King Ralpachen (ral pa can, r. 815–38 ᴄᴇ). He was one of the small group of paṇḍitas responsible for the Mahāvyutpatti Sanskrit–Tibetan dictionary and also author of the Nyāyabindupiṇḍārtha (Toh 4233), which is contained in the Tengyur (bstan ’gyur) collection.

g.284

joy

dga’ ba

དགའ་བ།

muditā
tuṣṭi
nandana
rati

g.289

Kampila

’ug pa

འུག་པ།

kampila

g.292

Kapilavastu

ser skya

སེར་སྐྱ།

kapilavastu

g.293

Kāśi

gsal ldan
ka shi

གསལ་ལྡན།
ཀ་ཤི།

kāśi

g.296

Kauṇḍinya

kau N+Di n+ya

ཀཽ་ཎྜི་ནྱ།

kauṇḍinya

g.298

Kauṣṭhila

gsus po che

གསུས་པོ་ཆེ།

kauṣṭhila

g.302

Khadiravaṇika

seng ldeng nags pa

སེང་ལྡེང་ནགས་པ།

khadiravaṇika

g.304

kinnara

mi’am ci

མིའམ་ཅི།

kinnara
kiṃnara

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.

g.306

Kośala

ko sa la

ཀོ་ས་ལ།

kośala

g.312

Kubera

lus ngan

ལུས་ངན།

kubera

g.315

kumbhāṇḍa

grul bum

གྲུལ་བུམ།

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”).

g.320

league

dpag tshad

དཔག་ཚད།

yojana

g.324

listener

nyan thos

ཉན་ཐོས།

śrāvaka

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

g.335

Magadha

ma ga dhA

མ་ག་དྷཱ།

magadha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

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

g.338

Mahākapphiṇa

ka pi la na chen po

ཀ་པི་ལ་ན་ཆེན་པོ།

mahākapphiṇa

g.341

Mahākāśyapa

’od srung chen po

འོད་སྲུང་ཆེན་པོ།

mahākāśyapa

g.342

Mahākātyāyana

ka tya ya na’i bu chen po

ཀ་ཏྱ་ཡ་ནའི་བུ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahākātyāyana

g.343

Mahāmaudgalyāyana

maud gal gyi bu chen po

མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāmaudgalyāyana

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

In this text:

One of the monks attending this teaching in Śrāvastī, at Jeta’s Grove.

g.344

Mahānāma

ming chen

མིང་ཆེན།

mahānāma

g.346

Mahāpāraṇika

pha rol tu ’gro ba chen po

ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་འགྲོ་བ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāpāraṇika

g.348

Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī

skye dgu’i bdag mo chen mo gau ta mI

སྐྱེ་དགུའི་བདག་མོ་ཆེན་མོ་གཽ་ཏ་མཱི།

mahāprajāpatī gautamī

g.354

Maheśvara

dbang phyug chen po

དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ།

maheśvara

g.356

Mahita

mchod byas

མཆོད་བྱས།

mahita

g.357

mahoraga

lto ’phye chen po

ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།

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.

g.359

Maitreya

byams pa

བྱམས་པ།

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).

In this text:

One of the bodhisattvas attending this teaching in Śrāvastī, at Jeta’s Grove.

g.364

Māra

bdud

བདུད།

māra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

g.377

mental stability

bsam gtan

བསམ་གཏན།

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.

g.378

merchants

tshong dpon

ཚོང་དཔོན།

śreṣṭhin

g.379

merit

bsod nams

བསོད་ནམས།

puṇya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Buddhism more generally, merit refers to the wholesome karmic potential accumulated by someone as a result of positive and altruistic thoughts, words, and actions, which will ripen in the current or future lifetimes as the experience of happiness and well-being. According to the Mahāyāna, it is important to dedicate the merit of one’s wholesome actions to the awakening of oneself and to the ultimate and temporary benefit of all sentient beings. Doing so ensures that others also experience the results of the positive actions generated and that the merit is not wasted by ripening in temporary happiness for oneself alone.

g.380

Meru

ri rab

རི་རབ།

meru

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

g.381

mindfulness

dran pa

དྲན་པ།

smṛti

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

This is the faculty that enables the mind to maintain its attention on a referent object, counteracting the arising of forgetfulness, which is a great obstacle to meditative stability. The root smṛ may mean “to recollect” but also simply “to think of.” Broadly speaking, smṛti, commonly translated as “mindfulness,” means to bring something to mind, not necessarily something experienced in a distant past but also something that is experienced in the present, such as the position of one’s body or the breath.

