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སྦྱིན་པའི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།

The Perfection of Generosity

Dāna­pāramitā
འཕགས་པ་སྦྱིན་པའི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa sbyin pa’i pha rol tu phyin pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Perfection of Generosity”
Ārya­dāna­pāramitā­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra
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Toh 182

Degé Kangyur, vol. 61 (mdo sde, tsa), folios 77.a–95.b.

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

First published 2019
Current version v 1.18.12 (2021)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.1.37

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 Perfection of Generosity
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
1.[How Bodhisattvas Exert Themselves in the Ten Virtuous Actions]
2.[How Bodhisattvas Exert Themselves in the Ten Perfections]
c.Colophon
ab.Abbreviations
n.Notes
b.Bibliography
g.Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

In this sūtra a bodhisattva asks the Buddha how bodhisattvas should exert themselves after having given rise to the mind set on awakening. The Buddha replies by describing the ten virtuous actions and the motivation that bodhisattvas should engender when they engage in those practices. Next, after explaining how they should exert themselves in the ten perfections, the Buddha presents a detailed explanation of the perfection of generosity, focusing on the compassionate motivation that bodhisattvas cultivate while practicing it. A particular feature of this sūtra is how it details the significance of making different kinds of offering, in terms of the spiritual attainments, qualities of awakening, and other benefits that will result.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Benjamin Collet-Cassart translated the text from Tibetan into English and wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor compared the draft translation with the original Tibetan and edited the text. Anders Bjornback and Alex Yiannopoulos also assisted this project by sharing their draft translation of the first section of this sūtra with the other translators.

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


i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Perfection of Generosity belongs to the general sūtra section of the Tibetan Kangyur. It does not appear to have been translated into Chinese, and we have not come across any mention of its title in Indian commentarial works. It does not seem, therefore, to have had a particularly influential role in Buddhist India. Until recently, it had also not attracted notable attention in modern scholarship. In 2014, however, Jason McCombs included a full translation of The Perfection of Generosity, along with an introduction to the text, in his doctoral dissertation.1


The Translation
The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra
The Perfection of Generosity

1.

[How Bodhisattvas Exert Themselves in the Ten Virtuous Actions]

1.­1

[F.77.a] Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!


1.­2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One, in order to benefit his kinsmen and the local people, was residing in the parks of King Śuddhodhana in the city of Kapilavastu, parks adorned with many hundreds of thousands of trees of different types, such as sāla, palmyra, tamāla, karṇikāra, juniper, walnut, kharjūra, śipan, nīpa, mango, pear, āmalakī, wood apple, pomegranate, elephant apple, plantain, banyan fig, goolar fig, myrobalan, aśvattha, vārśika, nutmeg, dhanuṣkarī, rosewood, magnolia, aśoka, taraṇi, pāṭalā, śiriṣa, and arjun trees. The parks were beautified by cascading streams, waterfalls, lakes, pools, ponds, and springs of fragrant water filled with purple, pink, red, and white lotus flowers. There one could hear the calls of geese, peacocks, cranes, ducks, cuckoos, ospreys, parrots, grouse, pheasants, partridges, nightingales, and wild ducks. Countless honeybees buzzed in the air. The water in the parks possessed eight special qualities6 and was limpid, flavorful, cool, pristine, and pure. The grass was green, soft and tender, and as pleasing to the touch as silk, wool, cotton, raw silk, kācilindika cloth, and linen. Those fine parks were beautiful, clean, and free of any stones, pebbles, gravel, dirt, mud, or refuse. They were also home to various wild animals, such as śarabha, spotted deer, monkeys, cats, brown bears, rabbits, black bears, [F.77.b] hyenas, and a number of different birds. Hundreds of thousands of other beings were also present, such as gods and goddesses of the night, guardians of the world, Varuṇa, Śiva, Yama, Virūḍhaka, Kubera, Śakra, Virūpākṣa, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra, as well as asuras, garuḍas, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas.


2.

[How Bodhisattvas Exert Themselves in the Ten Perfections]

2.­1

“Furthermore, noble son, [F.84.a] after having first given rise to the mind set on awakening, bodhisattva great beings should exert themselves in the ten perfections. What are those ten? They are the perfections of generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, insight, skillful means, aspiration, power, and wisdom. Noble son, how do bodhisattva great beings exert themselves in those ten perfections? Noble son, bodhisattva great beings practice generosity, observe discipline, cultivate patience, engender diligence, rest in concentration, cause insight to blaze, become skilled in means, form aspiration prayers, apply the powers, and embrace wisdom.


c.

Colophon

c.­1

This was translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptor Prajñāvarman, the translator-editor Bandé Yeshé Dé, and others.


ab.

