ཡི་དགས། | Glossary of Terms

Literally “the departed” and analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death. In Buddhism, they are said to suffer intensely, particularly from hunger and thirst.

Literally “the departed” and analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death. In Buddhism they are said to suffer intensely, particularly from hunger and thirst.

The inhabitants of one of the three lower realms of cyclic existence, these are a type of spirit known for being tormented by unceasing and insatiable hunger and thirst. Often rendered as “hungry ghost.”

Literally “the departed” and analogous to the ancestral spirits of the Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. In Buddhism they are said to suffer intensely, particularly from hunger and thirst, and their realm is one of the three or four unfortunate realms of rebirth.

A restless wandering ghost. In the Buddhist tradition, they are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire such sustenance.

A class of sentient beings constantly suffering from hunger and thirst, one of the six (or five) possible realms of rebirth.

Literally “the departed” and analagous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death, analogous to the underworld of Pluto in Greek mythology. In Buddhism they are said to suffer intensely, particularly from hunger and thirst.

A type of spirit known for being tormented by unceasing hunger and thirst.

Literally “the departed” and analagous to the ancestral spirits of the Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death, analogous to the underworld of Pluto in Greek mythology. In Buddhism they are said to suffer intensely, particularly from hunger and thirst.

A class of sentient beings constantly suffering from hunger and thirst, one of the six (or five) possible realms of rebirth.

A class of spirits of the lower order, sometimes called “hungry ghosts.”

A class of beings who, in the Buddhist tradition, are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

A class of beings who, in Buddhist traditions, are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

“Ghost,” “Hungry ghost.”

A class of nonhuman beings, sometimes called hungry ghosts. One of the six classes of beings.

A class of sentient beings constantly suffering from hunger and thirst. They also represent one of the six realms of rebirth.

Class of beings; literally “hungry spirit.” One of the six realms of existence.

A class of beings who, in the Buddhist tradition, are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

The Sanskrit preta literally means “departed” and generally refers to the spirits of the dead. More specifically in Buddhism, it refers to a class of sentient beings who belong to the lower or unfortunate rebirth-destinies and who suffer from moderate to extreme dearth and want as a karmic result of negative actions based on craving, hatred, and attachment (see Exposition of Karma, Toh 338, UT22084-072-038-195). The common English rendering “hungry ghost” is a literal translation of the Chinese translation of preta, 餓鬼 e gui.

The Sanskrit preta literally means “departed” and generally refers to the spirits of the dead; more specifically in Buddhism, it refers to a class of sentient beings belonging to the lower or “bad/unfortunate rebirth destinies” (apāya).

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, considered to be the karmic fruition of past miserliness. In Sanskrit, literally “the departed”; they are analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, considered to be the karmic fruition of past miserliness. In Sanskrit, literally “the departed”; they are analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

A class of spirits; one of the three lower realms.

A class of spirits sometimes called hungry ghosts.

A type of spirit known for being tormented by unceasing hunger and thirst. The Sanskrit term generally refers to the spirits of the dead, but in Buddhism specifically it refers to a class of sentient beings belonging to the lower states of rebirth.

A class of spirits ever afflicted by hunger and thirst; also, spirits of deceased people in general.

A class of spirits sometimes called “hungry ghosts”; also refers to the spirits of the deceased.

A class of beings who, in the Buddhist tradition, are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

One of the lower order of spirits with grotesquely misshapen bodies who endlessly suffer from hunger and thirst; also spirits of deceased persons.

The sprits of the dead, roughly analogous to the pitṛs, the term from which preta is derived. In Buddhism the pretas are a class of beings that belong to the lower realms of rebirth and suffer from moderate to extreme hunger and want as the karmic result of negative actions based on craving, hatred, and attachment.

A class of beings who are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

Literally “the departed,” and analogous to the ancestral spirits of the Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death. In Buddhism they are said to suffer intensely, particularly from hunger and thirst.

A class of beings who in the Buddhist tradition are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

Type of being in Buddhist cosmogony.

One of the six classes of beings. In the Buddhist tradition they are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

One of the five or six classes of beings, considered to be the karmic fruition of past miserliness. In Sanskrit, literally “the departed”; they are analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

A class of beings suffering interminable hunger and thirst.

The Sanskrit preta literally means “departed” and generally refers to the spirits of the dead. More specifically in Buddhism, it refers to a class of sentient beings belonging to the lower or “bad/unfortunate rebirth destinies” (Skt. apāya); see also “realm of ghosts.” See also UT22084-072-038-205.

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, considered to be the karmic fruition of past miserliness. In Sanskrit, literally “the departed”; they are analagous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

Also called a “hungry ghost,” an inhabitant of one of the three lower realms who suffers constantly from insatiable hunger and thirst, the karmic fruition of past miserliness. See “five destinies.”

A class of beings who, in the Buddhist tradition, are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, considered to be the karmic fruition of past miserliness. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, considered to be the karmic fruition of past miserliness. In Sanskrit, literally “the departed”; they are analagous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.