Together with alertness (samprajāna, shes bzhin), it is one of the two indispensable factors for the development of calm abiding (śamatha, zhi gnas).

g.382

minister

blon po

བློན་པོ།

amātya

g.387

modesty

khrel yod

ཁྲེལ་ཡོད།

hrī
lajjā

g.388

monk

dge slong

དགེ་སློང་།

bhikṣu

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term bhikṣu, often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity.

In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a monk follows 253 rules as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣuṇī; dge slong ma) follows 364 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically follow only ten).

g.396

Munivarman

mu ni bar ma

མུ་ནི་བར་མ།

munivarman

g.400

Nadīkāśyapa

chu klung ’od srung

ཆུ་ཀླུང་འོད་སྲུང་།

nadīkāśyapa

g.401

nāga

ཀླུ།

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.

g.404

Nairañjanā

nai ran dzan na

ནཻ་རན་ཛན་ན།

nairañjanā

g.407

Nanda

dga’ bo

དགའ་བོ།

nanda

g.408

Nanda

dga’ bo

དགའ་བོ།

nanda

g.411

Nandika

dga’ byed

དགའ་བྱེད།

nandika

g.418

Nārāyaṇa

sred med kyi bu
sred med kyi bu phyed

སྲེད་མེད་ཀྱི་བུ།
སྲེད་མེད་ཀྱི་བུ་ཕྱེད།

nārāyaṇa

g.429

omen

snga ltas

སྔ་ལྟས།

pūrvanimitta

g.442

park

kun dga’ ra ba

ཀུན་དགའ་ར་བ།

ārāma

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Generally found within the limits of a town or city, an ārāma was a private citizen’s park, a pleasure grove, a pleasant garden‍—ārāma, in its etymology, is somewhat akin to what in English is expressed by the term “pleasance.” The Buddha and his disciples were offered several such ārāmas in which to dwell, which evolved into monasteries or vihāras. The term is still found in contemporary usage in names of Thai monasteries.

g.445

patience

bzod pa

བཟོད་པ།

kṣamā
kṣānti

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A term meaning acceptance, forbearance, or patience. As the third of the six perfections, patience is classified into three kinds: the capacity to tolerate abuse from sentient beings, to tolerate the hardships of the path to buddhahood, and to tolerate the profound nature of reality. As a term referring to a bodhisattva’s realization, dharmakṣānti (chos la bzod pa) can refer to the ways one becomes “receptive” to the nature of Dharma, and it can be an abbreviation of anutpattikadharmakṣānti, “forbearance for the unborn nature, or nonproduction, of dharmas.”

g.448

perfection

pha rol tu phyin pa

ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།

pāramitā

g.454

poṣadha

gso sbyong

གསོ་སྦྱོང་།

poṣadha

g.455

powers

stobs

སྟོབས།

bala

g.464

Praśānta

rab zhi

རབ་ཞི།

praśānta

g.471

priest

bram ze

བྲམ་ཟེ།

brāhmaṇa

g.477

pure realm

gnas gtsang ma’i ris

གནས་གཙང་མའི་རིས།

śuddhāvāsa
śuddhāvāsakāyika

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The five Pure Abodes are the highest heavens of the Form Realm (rūpadhātu). They are called “pure abodes” because ordinary beings (pṛthagjana; so so’i skye bo) cannot be born there; only those who have achieved the fruit of a non-returner (anāgāmin; phyir mi ’ong) can be born there. A summary presentation of them is found in the third chapter of Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośa, although they are repeatedly mentioned as a set in numerous sūtras, tantras, and vinaya texts.

