• The Collection
  • The Kangyur
  • Discourses
  • General Sūtra Section

This rendering does not include the entire published text

The full text is available to download as pdf at:
https://read.84000.co/data/toh257_84000-the-quintessence-of-the-sun.pdf

ཉི་མའི་སྙིང་པོ།

The Quintessence of the Sun
The Presentation of the Conjunctions of the Lunar Mansions

Sūryagarbha
འཕགས་པ་ཤིན་ཏུ་རྒྱས་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་སྡེ་ཉི་མའི་སྙིང་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་མདོ།
’phags pa shin tu rgyas pa chen po’i sde nyi ma’i snying po zhes bya ba’i mdo
The Noble Very Extensive Sūtra “The Quintessence of the Sun”
Ārya­sūryagarbha­nāma­mahāvaipulya­sūtra
84000 logo

Toh 257

Degé Kangyur, vol. 66 (mdo sde, za), folios 91.b–245.b

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

First published 2022
Current version v 1.0.6 (2023)
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.

Logo for the license

This work is provided under the protection of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution - Non-commercial - No-derivatives) 3.0 copyright. It may be copied or printed for fair use, but only with full attribution, and not for commercial advantage or personal compensation. For full details, see the Creative Commons license.

Options for downloading this publication

This print version was generated at 7.45pm on Monday, 13th March 2023 from the online version of the text available on that date. If some time has elapsed since then, this version may have been superseded, as most of 84000’s published translations undergo significant updates from time to time. For the latest online version, with bilingual display, interactive glossary entries and notes, and a variety of further download options, please see
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh257.html.


co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
+ 12 chapters- 12 chapters
1. Protection of the Sacred Dharma
2. The Messengers
3. The Dhāraṇī Mantras
4. The Purification of Karmic Actions
5. The Protection
6. Chapter Six
7. The Presentation of the Conjunctions of the Lunar Mansions
8. Chapter Eight
9. The Recollection of the Buddha
10. The Travel to Mount Sumeru
11. The Going for Refuge of the Nāgas
12. Conclusion
c. Colophon
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· Tibetan Sources
· Chinese Sources
· Secondary Sources
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

The Quintessence of the Sun is a long and heterogeneous sūtra in eleven chapters. At the Veṇuvana in the Kalandakanivāpa on the outskirts of Rājagṛha, the Buddha Śākyamuni first explains to a great assembly the severe consequences of stealing what has been offered to monks and the importance of protecting those who abide by the Dharma. The next section tells of bodhisattvas sent from buddha realms in the four directions to bring various dhāraṇīs as a way of protecting and benefitting this world. While explaining those dhāraṇīs, the Buddha Śākyamuni presents various meditations on repulsiveness and instructions on the empty nature of phenomena. On the basis of another long narrative involving Māra and groups of nāgas, detailed teachings on astrology are also introduced, as are a number of additional dhāraṇīs and a list of sacred locations blessed by the presence of holy beings.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi 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.

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


The generous sponsorship of Jamyang Sun and Manju Sun, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.


i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Quintessence of the Sun, which belongs to the General Sūtra section of the Kangyur, is a long and heterogeneous sūtra containing eleven chapters. At the Veṇuvana in the Kalandakanivāpa on the outskirts of Rājagṛha, the Buddha Śākyamuni first explains to a great assembly the severe consequences of stealing what has been offered to monks and the importance of protecting those who abide by the Dharma. The next section tells of bodhisattvas sent from buddha realms in the four directions to bring various dhāraṇīs as a way of protecting and benefitting this world. While explaining those dhāraṇīs, the Buddha Śākyamuni presents various meditations on repulsiveness and instructions on the empty nature of phenomena. On the basis of another long narrative involving Māra and groups of nāgas, detailed teachings on astrology are also introduced, as are a number of additional dhāraṇīs and a list of sacred locations blessed by the presence of holy beings.


The Translation
The Noble Very Extensive Sūtra
The Quintessence of the Sun

1.
Chapter One

Protection of the Sacred Dharma

[B1] [F.91.b]


1.­1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!


Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in the Veṇuvana at the Kalandakanivāpa near Rājagṛha, surrounded and attended by an innumerable, limitless, and indescribable number of bodhisattva great beings who had arrived from countless other buddha realms of the ten directions. He was also surrounded and attended by an innumerable, limitless, and indescribable number of great hearers who had gathered there from different buddha realms of the ten directions. In the same way, an innumerable, limitless, and indescribable number of other beings who had arrived there from the various buddha realms of the ten directions‍—Śakra, Lord Brahmā, the rulers of the gods, the rulers of the nāgas, the rulers of the yakṣas, the rulers of the gandharvas, the rulers of the asuras, the rulers of the garuḍas, the rulers of the kinnaras, and the rulers of the mahoragas‍—filled all the pathways on the ground and in the sky throughout the entire buddha realm of Sahā. There also arrived an innumerable and limitless number of different gods from the desire and form realms, of nāgas, yakṣas, and rākṣasas, and of asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas. Sitting in silence, they looked up at the Blessed One as he revealed how bodhisattva conduct quickly brings perfection and manifests like space and as he gave teachings on the mindfulness of breathing, which is the gateway to immortality, and the sublime states. [F.92.a] They filled all the pathways on the ground and in the sky throughout the entire buddha realm of Sahā.


2.
Chapter Two

The Messengers

2.­1

When the Blessed One had begun this discourse with King Bimbisāra on how to protect all those monks who abide by the Dharma, in the eastern direction, beyond countless buddha realms as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges, there was a world called Absence of Torment, where the thus-gone, worthy, perfect Buddha Campaka Color was residing, thriving, living well, and teaching the Dharma. In that buddha realm, the bodhisattva great being named Quintessence of the Sun’s Energy was sitting in the assembly of the blessed thus-gone Campaka Color in order to listen to the Dharma. At one point, as the bodhisattva great being Quintessence of the Sun’s Energy looked upward, he saw in the sky above that innumerable and countless bodhisattva great beings were departing from the east and proceeding toward the west. When he looked toward the west where those bodhisattva great beings were going, he saw a brilliant light. At that moment, he bowed down with his palms joined together in the direction of the Buddha Campaka Color and asked, “Respected Blessed One, I have seen in the sky above that innumerable and countless bodhisattva great beings are departing from the east and proceeding toward the west. I have also seen a brilliant light in the western direction. Why is this so?” [F.107.b]


3.
Chapter Three

The Dhāraṇī Mantras

3.­1

When King Bimbisāra saw the unprecedented sight of innumerable and limitless numbers of mahābrahmās, Śakras, Nārāyaṇas, and universal monarchs ruling over the four continents, he was utterly amazed. He stood up and went close to them. Next, together with their retinues, the bodhisattva great beings‍—the four messengers of the buddhas‍—sat down and bowed with their palms joined together in the direction of the thus-gone Śākyamuni. [F.137.a] The bodhisattva great being Quintessence of the Sun’s Energy then tossed garlands of campaka flowers in the direction of the thus-gone Śākyamuni and uttered these verses:


4.
Chapter Four

The Purification of Karmic Actions

4.­1

The Blessed One then said to the four messengers and the other bodhisattva great beings, “Noble sons, abide in this buddha realm by your individual virtues!”

4.­2

So, together with their retinues, those bodhisattva great beings sat cross-legged in their respective places. Then, those beings who had thoroughly cultivated the absorption of the dhāraṇī of acceptance entered into their respective states of absorption. From the bodies of some of those beings dwelling in equipoise radiated lights like the light emitted by oil lamps. From the bodies of some others radiated lights like the light emitted by trillions of suns and moons.


