84000 Glossary of Terms

Our trilingual glossary combining entries from all of our publications into one useful resource, giving translations and definitions of thousands of terms, people, places, and texts from the Buddhist canon.

གྲུལ་བུམ། | Glossary of Terms

  • གྲུལ་བུམ།

  • གྲུལ།
  • grul bum
  • grul
  • kumbhāṇḍa
  • kubhāṇḍa
  • kumbhaṇḍa
  • kuṣmāṇḍa
  • Term
Publications: 42

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”).