Abbreviations

CConé (co ne) Kangyur
DDegé (sde dge) Kangyur
HLhasa (zhol) Kangyur
JLithang (’jang sa tham) Kangyur
KPeking (pe cin) Kangxi Kangyur
KYPeking Yongle (g.yung lo) Kangyur
NNarthang (snar thang) Kangyur
SStok Palace (stog pho brang) Manuscript Kangyur

n.

Notes

n.­1
McCombs (2014), pp. 88–183. His thesis also includes an edited version of the full Tibetan text. Although McCombs’ study and translation of this sūtra only became available to us after we had completed our translation, we subsequently compared our translation to his and as a result were able to improve our rendering in several instances.
n.­2
See McCombs, “Mahāyāna and the Gift,” 94–95.
n.­3
See Denkarma, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), F.298.a.5–6; also Lalou (1953), p. 322, n. 142. In the Denkarma, the sūtra is listed with the title ’phags pa sbyin pa’i pha rol tu phyin pa bstan pa.
n.­4
That text (Toh 183, Tib. sbyin pa’i phan yon bstan pa, Skt. Dānānuśaṃsā) is a short, two-page text that presents (like the present sūtra but with notable differences) the benefits associated with the practice of generosity by listing the karmic ripening generated by different types of offering. In the Stok Palace edition and other witnesses of the Thenpangma (them spangs ma) line of Kangyur collections, these two texts are cataloged disjointly, and this title is translated as sbyin pa’i legs pa, rather than sbyin pa’i phan yon bstan pa.
n.­5
In particular, Akṣayamati­nirdeśa­sūtra (Toh 175) and Bodhi­sattva­piṭaka­sūtra (Toh 56). See McCombs, “Mahāyāna and the Gift,” 98–99.
n.­6
The eight qualities of the best kind of water (a set frequently mentioned in the literature) are that it is cool, sweet, light, soft, clear, clean, pure, not upsetting to the stomach, and not irritatating to the throat.
n.­7
At this point the list of bodhisattvas continues and the names increase in length considerably. Although the text is clear that the following lines of this paragraph are indeed to be treated as a list of personal names, their meaning is somewhat unclear, and it is not evident precisely where individual names begin and end. Our rendering of the remainder of the bodhisattva names included in this section should therefore be viewed as tentative.
n.­8
S has no shad between those two elements, and mngon par shes pa is repeated in what follows: de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi yul la ’jug pa shes pa la mkhas pa mngon par shes pa / mngon par shes pa dpa’ bar ’gro ba’i ting nge ’dzin gyi mtha’i sgo bsgrub pa’i gzungs thob pa.
n.­9
S reads: zla ba ma.
n.­10
We have been unable to identify this tree (Tib. u thi ka).
n.­11
It seems that “emerald” is repeated twice in this list under different names (Tib. rdo’i snying po and ma rgad).
n.­12
The translation here is based on S, which treats these as separate items: kha dog bzang po / rgyas pa / mchog dang ldan pa. D reads: kha dog bzang po / rgyas pa mchog dang ldan pa.
n.­13
The abandonments of killing and wrong views are, respectively, the first and the last of the ten virtuous actions.
n.­14
This chapter colophon appears to provide an alternative title for the sūtra. See also i.­5.
n.­15
Translated based on S. D reads: sbyor ba.
n.­16
Tentative translation (Tib. sgrib pa thams cad gtan spong ba’ ’phags pa dang / lha’i tshangs pa’i gnas de bzhin gshegs pa’i gzims mal dang / ’phangs sbyin pa’i tshigs bla dags yin gyis).
n.­17
KY, K, and S read: bstan. J and N read: stan.
n.­18
Following KY, J, K, N, C, and H: dka’. D reads dga’.
n.­19
The Buddha’s crown protuberance (Skt. uṣṇīṣa) is described in canonical sources as being invisible, either because the light it emanates is brighter than the light of the sun, or because there is no one above the Buddha, and therefore no one can look down on him.
n.­20
Following KY, K, N, C, and H: gsung. D reads gsang.

b.

Bibliography

’phags pa sbyin pa’i pha rol tu phyin pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya­dāna­pāramitā­sūtra). Toh 182, Degé Kangyur vol. 61 (mdo sde, tsa), folios 77.a–95.b.

’phags pa sbyin pa’i pha rol tu phyin pa zhes 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), 2006–2009, vol. 61, pp. 203–247.

’phags pa sbyin pa’i pha rol tu phyin pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya­dāna­pāramitā­sūtra). S 222, Stok Palace Manuscript Kangyur vol. 73 (mdo sde, za), folios 240.b–266.b.

’phags pa sbyin pa’i phan yon bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya­dānānuśaṃsā­nirdeśa­sūtra). Toh 183, Degé Kangyur vol. 61 (mdo sde, tsa), folios 95.b–96.b.