5.
Chapter Five

The Protection

5.­1

Then, together with their respective retinues, all the rulers of the gods, the rulers of the nāgas, the rulers of the yakṣas, the rulers of the asuras, the rulers of the garuḍas, the rulers of the kinnaras, the rulers of the mahoragas, the rulers of the pretas, the rulers of the piśācas, and the rulers of the pūtanas bowed with their palms joined together in the direction of the Blessed One and said, “Respected Blessed One, in all the places where monks, nuns, male and female lay practitioners, or faithful sons or daughters of noble family observe this initial practice of repulsiveness up to the absorption of cessation while contemplating the virtuous factors that have just been described, we shall regard them‍—up to the faithful daughters of noble family‍—together with their retinues as the teachers of their own respective classes. [F.178.b] We shall serve all of them through body, speech, and mind, and we shall ensure that they never lack Dharma robes, alms, bedding, medicine, and requisites. We shall liberate them from the fifteen unsettling dangers. What are those fifteen?54 We shall liberate them from the unsettling dangers related to the body. We shall liberate them from dirt, sticks, weapons, poison, stones, hostile beings, abusive beings, and faithless beings. We shall liberate them from disturbances in the elements. We shall protect those who serve them with offerings of delicious food and beverages, medicine, and requisites. We shall protect all such righteous sponsors, relatives, and benefactors from the unsettling dangers caused by diseases, enemies, bhūtas, and foes. We shall protect them from the unsettling dangers caused by poison, kings, civil war, invasion, and famine. Those are the fifteen unsettling dangers.


6.

Chapter Six

6.­1

At that time, [F.183.a] King Bimbisāra, who felt joyful and exhilarated, exclaimed, “Respected Blessed One, this buddha realm of Sahā is filled with bodhisattva great beings who exert themselves in concentration, and it is bathed in a brilliant light that has never been seen or heard of before. This is amazing! Respected Well-Gone One, this is truly amazing! Still, besides this buddha realm and its outer mountain range, nothing else whatsoever appears. Respected Blessed One, if this entire buddha realm of Sahā is perceived due to the light of those bodhisattva great beings, what would the light emitted by the thus-gone ones who have entered into absorption be like? Might we be able to perceive the arrays of qualities of other buddha realms through the light emitted by the Thus-Gone One?”


7.
Chapter Seven

The Presentation of the Conjunctions of the Lunar Mansions

7.­1

When the evil Māra saw all these thus-gone ones and retinues in their respective palaces present within the body of the Thus-Gone One, he became extremely unhappy. Dirt emerged from his entire body, and he began to weep out of distress. He started to run to and fro, to leave only to reappear, and to jump up, run and race around, gape, laugh, sigh, lick his mouth, close his eyes, stretch and contract his arms, [F.188.a] rest his head in his hands, and rub his throat and breast. When they saw this, all the sentient beings residing in the abode of Māra were unsettled. They became displeased and unhappy. One māra leader named Celestial Tree questioned the evil Māra with these verses:

7.­2
“Why do you run around like that
With such agitation and distress?
It seems that nothing can make you happy,
And nothing pleases you.”
7.­3

With tears in his eyes, the evil Māra replied:

7.­4
“When I saw the powerful Gautama,
My heart cracked into pieces.
Dirt leaked from my entire body,
And my eyes were filled with tears.
7.­5
“Since that entire mass of beings has gathered
To hear his teachings,
That are so agreeable to all beings,
My domain has been emptied.
7.­6
“Tens of millions of beings
Have arrived there from the ten directions‍—
From places infinite like space.
They have circumambulated him and are now sitting around him.
7.­7
“All the māras and their retinues
Have also gone for refuge in him.
Even my armies have disappeared‍—
I cannot find them anywhere!”
7.­8

The māra leader Celestial Tree then said to the evil Māra:

7.­9
“All of us, with our retinues,
Should don our strongest armor
And go pulverize his body
With our mighty swords, wheels, and lances!”
7.­10

The evil Māra replied:

7.­11
“Better if you go there yourself
And first take refuge in him.
Then you can attack him!
I myself am bound by tight fetters.”
7.­12

The māra leader Celestial Tree then said:

7.­13
“Whatever method we might use,
It will not be enough to overcome our enemy.
Yet, if we fool him by assuming a friendly appearance,
We will be able to kill him!”
7.­14

The evil Māra replied: [F.188.b]

7.­15
“I have thought about
Going there while assuming a friendly appearance,
But he would see the frightening and stinking
Rotten corpses around our necks.”
7.­16

Celestial Tree replied:

