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རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཏོག་གི་གཟུངས།

The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī
Chapter 2

Ratna­ketu­dhāraṇī
འཕགས་པ་འདུས་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཏོག་གི་གཟུངས་ཤེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa ’dus pa chen po rin po che tog gi gzungs shes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī” from the Great Collection
Ārya­mahā­sannipāta­ratna­ketu­dhāraṇī­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra
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Toh 138

Degé Kangyur, vol. 56 (mdo sde, na), folios 187.b–277.b

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2020
Current version v 1.0.19 (2022)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.17.7

84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
+ 13 chapters- 13 chapters
h. Homage
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
c. Colophon
+ 1 section- 1 section
· Tibetan Translators’ Colophon
ab. Abbreviations
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Primary literature (manuscripts and editions)
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Sanskrit
· Tibetan
· Translations and secondary literature:
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī is one of the core texts of the Mahāsannipāta collection of Mahāyāna sūtras that dates back to the formative period of Mahāyāna Buddhism, from the first to the third century ᴄᴇ. Its rich and varied narratives, probably redacted from at least two independent works, recount significant events from the lives, past and present, of the Buddha Śākyamuni and some of his main followers and opponents, both human and nonhuman. At the center of these narratives is the climactic episode from the Buddha’s life when Māra, the personification of spiritual death, sets out to destroy the Buddha and his Dharma. The mythic confrontation between these paragons of light and darkness, and the Buddha’s eventual victory, are related in vivid detail. The main narratives are interwoven with Dharma instructions and interspersed with miraculous events. The text also exemplifies two distinctive sūtra genres, “prophecies” (vyākaraṇa) and “incantations” (dhāraṇī), as it includes, respectively, prophecies of the future attainment of buddhahood by some of the Buddha’s followers and the potent phrases that embody the Buddha’s teachings and are meant to ensure their survival and the thriving of its practitioners.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the extant parts from the Sanskrit and wrote the introduction. Timothy Hinkle compared the translation from the Sanskrit against the Tibetan translation and translated from the Tibetan the parts that are lost in the original Sanskrit.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.


ac.­2

The generous sponsorship of Twenty and family, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is gratefully acknowledged. They would like to dedicate their sponsorship to Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche.


i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī presents the dramatic events in the life of the Buddha when Māra attempts to destroy the Buddha, break up the Saṅgha, and annihilate the Dharma, a struggle from which the Buddha eventually emerges victorious. This epic confrontation is told with tremendous verve and poignancy, and features characters, dialogue, and plot twists that rank among the best in Buddhist literature. The narrative starts with its own version of the well-known story of the conversion of two of the Buddha’s most prominent early disciples, Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, and is soon embellished with quaint stories from the past lives of some of the characters, ranging from well-known buddha figures down to (at one time) ordinary human and nonhuman beings. The parts of the narrative that unfold on earth are centered around the city of Rājagṛha, the capital of Magadha. They provide some interesting insight into the everyday life of India at the time, with its division into secular and religious members of society, and vividly capture the experiences that Buddhist monks might have had when going on their daily alms-rounds in the city streets. This is interspersed with lively dialogue that is at once didactic and aesthetically captivating. Especially moving is the conversation that Māra has with his children, when the daughters try to console their distraught father, who bitterly despairs over the impending loss of his realm and the humiliation of seeing his minions, even his own children, desert him, with all the pathos of a broken old man and all the obduracy of a petulant child.


The Translation
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī
from the Great Collection

h.

Homage

[F.187.b] [B1]10


h.­1

Homage to the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance!


h.­2

Homage to the one with the melodious voice of Mahābrahmā!


h.­3

Having paid homage to him, one should employ the dhāraṇī called unharmed by the assemblies of Māra. May I accomplish the following mantra:11

h.­4

Avāme avāme amvare amvare {TK4} parikuñja naṭa naṭa puṣkaravaha jalukha khama khaya ili mili kili mili kīrtipara mudre mudramukhe svāhā! {TK5}


1.

Chapter 1

1.­1

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Veṇuvana, at the Kalandakanivāpa, near the city of Rājagṛha, with a great saṅgha of a thousand monks, all of whom were noble ones. They had all exhausted defilements, were free from the afflictions, were powerful, had liberated minds, had liberated insight, were of noble birth, were great elephants,12 had done what needed to be done, had completed their mission, had cast off the burden, had achieved their own welfare, had severed the bonds that tied them to existence, had liberated their minds with genuine knowledge, and had perfected all mental powers. There was also a great saṅgha of ten thousand bodhisattvas, including [F.188.a] {TK6} the princely youth Holder of Meru’s Peak, the princely youth Varuṇamati, the princely youth Sumati, the princely youth Jayamati, the princely youth Jinamati, the princely youth Intelligent Light, the princely youth Intelligent Sky, the princely youth Intelligent Lightning, the princely youth Mañjuśrī, the princely youth Durdharṣa, the princely youth Varuṇa, the princely youth Vimala, the bodhisattva great being Maitreya, and others. Each of these ten thousand bodhisattvas had achieved acceptance, retention, and absorption. {TK7} Each possessed the wisdom that is unobscured by any phenomenon, had equal concern for all beings, had transcended all the domains of Māra, and had entered the domain of all the thus-gone ones. Each was knowledgeable, possessed great love and compassion, and was skilled in means.


2.

Chapter 2

2.­1

The daughters and sons of Māra, accompanied by their retinues, said to the Blessed One, “The extent to which the Thus-Gone One is endowed with means and wisdom is incredible! We seek, O Blessed One, the same sort of Dharma vehicle, wisdom, magical powers, compassion, means, and eloquence. What are the qualities, O Blessed One, that a person should have in order to not fall into the hands of evil companions, but instead swiftly realize unsurpassed and perfect awakening?”

2.­2

“O noble sons and daughters,”80 replied the Blessed One, “should any person in this world be endowed with four qualities, they will not fall into the hands of evil companions, but instead swiftly realize unsurpassed and perfect awakening. What are these four?

2.­3

1. “My friends, a noble son or daughter must not be attached to any phenomenon. They must never grasp, hold on to, [F.197.a] dwell upon, conceptualize, or falsely identify any phenomenon, so that when they are training in the perfection of generosity, they neither reject nor grasp at the fruit of generosity, hold on to it, dwell upon it, conceptualize it, nor falsely identify it.81 [And so this continues] up to not conceptualizing or falsely identifying when practicing the perfection of insight.82

2.­4

2. “Another quality, my friends, {TK35} is that a noble son or daughter must not profess the independent existence of beings, the vital principle, an individual soul, {K25} or personhood,83 must not be attached in their minds . . .84 and must not conceptualize or falsely identify the realm of beings.85

2.­5

3. “Another quality, my friends, is that a noble son or daughter must not be attached to . . .86 and must not conceptualize or falsely identify forms, sounds, smells, flavors, or tactile perceptions.

2.­6

4. “Another quality, my friends, is that a noble son or daughter must not be attached to . . .87 and must not conceptualize or falsely identify the arising of the body based on the ripening of results dependent on causes, which happens throughout the three times and the threefold universe wherever there are the aggregates and the organs and objects of the senses.88

2.­7

“And why is that? It is because omniscient wisdom, devoid of all dualistic concepts and speculation with regard to the domain of conduct, is developed by means of the yoga of non-observation. Neither phenomena nor omniscience, my friends, have any existence as separate entities. They make no sound, are signless, are not imperishable, are wishless, are not subject to arising or cessation, and have no characteristics. They are unobstructed, imperceptible, and cannot be shown. They are void,89 without self, and without characteristics.90 They are momentary, calm, neither dark nor light, and without location, and they are neither sense objects nor faculties. They are neither friendly nor hostile,91 are inconceivable, and cannot be taken away. They are free from selfishness {TK36} or mental elaboration, are stainless, [F.197.b] and have no component parts. They are not anything in particular, not agents, devoid of sensations, and without support. They are ungraspable, cannot be cognized, do not appear discretely, and are not momentary. Omniscience, my friends, is sky-like and empty. Being emptiness, it should be engaged in by applying nonperception, nondwelling, nonattachment, nonconceptuality, and nonspeculation. {K26}

2.­8

“Endowed with these four qualities, my friends, a person will not fall into the hands of evil companions but instead swiftly realize unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Anyone who seeks omniscient wisdom by treating sense objects as specifically located and characterized by being objects of attachment becomes bogged down in duality. A mind bogged down in duality is conceptual and contradicts omniscience. What is this duality?

“When one dwells upon the aggregates, elements, and sense bases, by analyzing them according to their characteristics and becoming attached to them, this is duality and it runs counter to omniscience.

2.­9

“Duality is conceptualizing the nexus of one’s conduct and its fruits. Duality is conceptualizing the nexus of appropriation, becoming, and birth92 of beings. Duality is conceptualizing the nexus of instruction, elucidation, discourse, terminology, and language. Duality is conceptualizing the nexus of knowledge consisting in eternalistic and nihilistic views, and subjects of knowledge. Duality is conceptualizing the nexus of notions that postulate a being, a vital principle, an individual soul, a person, an agent, or an instigator of action. Also, if somebody dwells upon and conceptualizes the nexus of this shore and the other,93 {TK37} and of thoughts and delimitations, this is duality.

2.­10

“My friends, if any person who seeks omniscience dwells upon, conceptualizes, speculates about, or gets attached to the analysis of the arising and cessation of the thoughts ‘I’ and ‘my’ throughout the three times, [F.198.a] this is duality pertaining to omniscience.

“It is as if somebody {K27} would get hold of soil when they need fire, would get hold of fire when in need of drink, would get hold of a stone when in need of food, would get hold of garments when in need of flowers, would get hold of a corpse when in need of perfume, would get hold of rocks94 when in need of clothes, and would get hold of space when in need of scented oils. In this way, my friends, if anybody seeks omniscient wisdom while steeped in duality arising through the analysis of and attachment to the mastery of conduct, their endeavors will be fruitless.”

2.­11

There was, seated among this assembly, a bodhisattva by the name Dhāraṇamati. Folding his hands in the direction of the Blessed One, he bowed and asked, “Is it possible to realize that which is inexpressible?”

2.­12

“Only one who knows the inexpressible is realized,” said the Blessed One. “Therefore, O noble son, I will ask you something. Answer according to your degree of acceptance. If you are able to explain this, please do. Is there a substance, characteristic, or entity that is called ‘omniscience’?”

2.­13

“If I were to say that there is,” replied Dhāraṇamati, “this would be an eternalist view. If I were to say that there isn’t, this would be a nihilist view. In the middle way nothing can be apprehended: omniscience neither exists nor does not exist. Perfect realization is the understanding of the nature that is unobstructed, unarisen, {TK38} unceasing, immeasurable, incalculable, without darkness,95 and without light.”

2.­14

“Perfect awakening, O Blessed One,” said the bodhisattva Vidyunmati, “is the ability to gain realization where there is neither coming nor going.” [F.198.b]

“Perfect awakening, O Blessed One,” said the bodhisattva Vairocana, “is the state that is characterized neither by attainment nor nonattainment. It is not an intuitive grasp or an intuitive perception, nor is it tranquility or complete tranquility. Neither is it the three times, {K28} the three vehicles, aspiration, civility, or conceitedness.”

2.­15

“Perfect awakening, O Blessed One,” said Dhāraṇamati, “is the state where one does not conceptualize or speculate about the threefold universe, the three fetters, the three types of knowledge, the three vehicles, the five aggregates, the elements, or the sense bases. It is a state where there is no increase or decrease and that is not subject to deterioration.”96

2.­16

“Perfect awakening,” said the bodhisattva Vajramati, “is the state where one does not conceptualize, speculate about, or defer to the teachings, whether those of ordinary people, the noble ones, the students, the adepts,97 the hearers, or those of the solitary buddhas.”

“Perfect awakening,” said the bodhisattva Dṛḍhamati, “is the state where, in the mode of disengagement, {TK39} one does not analyze98 suchness.”

2.­17

“Perfect awakening,” said the bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi, “is the state where, for the sake of accomplishing or realizing the unborn characteristic of all phenomena, one does not conceptualize.”

“Perfect awakening,” said the bodhisattva Acintyamati, “is the state where one does not try to apprehend, through mental analysis, the two minds‍—the one that ponders the threefold universe and the one that ponders the analyzing mind.”99

2.­18

“Perfect awakening,” said the bodhisattva Arivijaya, [F.199.a] “is the state where one does not cling to, does not become seduced by, {K29} indifferent to, angry at, desirous of, or deluded by, and does not grasp at or reject any phenomenon.”

“Perfect awakening,” said the bodhisattva Padmagarbha, “is the state where one is not attached to either virtue or vice and, through entering profound acceptance, does not conceptualize ‘I’ or ‘my.’ ”

2.­19

“Perfect awakening,” said the princely youth Candraprabha, “is the state where one realizes all phenomena to be the same as the reflection of the moon in water and perceives the nature of phenomena as neither increasing nor decreasing.”