Denkarma (ldan dkar ma), pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag. Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur, vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), F.294.b–310.a.

Dayal, Har. The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. 1932. Reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1970.

Lalou, Marcelle. “Les textes bouddhiques au temps du roi Khri-sroṅ-lde-bcan.” Journal asiatique 241 (1953): 313–52.

McCombs, Jason Matthew. “Mahāyāna and the Gift: Theories and Practices.” PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 2014.

Rotman, Andy. Divine Stories: Divyāvadāna, Part I. Somerville: Wisdom Publications, 2008.


g.

Glossary

g.­1

Ājñātakauṇḍinya

  • kun shes kauN+di n+ya
  • ཀུན་ཤེས་ཀཽཎྡི་ནྱ།
  • Ājñāta­kauṇḍinya

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


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­3
  • g.­72
g.­2

Ākāśagarbha

  • nam mkha’ snying po
  • ནམ་མཁའ་སྙིང་པོ།
  • Ākāśagarbha

One of the eight main bodhisattvas, the heart sons of the Buddha.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­3

Ānanda

  • kun dga’ bo
  • ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།
  • Ānanda

The Buddha’s cousin and principal attendant.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­4

Anavatapta

  • ma dros pa
  • མ་དྲོས་པ།
  • Anavatapta

A king of the nāgas.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­5

Applications of mindfulness

  • dran pa nye bar gzhag pa
  • དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ།
  • smṛtyupasthāna

Four contemplations on: the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena. These are among the thirty-seven factors of awakening.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­5
g.­6

Aspiration

  • smon lam
  • སྨོན་ལམ།
  • praṇidhāna

One of the ten perfections.


32 passages contain this term

  • 2.­1
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­29
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­35
  • 2.­38
  • 2.­42
  • 2.­47
  • 2.­50
  • 2.­53
  • 2.­56
  • 2.­59
  • 2.­62
  • 2.­65
  • 2.­68
  • 2.­71
  • 2.­74
  • 2.­77
  • 2.­80
  • 2.­83
  • 2.­86
  • 2.­90
  • 2.­92
  • 2.­94
  • 2.­96
  • 2.­111
g.­7

Avalokiteśvara

  • spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug
  • སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག
  • Avalokiteśvara

One of the eight main bodhisattvas, the heart sons of the Buddha.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­4
  • 2.­112
g.­8

Bakkula

  • ba ku la
  • བ་ཀུ་ལ།
  • Bakkula

An arhat disciple of the Buddha and one of the sixteen elders.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­9

Bali

  • stobs can
  • སྟོབས་ཅན།
  • Bali

A ruler of the asuras.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­10

Bases of miraculous power

  • rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa
  • རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ།
  • ṛddhipāda

Determination, discernment, diligence, and absorption. These are among the thirty-seven factors of awakening.


3 passages contain this term

  • 1.­5
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­12
g.­11

Bhadrika

  • bzang ldan
  • བཟང་ལྡན།
  • Bhadrika

One of the first five disciples of the Buddha.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­12

Bhairavī

  • ’jigs byed ma
  • འཇིགས་བྱེད་མ།
  • Bhairavī

Fierce and terrifying Hindu goddess identified as the consort of Bhairava.


2 passages contain this term

  • i.­2
  • 1.­6
g.­13

Bhaiṣajyarāja

  • sman gyi rgyal po
  • སྨན་གྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • Bhaiṣajyarāja

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­14

Bhaiṣajyasamudgata

  • sman yang dag ’phags
  • སྨན་ཡང་དག་འཕགས།
  • Bhaiṣajya­samudgata

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­15

Bharadvāja

  • bha ra dva dza
  • བྷ་ར་དབ༹་ཛ།
  • Bharadvāja

One of the disciples of the Buddha. One of the first ten to be ordained.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­16

Bhūta

  • ’byung po
  • འབྱུང་པོ།
  • bhūta

A general term for spirit, ghost, or demon.


3 passages contain this term

  • 1.­6
  • 1.­24
  • 1.­25
g.­17

Brahmā

  • tshangs pa
  • ཚངས་པ།
  • Brahmā

The lord of the Sahā world.


5 passages contain this term

  • 1.­6
  • 2.­38
  • 2.­40
  • 2.­98
  • g.­92
g.­18

Branches of awakening

  • byang chub kyi yan lag
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག
  • bodhyaṅga

Recollection, analysis of the dharmas, diligence, joy, pliancy, absorption, equanimity. These are among the thirty-seven factors of awakening.


2 passages contain this term

  • 2.­29
  • 2.­30
g.­19

Candra

  • zla ba
  • ཟླ་བ།
  • Candra

Lunar deity in Hindu mythology.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­20

Candraprabha

  • zla ’od
  • ཟླ་འོད།
  • Candraprabha

One of the bodhisattva great beings. He is also the principal interlocutor of The King of Samādhis Sūtra.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­21

Concentration

  • bsam gtan
  • བསམ་གཏན།
  • dhyāna

One of the six or ten perfections.