7.­17
“With respect to the domain of the māras,
The nāgas, and those who have reached the concentrations,
Our domain has been conquered,
But the domain of the nāgas has remained firm.
7.­18
“Those nāgas have great might,
And their troops are numerous and powerful.
Their domain cannot be conquered
By anyone!
7.­19
“Let us quickly ask
The rulers of the nāgas,
Who reside in the desire realm,
To crush Gautama into dust!”
7.­20

The evil Māra replied:

7.­21
“O, you fine and wise being,
Go to the realm of the nāgas
And tell them all
To wage a war against Gautama!”
7.­22

“I shall do so!” replied Celestial Tree. He then raised his arm toward a hundred thousand soldiers wearing armor and proclaimed:

7.­23
“We are going to the abode of the nāgas.
We will make them wage war against Gautama
And kill him!
We must convince them all to become our allies.”
7.­24

However, none of the soldiers were able to move, so the leader Celestial Tree began to weep, and his hairs stood on end. With his palms joined, he supplicated the evil Māra:

7.­25
“We are unable
To go anywhere!
This is the powerful magical power of Gautama!
This is the trickery of the sage!
7.­26
“Our legs are bound,
And dirt emerges from our bodies.
Please do something
To overcome our enemy!”
7.­27

Tormented by increasing suffering and distress, a thought arose in the mind of the evil Māra: “Now I must by all means bring to mind my demonic power, so that I can address all the nāgas in their abodes and make them upset and irate!” [F.189.a]

7.­28

At that moment, the evil Māra manifested flesh flies, mosquitoes, and hornets in all the abodes of the nāgas, and he filled these places with disgusting smells. He made dirt emerge from the nāgas’ bodies, and everyone became unhappy. Upset, all the nāgas, the great nāgas, and the nāga women, boys, and girls started to look around and wonder, “Who is making fun of us?” They did not understand what was happening, as they could not see anyone. Overwhelmed by anger, all the nāgas, great nāgas, and nāga women, boys, and girls in this four-continent world left their residences. The two nāga kings Nanda and Upananda also left their residences with retinues of many hundreds of thousands.

7.­29

Alongside Mount Sumeru, there is a mountain called Kalatiya. On the summit of that mountain there is a59 sacred site of wise sages called Complete Support. It covers an area of forty thousand leagues, and it is ornamented with the divine seven precious substances. The nāgas entered that sacred site of wise sages to find shelter. However, as soon as they entered that place, their bodies became as small as the pin used to apply ointment to the eyes. Still, due to the power of their anger, they all perceived their bodies to be as big as Mount Sumeru. They could neither call out nor leave that place, so they just sat there, overcome by misery and anger.

7.­30

Similarly, all fifty-six thousand nāga kings of Jambudvīpa, including the great nāga king Sāgara and his retinue of many trillions, Airāvaṇa, Supratiṣṭhita, Takṣaka, Anavatapta, [F.189.b] Mucilinda, Samudradatta, Given by the Water God, Given by a Householder, Given by the River, Apalāladatta, Given by the Mountain, Gajaśīrṣa, Born from an Ornament, Elapatra, Invisible Wrists, Collection of Sounds, Strength of the Ocean, Karkoṭaka, High Snow Mountain, Strength of the Water, Blue Topknot, Pale Yellow Gold, Green Grass, Abused Tree, Bright Eyes, Elephant Extinction, Tīkṣṇadatta, Moving in Places, Bad Plough, Elavarṇa, Red Eyes, Attractive, and Supreme, entered that sacred site of wise sages to find shelter, each surrounded by retinues of many hundreds of thousands. In each of the eighty-four thousand continents, many hundreds of thousands of great nāgas also left their residences and entered that realm to find shelter. [F.190.a] Similarly, the nāga kings Body-Piercing Needle and Great Movement, surrounded by myriads of nāgas, great nāgas, and nāga kings, left Uttarakuru in the north and came to that sacred site of wise sages for protection. The nāga kings Moon Protector and Wealth Giver, surrounded and attended by many trillions of nāgas, great nāgas, and nāga kings, left Pūrvavideha in the east, and they too entered that sacred site of wise sages to find shelter. The nāga kings Endowed with Jewel Garlands and Endowed with Garlands of Light left Godānīya attended by myriads of nāgas, great nāgas, and nāga kings, and they also entered that sacred site of wise sages to find shelter.

