མཁན་པོ། | Glossary of Terms

An office decreed by the Buddha so that aspirants would not have to receive ordination from the Buddha in person. The Buddha identified two types: those who grant entry into the renunciate order and those who grant ordination.

In India, a person’s particular preceptor within the monastic tradition, guiding that person for the taking of full vows and the maintenance of conduct and practice. The Tibetan translation mkhan po has also come to mean “a learned scholar,” the equivalent of a paṇḍita, but that is not the intended meaning in Indic Buddhist literature.

A personal preceptor and teacher.

Teacher, (monastic) preceptor; “having approached him, one studies from him” (upetyādhīyate asmāt).

An abbot or a principal ordination master.

A sponsor of young novices and monks, they must be at least ten years standing in the saṅgha. They confer ordination, teach, and provide their pupil with all the necessary requisites. See also “teacher” (ācārya).

The person from whom one receives vows. Also the title of the head of a monastery. Also rendered here as “counselor.”

In India, a person’s particular preceptor within the monastic tradition, guiding that person for the taking of full vows and the maintenance of conduct and practice. The Tibetan translation mkhan po has also come to mean “a learned scholar,” the equivalent of a paṇḍita, but that is not the intended meaning in the sūtras.

Teacher, (monastic) preceptor; “having approached him, one studies from him” (upetyādhīyate asmāt).

A personal preceptor and teacher. Also In Tibet, the translation mkhan po also came to mean a learned scholar, the equivalent of a paṇḍita.

A personal preceptor and teacher. In Tibet, it has also come to mean a learned scholar, the equivalent of a paṇḍita, but that is not the intended meaning in the Kāraṇḍavyūha.

A personal preceptor and teacher. In Tibet, the translation mkhan po also came to mean a learned scholar, the equivalent of a paṇḍita.

Teacher, (monastic) preceptor; “having approached him, one studies from him” (upetyādhīyate asmāt | Dādhimatha 1995: 252).

One who presides over the monastic ordination ceremony of new monks.

A sponsor of young novices and monks; he or she must have at least ten years of standing in the saṅgha, confers ordination, teaches, and provides students with all the necessary requisites. See also “instructor.”

A monastic preceptor. Usually refers either to the abbot of a monastery or to the preceptor from whom one receives monastic ordination.

The person from whom one receives vows. It is also the title of the head of a monastery and used here to refer to a royal magistrate. Also rendered here as “preceptor.”

From the Chinese 和上 (heshang) derived from the Sanskrit upādhyāya, a senior, learned monk.