5 passages contain this term

  • 2.­1
  • 2.­62
  • 2.­63
  • 2.­64
  • 2.­111
g.­22

Crown Jewel of the Lord of Men Resembling a Sublime Lion Sporting and Roaring in Mountain Caves, Peaks, Clefts, Valleys, and Meadows

  • ri’i phug dang zom dang ri sul dang gseb dang sman ljongs na seng ge’i mchog rnam par bsgyings shing nga ro rnam par sgrogs pa lta bu’i mi’i dbang po’i gtsug gi nor bu
  • རིའི་ཕུག་དང་ཟོམ་དང་རི་སུལ་དང་གསེབ་དང་སྨན་ལྗོངས་ན་སེང་གེའི་མཆོག་རྣམ་པར་བསྒྱིངས་ཤིང་ང་རོ་རྣམ་པར་སྒྲོགས་པ་ལྟ་བུའི་མིའི་དབང་པོའི་གཙུག་གི་ནོར་བུ།
  • —

Bodhisattva great being, interlocutor of the Buddha in The Perfection of Generosity.


8 passages contain this term

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­12
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­16
  • 2.­106
  • 2.­112
g.­23

Cūḍāpanthaka

  • lam phran bstan
  • ལམ་ཕྲན་བསྟན།
  • Cūḍāpanthaka

One of the disciples of the Buddha.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­24

Determined Effort

  • spro ba brtan pa
  • སྤྲོ་བ་བརྟན་པ།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­25

Devamukuṭa

  • lha’i cod pan
  • ལྷའི་ཅོད་པན།
  • Devamukuṭa

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­26

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

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

One of the four great kings.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­6
g.­27

Diligence

  • brtson ’grus
  • བརྩོན་འགྲུས།
  • vīrya

One of the six or ten perfections.


5 passages contain this term

  • 2.­1
  • g.­10
  • g.­18
  • g.­69
  • g.­99
g.­28

Discipline

  • tshul khrims
  • ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས།
  • śīla

One of the six or ten perfections.


5 passages contain this term

  • 2.­1
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­111
  • g.­91
g.­29

Dṛḍhamati

  • blo gros brtan
  • བློ་གྲོས་བརྟན།
  • Dṛḍhamati

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­30

Dṛḍhavikrama

  • mthu rtsal brtan
  • མཐུ་རྩལ་བརྟན།
  • Dṛḍhavikrama

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­31

Dṛḍhavīrya

  • brtson ’grus brtan
  • བརྩོན་འགྲུས་བརྟན།
  • Dṛḍhavīrya

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­32

Druma

  • ljon pa
  • ལྗོན་པ།
  • Druma

A king of the kiṃnaras.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­33

Equal and Evenly Set Teeth White Like Silver, Conch Shells, the Moon, a White Lotus, and Milk

  • so mnyam zhing thags bzang la dkar ba dngul dang dung dang zla ba dang ku mud dang ’o ma ltar dkar ba
  • སོ་མཉམ་ཞིང་ཐགས་བཟང་ལ་དཀར་བ་དངུལ་དང་དུང་དང་ཟླ་བ་དང་ཀུ་མུད་དང་འོ་མ་ལྟར་དཀར་བ།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­34

Female Spear Holder

  • mdung thogs ma
  • མདུང་ཐོགས་མ།
  • —

A Hindu goddess, unidentified. McCombs (p. 128) suggests that the Sanskrit name for this goddess might be Śūlinī (one of the names for Durgā) or Śaktidhārī.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­35

Gavāṃpati

  • ba lang bdag
  • བ་ལང་བདག
  • Gavāṃpati

One of the disciples of the Buddha. One of the first ten to be ordained.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­36

Generosity

  • sbyin pa
  • སྦྱིན་པ།
  • dāna

The first of the six or ten perfections, often explained as the essential starting point and training for the practice of the others.


45 passages contain this term

  • s.­1
  • i.­3
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­5
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­29
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­35
  • 2.­38
  • 2.­41
  • 2.­42
  • 2.­47
  • 2.­50
  • 2.­53
  • 2.­56
  • 2.­59
  • 2.­62
  • 2.­65
  • 2.­68
  • 2.­71
  • 2.­74
  • 2.­77
  • 2.­80
  • 2.­83
  • 2.­86
  • 2.­90
  • 2.­92
  • 2.­94
  • 2.­96
  • 2.­98
  • 2.­99
  • 2.­100
  • 2.­101
  • 2.­105
  • 2.­106
  • 2.­111
  • n.­4
g.­37