7.­31

At that time, within these four continents and eight million other continents, there was not a single nāga or great nāga‍—whether born from an egg, from a womb, from heat and moisture, or miraculously, whether male, female, boy, or girl‍—who did not immediately come to that sacred site of wise sages; they all entered that place to find shelter. As soon as they entered it, each of their bodies became as small as the pin used to apply ointment to the eyes. However, due to the power of their anger, they all perceived that their bodies were as big as Mount Sumeru.

7.­32

The evil Māra saw that all those nāgas had gathered in that realm and that their bodies had become small. When he saw this, he became exceedingly agitated, distressed, and scared. He said to his own faction, “Great demons, [F.190.b] all the nāgas have moved away. They have gathered at that sacred site of wise sages, and their power, appearance, and magnificence have decreased. Look at the overwhelming power of that spiritual practitioner!”

7.­33

Another māra leader named Support of Discipline then said:

7.­34
“Do not be dejected. Listen to me!
This is a game of the nāgas.
Think about that great assembly
That will crush the son of the Śākyas into dust!”
7.­35

The evil Māra replied:

7.­36
“Clever one, quickly go to that place
And generate enthusiasm in all those groups of nāgas!
If they are able to kill the son of the Śākyas and his assembly,
The domains of the nāgas will become most eminent.”
7.­37

The māra leader Support of Discipline then departed from that abode of Māra together with eighty thousand creatures.

7.­38

Since his previous aspirations had been accomplished, the thus-gone Śākyamuni had gained dominion over all wise sages. He was ripening all beings and gave teachings that were the outcome of the magical powers of all the domains of the buddhas. He was inducing weariness in all the bodhisattva great beings and bringing delight to all the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, humans, and nonhumans. He engaged with this entire buddha realm, causing it to become the most magnificent of all the pure buddha realms and making it most fortunate, endowed with the great splendor that plants the seeds of merit, and worthy to be worshiped in all the buddha realms.

7.­39

The Thus-Gone One then interrupted the manifestation of his magical displays. While they were present inside the body of the Blessed One, the perceptions of everyone in this buddha realm were purified by him. [F.191.a] Now, as the Thus-Gone One interrupted the power of his absorption of miraculous transformation, which is an outcome of the domain of all the buddhas, he reappeared as he was before. He was extremely radiant, clear, and brilliant, and all the buddha realms were bathed in the light rays of his magnificence. Amazed and astonished, all the many hundreds of thousands of bodhisattva great beings worshiped the Blessed One with offerings of flowers, perfumes, powders, precious gems, fine fabrics, Dharma robes, and necklaces, as well as a variety of ornaments and musical tunes. They circumambulated the Blessed One and sat in front of him. Similarly, the Blessed One’s hearers and all the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, kumbhāṇḍas, pretas, piśācas, pūtanas, kaṭapūtanas, humans, and nonhumans worshiped him with offerings of flowers, perfumes, powders, precious gems, fine fabrics, Dharma robes, necklaces, and a variety of ornaments. They circumambulated him and sat in front of him to listen to the Dharma.

7.­40

At the same time, the māra leader Support of Discipline and his army of eighty thousand māras landed in Jambudvīpa, and they saw how the spiritual practitioner Gautama had interrupted the display of his vast body and that he was now again dwelling in the land of Magadha. They wondered, “Did his magical powers become weak because he is afraid of us? As he now sits there with his retinue within that assembly, is he not committing negative deeds by staying there because of us? [F.191.b] We must definitely go there right away and hear the reason for this!”

7.­41

The māra leader Support of Discipline and his retinue then proceeded toward the place where the Blessed One was staying. When they arrived, they sat down before the Blessed One, and Support of Discipline uttered this verse:

7.­42
“You have not yet crossed the ocean
Of severe disease, old age, and death!
When you deceive sentient beings in this way,
How could you have reached emancipation?”
7.­43

The Blessed One replied in verse to the māra leader Support of Discipline:

