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.

སྲུལ་པོ། | Glossary of Terms

  • སྲུལ་པོ།

  • srul po
  • pūtana
  • pūta
  • Term
Publications: 20

A class of disease-causing spirits associated with cemeteries and dead bodies. The name probably derives from the Skt. pūta, “foul-smelling,” as reflected also in the Tib. srul po. The smell is variously described in the texts as resembling that of a billy goat or a crow. The morbid condition caused by the spirit shares its name and comes in various forms, with symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, skin eruptions, and festering wounds, the latter possibly explaining the association with bad smells.