Hair in a Topknot Shining Dark Like Bees, Ink, Peacocks, and Nightingales

  • bung ba dang snag sa dang rma bya dang ’jon mo dang mugs gsal ral pa’i thor tshugs can
  • བུང་བ་དང་སྣག་ས་དང་རྨ་བྱ་དང་འཇོན་མོ་དང་མུགས་གསལ་རལ་པའི་ཐོར་ཚུགས་ཅན།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­38

Hārītī

  • ’phrog ma
  • འཕྲོག་མ།
  • Hārītī

A female yakṣa, previously an eater of children but tamed and converted by the Buddha and seen as a protectress. Consort of Pāñcika.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­39

Hell of Endless Torment

  • mtshams med
  • མཚམས་མེད།
  • avīci

The most severe among the eight hot hell realms. It is characterized as endless not only in terms of the torment undergone there, but also because of the ceaseless chain of actions and effects experienced, the long lifespan of its denizens, and their being so intensely crowded together that there is no physical space between them.


2 passages contain this term

  • 2.­58
  • 2.­77
g.­40

Insight

  • shes rab
  • ཤེས་རབ།
  • prajñā

One of the six or ten perfections.


2 passages contain this term

  • 2.­1
  • 2.­40
g.­41

Jālinīprabha

  • dra ba can gyi ’od
  • དྲ་བ་ཅན་གྱི་འོད།
  • Jālinīprabha

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­42

Jambudvīpa

  • ’dzam bu’i gling
  • འཛམ་བུའི་གླིང་།
  • Jambudvīpa

The continent (dvīpa) on which we live, shaped like a jambū fruit or rose-apple according to ancient South Asian cosmology.


2 passages contain this term

  • 2.­71
  • 2.­73
g.­43

Kācilindika

  • ka tsa lin di ka
  • ཀ་ཙ་ལིན་དི་ཀ།
  • kācilindika, kācalindika

An epithet for softness, usually applied to cloth, and probably in reference, directly or metaphorically, to the down of the kācilindika bird. See Lamotte, Etienne. La Concentration de la Marche Héroïque. Bruxelles: Peeters (1975), p. 261, n. 321. The Mahāvyutpatti includes the term using the variant spelling kācalindika.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­2
g.­44

Kamala­dala­vimala­nakṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitā­bhijña

  • pad ma’i ’dab ma ltar dri ma med pa rgyu skar rgyal po mngon par shes pa’i me tog shin tu rgyas pa
  • པད་མའི་འདབ་མ་ལྟར་དྲི་མ་མེད་པ་རྒྱུ་སྐར་རྒྱལ་པོ་མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པའི་མེ་ཏོག་ཤིན་ཏུ་རྒྱས་པ།
  • Kamala­dala­vimala­nakṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitā­bhijña

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­45

Kapilavastu

  • ser skya’i gnas
  • སེར་སྐྱའི་གནས།
  • Kapilavastu

The capital city of the Śākya kingdom, where the Buddha grew up.


4 passages contain this term

  • i.­3
  • 1.­2
  • g.­72
  • g.­101
g.­46

Kapphiṇa

  • ka pi na
  • ཀ་པི་ན།
  • Kapphiṇa

One of the disciples of the Buddha.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­47

King Precious Moonlight of Pure Virtue

  • dge ba dri ma med pa rnam dag rin chen zla ’od rgyal po
  • དགེ་བ་དྲི་མ་མེད་པ་རྣམ་དག་རིན་ཆེན་ཟླ་འོད་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­48

Kubera

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

One of the four great kings, also known as Vaiśravaṇa.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­2
  • g.­109
g.­49

Kuṇāla

  • ku na la
  • ཀུ་ན་ལ།
  • kuṇāla

Bird with beautiful eyes that lives on Mount Sumeru.


1 passage contains this term

  • 2.­89
g.­50

Mahākauṣṭhila

  • gsus po che
  • གསུས་པོ་ཆེ།
  • Mahākauṣṭhila

One of the disciples of the Buddha.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­51

Mahākāya

  • lus chen
  • ལུས་ཆེན།
  • Mahākāya

A ruler of the garuḍas.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­52

Mahāmaudgalyāyana

  • maud gal gyi bu chen po
  • མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • Mahā­maudgalyāyana

One of the two closest disciples of the Buddha, known for his miraculous abilities.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­53

Mahāśrīdevī

  • dpal gyi lha mo chen mo
  • དཔལ་གྱི་ལྷ་མོ་ཆེན་མོ།
  • Mahāśrīdevī

Epithet of Lakṣmī, Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity and consort of Viṣṇu.