“Perfect awakening,” said the princely youth Khagamati, {TK40} “is when there is no darkness, light, arising, decay, increase, or decrease within mind and mental states.”

2.­20

“Perfect awakening,” said the bodhisattva Maitreya, “is the state where one neither apprehends nor attempts to become equal to the Brahmās that abide in the three realms of existence, wherever or whether they abide.”100

“Perfect awakening,” said the bodhisattva Akṣayamati, “is the state where, by purifying the three spheres, one cultivates the perfections while knowing that there is no reality to them, and one is therefore neither attracted to nor indifferent to them.”

2.­21

“Perfect awakening, O Blessed One,” said the princely youth Mañjuśrī, “is the state where one is neither attracted to nor indifferent to phenomena and knows the profound doctrine of the Dharma. One neither exerts oneself nor remains inert with regard to that which one cognizes. Nor does one accept or reject it. One does not accumulate, {K30} lose, generate knowledge of, relinquish, destroy, diminish, or increase any phenomena. By not conceptualizing things, [F.199.b] one stops the afflictions. It is by this single principle that one realizes omniscient wisdom.”

2.­22

The bodhisattva Kautūhalika then asked, “How, O Mañjuśrī, should one apply the practices whereby one actualizes this single principle and {TK41} subsequently acquires omniscient wisdom by cultivating profound emptiness?”101

Mañjuśrī replied, “The following, noble children, are twenty methods for attaining omniscient wisdom.

2.­23

“One should (1) abandon wrong views and adopt right views, (2) adopt honesty and sincerity, (3) respect the teacher without being tainted by negativity, (4) be receptive to good advice, (5) adopt right livelihood, (6) cast off the fetters that bind one to saṃsāra, (7) have the same anger-free compassion for all beings, (8) take up the threefold restraint, (9) sincerely adopt undeceptive wholesome mental states, (10) avoid what is not peaceful, (11) guard the sacred Dharma, (12) never abandon any sentient being, (13) renounce all wealth, (14) give strength to the weak, (15) offer refuge and fearlessness to the frightened, (16) establish those who follow the wrong path in good behavior, (17) be gentle and patient, (18) adopt all the characteristics that curb grasping, {TK42} (19) avoid the accumulation of any impurities {K31} and darkness,102 and (20) give up the expectation of the personal ripening of any fruits that have been dedicated. [F.200.a]

2.­24

“Omniscient wisdom is applied through fathoming the knowledge of the nature of the divisions of all letters, languages, sounds, speech, and descriptive words. One has mastered the method of omniscience when one gains knowledge through fathoming the nature of the doctrine of all the thus-gone ones103 and of other religious doctrines; the nature of all conduct; the nature of applying all the merit and the perfection of insight; the nature of clinging, arising, and cessation; and the nature of the three emancipations, the abodes, the causes, action, and all phenomena.”

2.­25

“It is so, Mañjuśrī!” exclaimed the bodhisattva Kautūhalika. “When one fully understands this profound Dharma principle, one does not see anyone who teaches the Dharma, anywhere it is taught, any meanings, words, and letters by means of which it is taught, or any Dharma that is taught. Nor does one consider which Dharma one should abandon, which to practice, or which to understand thoroughly. The one who can fathom the true nature of things as being inexpressible will realize omniscient wisdom.”

2.­26

“Good! Good it is, O noble son!” said the Blessed One. “You have eloquently shown that the attainment of omniscient wisdom can only happen through this single principle. {TK43} Why is that? It is because all phenomena, when they are not mere imputations, have an ultimate reality of neither arising nor decaying. Their ultimate reality is the nonarising of either ignorance or nirvāṇa and the nonarising of either space or nirvāṇa.104 Ultimately all phenomena are inexpressible. The same is true for all beings. {K32} Ultimately all phenomena are insubstantial and all are explained in terms of things coming together. Ultimately the three times,105 the threefold universe, and all the aggregates are [F.200.b] nothing whatsoever. Ultimately, the three formations are empty. In their ultimate reality, the congeries of phenomena, ripening fruits of actions, accumulations, and dissolutions are insubstantial.106 Bodhisattva great beings attain omniscience when they are fully endowed with the understanding that all phenomena are ultimately empty and their meaning is inexpressible.”107

2.­27

At this time, while this explanatory discourse on acquiring omniscient wisdom was being presented, Māra’s twenty thousand daughters and sons, along with their retinues, gained acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Accordingly, having renounced their gross physical forms, they attained mental bodies. Another twenty-eight thousand beings also gained acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Eighteen trillion108 gods and humans of many different types obtained the bodhisattva’s acceptance, {TK44} absorption, and various dhāraṇīs.

2.­28

Subsequently, these twenty thousand bodhisattva great beings,109 who gained acceptance that phenomena are unborn, sprinkled celestial flowers toward and upon the Blessed One and, bowing their heads to his feet, said, “You see, O Blessed One, how beings attach no importance to the roots of virtue that lead to the accumulation of merit because of associating with nonvirtuous companions.” {K33}

2.­29

“This indeed ought to be understood as the karmic precondition,” the Blessed One agreed. And in order to remove the doubts of these astonished beings, he shared the following episode from one of his previous lives:

2.­30

“In the distant past, O noble children, many immeasurable eons ago, in this world sphere consisting of the four continents, during the great eon called Glorious, when people lived sixty-eight thousand years, there was a thus-gone one by the name Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance. He was a blessed buddha who was learned and virtuous, a blissful one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassed being, a charioteer [F.201.a] who guides beings, and a teacher of gods and humans. In the world of that time, afflicted with the five degenerations, he taught to a fourfold assembly the Dharma that comprises the three vehicles. {K34}

2.­31

“At that time there also lived a king by the name Utpalavaktra, a universal monarch ruling over the four continents. On one occasion, accompanied by his harem110 and army, he came to the place where the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance stayed. {TK45} Having bowed his head to the feet of the Blessed One, he besprinkled him with flowers and worshiped him further with the sounds of various instruments, fragrances, and incense. He circumambulated him clockwise thrice, bowed his head to the feet of the assembly of his monks, and praised the Blessed One with these two stanzas:

2.­32
“ ‘O remover of many faults, you are praised
By the exceedingly virtuous gods, nāgas, and others!
O benefactor of beings with the aid of the seven spiritual treasures,
Please explain how one attains a subtle mind!111 {2.1} {K35}
2.­33
“ ‘O remover of the world’s darkness and bringer of the light of peace,
Destroyer of transmigration and birth, and pacifier of the suffering of death,112
You who turn beings back from the path of the less fortunate realms,
Please explain how to be released in this world from Māra’s ways!’ {2.2}
2.­34

“In reply, O noble children, the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance said this to King Utpalavaktra:

“ ‘A person becomes a bodhisattva with a subtle mind113 when endowed with three qualities. What are these three? (1) Out of a pure motivation, one feels compassion for all beings. (2) Like a mother, one strives to remove their suffering. (3) One equally views all phenomena as being without self, the vital principle, or individuality and as being nondifferentiable and uncaused.114 Endowed with these three qualities, a good person will become a bodhisattva with a subtle mind.115

2.­35

“ ‘When endowed with another three qualities, O King, [F.201.b] one will not become trapped in the snares of Māra.116 {TK46} What are these three? {K36} (1) One does not get angry with any sentient being and does not look for an opportunity to attack. (2) One sees all beings as equally worthy of generosity. (3) One examines all phenomena according to the single principle,117 and consequently views them as being the same as space‍—unfabricated, nondifferentiable, unborn, nonarising, and unceasing‍—and realizes them, without apprehending them, to be just like space in being devoid of any characteristics of substantiality. With these three qualities, O King, a good person will not get entrapped in the snares of Māra and will be released from his ways.’

2.­36

“Now the chief queen of King Utpalavaktra, Surasundarī by name, served by a retinue of eighty-four thousand women, approached the blessed, thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance and, sprinkling him with various flowers, uttered the following stanzas:

2.­37
“ ‘O unequaled one, remover of darkness endowed with unique qualities,
Destroyer of transmigration!118 Please explain how a young woman may,
In this world, become a man, once purged of her less fortunate birth.
O bringer of sublime benefits, gentle and disciplined in mind! {2.3}
2.­38
“ ‘O blissful one who follows the highest course! He who pacifies and delights, {K37}
Blessed One! How does a young woman give up her inferior birth and become a man in this world?119
Please explain this, O gentle and disciplined one who benefits others.
Remove my mental darkness, right here and now.120 {2.4} {TK47}
2.­39
“ ‘O monk, unequaled in this world,
Supreme receptacle of many renowned qualities, mindfulness, and discipline,
Promptly explain, O dispeller of darkness, the way in this world
Whereby I could obtain a male birth‍—the elixir of happy migrations.’ {2.5}
2.­40

“Thus addressed, O noble children,121 the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance addressed Surasundarī, the chief queen:

“ ‘There is, O sister, a method whereby a woman may easily change her female sex. Her previously acquired female sex [F.202.a] will promptly disappear without a trace, and until the final nirvāṇa, she will not obtain a female form again, unless she aspires otherwise. So, sister, what is this method through which a woman may swiftly become a man and that causes her female sex to promptly disappear? For this, O sister, there is a dhāraṇī called Ratnaketu. It has great magical power,122 is highly beneficial, and is very powerful. It completely dispels the condition of being a woman and removes, without residue, all depravities of the body, speech, and mind that ripen as suffering.

2.­41

“ ‘Through merely hearing this dhāraṇī, the state of being a woman will disappear without leaving a trace. The female sex organs will disappear and male ones will appear. {TK48} Also, the resulting male body will be beautiful in form {K38} and complete in every limb. He will be honest, skilled in subtle wisdom, and able to accomplish his tasks, whether they are physical, verbal, or mental. He will follow the right conduct and will defeat all his enemies. And whatever fruits of bad actions may have been ripened for him and would be experienced as suffering with respect to the body, speech, or mind, whether in this or future lives, all of them will be dispelled, unless he has committed any of the five acts of immediate retribution, opposed the sacred Dharma, or reviled a noble one. However, the female sex of such evildoers would disappear, too. With regard to the residual womanhood that has persisted throughout consecutive lives, reactivated by its latent seeds that ripen to be experienced as suffering‍—womanhood resulting from the physical, verbal, and mental depravities and arising out of the karmic obscurations thus acquired‍—even if this residual womanhood were as big as Mount Sumeru, it would all dissipate completely. Why is this?

2.­42

“ ‘It is because this dhāraṇī, Ratnaketu by name, has been taught and blessed by all the thus-gone, worthy, perfect [F.202.b] buddhas of bygone times, thus bringing mutual joy to them and the reciters. It has been praised, extolled, and described in superlative terms as the means for eliminating action that would ripen as the suffering of beings, {K39} and for increasing their roots of virtue.

2.­43

“ ‘Whatever thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddhas there are presently in the ten directions, dwelling in their respective buddha fields, all of them teach this Ratnaketu dhāraṇī while recommending it as the means for eliminating bad action and increasing the roots of virtue of the beings in their buddha fields. And whatever thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddhas will exist in the future in the ten directions, {TK49} in their respective places they also will teach this Ratnaketu dhāraṇī while recommending it as the means for eliminating action that would ripen for beings as suffering, and of increasing their roots of virtue. I also will presently teach the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī. Rejoicing in its being taught by the thus-gone ones arisen in the ten directions, I will praise and extol this dhāraṇī.

2.­44

“ ‘O sister, if any head-anointed kṣatriya king who has achieved power and dominion writes the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī and upholds it, stanzas of praise sung for such a king will spread far and wide throughout the ten directions, filling everywhere up to the realm of form with words of praise. Many thousands of millions of billions of gods, nāgas, yakṣas, and gandharvas123 will form a chain behind this kṣatriya king,124 standing abreast in order to guard and protect him. All the depravities, quarrels, {K40} famine, disease, [F.203.a] invasions by foreign powers, untimely storms, torrential rains, and afflictions of heat and cold will completely cease in his kingdom. All the evil yakṣas, rākṣasas, lions, buffaloes, elephants, and wolves will become harmless. All the unpleasant problems experienced when coming into contact with poisonous, sharp, bitter, pungent, or tasteless {TK50} substances, or the pain felt when touching rough objects, will completely cease. All wealth, on the other hand, will increase, and all crops, medicinal herbs, forest trees, fruits, and flowers will grow in abundance and thrive, succulent and delicious in taste.

2.­45

“ ‘And if this head-anointed kṣatriya king should hoist a volume containing the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī on top of a banner when engaged in battle, he will defeat the hostile army. If two head-anointed kṣatriya kings should hoist a volume containing the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī on top of a banner when engaged in mutual war, they will come to a mutually satisfying settlement. Thus, the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī brings many benefits and advantages.

2.­46

“ ‘If there is any village, town, or marketplace in which untimely death or harm breaks out for humans, nonhuman beings,125 or animals, a volume containing the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī should be brought there and worshiped with many offerings. When it is brought, a celibate ascetic who has bathed, dried his body, and put on new garments should sit on a lion throne126 adorned with various flowers, censed with fragrant incense, and covered in foodstuffs of many tastes, and he should read the text aloud.