7.­44
“I have crossed the river of existence,
I am free from craving,
And I teach the Dharma to beings
Out of affection for them.
7.­45
“A long time ago in cyclic existence,
You practiced for the sake of awakening.
You accomplished generosity and discipline
Since the time of Dīpaṅkara.
7.­46
“You have venerated
Ten billion buddhas,
And I have given a prophecy to you
For the sake of the Supreme Vehicle.
7.­47
“You have trained in the ascetic practices
And thoroughly meditated on the absence of marks.
I am giving you pure eyes,
So remember your past lives!”
7.­48

At that moment, aroused by his past lives, aspirations, and worship of the buddhas and by all his roots of virtue, the māra leader Support of Discipline was humbled, like scattered grass, in front of the Blessed One. With tears in his eyes, he joined his palms and said, “Respected Blessed One, I am like a child, a drunk person, or someone who is mentally disturbed. I confess my faults. Respected Blessed One, I confess my faults! I now remember that, for a full uncountable eon, I previously engaged in the practice of the six perfections with great effort in order to reach unsurpassed and perfect awakening. [F.192.a] I repeatedly cultivated roots of virtue. I have previously served and revered a trillion blessed thus-gone ones in a variety of ways. I have heard the Dharma from them, and I made aspirations. Once, during the lifetime of the thus-gone Kāśyapa, a monk was requesting a discourse of the vehicle of the hearers. Without thinking, I then spoke these evil words: ‘Alas! This exposition on the hearers’ discourses in the presence of followers of the Great Vehicle, given while assuming the appearance of a spiritual practitioner is demonic!’ If I had not said those evil words at that time, I would have received a prophecy for unsurpassed and perfect awakening. However, due to the karmic residue of that action, I was born in the abode of Māra after I died. For five hundred seventy million years, and then a hundred thousand more, I did not have a single thought aimed at unsurpassed and perfect awakening, so what need is there to mention practicing the sublime states?”

7.­49

Repeating these words, the māra leader Support of Discipline apologized to the Thus-Gone One and his retinue. He then exclaimed, “From now on I would rather remain in the hell realms for as long as I have so far been circling in saṃsāra than let my mind stray from unsurpassed and perfect awakening!”

7.­50

The Blessed One replied, “Excellent, noble son! Those who dedicate themselves to the mind set on awakening with a compassionate attitude are making the most outstanding gift to the great guides. Even the merit of lighting lamps as big as Mount Sumeru in front of the great guides would not match that heap of merit. [F.192.b] Therefore, adopt this attitude! Surrender this strong negative karmic action to me! Remember that the aggregates and elements are devoid of concepts and marks‍—they are conditioned! Then you will become a leader with supreme qualities.”

7.­51

At that very moment, the bodhisattva great being Support of Discipline achieved the concordant acceptance with respect to phenomena. Then, he stood up, draped the body of the Blessed One with garlands made of invaluable pearl jewelry, and asked, “What are the qualities that will cause us to quickly understand all phenomena and destroy all views as if they were water bubbles? What are the qualities that will cause us to achieve the supreme acceptance set on awakening and quickly liberate all beings? What should the bodhisattvas cultivate for the sake of abandonment?”

7.­52

The Blessed One replied, “Support of Discipline, the wise ones must quickly generate four qualities. What are the four? (1) Enthusiastically accepting boundless suffering for the sake of others, (2) undertaking the endless trainings of the buddhas’ domain, (3) undertaking them without letting them regress, and (4) quickly perfecting all the limitless buddha qualities.”

7.­53

When they heard that teaching, supreme trust, faith, and respect arose in the minds of the eighty-four thousand māras in the retinue of Support of Discipline, and they sincerely apologized to the Blessed One. They also made aspirations to reach unsurpassed and perfect awakening, and they all achieved the absorption that does not forget the mind of awakening. [F.193.a] They draped the body of the Blessed One with Dharma robes made of divine substances and then sat to one side.

7.­54

When he saw this, the evil Māra became exceedingly distressed and scared. He shouted, “They have been consumed by the spiritual practitioner, so now I have lost those retinues! All those who left from here have fallen under his power, so no one can go outside anymore! We must remain here in this domain of the māras!” As he shouted this, he quickly closed the city gates and had guards protect them.