2 passages contain this term

  • i.­2
  • 1.­6
g.­54

Mahāsthāmaprāpta

  • mthu chen thob
  • མཐུ་ཆེན་ཐོབ།
  • Mahā­sthāmaprāpta

Bodhisattva great being who represents the power of wisdom.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­55

Mahātejas

  • gzi chen
  • གཟི་ཆེན།
  • Mahātejas

A ruler of the garuḍas.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­56

Maheśvara

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

Epithet of Śiva.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­57

Mahotsāha

  • spro ba che ba
  • སྤྲོ་བ་ཆེ་བ།
  • Mahotsāha

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­58

Maitreya

  • byams pa
  • བྱམས་པ།
  • Maitreya

One of the eight main bodhisattvas, the heart sons of the Buddha.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­4
  • g.­84
g.­59

Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta

  • ’jam dpal gzhon nur gyur pa
  • འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་ནུར་གྱུར་པ།
  • Mañjuśrī­kumāra­bhūta

One of the eight main bodhisattvas, the heart sons of the Buddha.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­4
  • 2.­112
g.­60

Māra

  • bdud
  • བདུད།
  • Māra

Personification of everything that functions as a hindrance to awakening.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­5
  • 2.­77
g.­61

Moonlike Body

  • lus zla ba
  • ལུས་ཟླ་བ།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­62

Mount Sumeru

  • ri rab
  • རི་རབ།
  • Sumeru

Center of the universe according to Buddhist and Hindu cosmology.


3 passages contain this term

  • 1.­9
  • 2.­44
  • g.­49
g.­63

Nanda

  • dga’ bo
  • དགའ་བོ།
  • Nanda

The Buddha’s half-brother and disciple.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­64

Pañcaśikha

  • zur phud lnga pa
  • ཟུར་ཕུད་ལྔ་པ།
  • Pañcaśikha

An eminent gandharva.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­65

Pāñcika

  • lngas rtsen
  • ལྔས་རྩེན།
  • Pāñcika

A leader of the yakṣas.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­6
  • g.­38
g.­66

Patience

  • bzod pa
  • བཟོད་པ།
  • kṣānti

One of the six or ten perfections.


3 passages contain this term

  • 1.­5
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­111
g.­67

Piśāca

  • sha za
  • ཤ་ཟ།
  • piśāca

A class of demons. Literally “flesh eaters.”


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­24
g.­68

Power

  • stobs
  • སྟོབས།
  • bala

One of the ten perfections.


2 passages contain this term

  • 2.­1
  • 2.­111
g.­69

Powers

  • dbang po
  • དབང་པོ།
  • indriya

Faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and knowledge. These are among the thirty-seven factors of awakening.


4 passages contain this term

  • 1.­5
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­98
  • g.­99
g.­70

Prajñāvarman

  • pra dz+nyA bar ma
  • པྲ་ཛྙཱ་བར་མ།
  • Prajñāvarman

A Bengali paṇḍita resident in Tibet during the late eighth/early ninth centuries. Arriving in Tibet at the invitation of the Tibetan king, he assisted in the translation of numerous canonical scriptures. He is also the author of a few philosophical commentaries included in the Tibetan Tengyur (bstan ’gyur) collection.


1 passage contains this term

  • i.­4
g.­71

Prāmodyarāja

  • mchog tu dga’ ba’i rgyal po
  • མཆོག་ཏུ་དགའ་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • Prāmodyarāja

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­72

Pūrṇa

  • gang po
  • གང་པོ།
  • Pūrṇa

At least five different disciples of the Buddha in the canonical texts have this name, but the Pūrṇa in this text is likely to be the eminent disciple of the Buddha from Kapilavastu, nephew of Ājñātakauṇḍinya who ordained him, and described as the foremost disciple in explaining the doctrine.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­3
  • g.­72
g.­73

Rāhu

  • sgra gcan
  • སྒྲ་གཅན།
  • Rāhu

A ruler of the asuras.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­74

Rāhula

  • sgra gcan zin
  • སྒྲ་གཅན་ཟིན།
  • Rāhula

The Buddha’s son and disciple.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­75

Ratnacūḍa

  • rin chen gtsug phud
  • རིན་ཆེན་གཙུག་ཕུད།
  • Ratnacūḍa

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­76

Ratnagarbha

  • rin chen snying po
  • རིན་ཆེན་སྙིང་པོ།
  • Ratnagarbha

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­77

Ratnajālin

  • rin chen dra ba can
  • རིན་ཆེན་དྲ་བ་ཅན།
  • Ratnajālin

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­78

Ratnamukuṭa

  • rin chen cod pan
  • རིན་ཆེན་ཅོད་པན།
  • Ratnamukuṭa

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­79

Ratnapāṇi

  • lag na rin chen
  • ལག་ན་རིན་ཆེན།
  • Ratnapāṇi

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­80

Ratnaprabha

  • rin chen ’od
  • རིན་ཆེན་འོད།
  • Ratnaprabha

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­81

Ratnasiṃha

  • rin chen seng ge
  • རིན་ཆེན་སེང་གེ
  • Ratnasiṃha

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­82

Resembling the Karṇikāra Tree, the Mango Tree, and the Blooming Burflower Tree

  • dong ka’i shing dang sa ha ka ra dang me tog ’byung ba’i ka dam pa lta bu
  • དོང་ཀའི་ཤིང་དང་ས་ཧ་ཀ་ར་དང་མེ་ཏོག་འབྱུང་བའི་ཀ་དམ་པ་ལྟ་བུ།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­83