2.­47

“ ‘Consequently, all the killing and untimely death will cease, and {K41} the bad omens that bring on fear and goosebumps will disappear. If any woman wishes to give birth to a son, she should commission a celibate ascetic, bathed {TK51} and dressed in clean garments, to worship this text with flowers, fragrances, [F.203.b] garlands, and scented oils, while himself sitting on a throne127 that is adorned with various flowers, censed with fragrant incense, and covered in foodstuffs of many tastes. She should have him read the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī aloud. She will give birth to a son, and her present life will be the last one as a woman until she has attained final nirvāṇa, unless she herself wishes this to be otherwise for the sake of bringing sentient beings to maturity.128 O sister, even by just hearing the words of the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī recited once, anyone, even deer or birds, will never again turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening.’ ”

2.­48

Then the blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni said, “O noble children, when the big toe of thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance’s [F.204.a] right foot touched the ground, the earth trembled six times.”

2.­49

As he said this, the thus-gone Śākyamuni blessed the earth in this buddha field so that it likewise trembled six times. Countless gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, humans, and nonhuman beings were terrified. The buddha field of the Sahā world was totally pervaded with a great light. It became as even as the palm of the hand, and the mountains, forests, walls, {TK52} Mount Sumeru, the world perimeter, and the great world perimeters all disappeared. The gods, nāgas, and yakṣas were also terrified by the trembling of the earth and the flash of light. Through the power of the Blessed One, looking into the four directions they noticed the Blessed One, the sage of the Śākyas, at about the distance of an arrow shot. They were astonished, and gazed upon the Thus-Gone One, the sage of the Śākyas, with their palms joined together. The thus-gone Śākyamuni then recited the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī:129

2.­50

130jaloke jaloke moke jali jala jalini jalavrate jahile vara­puruṣa­lakṣaṇa­samāruhya amame vamame vamame navame mahāse jahame jahame jahame jahame varame varame vavave vavave vahave vaṅgave vajave vāra vāraśe {TK53} jala­mekha parakha ala jahili jana tule jana tubhukhe vahara vahara siṃha vrate nana tilā nana tina dālā sūrya­vihaga candravihaga cakṣu rajyati śavihaga sarva­kṣaya­stritvasura­vihaga jakhaga jakhaga surakhaga vahama amrikha amrikha amrikha amrikha amrikha amrikha amrikha amrikha mrikha mrikha mrikha vyavadeta karma dune dune utpata vyavaccheda jñāna­kṛta anuda padākhaga neruka aṅgule bhaṅgule vibhaṅgule kulaha indra­parivibhaha vyavaccheda karabha vavrati vavrati ca prati ca prati amoha darśane parivarta bhaṣyu khasama krimajyoti­khaga jahi jahi jyoti niṣka bhirasa {TK54} bhirasa bhirasa bhiraja mati­krama bhivakriva mahākriva hile131 hihile aruṇavarte samaya­niṣke damadāna­dhyāna aparāmṛśe phala­kuṇḍalalakhe {K42} nivarta istribhāva karma­kṣaya prādurbhava puruṣatvam asamasama samaya vidijña tathāgata svāhā!132

2.­51

As soon as the thus-gone Śākyamuni recited the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī, this great earth shook again. Through hearing the dhāraṇī, the five hundred daughters of Māra [F.204.b] lost their female sex organs and grew the corresponding male organs. The same happened to infinite numbers of girls from the realms of the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, and kumbhāṇḍas. All of them became non-returners on the path to unsurpassed and perfect awakening. For all of them, the karmic obstacle that would cause their being reborn as women in the future was {TK55} completely removed.

2.­52

All these women saluted the thus-gone Śākyamuni with folded hands and, in a strong voice, exclaimed, “Homage, homage to {K43} Śākyamuni, the miracle worker, the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha! Please relate in full, O compassionate one, the episode from your past life that will explain how and why our womanhood has now disappeared and we have become men with complete male physiques. By the power of this miracle, this magical display, and our disenchantment,133 we have now engendered a wish to attain unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Narrate, O Blessed One, this episode from your past life, with these countless gods and humans as witnesses.”

2.­53

The blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni then continued with the narration of his past life:

“Listen, good people! Together with Her Majesty Surasundarī, the chief queen of King Utpalavaktra, eighty-four thousand women from her retinue heard the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī from the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance. As soon as they heard it, {K44} their female sex organs disappeared, and the corresponding male organs appeared. Simultaneously, the same happened to infinite numbers of girls‍—the celestial ones, . . . up to humans and nonhumans. [F.205.a] {TK56} For all of them, the karmic obstacle that would cause their being reborn as women in the future was completely removed.

2.­54

“When Surasundarī, the chief queen of King Utpalavaktra, along with her retinue134 attained the state of manhood, then Utpalavaktra, the universal monarch and the ruler of the four continents, consecrated his eldest son to kingship and, together with his remaining nine hundred and ninety-nine divinely beautiful august sons, eighty-four thousand other such men, and ninety-two thousand other individuals, renounced worldly life and, {K45} in the presence of the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance, they shaved off their hair and beards and donned monk’s robes, embracing, with complete faith, the life of an ascetic who goes forth from home to homelessness. Having thus become a wandering mendicant, he engaged in inward contemplation and took delight in reciting prayers.

2.­55

“At that time many tens of millions of beings wondered why their king, the universal monarch, had become a wandering mendicant. They remarked to each other, ‘That thus-gone one135 is a rogue and a trickster who engages in the works of Māra. He preaches a doctrine that is linked to Māra’s activity.136 From some he removes their female sex organs, and from some the male.137 He shaves off the hair and beards of some. To some he gives dyed robes and to others white. To some he gives teaching so that they may obtain birth as a god; to some, birth as a human; to some, birth as an animal; to some, birth as a preta; to some, birth as a hell being;138 and to some, the ending of birth, death, and transmigration altogether.139 That monk Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance, {TK57} engaged in the conduct of Māra, duplicitous in having contacts with women, is breaking his vows while assuming the appearance of a monk. For that reason we should now depart from this place so that we do not have to witness his stealing of sexual organs or hear his teachings.’

2.­56

“Among those who were talking in this manner there was a soldier by the name of Kumārabhṛta. He said, ‘All my wives, daughters, and women of the harem {K46} [F.205.b] had their female sex organs removed and male organs magically planted by that rotten monk. All of them had their heads shaven and were then given dyed robes by him. And I am left alone, lost in grief. Let us all gather together and go into the rugged wilderness where we will not hear the sound or talk of that fake and rotten monk who employs Māra’s snares. Let us reconnoiter first.’

2.­57

“Enthusiastically, they all replied, ‘Let’s do so!’

“The soldier Kumārabhṛta then set forth together with those many tens of millions of individuals, who were full of doubt, to a place on the outer fringes of inhabited lands, deep in the rugged mountain wilderness. There, he lived the life of a sage, preaching the following doctrine to all those people:

2.­58

“ ‘There is no liberation from saṃsāra and no ripening of the results of good or bad actions. There is, at this time, a monk who preaches nihilism‍—a vow breaker140 {TK58} who indulges in the activities of Māra. Those who approach him for an audience, salute him, and listen to his teachings become mentally distracted. He shaves their heads, causes them to leave home, gives them dyed robes, and has them live in cemeteries. He forces them to beg and allows them to eat only once a day. Because of him their minds are warped by wrong views and they are continually upset. They are content to live in seclusion and make do without bedsteads. He also deprives them of sensory and erotic pleasures, dance, {K47} song, perfume, scented oils, ornaments, jewelry, and sexual relationships. He forbids them to drink liquor or wine and allows them to eat only a little. Doing such, he is an enemy of beings who preaches nihilism in the guise of a monk while engaging in the ways of Māra. I have exposed the acts of this monk, Gautama, which were previously unheard of and unseen.’

2.­59

“Through this speech of Kumārabhṛta many hundreds of thousands of millions of beings fell for his evil views.

“Subsequent to this, the great monk Utpalavaktra heard that in a certain mountain wilderness [F.206.a] there were people who not only were established on the wrong path themselves but also induced others to adopt the same distorted views and speak badly about the Three Jewels. He thought to himself, ‘If ultimately I don’t liberate those beings from the evil of their wrong views {TK59} and don’t establish them in the right views, then my life as a monk will have become worthless. How in this blind world will I realize, in the future, the unsurpassed and perfect awakening? How will I teach and ultimately liberate miserable beings caught in the snares of the four māras?’

2.­60

“The great monk Utpalavaktra, steadfast, courageous, and compassionate, having then requested the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance’s permission, set forth on his journey to all those towns, villages, hamlets, and marketplaces located in the rugged mountain wilderness in the frontier areas. Traveling through all these places in the company of hundreds of thousands, he taught the Dharma to all those misguided beings. He made those beings turn away from the evil of their wrong views, set them on the path of the right views, and established them on the path to unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Some he established in the aspiration toward the vehicle of the solitary buddhas, some toward the vehicle of the hearers, and some he established in the fruit itself.141 Some he induced to take up the life of renunciation. Some he established in the vows of a lay practitioner, some in the vows of fasting and abstinence, and some in the vows of the threefold refuge. To women {K48} he taught the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī, {TK60} thus preventing them from becoming women again and establishing them in the state of manhood.142

2.­61

“With regard to the many tens of millions of beings who harbored doubts when being near the Thus-Gone One,143 he made all of them turn away from the evil of their wrong views, taught them the perils of vice, and established them on the path to unsurpassed and perfect awakening. He brought them into the presence of the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance where they all, except for the soldier Kumārabhṛta, [F.206.b] took up the life of renunciation. Kumārabhṛta, for his part, made the following aspiration:

2.­62

“ ‘As the monk Utpalavaktra is leading my followers astray, may I become a māra in the buddha field where he is to attain unsurpassed and perfect awakening so that I will be able to harm him from the moment he enters the womb. Later, after he is born, may I terrorize and create obstacles for him when he plays as a child, learns arts and crafts, learns to read, enjoys amorous pastimes in the harem . . .144 until he ascends to the seat of awakening.145 Should he attain awakening, may I sabotage his teachings.’

2.­63

“The great monk Utpalavaktra, however, through his great courage full of effort and painful sacrifice, managed to instill faith in the soldier Kumārabhṛta, who had been so determined in his aspiration. {K49} He made him turn away from the evil of his wrong views, taught him the perils of vice, and planted in him the aspiration to attain unsurpassed and perfect awakening. {TK61} Consequently, the soldier Kumārabhṛta, now tame and faithful, made the following wish:

2.­64

“ ‘O most compassionate Utpalavaktra! At the time when you have attained unsurpassed and perfect awakening, may you provide me with the prophecy of my attaining unsurpassed and perfect awakening.’

2.­65

“ O good people, should you have any doubts, uncertainties, or other such thoughts, then know that Utpalavaktra, on that occasion, attended upon the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance and his retinue with manifold offerings and then left the household life and became a wandering mendicant together with hundreds of thousands of millions of beings. He turned infinite hundreds of thousands of millions of beings away from the evil of their wrong views. He set infinite numbers of beings upon the three paths and established them in the fruits thereof. For infinite hundreds of thousands of millions of women, he enabled them to attain the state of manhood.

2.­66

“This may not be immediately obvious to you, but at that time, during those events, I was the king Utpalavaktra, the universal monarch [F.207.a] ruling over the four continents.146 It was I who discharged my duties as a man.147 And if again, O good people, you should have any doubts, uncertainties, or other such thoughts with regard to Surasundarī, the chief queen who went forth during the time those events occured, {TK62} you should know that this was the great bodhisattva Maitreya during that particular time.148 O good people, you may have doubts, uncertainties, or other such thoughts with regard to the soldier Kumārabhṛta and his retinue of tens of millions of beings who took part in the events of that time, {K50} as it may not be immediately obvious to you that this was Māra, the evil one, during that particular time.149 Because I set his followers, at that time, upon the path of renunciation, he first took umbrage with me but then made a wish that once I myself had attained unsurpassed and perfect awakening, I would prophesy the same for him.

2.­67

“You, O noble children, became disaffected when you were in the presence of the thus-gone Splendorous with the Gentle Glow of Light and Fragrance. You talked without self-control and harbored wrong views. Consequently, I released you from the evil of your wrong views {TK63} and made you take up the life of renunciation. From then on you have attended upon many thousands of buddhas and worshiped them with offerings. Having learned the Dharma from them, you made aspirations and practiced the six perfections. However, because of the bad action previously accumulated by you with your body, speech, and mind, you have endured suffering for many eons in the three miserable realms. It is only because of this karmic obscuration that you were born, in your present life, in the abode of Māra, the evil one.”

2.­68

While these past events concerning the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī were being narrated by the blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni, the female characteristics of the five hundred daughters of Māra vanished, and male ones appeared. [F.207.b] They gained acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Infinite hundreds of thousands of millions of beings beyond count, including gods, humans, {K51} and asuras,150 developed the wish to attain unsurpassed and perfect awakening and entered the path of no return. In this way, infinite hundreds of thousands of millions of beings entered the path of {TK64} no return of both the hearer and solitary buddha vehicles. For infinite numbers of celestial and human girls, womanhood ceased, and each became a man.