The five Pure Abodes are the last five of the seventeen levels of the Form Realm. Specifically, they are the last five of the eight levels of the upper Form Realm‍—which corresponds to the fourth meditative concentration (dhyāna; bsam gtan)‍—all of which are described as “immovable” (akopya; mi g.yo ba) since they are never destroyed during the cycles of the destruction and reformation of a world system. In particular, the five are Abṛha (mi che ba), the inferior heaven; Atapa (mi gdung ba), the heaven of no torment; Sudṛśa (gya nom snang), the heaven of sublime appearances; Sudarśana (shin tu mthong), the heaven of the most beautiful to behold; and Akaniṣṭha (’og min), the highest heaven.

Yaśomitra explains their names, stating: (1) because those who abide there can only remain for a fixed amount of time, before they are plucked out (√bṛh, bṛṃhanti) of that heaven, or because it is not as extensive (abṛṃhita) as the others in the pure realms, that heaven is called the inferior heaven (abṛha; mi che ba); (2) since the afflictions can no longer torment (√tap, tapanti) those who reside there because of their having attained a particular samādhi, or because their state of mind is virtuous, they no longer torment (√tap, tāpayanti) others, this heaven, consequently, is called the heaven of no torment (atapa; mi gdung ba); (3) since those who reside there have exceptional (suṣṭhu) vision because what they see (√dṛś, darśana) is utterly pure, that heaven is called the heaven of sublime appearances (sudṛśa; gya nom snang); (4) because those who reside there are beautiful gods, that heaven is called the heaven of the most beautiful to behold (sudarśana; shin tu mthong); and (5) since it is not lower (na kaniṣṭhā) than any other heaven because there is no other place superior to it, this heaven is called the highest heaven (akaniṣṭha; ’og min) since it is the uppermost.

g.478

Pūrṇa

gang po

གང་པོ།

pūrṇa

g.479

Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra

byams ma’i bu gang po

བྱམས་མའི་བུ་གང་པོ།

pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra

g.486

Puṣya

rgyal
rgyal skar ma

རྒྱལ།
རྒྱལ་སྐར་མ།

puṣya

g.490

Rāhula

sgra bcan zin

སྒྲ་བཅན་ཟིན།

rāhula

g.492

Rājagṛha

rgyal po’i khab

རྒྱལ་པོའི་ཁབ།

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.

g.496

Rāma

rangs byed

རངས་བྱེད།

rāma

g.516

Revata

nam gru

ནམ་གྲུ།

revata

g.524

Rudraka

lhag spyod

ལྷག་སྤྱོད།

rudraka

g.534

Śakra

brgya byin

བརྒྱ་བྱིན།

śakra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

g.535

Śākya

shAkya

ཤཱཀྱ།

śākya

g.536

Śākyamuni

shAkya thub pa

ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།

śākyamuni

g.549

saṅgha

dge ’dun

དགེ་འདུན།

saṅgha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

g.550

Śānta

zhi ba

ཞི་བ།

śānta

g.556

Śāriputra

shA ri’i bu

ཤཱ་རིའི་བུ།

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.”

In this text:

One of the monks attending this teaching.

g.560

Sarvārthasiddha

don thams cad grub pa

དོན་ཐམས་ཅད་གྲུབ་པ།

sarvārthasiddha

g.570

seat of awakening

byang chub snying po
byang chub kyi snying po

བྱང་ཆུབ་སྙིང་པོ།
བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ།

bodhimaṇḍa

g.572

sense fields

skye mched

སྐྱེ་མཆེད།

āyatana

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

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

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

g.573

seven branches of awakening

byang chub kyi yan lag bdun
byang chub yan lag bdun

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག་བདུན།
བྱང་ཆུབ་ཡན་ལག་བདུན།

saptabodhyaṅga

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The set of seven factors or aspects that characteristically manifest on the path of seeing: (1) mindfulness (smṛti, dran pa), (2) discrimination between dharmas (dharmapravicaya, chos rab tu rnam ’byed/shes rab), (3) diligence (vīrya, brtson ’grus), (4) joy (prīti, dga’ ba), (5) mental and physical ease (praśrabdhi, shin sbyangs), (6) meditative absorption (samādhi, ting nge ’dzin), and (7) equanimity (upekṣā, btang snyoms).

