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.

གནོད་སྦྱིན། | Glossary of Terms

  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།

  • ཡཀྵ།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yak+Sha
  • yakṣa
  • Term
Publications: 117

A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.

Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of male and female spirits, depicted as holding choppers, cleavers, and swords. Inhabiting mountainous areas and sylvan groves, their name in Tibetan (gnod sbyin, “granting harm”) suggests a malign nature.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of supernatural beings, often represented as the attendants of the god of wealth, although the term is also applied to spirits. Although they are generally portrayed as benevolent, the Tibetan translation means “harm giver,” as they are also capable of causing harm.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semidivine beings said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa, otherwise known as Kubera.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • 夜叉
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa AS
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • 夜叉
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semidivine beings said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa. They are associated with water, fertility, and trees, and treasure, and are said to haunt or protect natural places as well as towns. Yakṣa can be malevolent or benevolent, and are known for bestowing wealth and other boons.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semidivine beings said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa, otherwise known as Kubera.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semidivine beings who inhabit forests and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians to villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons.

  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of supernatural beings, often represented as the attendants of Vaiśravaṇa, the god of wealth, but the term is also applied to spirits. Although they are generally portrayed as benevolent, the Tibetan translation means “harm giver,” as they are also capable of causing harm.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semi-divine beings that haunt or protect natural places and cities. They can be malevolent or benevolent, and are known for bestowing wealth and worldly boons.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of supernatural beings, often represented as the attendants of the god of wealth, but the term is also applied to spirits. Although they are generally portrayed as benevolent, the Tibetan translation means “harm giver,” as they are also capable of causing harm.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • Yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of supernatural beings, often represented as the attendants of the god of wealth, but the term is also applied to spirits. Although they are generally portrayed as benevolent, the Tibetan translation means “harm giver,” as they are also capable of causing harm.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • Yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semidivine beings who haunt or protect forests, rivers, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians to villages and towns. They are traditionally propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semidivine beings said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa. They are associated with water, trees, fertility, and treasures, and are said to haunt or protect natural places as well as towns. Yakṣas can be malevolent or benevolent, and are known for bestowing wealth and other boons.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of male and female spirits, depicted as holding choppers, cleavers, and swords. Inhabiting mountainous areas and sylvan groves, their name in Tibetan (gnod sbyin, “granting harm”) suggests a malign nature.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • 夜叉
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semidivine beings said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa. They are said to haunt or protect natural places as well as towns. Yakṣas can be malevolent or benevolent and are known for bestowing wealth and other boons.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semidivine beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons. They are often depicted as holding choppers, cleavers, and swords, and are said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semidivine beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons. They are often depicted as holding choppers, cleavers, and swords, and are said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of semidivine beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons. They are often depicted as holding choppers, cleavers, and swords, and are said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

Yakṣas are ambivalent nature spirits. According to Indian mythology, they inhabit trees, ponds, and other natural places, and serve as guardians of a certain locale. They possess magical powers, are shapeshifters, and can appear as helpful to and protective of the Buddha, his disciples, and the teachings. They can also be malevolent forces that create obstacles and illness.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

Harmful spirits, classified among the gods of the desire realm (Rigzin 232).

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • Yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • 藥叉
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa AS
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa AS
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa AS
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa AO
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of supernatural beings, often represented as the attendants of Kubera, the god of wealth, but the term is also applied to spirits. Although they are generally portrayed as benevolent, the Tibetan translation means “harm giver,” as they are also capable of causing harm.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
Definition in this text:

A class of supernatural beings, often represented as the attendants of Kubera, the god of wealth, but the term is also applied to spirits. Although they are generally portrayed as benevolent, the Tibetan translation means “harm giver,” as they are also capable of causing harm.

  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • ཡཀྵ།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yak+Sha
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • Yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa AD
  • yakṣa
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • gnod sbyin
  • yakṣa