2.­69

This concludes the chapter on the previous lives of the Buddha, the second in the “Ratnaketu Sūtra.” {K52} {TK65} [B3]


3.

Chapter 3

3.­1

While the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī was being recited by the thus-gone Śākyamuni, the entire Sahā world became clearly visible, illuminated by a powerful light. The one hundred billion lords of sensual pleasure, each one a māra active in one of the one hundred billion worlds of four continents in this buddha field of Śākyamuni, became alarmed by this display of the Buddha’s power and directed their eyes toward this world of four continents. “Where is this light emanating from?” they wondered. “Surely this must be through the power of Māra, the evil one, who lives in that particular world of four continents. He is stronger, mightier, and more powerful than us.”


4.

Chapter 4

4.­1

When the four great hearers were, as described before, in the great city of Rājagṛha collecting alms, they were rudely accosted by the māra youths who urged them, “Dance, monk! Sing, monk!” When, subsequently, the great hearers, running along the street, sang their verses with lyrics that describe the path to nirvāṇa, this great earth trembled. At that moment many hundreds of thousands of gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, inspired with faith in the Blessed One’s instructions,215 said this, their faces awash with tears:


5.

Chapter 5

5.­1

The millions of māras then thought, “We should adorn the gates of the city through which the Blessed One is to enter, as well as the earth surrounding them, with sublime and magnificent ornaments in the same manner as the gods, nāgas, and yakṣas have adorned the surroundings of the city.”

5.­2

With his mind, however, the Blessed One knew the thoughts of the millions of māras,[F.227.a] and he manifested a miracle such that through the twelve gates of the city, twelve blessed buddhas entered the city of Rājagṛha. The millions of māras then, while hovering in the sky, adorned the city gates, the area around them, the city walls, its trees, and the surface of the earth with magical ornaments of the māra realm, as well as countless other magnificent miraculous manifestations set in the finest and most beautiful arrangements. Some of the millions of māras transformed into guises ranging from that of Brahmā to those of great sages. {TK131} From their perch in the sky, they placed various flowers, incense, scented powders, garlands, gold, silver, jewels, and pearls on the windows, ledges, and turrets of the mansions in the city, as well as in the trees. They also cast down a rain of cloth, cotton, linen, and ornaments, played many instruments, and venerated the Blessed One with songs of praise, extolling his qualities. The Blessed One then entered Rājagṛha’s city gates, adorned as they were with a supremely extensive and elevating display made in such a novel, incredible, and miraculous fashion.


6.

Chapter 6

6.­1

At that time the thus-gone Akṣobhya set out from the world in the east called Abhirati in the company of an infinite number of bodhisattva great beings. Through the power and mastery of miracles particular to a buddha, he arrived instantaneously in the buddha field that includes the central world with its four continents, where the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Śākyamuni was staying. Having arrived, he sat upon a lotus seat that appeared just as needed. The bodhisattva great beings [F.237.a] from his retinue also sat upon lotus seats that appeared through their own magical power.


7.

Chapter 7

7.­1

At that time, a bodhisattva great being called Discriminating Intellect was seated before the blessed, thus-gone [F.250.a] Glorious and Brilliantly Shining Jewel, not far from the blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni. For a short time he was in the guise of Brahmā, before instantaneously appearing in the form of Māra. He likewise briefly appeared in the forms of Śakra, as well as a lord of the gods in the heavens of Making Use of Others’ Emanations, Delighting in Emanations, Tuṣita, Free from Strife, and the Four Great Kings, as well as in the form of Maheśvara, and also as a yakṣa, an asura, a garuḍa, a kinnara, a mahoraga, a rākṣasa, a preta, a piśāca, a kumbhāṇḍa, a kṣatriya, a brahmin, a vaiśya, a śūdra, a lion, an elephant, a buffalo, and myriad other species of the animal realm. Instantaneously he appeared in the form of a bird, a tree, a mountain, fruit, clothing, bedding, heavy cloth, a vase, ornaments, jewelry, medicinal herbs, and a jewel. Instantaneously he also appeared in the form of a monk, a nun, and a buddha. Instantaneously he appeared in eighty-four different colors, characteristics, shapes, and forms.


8.

Chapter 8

8.­1

At that time, the thus-gone Akṣobhya addressed the entire assembly: “Noble children, all of you śakras, brahmās, world protectors, and lords of the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and so forth, as well as human and nonhuman beings, who have arrived here out of faith in the buddhas’ teaching‍—I will uplift you! It is rare to find such a congregation of the blessed buddhas, bodhisattva great beings, śakras, [F.252.a] brahmās, world protectors, and lords of the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, and so forth, as well as human and nonhuman beings! Therefore, now that you have seen this, may those of you who are happy to sustain this sacred Dharma‍—this Dharma method‍—and propagate the lineage of the Three Jewels in the future in this buddha field each make an aspiration before the Blessed One.” {TK204}


9.

Chapter 9

9.­1

The blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni then said, “O all you [F.258.a] blessed buddhas who have come here to this buddha field motivated by compassion to engage in discussion, please give these beings your attention. These noble children will satisfy others with clothing, food, drink, medicine, and supplies. They will use the female form to mature others for unsurpassed and perfect awakening. From the moment they developed the mind of awakening in order to mature others, they have been dedicated to emanating and providing clothing, food, drink, medicine, and supplies to fulfill their hopes‍—no matter what, why, or how these things are desired. These sublime beings will enact this great power and be able to serve beings with what is enjoyable and useful.”


10.

Chapter 10

10.­1

The thus-gone Māndāravagandharoca then addressed the thus-gone Śākyamuni, saying, “In the past, previous thus-gone ones came from their disparate buddha fields and congregated in buddha fields that were afflicted and rife with the five degenerations. They excellently blessed this sacred Dharma method. They defeated billions of māras and gazed upon all beings with the eyes of great love and compassion. They freed them from evil views, lit the lamp of insight, and laid out the peaceful path. They delivered this Dharma discourse, this exposition of the dhāraṇī-seal, including its verbal formula, which is called the terminator of birth based on the essential nature of phenomena in their vajra-like indivisibility. Thus they defeated the black faction and planted the banner of the Dharma. In the same way, right now, so many of us blessed buddhas who live and spend our time in the ten directions have assembled in this buddha field filled with the afflictions and the five degenerations out of our concern for others. We have performed acts such as excellently blessing this Dharma method and so forth, as well as planting the banner of the Dharma. However, Śākyamuni, [F.260.a] after your sun has set, who will reign supreme in this buddha field? Who will uphold this sacred Dharma? {TK230} Who will nurture these Dharma methods? Who will bring beings to maturity? Who will be included in this great assembly? Into whose hands shall I entrust this Dharma discourse?”


11.

Chapter 11

11.­1

Now the blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni addressed Śakra, Brahmā, Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Kubera:

“O sublime beings, I have fully realized unsurpassed and perfect awakening in this buddha field, which is afflicted by the five degenerations and lacking in Dharma, through my compassionate dedication to sentient beings. In order to quell the pain of beings441 thrown into the darkness of ignorance and overwhelmed by the thieves and rogues of the afflictions,442 I have conquered the faction of Māra, raised the banner of the sacred Dharma, delivered countless beings from suffering, rained showers of the sacred Dharma, and defeated ten million māras.


12.

Chapter 12

12.­1

The great general of the yakṣas, [F.271.b] Āṭavaka, in the form of the yakṣa Bhīṣaṇaka, and Saṃjñika in the form of a deer, Jñānolka in the form of a monkey, Tṛṣṇājaha in the form of a jackal,455 and Chinnasrotas in the form of an elephant‍—these five great beings‍—were sitting not too far from the thus-gone Śākyamuni and in front of the thus-gone Kauṇḍiṇyārcis. From each of their bodies a pure light radiated, suffused with fragrance. Each of these five great beings was holding in his hands a great precious gem called Starlight for the sake of worshipping the Blessed One.456


13.

Chapter 13

13.­1

At this time, all the blessed buddhas displayed the signs of rising and returning472 to their respective buddha fields. At the same moment, the beings of this entire assembly, who were on earth as well as in the sky, shuddered, and so did the entire earth. A rain of flowers poured from the sky, millions of instruments resounded in midair, and all kinds of fragrances of perfume and incense were released. As the entire buddha field filled with light, those in the assembly pressed their hands together. Then Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, asked the thus-gone Mahācandanagandha, “How many roots of virtue, O Blessed One, will those beings accumulate who in the future uphold and preserve this Dharma discourse‍—who read it, master it, and teach it authentically and extensively to others? How many roots of virtue will those beings accumulate who set it down in writing and uphold it in writing?473 What qualities will they be rewarded with by the blessed buddhas?”


c.

Colophon

c.­1
Because of the special merit that I have accumulated when refining, with all my devotion, care, and a joyous mind,
The text of this Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī‍—the dhāraṇī that removes great fear‍—
May this entire world obtain in this very moment this Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī
Adorned with words of the Sage’s doctrine, clear in meaning, and resplendent with great qualities!

Tibetan Translators’ Colophon

c.­2

This sūtra was translated by the Indian preceptor Śilendrabodhi and the translator-editor Yeshé Dé. It was later standardized in line with the new terminological register.


ab.

Abbreviations

D Tibetan Degé edition
G Gilgit manuscript
K Kurumiya 1978 (page numbers entered in braces, e.g. {K26} denotes page 26)
TK Kurumiya 1979 (page numbers entered in braces, e.g. {TK26} denotes page 26)

n.

