གནས་བརྟན། | Glossary of Terms

A monk who possesses the qualities of stability and skill.

A monk of seniority within the assembly of the śrāvakas.

A senior monk.

The term is used to designate a senior monk. The sixteen great arhats, or sixteen noble elders (āryasthavira), were the successors of the Buddha’s teaching after he passed. They promised to preserve the teaching until the coming of the future Buddha Maitreya. They are on the path of seeing of the arhat path. Each arhat lived in a specific place: (1) Aṅgaja on Mt. Kailash; (2) Ajita in the Crystal Wood of Sages; (3) Vanavāsin on Mt. Saptaparṇa; (4) Mahākālika in Tāmradvīpa; (5) Vajrīputra in Siṃhaladvīpa; (6) Śrībhadra on Yamunādvīpa; (7) Kanakavatsa in Kashmir; (8) Kanakabharadvāja in the western continent of Godānīya; (9) Bakula in the northern continent of Uttarakuru; (10) Rāhula in Priyaṅgudvīpa; (11) Cūḍapanthaka on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa; (12) Piṇḍolabharadvāja in the eastern continent of Pūrvavideha; (13) Mahāpanthaka in Trayatriṃśa; (14) Nāgasena on Mt. Meru; (15) Gopaka on Mt. Bhihula; and (16) Abhedya in the Himālayas.

Literally “one who is stable” and usually translated as “elder,” a senior monastic teacher in the early Buddhist communities. Also became the name of the Buddhist tradition within which the Theravāda developed.

A senior student of the Buddha.

A title used when addressing the most venerable bhikṣus.

A title used when addressing the most venerable bhikṣus.

Literally “one who is stable” and usually translated as “elder,” a senior monk in the early Buddhist communities. Pali: thera.

Literally “one who is stable” and usually translated as “elder,” a senior teacher in the early Buddhist communities. It also became the name of the Buddhist tradition within which the Theravāda developed.

Literally “one who is stable” and is usually translated as “elder”; a senior teacher in the early Buddhist communities. Also became the name of the Buddhist tradition within which the Theravada developed.

Literally “one who is stable” and usually translated as “elder,” a senior teacher in the early Buddhist communities. Also became the name of the Buddhist tradition within which the Theravada developed.