In this text:

For an explanation of each branch, see 4.25.

g.575

Siddhārtha

don grub

དོན་གྲུབ།

siddhārtha

g.591

Śiva

gu lang

གུ་ལང་།

śiva

g.594

skillful means

thabs

ཐབས།

upāya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The concept of skillful or expedient means is central to the understanding of the Buddha’s enlightened deeds and the many scriptures that are revealed contingent on the needs, interests, and mental dispositions of specific types of individuals. It is, therefore, equated with compassion and the form body of the buddhas, the rūpakāya.

According to the Great Vehicle, training in skillful means collectively denotes the first five of the six perfections when integrated with wisdom, the sixth perfection. It is therefore paired with wisdom (prajñā), forming the two indispensable aspects of the path. It is also the seventh of the ten perfections. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)

g.598

Śrāvastī

mnyan yod

མཉན་ཡོད།

śrāvastī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was the capital city of the powerful kingdom of Kośala, ruled by King Prasenajit, who became a follower and patron of the Buddha. It was also the hometown of Anāthapiṇḍada, the wealthy patron who first invited the Buddha there, and then offered him a park known as Jetavana, Prince Jeta’s Grove, which became one of the first Buddhist monasteries. The Buddha is said to have spent about twenty-five rainy seasons with his disciples in Śrāvastī, thus it is named as the setting of numerous events and teachings. It is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.

g.608

Subāhu

lag bzangs

ལག་བཟངས།

subāhu

g.612

Subhūti

rab ’byor

རབ་འབྱོར།

subhūti

g.619

Śuddhodana

zas gtsang ma

ཟས་གཙང་མ།

śuddhodana

g.629

Sunanda

shin tu dga’ bo

ཤིན་ཏུ་དགའ་བོ།

sunanda

g.654

Svāgata

legs ’ongs

ལེགས་འོངས།

svāgata

g.657

Śvetaketu

tog dkar po

ཏོག་དཀར་པོ།

śvetaketu

g.663

ten powers

stobs bcu

སྟོབས་བཅུ།

daśabala

One set among the different qualities of a buddha. The ten strengths are (1) the knowledge of what is possible and not possible; (2) the knowledge of the ripening of karma; (3) the knowledge of the variety of aspirations; (4) the knowledge of the variety of natures; (5) the knowledge of the different levels of capabilities; (6) the knowledge of the destinations of all paths; (7) the knowledge of various states of meditation; (8) the knowledge of remembering previous lives; (9) the knowledge of deaths and rebirths; and (10) the knowledge of the cessation of defilements.

g.665

thirty-seven factors of awakening

byang chub kyi phyogs kyi chos sum cu rtsa bdun

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་ཆོས་སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་བདུན།

saptatriṃśadbodhipakṣadharma

g.667

thorough relinquishments

yang dag par spong ba

ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ།

samyakprahāṇa

g.674

thus-gone one

de bzhin gshegs pa

དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།

tathāgata

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

g.676

tranquility

zhi gnas

ཞི་གནས།

śamatha

g.684

Uccadhvaja

rgyal mtshan mthon po

རྒྱལ་མཚན་མཐོན་པོ།

uccadhvaja

g.685

Udayana

’char po

འཆར་པོ།

udayana

g.686

Udāyin

’char ’gro

འཆར་འགྲོ།

udāyin

Son of Udayana, the chief priest of King Śuddhodana in Kapilavastu, the Buddha’s home town. Also called Kālodāyin (Black Udāyin) because of his dark skin. He and his wife Guptā became monk and nun. He became an arhat who was a skilled teacher. However, he also figures prominently in accounts of inappropriate sexual behavior that instigated vinaya rules. He and Guptā are also said to have conceived a son after their ordination.