Notes

n.­1
Braarvig 1993.
n.­2
Kurumiya 1978.
n.­3
Denkarma, folio 297.a.4. See also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008), p. 52, no. 91.
n.­4
Phangthangma, p. 7 (with abbreviated title ’phags pa rin po che’i tog).
n.­5
Interestingly, the catalog of the Narthang Kangyur records the tradition that The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī was first translated into Tibetan by Tönmi Sambhoṭa (thon mi sam+b+ho Ta), the legendary seventh century minister and scholar credited with the development of the Tibetan alphabet during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (ca. 617–650). See Narthang Catalog, folio 14.a.1, and Skilling 1997, p. 89.
n.­6
Lamotte 2001, pp. 1541–42.
n.­7
This information is based on a private communiqué from Peter Skilling, who does not recall seeing the feminine form vyākaraṇī in any other sūtra.
n.­8
Toh 1-1, 1.233 et seq.; see translation in Miller et al. (2018). The Chapter on Going Forth contains a much longer and more detailed account of the story of Upatiṣya and Kaulita (Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana), but the culmination of their story in their encounter with Aśvajit and meeting with the Buddha is related in the present text with a little more detail, including some verses of which the Vinayavastu account has much briefer equivalents. The main additional element in the story in the present version‍—the advent of Māra following that meeting with Aśvajit‍—is of course the narrative theme that ties together all the component parts of The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī.
n.­10
The following section, up to “I must make them embrace the view of the evil one” at 1.­19, has been translated entirely from the Tib., filling a lengthy lacuna in the Skt. text.
n.­11
Because of their magical character, uncertain readings, and the extent of corruption, the Sanskrit dhāraṇī formulae in this text would be impossible to translate in full. Although some individual words and phrases are intelligible, it would be risky to attempt a coherent translation‍—the alliterations (which possibly are part of the magic), for example, would be impossible to replicate in English. These dhāraṇīs have therefore been quoted throughout the translation in the original Sanskrit, with some editorial emendments that affect mainly word divisions and orthography. These emendments by no means make the Sanskrit text correct or even consistent, and have not been reported in the critical apparatus.
n.­12
The Buddha and his hearer disciples are often compared to elephants or “great elephants” (mahānāga).
n.­80
In this address, the Tib. explicitly includes women; the Skt. just has “noble sons.” The same applies to the next four occurrences of “noble son(s).”
n.­81
The Tib. says, “They must not grasp, give up, accept, dwell upon, appropriate, conceive of, or conceptualize any phenomenon, so that when they are training in the perfection of generosity, they do not give up, grasp, accept, appropriate, dwell upon, conceive of, or conceptualize the fruits of generosity.”
n.­82
The passage has been abbreviated here by the Skt. scribe. The last clause, starting from “when they are training,” should be repeated for all the remaining perfections, up to and including the perfection of insight.
n.­83
The Skt. words used here for being, the vital principle, and individual soul or personhood (sattva, jīva, poṣa, and puḍgala respectively) are near synonyms. They denote or imply an individual being or individual existence.
n.­84
The passage has been abbreviated here by the Skt. scribe. The omitted part is to be supplied from the corresponding passage above.
n.­85
The Tib. has “beings or the realm of beings.”
n.­86
The passage has been abbreviated here by the Skt. scribe. The omitted part is to be supplied from the corresponding passage above.
n.­87
The passage has been abbreviated here by the Skt. scribe. The omitted part is to be supplied from the corresponding passage above.
n.­88
The Tib. has “conceptualize the occurring, remaining, or arising of the causes, conditions, reference points, or the ripening of the fruits of the threefold universe, three times, aggregates, elements, or sense bases.”
n.­89
“Void” reflects the Tib. reading; the Skt. has, depending on how the sandhi is resolved, either “separate” or “not separate.”
n.­90
“Without characteristics” seems to be listed twice.
n.­91
For “neither friendly nor hostile” (which as a translation may be problematic), the Tib. has “not directional, not antidotes.”
n.­92
“Appropriation, becoming, and birth” are the ninth through eleventh links in the chain of dependent origination. The Tib., however, has the “birth, craving, and appropriation of beings.”
n.­93
“This shore and the other” refers to saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, i.e., conditioned existence and liberation.
n.­94
Instead of “rocks,” the Tib. has “charnel ground,” reflecting the reading śmaśānaṃ rather than śmānaṃ.
n.­95
The reading “without darkness” (atamas) is supported by the Chinese translation; the Tib., however, reads “indescribable.”
n.­96
The Tibetan nyams par yang mi bgyid pa (“not subject to deterioration”) makes better sense in the present context than the Skt. na sāmīcīkaroti (“one does not pay respect”).
n.­97
The “students and the adepts” (śaikṣa and aśaikṣa, literally “training” and “no more training”) could be referring to the five Mahāyāna paths.
n.­98
The reading “one does not analyze” has been obtained by emending Kurumiya’s vivekanayena to vivekanaye na. The Tib. has “one does not analyze or cling.”
n.­99
This statement is equally vague and unclear in the Skt. and in the Tib.
n.­100
This statement has been supplied from the Tib. (which happens to be unclear), filling in the lacuna in the Skt. text.
n.­101
The Tib. seems to be rendering this as, “How should one increase and accumulate all of the ornaments of awakening?”
n.­102
Possibly the Sāṅkhya concepts of rajas and tamas are meant here.
n.­103
The Tib. omits “all the thus-gone ones.”
n.­104
This sentence is very unclear in both the Skt. and the Tib. The Skt. is possibly corrupt.
n.­105
The past, present, and future.
n.­106
In the Tib., this passage, starting from “It is because all phenomena . . . ,” could be read as, “Since phenomena are of the nature of being devoid of any attachment, they are all without imputation. They constitute the limit of nonarising and nonceasing; the ultimate limit where neither ignorance nor nirvāṇa arise; the ultimate limit where neither space nor nirvāṇa arise; the ultimate limit where all phenomena are inexpressible and in which beings are also inexpressible; the limit where all phenomena are insubstantial; the limit where the three times, the three realms of existence, and all the aggregates are nothing whatsoever; the limit where the three formations are emptiness; and the limit where the phenomenal aggregates, ripened aggregates, and the amassing or diminishing aggregates are insubstantial.”
n.­107
In the Tib., the last sentence could be read as, “Bodhisattva great beings attain omniscience when they are fully endowed with the understanding of the facts of emptiness, the ultimate reality, the meaning of the inexpressible, and the truth of all phenomena.”
n.­108
This number in the Tib. is 9.2 quintillion.
n.­109
It is not clear who “these” twenty thousand bodhisattvas are. Possibly the twenty thousand of Māra’s children mentioned in the previous paragraph, who have now entered the bodhisattva path.
n.­110
The Tib. adds “servants” after “harem.”
n.­111
Instead of “subtle mind” (sūkṣmamati), the Tib. has “peaceful intellect.”
n.­112
This line in the Tib. reads, “Destroyer of the suffering of death, transmigration, sickness, aging, and birth.”
n.­113
Instead of “subtle mind” (sūkṣmamati), the Tib. has “peaceful intellect.”
n.­114
“Uncaused” is missing from the Tib.
n.­115
Instead of “subtle mind” (sūkṣmamati), the Tib. has “peaceful intellect.”
n.­116
After “the snares of Māra,” the Tib. adds, “and will be released from his ways.”
n.­117
The “single principle” is perhaps the same as the one described above for attaining omniscience.
n.­118
The Tib. has “death and transmigration.”
n.­119
In the Tib. this verse reads, “Blessed One! How does female birth come about?” The Skt. reading, however, is confirmed by the Chinese.
n.­120
“Right here and now” is the Tib. reading. The Skt. seems to be saying, “as it is like space.”
n.­121
The Tib. has, “Thus addressed by these noble children.”
n.­122
To obtain the reading “It has great magical power,” as found in the Tib., one needs to emend mahārthikā in Kurumiya’s edition to maharddhikā.
n.­123
The Tib. list additionally includes asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas.
n.­124
The Tib. has “head-anointed kṣatriya king.”
n.­125
“ Nonhuman beings” is missing from the Tib.
n.­126
It is not completely clear whether it is the ascetic sitting on the throne or whether the text is placed on the throne.
n.­127
As before, it is not clear whether it is the ascetic sitting on the throne, or the text is placed on the throne.
n.­128
The Skt. text breaks off here (and resumes again at °le hihile down below), as one folio is missing from G. The translation of the missing part has been supplied from the Tib.
n.­129
In some Tibetan versions, the narrative about the thus-gone Splendorous continues up to this point, i.e., it is he who is seen at the distance of an arrow shot and then recites the dhāraṇī. The Buddha Śākyamuni then recites the same dhāraṇī as part of his own narrative. In this version, the Buddha possibly replicates, at this stage in the narrative, the actions of the thus-gone Splendorous by making the earth shake, appearing in front of all the beings, and reciting the dhāraṇī himself.
n.­130
The first part of the dhāraṇī (up to °le hihile) is based on the reconstruction by Dutt, who reconstructed it on the basis of the Tib. (the original Skt. is absent due to a missing manuscript folio).
n.­131
Up to this point the text of this dhāraṇī has been reconstructed by Dutt, and the following part by Kurumiya.
n.­132
The last part of the dhāraṇī constitutes a request to have the karma of being reborn as a woman purified and to subsequently acquire male characteristics.
n.­133
“And our disenchantment” has been supplied from the Tib.
n.­134
“Along with her retinue” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­135
Instead of “thus-gone one,” the Tib. has “monk.”
n.­136
The Tib. has “Māra’s tricky and deceptive activity.”
n.­137
“And from some the male” is absent from the Tib.
n.­138
“To some, birth as a preta; to some, birth as a hell being” has been supplied from the Tib.
n.­139
“The ending of birth, death, and transmigration” is based on the Tib. The Skt. could be interpreted as “a high birth from which there is no falling back.”
n.­140
“A vow breaker” is omitted in the Tib.
n.­141
The expression “in the fruit” (phale) is unclear. It would be natural to take phale as standing for phalayāne (following after the preceding solitary buddha yāne and hearer yāne). The term phalayāna (“fruition vehicle” or “resultant vehicle”) later became applied to the tantric vehicle (tantrayāna).
n.­142
The Tib. reads, “thus changing their female sex organs and establishing them in the state of being men.”
n.­143
Instead of “near the Thus-Gone One” (tathāgatasyāntike), the Tib. has “about the Thus-Gone One.”
n.­144
The list, here abbreviated by the Skt. scribe, is meant to include all the stages of the Buddha’s life.
n.­145
The Tib. has “the seat of awakening underneath the Bodhi tree.”
n.­146
The Tib. reads, “You should not think that the king Utpalavaktra who did [these things] is someone unknown to you. If you are uncertain, vacillating, or doubtful, do not think that way. Why not? It was I who was at that time the king Utpalavaktra, universal monarch ruling over the four continents.”
n.­147
This sentence is not completely clear. The Tib. reads, “It was I who acted as the male power.”
n.­148
The Tib. reads, “You should not think that the chief queen Surasundarī who went forth at that time is someone unknown to you. If you are uncertain, vacillating, or doubtful, do not think that way. Why not? It was the bodhisattva great being Maitreya who was at that time the chief queen Surasundarī.”
n.­149
The Tib. reads, “O good people, you should not think that the soldier Kumārabhṛta, with his retinue of tens of millions of doubt-filled beings who said unpleasant things about the Buddha, is someone unknown to you. If you are uncertain, vacillating, or doubtful, do not think that way. Why not? It was this very Māra, the evil one, who was at that time the soldier Kumārabhṛta.”
n.­150
“Asuras” has been supplied from the Tib.; it is also supported by the Chinese.
n.­215
“Instructions” is not in the Tib.
n.­441
“In order to quell the pain of beings” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­442
“Overwhelmed by the thieves and rogues of the afflictions” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).
n.­455
In place of “jackal,” the Tib. reads “goat.”
n.­456
In place of “Starlight,” the Tib. reads “Firelight.”
n.­472
The reading “returning” was obtained by emending the Skt. gagana to gamana (supported by the Tib. and the Chinese).
n.­473
The passage from “who read it . . .” up to this point has been supplied from the Tib.; it is absent in the Skt. text.

b.

Bibliography

Primary literature (manuscripts and editions)

Sanskrit

Dutt, Nalinaksha, ed. Gilgit Manuscripts. Vols. 1–4. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1984.

Kurumiya, Yenshu, ed. Ratnaketuparivarta: Sanskrit Text. Kyoto: Heirakuji-shoten, 1978.

Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī‍—the Gilgit manuscript. National Archives of India, New Delhi.

Tibetan

’phags pa ’dus pa rin po che tog gi gzungs shes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Toh 138, Degé Kangyur vol. 56 (mdo sde, na), folios 187.b–277.b.

’phags pa ’dus pa rin po che tog gi gzungs shes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 56, pp. 509–734.

Kurumiya, Yenshu, ed. ’Dus Pa Chen Po Rin Po Che Tog Gi Gzungs, ’Dus Pa Chen Po Dkon Mchog Dbal Zes Bya Ba’i Gzungs: being the Tibetan translation of the Ratnaketu Parivarta. Kyoto: Heirakuji-shoten, 1979.

Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan[/lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.

Narthang Catalog (bka’ ’gyur dkar chag ngo mtshar bkod pa rgya mtsho’i lde mig). Narthang Kangyur vol. 102 (dkar chag), folios 1.a–124.a.

Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.

Translations and secondary literature:

Braarvig, Jens (1993). Akṣaya­mati­nirdeśa­sūtra. Vol. 2, The Tradition of Imperishability in Buddhist Thought. Oslo: Solum Verlag, 1993.

‍—‍—‍—(1985). “Dhāraṇī and Pratibhāna: Memory and Eloquence of the Bodhisattvas.” The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 8, no. 1: 17–29. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1985.

Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.

Lamotte, Étienne. The Treatise of the Great Virtue of Wisdom of Nāgārjuna (Mahā­prajñā­pāramitā­śāstra). Translated from the French by Karma Migme Chodron, 2001.

Mak, Bill M. “Ratnaketu-parivarta, Sūryagarbha-parivarta, and Candragarbha-parivarta of Mahā­sannipāta­sūtra (MSN): Indian Jyotiṣa through the lens of Chinese Buddhist Canon.” Paper presented at the World Sanskrit Conference, New Delhi, January 8, 2012.

Miller, Adam Tyler. “The Buddha Said That Buddha Said So: A Translation and Analysis of ‘Pūrvayogaparivarta’ from the Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī Sūtra.” MA thesis. University of Missouri-Columbia, 2013.

Miller, Robert, et al., trans. The Chapter on Going Forth (Pravrajyāvastu, Toh 1-1). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.

Negi, J. S. Bod skad daṅ Legs-sbyar gyi tshig mdzod chen mo. Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary. Sarnath: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993.

Skilling, Peter. “From bKa’ bstan bcos to bKa’ ’gyur and bsTan ’gyur.” In Transmission of the Tibetan Canon: Papers Presented at a Panel of the 7th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Graz 1995, edited by Helmut Eimer, 87–111. Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997.

Ui, Hakuju. A catalogue-index of the Tibetan Buddhist canons (Bkaḥ-ḥgyur and Bstan-ḥgyur). Sendai: Tōhoku Imperial University, 1934.


g.

Glossary

g.­1

Abhirati

  • mngon par dga’ ba
  • མངོན་པར་དགའ་བ།
  • Abhirati

The celestial realm of the tathāgata Akṣobhya in the east.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 6.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 17 related glossary entries
g.­2

Absorption

  • ting nge ’dzin
  • ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
  • samādhi

Stabilized meditative concentration.

28 passages contain this term:

  • i.­8
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­55
  • 1.­73
  • 2.­27
  • 4.­65
  • 4.­74
  • 4.­117
  • 4.­131
  • 4.­147
  • 4.­151
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­63
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­20
  • 6.­33
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­6
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­2
  • 11.­16
  • 13.­3
  • g.­79
  • g.­163
  • g.­216

Links to further resources:

  • 76 related glossary entries
g.­3

Acceptance

  • bzod pa
  • བཟོད་པ།
  • kṣānti

Intellectual and spiritual readiness to accept certain tenets, such as the nonarising of phenomena or the law of karma. Also translated here as “patience.”