Rising Sun

  • nyi ma’i ’char ka
  • ཉི་མའི་འཆར་ཀ
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­84

Sacrificial post

  • mchod sdong
  • མཆོད་སྡོང་།
  • yūpa

A post set up as a marker to which offerings may be presented. Described in the Maitreyāvadāna (“The Story of Maitreya”), which in the Kangyur is found within the Bhaiṣajya­vastu (in Vinayavastu, Toh 1, Degé Kangyur vol. kha, folios 29a-32b); a matching passage from the Divyāvadāna is translated in Rotman (2008), pp. 121–24.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­9
g.­85

Sāgara

  • rgya mtsho
  • རྒྱ་མཚོ།
  • Sāgara

A king of the nāgas.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­86

Sahā world

  • mi mjed
  • མི་མཇེད།
  • Sahā

Indian Buddhist name for the universe in which we live. It means “endurance,” as beings there have to endure suffering.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­6
  • g.­17
g.­87

Śakra

  • brgya byin
  • བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
  • Śakra

The lord of the gods.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­6
g.­88

Samantabhadra

  • kun tu bzang po
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ།
  • Samantabhadra

One of the eight main bodhisattvas, the heart sons of the Buddha.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­89

Śaṅkhinī

  • dung can ma
  • དུང་ཅན་མ།
  • Śaṅkhinī

A Hindu goddess.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­90

Śarabha

  • ldang sko ska
  • ལྡང་སྐོ་སྐ།
  • śarabha

Mythical eight-legged lion.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­2
g.­91

Śāradvatīputra

  • sha ra dva ti’i bu
  • ཤ་ར་དབ༹་ཏིའི་བུ།
  • Śāradvatīputra

One of the two closest disciples of the Buddha, known for his pure observance of discipline.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­92

Sarasvatī

  • dbyangs can ma
  • དབྱངས་ཅན་མ།
  • Sarasvatī

Hindu goddess of art and wisdom, consort of Brahmā.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­93

Seven precious things

  • rin chen sna bdun
  • རིན་ཆེན་སྣ་བདུན།
  • saptaratna

The seven precious things comprise the seven precious metals and stones, namely, gold, silver, turquoise, coral, pearl, emerald, and sapphire. More generally‌, they may also comprise the symbols of royal dominion, namely, the wheel, gem, queen, minister, elephant, general, and horse.


2 passages contain this term

  • 2.­73
  • g.­93
g.­94

Śiva

  • zhi ba
  • ཞི་བ།
  • Śiva

One of the main Hindu gods.


3 passages contain this term

  • 1.­2
  • g.­56
  • g.­107
g.­95

Skillful means

  • thabs
  • ཐབས།
  • upāya

One of the ten perfections.


2 passages contain this term

  • 2.­1
  • 2.­111
g.­96

Slender, Supple, Firm, Fine, and Smooth Limbs Youthful Like Flowers and with Copper-Colored Nails

  • rka lag phra zhing mnyen la gzhon sha chags shing sra ba la ’jam zhing me tog ltar shin tu gzhon la rka lag gi sen mo zangs kyi mdog ’dra ba
  • རྐ་ལག་ཕྲ་ཞིང་མཉེན་ལ་གཞོན་ཤ་ཆགས་ཤིང་སྲ་བ་ལ་འཇམ་ཞིང་མེ་ཏོག་ལྟར་ཤིན་ཏུ་གཞོན་ལ་རྐ་ལག་གི་སེན་མོ་ཟངས་ཀྱི་མདོག་འདྲ་བ།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­97

Smiling Face That Brightly Shines Like the Moon and a Lotus Flower

  • pad ma dang zla ba ltar bzhin ’dzum zhing brjid la mdangs gsal ba
  • པད་མ་དང་ཟླ་བ་ལྟར་བཞིན་འཛུམ་ཞིང་བརྗིད་ལ་མདངས་གསལ་བ།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­98

Stable Strength

  • mthu brtan
  • མཐུ་བརྟན།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­99

Strengths

  • stobs
  • སྟོབས།
  • bala

Faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and knowledge. These are among the thirty-seven factors of awakening. Although the qualities referred to are the same as the powers, they are termed strengths due to their greater strength.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­5
  • g.­99
g.­100

Subhūti

  • rab ’byor
  • རབ་འབྱོར།
  • Subhūti

One of the closest disciples of the Buddha.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­101

Śuddhodhana

  • zas gtsang
  • ཟས་གཙང་།
  • Śuddhodhana

King of Kapilavastu and father of the Buddha.


