རྟ་ཐུལ། | Glossary of Terms

One of the Five Excellent Companions, with whom Siddhārtha Gautama practiced asceticism near the Nairañjanā River and later heard the Buddha first teach the Four Noble Truths at the Deer Park in Sarnath. He was renowned for his pure conduct and holy demeanor so Buddha sent him to attract Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana to the order.

One of the first five disciples of the Buddha.

One of the monks attending this teaching in Śrāvastī, at Jeta Grove.

A disciple of the Buddha. Before the Buddha’s awakening, Aśvajit was one of the five ascetics with whom he practiced.

The son of one of the seven brahmins who predicted that Śākyamuni would become a great king. He was one of the five companions with Śākyamuni in the beginning of his spiritual path, abandoning him when he gave up asceticism, but then becoming one of his first five pupils after his buddhahood. He was the last of the five to attain the realization of a “stream entrant” and became an arhat on hearing the Sūtra on the Characteristics of Selflessness (An­ātma­lakṣaṇa­sūtra), which was not translated into Tibetan. Aśvajit was the one who converted Śariputra and Maudgalyāyana into becoming followers of the Buddha.

One of the five ascetics, the companions of the Buddha during his early practice of austerities.

One of the five ascetics who became the first disciples of the Buddha.