32 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­18
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­89
  • 3.­91
  • 4.­64
  • 4.­71
  • 4.­77
  • 4.­143
  • 5.­34
  • 5.­35
  • 5.­49
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­79
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­33
  • 6.­38
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­18
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­20
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­13
  • n.­453
  • n.­479
  • g.­193

Links to further resources:

  • 37 related glossary entries
g.­4

Acintyamati

  • blo gros bsam gyis mi khyab pa
  • བློ་གྲོས་བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པ།
  • Acintyamati

A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 2.­17
g.­6

Afflictions

  • nyon mongs
  • ཉོན་མོངས།
  • kleśa

Mental and emotional traits that bind one to saṃsāra; the fundamental three are ignorance, desire, and anger. When the term refers to the fundamental three, it tends to be translated as “the afflictions.”

44 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­8
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­16
  • 1.­17
  • 1.­41
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­44
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­88
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­13
  • 4.­33
  • 4.­41
  • 4.­66
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­91
  • 4.­134
  • 4.­138
  • 5.­32
  • 5.­54
  • 5.­78
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­70
  • 6.­73
  • 8.­29
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­14
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­17
  • 13.­4
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­15
  • n.­367
  • n.­442
  • g.­87
  • g.­96
  • g.­189

Links to further resources:

  • 60 related glossary entries
g.­8

Aggregate

  • phung po
  • ཕུང་པོ།
  • skandha

See “five aggregates.”

21 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­12
  • 1.­17
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­26
  • 3.­37
  • 3.­39
  • 3.­58
  • 3.­69
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­81
  • 5.­92
  • 6.­57
  • 6.­75
  • 7.­5
  • n.­88
  • n.­106
  • n.­260
  • n.­336
  • g.­90
  • g.­96

Links to further resources:

  • 57 related glossary entries
g.­11

Akṣayamati

  • blo gros mi zad pa
  • བློ་གྲོས་མི་ཟད་པ།
  • Akṣayamati

A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 2.­20

Links to further resources:

  • 9 related glossary entries
g.­12

Akṣobhya

  • mi ’khrugs pa
  • མི་འཁྲུགས་པ།
  • Akṣobhya

In the Ratnaketudhāraṇī, he is one of the six “directional” tathāgatas.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 6.­1
  • 6.­2
  • 8.­1
  • 13.­13
  • g.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 35 related glossary entries
g.­18

Arivijaya

  • dgra las rnam par rgyal
  • དགྲ་ལས་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ།
  • Arivijaya

A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 2.­18
g.­20

Asura

  • lha ma yin
  • ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།
  • asura

A class of titans or demigods.

35 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­108
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­74
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 13.­16
  • n.­123
  • n.­150
  • n.­216
  • n.­380

Links to further resources:

  • 106 related glossary entries
g.­23

Āṭavaka

  • ’brog gnas
  • འབྲོག་གནས།
  • Āṭavaka

One of the five yakṣa generals.

11 passages contain this term:

  • i.­12
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­8
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­17
  • 12.­21
  • 12.­22
  • n.­467

Links to further resources:

  • 5 related glossary entries
g.­24

Awakening

  • byang chub
  • བྱང་ཆུབ།
  • bodhi

I.e., awakening to the reality of phenomena (inner and outer) as they actually are.

112 passages contain this term:

  • i.­6
  • 1.­54
  • 1.­73
  • 1.­83
  • 1.­84
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­13
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­16
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­18
  • 2.­19
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­47
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­59
  • 2.­60
  • 2.­61
  • 2.­62
  • 2.­63
  • 2.­64
  • 2.­66
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­66
  • 3.­67
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­95
  • 4.­8
  • 4.­28
  • 4.­35
  • 4.­55
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­126
  • 4.­127
  • 4.­134
  • 4.­136
  • 4.­142
  • 4.­143
  • 4.­148
  • 4.­151
  • 5.­5
  • 5.­6
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­9
  • 5.­13
  • 5.­26
  • 5.­29
  • 5.­30
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­67
  • 5.­76
  • 5.­79
  • 6.­17
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­19
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­25
  • 6.­39
  • 6.­41
  • 6.­42
  • 6.­72
  • 6.­75
  • 6.­76
  • 6.­77
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­6
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­14
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­27
  • 8.­31
  • 8.­36
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­6
  • 9.­9
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­22
  • 11.­23
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­4
  • 12.­5
  • 12.­6
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­13
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • n.­101
  • n.­145
  • n.­170
  • n.­193
  • n.­356
  • n.­393
  • g.­68
  • g.­78
  • g.­83
  • g.­163
  • g.­181
  • g.­202
  • g.­280

Links to further resources:

  • 9 related glossary entries
g.­27

Becoming

  • srid pa
  • སྲིད་པ།
  • bhava

One of the twelve links of dependent origination.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­9
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­53
  • n.­92

Links to further resources:

  • 17 related glossary entries
g.­29

Bhīṣaṇaka

  • ’jigs ’jigs
  • འཇིགས་འཇིགས།
  • Bhīṣaṇaka

One of the five yakṣa generals.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 12.­1
g.­31

Black faction

  • nag po’i phyogs
  • ནག་པོའི་ཕྱོགས།
  • kṛṣṇapakṣa

The army, divisions, or factions of Māra, the deity who personifies spiritual death; from Māra’s point of view, this is the “white faction.” Also refers to the dark fortnight of the lunar month.

6 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­6
  • 6.­11
  • 10.­1
  • 12.­16
  • 13.­2
  • g.­320

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­32

Blessed one

  • bcom ldan ’das
  • བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
  • bhagavat

A title used for the Buddha and other tathāgatas.

255 passages contain this term:

  • i.­2
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­26
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­29
  • 1.­30
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­34
  • 1.­36
  • 1.­37
  • 1.­39
  • 1.­40
  • 1.­42
  • 1.­46
  • 1.­48
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­53
  • 1.­54
  • 1.­55
  • 1.­57
  • 1.­58
  • 1.­59
  • 1.­62
  • 1.­73
  • 1.­74
  • 1.­75
  • 1.­86
  • 1.­87
  • 1.­88
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­29
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­31
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­38
  • 2.­42
  • 2.­48
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­53
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­34
  • 3.­108
  • 3.­109
  • 3.­121
  • 3.­123
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­4
  • 4.­5
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­7
  • 4.­9
  • 4.­10
  • 4.­11
  • 4.­12
  • 4.­15
  • 4.­16
  • 4.­17
  • 4.­19
  • 4.­20
  • 4.­21
  • 4.­25
  • 4.­29
  • 4.­36
  • 4.­37
  • 4.­39
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­46
  • 4.­57
  • 4.­58
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­71
  • 4.­72
  • 4.­73
  • 4.­74
  • 4.­75
  • 4.­78
  • 4.­81
  • 4.­82
  • 4.­115
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­121
  • 4.­131
  • 4.­132
  • 4.­145
  • 4.­146
  • 4.­147
  • 4.­150
  • 4.­151
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­3
  • 5.­4
  • 5.­10
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­15
  • 5.­16
  • 5.­17
  • 5.­19
  • 5.­20
  • 5.­21
  • 5.­23
  • 5.­24
  • 5.­38
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­51
  • 5.­54
  • 5.­58
  • 5.­59
  • 5.­60
  • 5.­61
  • 5.­77
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­80
  • 5.­81
  • 5.­82
  • 5.­83
  • 5.­84
  • 5.­85
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­7
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­19
  • 6.­20
  • 6.­21
  • 6.­22
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­36
  • 6.­37
  • 6.­48
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­51
  • 6.­52
  • 6.­53
  • 6.­54
  • 6.­55
  • 6.­58
  • 6.­60
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­62
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­71
  • 6.­72
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­75
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­81
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­83
  • 6.­84
  • 6.­85
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­6
  • 7.­7
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­6
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­19
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­26
  • 8.­28
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­38
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­6
  • 9.­7
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­3
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­16
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­22
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­26
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­6
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­12
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­21
  • 13.­1
  • 13.­2
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­4
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­6
  • 13.­7
  • 13.­12
  • 13.­15
  • 13.­16
  • n.­75
  • n.­76
  • n.­119
  • n.­243
  • n.­291
  • n.­378
  • n.­461
  • n.­483

Links to further resources:

  • 116 related glossary entries
g.­33

Blissful one

  • bde bar gshegs pa
  • བདེ་བར་གཤེགས་པ།
  • sugata

An epithet for a buddha.

20 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­30
  • 2.­38
  • 3.­83
  • 3.­86
  • 3.­100
  • 3.­102
  • 3.­122
  • 4.­13
  • 4.­14
  • 4.­22
  • 4.­40
  • 4.­146
  • 4.­150
  • 5.­58
  • 6.­21
  • 8.­14
  • 8.­27
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­35
  • 11.­15

Links to further resources:

  • 60 related glossary entries
g.­36

Bodhisattva

  • byang chub sems dpa’
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།
  • bodhisattva

A practitioner who, motivated by altruistic feelings, vows not to enter nirvāṇa until each and every being has been liberated first.

161 passages contain this term:

  • i.­6
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­52
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­16
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­18
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­22
  • 2.­25
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­34
  • 2.­66
  • 4.­68
  • 4.­131
  • 4.­150
  • 4.­151
  • 5.­10
  • 5.­11
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­13
  • 5.­14
  • 5.­15
  • 5.­39
  • 5.­51
  • 5.­77
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­81
  • 5.­82
  • 5.­83
  • 5.­84
  • 5.­85
  • 5.­94
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­5
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­9
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­33
  • 6.­35
  • 6.­39
  • 6.­44
  • 6.­45
  • 6.­48
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­60
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­62
  • 6.­63
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­75
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­6
  • 7.­7
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­26
  • 8.­28
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­36
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­5
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­18
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­12
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20
  • 11.­21
  • 11.­22
  • 12.­2
  • 13.­2
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­4
  • 13.­7
  • n.­107
  • n.­109
  • n.­148
  • n.­323
  • n.­348
  • n.­389
  • n.­453
  • g.­4
  • g.­11
  • g.­18
  • g.­34
  • g.­54
  • g.­59
  • g.­68
  • g.­69
  • g.­71
  • g.­73
  • g.­77
  • g.­82
  • g.­112
  • g.­117
  • g.­118
  • g.­120
  • g.­122
  • g.­124
  • g.­125
  • g.­126
  • g.­129
  • g.­130
  • g.­148
  • g.­161
  • g.­164
  • g.­165
  • g.­173
  • g.­177
  • g.­191
  • g.­194
  • g.­200
  • g.­206
  • g.­216
  • g.­217
  • g.­223
  • g.­243
  • g.­248
  • g.­259
  • g.­261
  • g.­262
  • g.­263
  • g.­264
  • g.­270
  • g.­281
  • g.­287
  • g.­292
  • g.­293
  • g.­299
  • g.­303
  • g.­304
  • g.­305
  • g.­308
  • g.­311
  • g.­312
  • g.­319

Links to further resources:

  • 33 related glossary entries
g.­37

Brahmā

  • tshangs pa
  • ཚངས་པ།
  • brahmā

A god from any of the realms of Brahmā.

22 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­3
  • 6.­55
  • 6.­59
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­62
  • 6.­63
  • 6.­66
  • 6.­67
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­21
  • n.­430

Links to further resources:

  • 125 related glossary entries
g.­38

Brahmā

  • tshangs pa
  • ཚངས་པ།
  • Brahmā

One of the trinity of Hindu gods, a protagonist and ally of the Buddha; when spelled with the lower case, it denotes any god from the multiple worlds of Brahmā.

24 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­40
  • 1.­74
  • 2.­20
  • 3.­108
  • 4.­57
  • 4.­58
  • 4.­74
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 7.­1
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­6
  • 13.­1
  • 13.­2
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­15
  • n.­429
  • g.­37
  • g.­114
  • g.­168

Links to further resources:

  • 125 related glossary entries
g.­40

Buddha

  • sangs rgyas
  • སངས་རྒྱས།
  • buddha

A fully awakened being; when spelled with a capital letter it refers to the Buddha Śākyamuni, one of the Three Jewels.