2 passages contain this term

  • i.­3
  • 1.­2
g.­102

Sūryaprabha

  • nyi ’od
  • ཉི་འོད།
  • Sūryaprabha

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­103

Suśubha

  • rab tu bzang po
  • རབ་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ།
  • Suśubha

One of the disciples of the Buddha.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­104

Tongue Wide as the Leaves of Palm and Plantain Trees and Resembling a Copper Plate

  • lce chu shing gi lo ma dang ta la’i ’dab ma ltar yangs shing zangs kyi glegs ma lta bu
  • ལྕེ་ཆུ་ཤིང་གི་ལོ་མ་དང་ཏ་ལའི་འདབ་མ་ལྟར་ཡངས་ཤིང་ཟངས་ཀྱི་གླེགས་མ་ལྟ་བུ།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­105

Top Ornament of Precious Qualities with Magnificent Sapphire-Like Eyes

  • rin po che mthon ka ltar mig shin tu mdzes pa yon tan rin po che’i tog
  • རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཐོན་ཀ་ལྟར་མིག་ཤིན་ཏུ་མཛེས་པ་ཡོན་ཏན་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་ཏོག
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­106

True exertions

  • yang dag par spong ba
  • ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ།
  • samyakprahāṇa

Relinquishing negative acts in the present and future and enhancing positive acts in the present and future. These are among the thirty-seven factors of awakening. The term is often translated “true relinquishments,” which is the literal meaning of both the Sanskrit and Tibetan, but does not fit the third and fourth; Dayal, p. 102 ff. suggests the use of “effort” (samyak­pradhāna) instead of lit. “abandonment” (samyak­prahāna).


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­5
g.­107

Umā

  • dka’ zlog ma
  • དཀའ་ཟློག་མ།
  • Umā

Epithet of Pārvatī, consort of Śiva.


2 passages contain this term

  • i.­2
  • 1.­6
g.­108

Upananda

  • nye dga’ bo
  • ཉེ་དགའ་བོ།
  • Upananda

One of the disciples of the Buddha.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­3
g.­109

Vaiśravaṇa

  • rnam thos kyi bu
  • རྣམ་ཐོས་ཀྱི་བུ།
  • Vaiśravaṇa

One of the four great kings, also known as Kubera.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­6
  • g.­48
g.­110

Vajrapāṇi

  • lag na rdo rje
  • ལག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།
  • Vajrapāṇi

A leader of the yakṣas.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­111

Varuṇa

  • chu lha
  • ཆུ་ལྷ།
  • Varuṇa

One of the guardian deities.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­2
g.­112

Virūḍhaka

  • ’phags skyes po
  • འཕགས་སྐྱེས་པོ།
  • Virūḍhaka

One of the four great kings.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­6
g.­113

Virūpākṣa

  • mig mi bzang
  • མིག་མི་བཟང་།
  • Virūpākṣa

One of the four great kings.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­6
g.­114

Voice as Delightful as the Songs of Cuckoos, Parrots, Grouse, Pheasants, and Kalaviṅka Birds

  • khu byug dang ne tso dang ri skegs dang ku na la dang ka la ping ka skad ’byin pa lta bur yid du ’ong ba’i nga ro’i gdangs nges par sgrogs pa
  • ཁུ་བྱུག་དང་ནེ་ཙོ་དང་རི་སྐེགས་དང་ཀུ་ན་ལ་དང་ཀ་ལ་པིང་ཀ་སྐད་འབྱིན་པ་ལྟ་བུར་ཡིད་དུ་འོང་བའི་ང་རོའི་གདངས་ངེས་པར་སྒྲོགས་པ།
  • —

One of the bodhisattva great beings.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­4
g.­115

Wisdom

  • ye shes
  • ཡེ་ཤེས།
  • jñāna

One of the ten perfections.


2 passages contain this term

  • 2.­1
  • 2.­111
g.­116

Yama

  • gshin rje
  • གཤིན་རྗེ།
  • Yama

The lord of death.


2 passages contain this term

  • 1.­2
  • 2.­80
g.­117

Yellow-Robed

  • ser mo
  • སེར་མོ།
  • —

A Hindu goddess, unidentified. McCombs (p. 128) suggests that the Sanskrit name for this goddess might be Pītā or Vāruṇī.


1 passage contains this term

  • 1.­6
g.­118

Yeshé Dé

  • ye shes sde
  • ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།
  • —

A prolific Tibetan translator active during the late eighth and early ninth centuries.


2 passages contain this term

  • i.­4
  • c.­1
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