g.693

universal monarch

khor los sgyur ba’i rgyal po

ཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

cakravartin

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

An ideal monarch or emperor who, as the result of the merit accumulated in previous lifetimes, rules over a vast realm in accordance with the Dharma. Such a monarch is called a cakravartin because he bears a wheel (cakra) that rolls (vartate) across the earth, bringing all lands and kingdoms under his power. The cakravartin conquers his territory without causing harm, and his activity causes beings to enter the path of wholesome actions. According to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa, just as with the buddhas, only one cakravartin appears in a world system at any given time. They are likewise endowed with the thirty-two major marks of a great being (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa), but a cakravartin’s marks are outshined by those of a buddha. They possess seven precious objects: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the wish-fulfilling gem, the queen, the general, and the minister. An illustrative passage about the cakravartin and his possessions can be found in The Play in Full (Toh 95), 3.3–3.13.

Vasubandhu lists four types of cakravartins: (1) the cakravartin with a golden wheel (suvarṇacakravartin) rules over four continents and is invited by lesser kings to be their ruler; (2) the cakravartin with a silver wheel (rūpyacakravartin) rules over three continents and his opponents submit to him as he approaches; (3) the cakravartin with a copper wheel (tāmracakravartin) rules over two continents and his opponents submit themselves after preparing for battle; and (4) the cakravartin with an iron wheel (ayaścakravartin) rules over one continent and his opponents submit themselves after brandishing weapons.

g.699

Urubilvā

lteng rgyas

ལྟེང་རྒྱས།

urubilvā

g.700

Urubilvā Kāśyapa

lteng rgyas ’od srung

ལྟེང་རྒྱས་འོད་སྲུང་།

urubilvā kāśyapa

g.712

Vaiśravaṇa

rnam thos kyi bu

རྣམ་ཐོས་ཀྱི་བུ།

vaiśravaṇa

g.715

Vakkula

ba ku la

བ་ཀུ་ལ།

vakkula

g.720

Vārāṇasī

bA rA Na sI

བཱ་རཱ་ཎ་སཱི།

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.

g.731

venerable

tshe dang ldan pa

ཚེ་དང་ལྡན་པ།

āyuṣmat

g.739

Vimala

dri ma med pa

དྲི་མ་མེད་པ།

vimala

g.744

Vinīteśvara

dul ba’i dbang phyug

དུལ་བའི་དབང་ཕྱུག

vinīteśvara

g.747

Virūḍhaka

’phags skyes po

འཕགས་སྐྱེས་པོ།

virūḍhaka

g.748

Virūpākṣa

mig mi bzang

མིག་མི་བཟང་།

virūpākṣa

g.749

Viśākhā

skar ma sa ga

སྐར་མ་ས་ག

viśākhā

g.762

wisdom

ye shes

ཡེ་ཤེས།

jñāna

g.763

womb

རུམ།

garbha
yoni

g.765

worthy one

dgra bcom pa

དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།

arhat

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.

g.766

yakṣa

gnod sbyin

གནོད་སྦྱིན།

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.

g.770

Yaśodeva

grags sbyin

གྲགས་སྦྱིན།

yaśodeva

g.773

Yeshé Dé

ye shes sde

ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Yeshé Dé (late eighth to early ninth century) was the most prolific translator of sūtras into Tibetan. Altogether he is credited with the translation of more than one hundred sixty sūtra translations and more than one hundred additional translations, mostly on tantric topics. In spite of Yeshé Dé’s great importance for the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet during the imperial era, only a few biographical details about this figure are known. Later sources describe him as a student of the Indian teacher Padmasambhava, and he is also credited with teaching both sūtra and tantra widely to students of his own. He was also known as Nanam Yeshé Dé, from the Nanam (sna nam) clan.

The Play in Full

Toh 95

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