329 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­5
  • i.­6
  • i.­7
  • i.­8
  • i.­9
  • i.­10
  • i.­14
  • i.­15
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­9
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­56
  • 1.­63
  • 1.­73
  • 1.­74
  • 1.­85
  • 1.­86
  • 1.­87
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­42
  • 2.­43
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­62
  • 2.­67
  • 2.­69
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­34
  • 3.­48
  • 3.­73
  • 3.­75
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­102
  • 3.­104
  • 3.­106
  • 3.­107
  • 3.­115
  • 3.­117
  • 3.­121
  • 3.­123
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­23
  • 4.­33
  • 4.­38
  • 4.­42
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­64
  • 4.­66
  • 4.­68
  • 4.­69
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­74
  • 4.­124
  • 4.­130
  • 4.­131
  • 4.­135
  • 4.­136
  • 4.­137
  • 4.­140
  • 4.­141
  • 4.­142
  • 4.­144
  • 4.­146
  • 4.­147
  • 4.­149
  • 4.­150
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­4
  • 5.­9
  • 5.­11
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­13
  • 5.­14
  • 5.­15
  • 5.­16
  • 5.­17
  • 5.­24
  • 5.­26
  • 5.­34
  • 5.­41
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­55
  • 5.­72
  • 5.­73
  • 5.­77
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­80
  • 5.­81
  • 5.­82
  • 5.­83
  • 5.­84
  • 5.­85
  • 5.­90
  • 5.­93
  • 5.­95
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­5
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­7
  • 6.­9
  • 6.­10
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­19
  • 6.­20
  • 6.­21
  • 6.­22
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­29
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­34
  • 6.­37
  • 6.­48
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­51
  • 6.­53
  • 6.­54
  • 6.­58
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­62
  • 6.­63
  • 6.­67
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­70
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­75
  • 6.­76
  • 6.­77
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­81
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­83
  • 6.­84
  • 6.­85
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­6
  • 7.­7
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­6
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­19
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­35
  • 8.­38
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­6
  • 9.­7
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­3
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­16
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­22
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­26
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­12
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­17
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20
  • 11.­21
  • 11.­22
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­10
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­15
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­17
  • 12.­21
  • 13.­1
  • 13.­2
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­4
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­6
  • 13.­7
  • 13.­11
  • 13.­15
  • n.­8
  • n.­12
  • n.­13
  • n.­16
  • n.­17
  • n.­65
  • n.­70
  • n.­75
  • n.­76
  • n.­129
  • n.­144
  • n.­149
  • n.­258
  • n.­290
  • n.­295
  • n.­333
  • n.­365
  • n.­378
  • n.­389
  • n.­391
  • n.­483
  • n.­486
  • g.­4
  • g.­11
  • g.­14
  • g.­18
  • g.­21
  • g.­32
  • g.­33
  • g.­34
  • g.­38
  • g.­44
  • g.­57
  • g.­59
  • g.­62
  • g.­68
  • g.­69
  • g.­71
  • g.­73
  • g.­74
  • g.­78
  • g.­82
  • g.­85
  • g.­105
  • g.­113
  • g.­116
  • g.­117
  • g.­118
  • g.­120
  • g.­121
  • g.­124
  • g.­125
  • g.­126
  • g.­129
  • g.­130
  • g.­131
  • g.­137
  • g.­139
  • g.­140
  • g.­142
  • g.­148
  • g.­150
  • g.­152
  • g.­161
  • g.­162
  • g.­164
  • g.­165
  • g.­173
  • g.­177
  • g.­179
  • g.­180
  • g.­191
  • g.­200
  • g.­202
  • g.­205
  • g.­206
  • g.­217
  • g.­228
  • g.­229
  • g.­230
  • g.­233
  • g.­236
  • g.­242
  • g.­244
  • g.­247
  • g.­248
  • g.­250
  • g.­258
  • g.­259
  • g.­262
  • g.­264
  • g.­270
  • g.­274
  • g.­280
  • g.­285
  • g.­287
  • g.­292
  • g.­299
  • g.­300
  • g.­303
  • g.­304
  • g.­305
  • g.­307
  • g.­308
  • g.­309
  • g.­311
  • g.­312
  • g.­318
  • g.­319

Links to further resources:

  • 10 related glossary entries
g.­44

Candraprabha

  • zla ’od
  • ཟླ་འོད།
  • Candraprabha

A nobleman in the retinue of the Buddha. Also the name of a prophesied buddha.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­19
  • 6.­34
  • 6.­48
  • 8.­29
  • g.­206
g.­46

Chinnasrotas

  • rgyun bcad pa
  • རྒྱུན་བཅད་པ།
  • Chinnasrotas

One of the five yakṣa generals.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 12.­1
  • 12.­5
g.­53

Delighting in Emanations

  • ’phrul dga’
  • འཕྲུལ་དགའ།
  • Nirmāṇarati

One of the gods’ realms.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 41 related glossary entries
g.­55

Dependent origination

  • rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba
  • rten ’brel
  • རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་འབྱུང་བ།
  • རྟེན་འབྲེལ།
  • pratītya­samutpāda

The arising of beings explained as a chain of causation involving twelve interdependent links or stages.

2 passages contain this term:

  • n.­92
  • g.­27

Links to further resources:

  • 29 related glossary entries
g.­59

Dhāraṇamati

  • gzungs kyi blo gros
  • གཟུངས་ཀྱི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • Dhāraṇamati

A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­11
  • 2.­13
  • 2.­15

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­60

Dhāraṇī

  • gzungs
  • གཟུངས།
  • dhāraṇī

Magical spell, usually a longer one with a specific purpose. Being also the name of a literary genre, this term may refer also to the entire text of the Ratnaketudhāraṇī or a section of text dealing with a particular dhāraṇī.

89 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­5
  • i.­6
  • i.­7
  • i.­8
  • i.­11
  • i.­12
  • i.­13
  • i.­14
  • i.­15
  • h.­3
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­40
  • 2.­41
  • 2.­42
  • 2.­43
  • 2.­44
  • 2.­45
  • 2.­46
  • 2.­47
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­53
  • 2.­60
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­1
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­84
  • 6.­15
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­17
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­19
  • 6.­33
  • 6.­41
  • 6.­42
  • 6.­43
  • 6.­44
  • 6.­45
  • 6.­46
  • 6.­47
  • 6.­48
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­51
  • 6.­62
  • 6.­63
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­79
  • 6.­84
  • 6.­86
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­6
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­19
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­6
  • 11.­7
  • 11.­8
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­10
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­21
  • 11.­22
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­19
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • c.­1
  • n.­5
  • n.­11
  • n.­16
  • n.­129
  • n.­130
  • n.­131
  • n.­132
  • n.­390
  • n.­405
  • n.­445
  • g.­61
  • g.­63
  • g.­64
  • g.­216

Links to further resources:

  • 94 related glossary entries
g.­61

Dhāraṇī-seal

  • gzungs kyi phyag rgya
  • གཟུངས་ཀྱི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ།
  • dhāraṇīmudrā

This is another term used for dhāraṇī that is meant to convey, among other meanings, the idea that a dhāraṇī seals or stamps upon the reciter or the targeted phenomenon the nature that it embodies.

21 passages contain this term:

  • i.­8
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­80
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­36
  • 6.­37
  • 6.­68
  • 7.­7
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­22
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­11
  • 13.­4
  • n.­396

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­62

Dharma

  • chos
  • ཆོས།
  • dharma

Quality or phenomenon in a general sense; when spelled with a capital letter it refers to the Buddha’s teaching, one of the Three Jewels.

217 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­14
  • i.­15
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­8
  • 1.­9
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­16
  • 1.­24
  • 1.­30
  • 1.­51
  • 1.­68
  • 1.­73
  • 1.­87
  • 1.­88
  • 1.­89
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­18
  • 2.­19
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­24
  • 2.­25
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­34
  • 2.­35
  • 2.­41
  • 2.­60
  • 2.­67
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­6
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­40
  • 3.­48
  • 3.­49
  • 3.­57
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­65
  • 3.­66
  • 3.­67
  • 3.­73
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­77
  • 3.­78
  • 3.­79
  • 3.­81
  • 3.­87
  • 3.­88
  • 3.­91
  • 3.­92
  • 3.­95
  • 3.­96
  • 3.­97
  • 3.­104
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­12
  • 4.­13
  • 4.­22
  • 4.­23
  • 4.­24
  • 4.­28
  • 4.­34
  • 4.­36
  • 4.­38
  • 4.­40
  • 4.­41
  • 4.­42
  • 4.­43
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­49
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­51
  • 4.­57
  • 4.­59
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­77
  • 4.­85
  • 4.­101
  • 4.­104
  • 4.­123
  • 4.­127
  • 4.­128
  • 4.­129
  • 4.­134
  • 4.­139
  • 4.­140
  • 4.­150
  • 5.­7
  • 5.­20
  • 5.­26
  • 5.­27
  • 5.­33
  • 5.­42
  • 5.­43
  • 5.­48
  • 5.­52
  • 5.­53
  • 5.­54
  • 5.­56
  • 5.­57
  • 5.­58
  • 5.­59
  • 5.­60
  • 5.­75
  • 5.­77
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­80
  • 5.­81
  • 5.­84
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­15
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­19
  • 6.­20
  • 6.­21
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­26
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­29
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­41
  • 6.­43
  • 6.­46
  • 6.­47
  • 6.­53
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­62
  • 6.­67
  • 6.­68
  • 6.­70
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­79
  • 6.­81
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­85
  • 7.­7
  • 7.­8
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­38
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­5
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­3
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­10
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­16
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­22
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­17
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­24
  • 12.­4
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­9
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­7
  • 13.­13
  • n.­14
  • n.­29
  • n.­56
  • n.­81
  • n.­106
  • n.­107
  • n.­153
  • n.­170
  • n.­178
  • n.­179
  • n.­193
  • n.­260
  • n.­268
  • n.­379
  • n.­402
  • n.­404
  • n.­443
  • g.­3
  • g.­24
  • g.­51
  • g.­61
  • g.­64
  • g.­274

Links to further resources:

  • 34 related glossary entries
g.­63

Dharma discourse

  • chos kyi rnam grangs
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་གྲངས།
  • dharmaparyāya

This may refer to the entire text of the Ratnaketudhāraṇī or to a section dealing with a particular dhāraṇī.

33 passages contain this term:

  • i.­13
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­68
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­79
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­22
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­25
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­18
  • 13.­1
  • 13.­2
  • 13.­4
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­6
  • 13.­8
  • 13.­15

Links to further resources:

  • 16 related glossary entries
g.­64

Dharma method

  • chos kyi tshul
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཚུལ།
  • dharmanetrī

The Skt. term, which means “way,” “method,” or “system,” could be interpreted as that which is “conducive” to the Dharma, which “leads” to the Dharma or which “guides” in accordance with the principles of the Dharma. In the Ratnaketudhāraṇī, it variously refers to individual dhāraṇīs, the sections that deal with these dhāraṇīs, or the entire text of the Ratnaketudhāraṇī.

31 passages contain this term:

  • i.­14
  • i.­15
  • 4.­12
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­29
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­36
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­78
  • 6.­85
  • 7.­7
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­12
  • 9.­5
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­25
  • 10.­26
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­11
  • 13.­2
  • 13.­4
  • n.­440

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­65

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

  • yul ’khor srung
  • ཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང་།
  • Dhṛtarāṣṭra

One of the Four Great Kings.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­108
  • 6.­69
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­9
  • g.­95

Links to further resources:

  • 26 related glossary entries
g.­68

Discriminating Intellect

  • shin tu rnam par phye ba’i blo gros
  • ཤིན་ཏུ་རྣམ་པར་ཕྱེ་བའི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • —

One of the bodhisattvas who received from the Buddha a prophecy of his future awakening.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­1
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­4
  • g.­117
g.­71

Dṛḍhamati

  • sra ba’i blo gros
  • སྲ་བའི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • Dṛḍhamati

A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­16
  • 11.­21
  • 11.­22

Links to further resources:

  • 8 related glossary entries
g.­73

Durdharṣa

  • thub dka’
  • ཐུབ་དཀའ།
  • Durdharṣa

One of the bodhisattvas in the Buddha’s retinue; also one of the māras.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 3.­21
g.­76

Earth

  • sa
  • ས།
  • Vasundharā

Earth (Tib. sa, Skt. bhūmi) is the Indian goddess representing Mother Earth. She goes by various other names including Vasundharā (“holder of the riches”).

4 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­47
  • 1.­72
  • 2.­48
  • 4.­144
g.­80

Element

  • khams
  • ཁམས།
  • dhātu

Sphere; primary element (such as earth, water, etc.; see “six elements”); sensory “elements” that comprise six types of sense objects, six types of sense faculties, and six sense consciousnesses.

20 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­8
  • 2.­15
  • 3.­41
  • 3.­58
  • 3.­62
  • 5.­85
  • 5.­86
  • 5.­87
  • 5.­88
  • 5.­89
  • 5.­90
  • 5.­91
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­57
  • 10.­3
  • n.­88
  • n.­260
  • n.­338
  • n.­420

Links to further resources:

  • 56 related glossary entries
g.­81

Exposition

  • lung bstan
  • ལུང་བསྟན།
  • vyākaraṇa

A clear analysis or detailed presentation. Also translated here as “prophecy.”

19 passages contain this term:

  • i.­6
  • i.­9
  • 5.­78
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­80
  • 5.­81
  • 5.­82
  • 5.­83
  • 5.­84
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­32
  • 7.­7
  • 10.­1
  • 11.­2
  • 13.­5
  • n.­333
  • n.­334
  • g.­202

Links to further resources:

  • 14 related glossary entries
g.­84

Fetter

  • kun tu sbyor ba
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་སྦྱོར་བ།
  • saṃyojana

Fetters binding one to saṃsāra; they come in groups of three (ignorance, hatred, and desire) or ten.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­48
  • 1.­61
  • 2.­23
  • 3.­121
  • 5.­30

Links to further resources:

  • 6 related glossary entries
g.­85

Five acts of immediate retribution

  • mtshams med pa byed pa
  • མཚམས་མེད་པ་བྱེད་པ།
  • pañcānantarya

Acts for which one will be reborn in hell immediately after death, without any intervening stages; they are (1) killing one’s master or father, (2) killing one’s mother, (3) killing an arhat, (4) maliciously drawing blood from a buddha, and (5) causing a schism in the saṅgha.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­41
  • 6.­23
  • 10.­13
  • 13.­7

Links to further resources:

  • 16 related glossary entries
g.­86

Five aggregates

  • phung po lnga
  • ཕུང་པོ་ལྔ།
  • pañcaskandha

The five constituents of a living entity: form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.

