གཙུག་ཕུ་ལྔ་པ། | Glossary of Terms

A certain young gandharva allied with the god Śakra.

A gandharva king.

A gandharva who is employed by Śakra to serve the Buddha.

A gandharva prominent in early Buddhism who is featured on early stūpa reliefs playing a lute and singing.

A gandharva who was very prominent in early Buddhism and is featured on early stupa reliefs playing a lute and singing. He would come to Buddha Śākyamuni, who was not portrayed as omniscient, to inform him of what was occuring in the paradises. He also accompanies Indra on a visit to the Buddha and plays music to bring the Buddha out of his meditation. He performs the same role in the Mahāyāna sūtra The White Lotus of Compassion (Toh 112). He was portrayed as living on a five-peaked mountain, and appears to be the basis for Mañjuśrī, first known as Mañjughoṣa (Beautiful Voice) with Pañcaśikha still being one of Mañjuśrī’s alternate names. In this sūtra he is clearly distinct from Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī.

An eminent gandharva.

A gandharva known for playing the lute.

A certain young gandharva allied with the god Śakra.

A gandharva who was very prominent in early Buddhism and is featured on early stūpa reliefs playing a lute and singing. He was portrayed as living on a five-peaked mountain and appears to be the basis for Mañjuśrī, first known as Mañjughoṣa (“Beautiful Voice”); Pañcaśikha remains one of Mañjuśrī’s names.

A gandharva king who is employed by Śakra to serve the Buddha. He is sometimes said to be a form of Mañjuśrī or historically to have been his original identity.

One of the gandharva kings.

A gandharva said to live on Gandhamādana Mountain, on the central peak of five peaks, at the source of the Ganges. In the early sūtras he acts as a messenger between the devas and the Buddha. His depiction evolved into Mañjughoṣa or Mañjuśrī, who retains Pañcaśikha as one of his names.

A gandharva king.