8 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­15
  • 5.­40
  • n.­210
  • g.­8
  • g.­49
  • g.­89
  • g.­195
  • g.­238

Links to further resources:

  • 16 related glossary entries
g.­87

Five degenerations

  • snyigs ma lnga
  • སྙིགས་མ་ལྔ།
  • pañcakaṣāya

Five signs that the later era of an eon has arrived: degenerate views, afflictions, beings, lifespan, and time.

16 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­30
  • 5.­17
  • 5.­50
  • 5.­78
  • 6.­10
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­78
  • 8.­7
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­6
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­16
  • 13.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 14 related glossary entries
g.­89

Form

  • gzugs
  • གཟུགས།
  • rūpa

First of the five aggregates.

13 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­87
  • 2.­5
  • 3.­55
  • 4.­75
  • 4.­131
  • 5.­17
  • 5.­36
  • 6.­57
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­2
  • n.­190
  • g.­86
  • g.­276

Links to further resources:

  • 19 related glossary entries
g.­95

Four Great Kings

  • rgyal po chen po bzhi
  • རྒྱལ་པོ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།
  • caturmahārāja

The powerful nonhuman guardian kings of the four quarters‍—Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Vaiśravaṇa‍—who rule, respectively, over kumbhāṇḍas in the south, nāgas in the west, gandharvas in the east, and yakṣas in the north.

9 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­108
  • 4.­74
  • 7.­1
  • g.­65
  • g.­156
  • g.­301
  • g.­315
  • g.­316
  • g.­321

Links to further resources:

  • 44 related glossary entries
g.­96

Four māras

  • bdud bzhi
  • བདུད་བཞི།
  • cāturmāra

Personification of the four factors that keep beings in saṃsāra‍—afflictions, death, aggregates, and pride arising through meditative states.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­73
  • 2.­59
  • 5.­79

Links to further resources:

  • 5 related glossary entries
g.­100

Fourfold assembly

  • ’khor bzhi po
  • འཁོར་བཞི་པོ།
  • catuḥparṣad

The fourfold assembly comprises monks, nuns, and female and male lay practitioners.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 2.­30

Links to further resources:

  • 17 related glossary entries
g.­101

Free from Strife

  • ’thab bral
  • འཐབ་བྲལ།
  • Yāma

One of the gods’ realms.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­1
  • g.­325

Links to further resources:

  • 40 related glossary entries
g.­102

Gandharva

  • dri za
  • དྲི་ཟ།
  • gandharva

A class of celestial beings.

27 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­44
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­109
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­16
  • n.­216
  • g.­95

Links to further resources:

  • 114 related glossary entries
g.­104

Garuḍa

  • nam mkha’ lding
  • ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།
  • garuḍa

A class of celestial birds with bodies half human and half bird.

26 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­108
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­73
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • n.­123
  • n.­216

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­105

Gautama

  • gau ta ma
  • གཽ་ཏ་མ།
  • Gautama

One of the names of the Buddha, especially during his earlier life as an ascetic.

17 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­19
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­38
  • 1.­62
  • 1.­71
  • 1.­89
  • 2.­58
  • 3.­6
  • 3.­26
  • 3.­29
  • 3.­110
  • 3.­117
  • 3.­121
  • 4.­79
  • 5.­22
  • 11.­21
  • n.­160

Links to further resources:

  • 18 related glossary entries
g.­106

Generosity

  • sbyin pa
  • སྦྱིན་པ།
  • dāna

The first of the six perfections.

11 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­49
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­35
  • 3.­86
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­5
  • 12.­13
  • n.­42
  • n.­81
  • g.­5
  • g.­196

Links to further resources:

  • 25 related glossary entries
g.­109

Glorious

  • snang ba ’chang ba
  • སྣང་བ་འཆང་བ།
  • —

The name of an eon in the past.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 2.­30
g.­110

Glorious and Brilliantly Shining Jewel

  • nor bu ’od ’bar ba dpal
  • ནོར་བུ་འོད་འབར་བ་དཔལ།
  • —

One of the tathāgatas.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­1
g.­111

God

  • lha
  • ལྷ།
  • deva

A celestial being from the highest realm (in the sixfold division) of saṃsāra.

111 passages contain this term:

  • i.­13
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­56
  • 1.­57
  • 1.­74
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­44
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­74
  • 3.­83
  • 3.­88
  • 3.­96
  • 3.­97
  • 3.­100
  • 3.­101
  • 3.­108
  • 3.­109
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­20
  • 4.­21
  • 4.­39
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­54
  • 4.­57
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­71
  • 4.­72
  • 4.­73
  • 4.­75
  • 4.­76
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­144
  • 4.­150
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­3
  • 5.­16
  • 5.­34
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­81
  • 5.­83
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­53
  • 6.­58
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­73
  • 6.­82
  • 6.­84
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­36
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­6
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­21
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­6
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­21
  • 13.­3
  • 13.­5
  • 13.­16
  • n.­65
  • n.­398
  • n.­407
  • n.­431
  • n.­453
  • g.­10
  • g.­37
  • g.­38
  • g.­43
  • g.­53
  • g.­101
  • g.­114
  • g.­147
  • g.­156
  • g.­157
  • g.­168
  • g.­170
  • g.­174
  • g.­204
  • g.­218
  • g.­219
  • g.­226
  • g.­227
  • g.­266
  • g.­290
  • g.­291
  • g.­301
  • g.­306
  • g.­324
  • g.­325

Links to further resources:

  • 61 related glossary entries
g.­116

Hearer

  • nyan thos
  • ཉན་ཐོས།
  • śrāvaka

A disciple of the Buddha; in the Mahāyāna sūtras this term refers to the followers of the Hīnayāna, or the Lesser Vehicle.

35 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­31
  • 2.­16
  • 2.­60
  • 2.­68
  • 3.­35
  • 3.­73
  • 3.­109
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­150
  • 5.­10
  • 5.­11
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­13
  • 5.­14
  • 5.­82
  • 5.­83
  • 5.­85
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­26
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­62
  • 6.­63
  • 6.­73
  • 7.­3
  • 8.­37
  • n.­12
  • n.­141
  • g.­142
  • g.­172
  • g.­207
  • g.­253
  • g.­254
  • g.­281

Links to further resources:

  • 102 related glossary entries
g.­120

Holder of Meru’s Peak

  • lhun po’i rtse ’dzin
  • ལྷུན་པོའི་རྩེ་འཛིན།
  • —

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­123

Insight

  • shes rab
  • ཤེས་རབ།
  • prajñā

Direct gnosis without conceptuality or mental elaboration.

22 passages contain this term:

  • i.­1
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­9
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­41
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­24
  • 5.­79
  • 5.­94
  • 7.­3
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­19
  • 8.­25
  • 10.­1
  • 13.­13
  • n.­30
  • n.­82
  • g.­196
  • g.­241

Links to further resources:

  • 58 related glossary entries
g.­124

Intelligent Light

  • ’od kyi blo gros
  • འོད་ཀྱི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • —

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­1
g.­125

Intelligent Lightning

  • glog gi blo gros
  • གློག་གི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • —

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­126

Intelligent Sky

  • nam mkha’i blo gros
  • ནམ་མཁའི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • —

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­1
g.­129

Jayamati

  • rgyal ba’i blo gros
  • རྒྱལ་བའི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • Jayamati

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue; also one of Māra’s sons.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­65

Links to further resources:

  • 4 related glossary entries
g.­130

Jinamati

  • —
  • —
  • Jinamati

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­1
g.­133

Jñānolka

  • shes pa’i sgron ma
  • ཤེས་པའི་སྒྲོན་མ།
  • Jñānolka

One of the five yakṣa generals.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 12.­1
  • 12.­5
g.­139

Kalandakanivāpa

  • bya ka lan ta ka
  • བྱ་ཀ་ལན་ཏ་ཀ
  • Kalandaka­nivāpa

Literally, “The Squirrel Feeding Ground,” a location within the Veṇuvana where the Buddha stayed, receiving its name from the many squirrels living there, being fed by humans. It should be noted that Tibetan translations misunderstand the Sanskrit term kalandaka to be a kind of bird (Tib. bya).

3 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­18

Links to further resources:

  • 19 related glossary entries
g.­141

Karma

  • las
  • ལས།
  • karman

Activity, action, or karma (karmic accumulation).

60 passages contain this term:

  • i.­7
  • i.­8
  • i.­14
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­21
  • 1.­22
  • 1.­41
  • 1.­79
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­24
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­41
  • 2.­42
  • 2.­43
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­58
  • 2.­67
  • 3.­68
  • 3.­72
  • 3.­95
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­119
  • 4.­142
  • 5.­88
  • 5.­92
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­46
  • 6.­47
  • 6.­67
  • 6.­81
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­6
  • 10.­10
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­18
  • 12.­14
  • 13.­5
  • n.­129
  • n.­132
  • n.­136
  • n.­192
  • n.­193
  • n.­333
  • n.­371
  • n.­480
  • g.­3
  • g.­5
  • g.­78
  • g.­79
  • g.­270
  • g.­271

Links to further resources:

  • 28 related glossary entries
g.­146

Kauṇḍiṇyārcis

  • kauN+Di n+ya ’od ’phro ba
  • ཀཽཎྜི་ནྱ་འོད་འཕྲོ་བ།
  • Kauṇḍiṇyārcis

One of the tathāgatas.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 12.­1
g.­148

Kautūhalika

  • ltad mo can
  • ལྟད་མོ་ཅན།
  • Kautūhalika

A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha.

8 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­22
  • 2.­25
  • 6.­60
  • 11.­12
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­2
g.­150

Khagamati

  • nam mkha’i blo gros
  • ནམ་མཁའི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • Khagamati

A nobleman in the retinue of the Buddha.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 2.­19
g.­151

Kinnara

  • mi ’am ci
  • མི་འམ་ཅི།
  • kinnara

A class of celestial beings.

27 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­108
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­21
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­73
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­7
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • n.­123
  • n.­216

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­154

Kṣatriya

  • rgyal rigs
  • རྒྱལ་རིགས།
  • kṣatriya

The warrior caste (one of the main four Indian castes).

15 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­44
  • 2.­45
  • 3.­108
  • 5.­79
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­67
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­6
  • 10.­24
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­10
  • 12.­11
  • n.­124

Links to further resources:

  • 34 related glossary entries
g.­156

Kubera

  • lus ngan po
  • ལུས་ངན་པོ།
  • Kubera
  • Kuvera

A god of wealth, sometimes (as in the Ratnaketudhāraṇī) identified with Vaiśravaṇa, one of the Four Great Kings.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 11.­1
  • 11.­10

Links to further resources:

  • 22 related glossary entries
g.­158

Kumārabhṛta

  • gzhon nu’i tshul
  • གཞོན་ནུའི་ཚུལ།
  • Kumārabhṛta

One of the previous incarnations of Māra.

7 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­56
  • 2.­57
  • 2.­59
  • 2.­61
  • 2.­63
  • 2.­66
  • n.­149
g.­159

Kumbhāṇḍa

  • grul bum
  • གྲུལ་བུམ།
  • kumbhāṇḍa

A class of nonhuman beings.

10 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­28
  • 6.­74
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 12.­11
  • 13.­3
  • g.­95

Links to further resources:

  • 30 related glossary entries
g.­166

Magadha

  • ma ga d+hA
  • མ་ག་དྷཱ།
  • Māgadha
  • Magadha

The country corresponding roughly to modern Bihar.

5 passages contain this term:

  • i.­1
  • 3.­29
  • g.­14
  • g.­212
  • g.­307

Links to further resources:

  • 31 related glossary entries
g.­169

Mahācandanagandha

  • tsan dan gyi dri chen po
  • ཙན་དན་གྱི་དྲི་ཆེན་པོ།
  • Mahā­candana­gandha

One of the tathāgatas.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 13.­1
  • 13.­2
g.­170

Maheśvara

  • dbang phyug chen po
  • དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ།
  • Maheśvara

One of the forms of the god Śiva.

10 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­37
  • 1.­40
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­108
  • 4.­74
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­69
  • 6.­73
  • 7.­1
  • g.­135

Links to further resources:

  • 47 related glossary entries
g.­171

Mahoraga

  • lto ’phye chen po
  • ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahoraga

A class of nonhuman beings with bodies resembling snakes.

30 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­108
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­70
  • 5.­3
  • 6.­50
  • 6.­61
  • 6.­73
  • 7.­1
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­2