7.­55

Then, with his sky-like vision, the Blessed One began to give extensive teachings about the three pure abodes‍—the focus on sentient beings, the focus on phenomena, and the absence of focus. All the nāgas who had found shelter and gathered at the sacred site of wise sages at the summit of Mount Kalatiya now noticed that their bodies had become as small as the pin used to apply ointment to the eyes, but they were unable to restore their bodies to their normal size. They became filled with fear and terror, and their hairs stood on end. So they all bowed toward Nanda and Upananda and supplicated, “When those flesh flies, mosquitoes, and hornets appeared in our towns, we all left our homes and entered this realm to find shelter. But now we are unable to leave again, and our bodies have become tiny. Please protect us so that we may return to our homes! Please grant us fearlessness!”

7.­56

Nanda and Upananda replied:

7.­57
“This spiritual practitioner is deceitful.
The son of the Śākyas is performing magical tricks.
He has entered this buddha realm [F.193.b]
And then absorbed it all into his body.
7.­58
“He has manifested those flesh flies, mosquitoes, and hornets
In all the abodes of the nāgas.
We have come to this place to find shelter,
And our strengths have declined.
7.­59
“Although Gautama has a cunning intelligence,
Through his actions his magical powers have now declined,
And his own body has also become small.
This commoner now appears sitting on his seat.
7.­60
“He reduced the size of our bodies
And bound us inside this prison.
We are unable to do anything,
So you must pay homage to the fearless god!”
7.­61

So all the nāgas paid homage to the evil Māra, the lord of the desire realm, saying, “Please protect us, so that we may be able to escape from this prison and live again in our own homes!”

7.­62

The nāga king Airāvaṇa then said to them:

7.­63
“Māra and his armies are themselves frightened
And distressed by the cunning tricks of Gautama.
He has taken away many of his followers
By deceiving his retinues and followers.
7.­64
“Māra has no power whatsoever;
His movements and magical powers have declined.
Quickly go and seek protection in other beings!
All of you must honor the gods!”
7.­65

Some of the nāgas then paid homage to the Four Great Kings, some paid homage to Śakra, some paid homage to the supreme god in the Heaven Free from Strife, some paid homage to the supreme god in the Heaven of Joy, some paid homage to the gods in the Heaven of Delighting in Emanations, some paid homage to the gods in the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations, and some paid homage to the mahābrahmās. The nāga king Sāgara then said to all the other nāga kings:

7.­66
“Why do you not see
That all the gods and their rulers are sitting around Gautama?
They make various offerings to him,
And they have all taken refuge in this śūdra! [F.194.a]
7.­67
“Friends, instead pay homage to other great sages
Who undergo intense ascetic practices!
Why not pay homage to Protecting Guardian,
High Flier, Jyotīrasa, and Bhārgava?”
7.­68

Some of the nāgas then paid homage to the sage Utterly Glorious, some paid homage to the sage Stable, some paid homage to Protecting Guardian, some paid homage to High Flier, some paid homage to Jyotīrasa, and some paid homage to Bhārgava. Then, in search of protection, they approached those beings endowed with the five higher perceptions.

7.­69

At that time, those sages endowed with the five higher perceptions were sitting on the western slope of the snow mountain, listening to the praises of the leader of the Śākyas in front of the sage Jyotīrasa. When they heard the lamenting calls of all those nāgas, the five sages stood up and said to the bodhisattva great being Jyotīrasa, “Do you see that the Blessed One is harming all the nāgas in that sacred site of wise sages and that they are approaching us in search of protection? Please get up, go there, and liberate all those groups of nāgas!”

7.­70

Jyotīrasa replied, “Go meet them! Once those many hundreds of thousands of gods, nāgas, and yakṣas sit in front of me, they will ask questions about the sublime states devoid of reference point, and I will satisfy their minds.”

7.­71

All the sages prostrated to the feet of Jyotīrasa, circumambulated him three times, and departed using their miraculous powers. When they arrived at the sacred site of wise sages, the nāgas prostrated to them and supplicated, [F.194.b] “If you are great sages endowed with merit and insight who have mastered all methods, please protect us and release us from the fears of this prison!”

7.­72

The sages replied, “We are not able to liberate you from this place. Nāga lords, on the western slope of the snow mountain lives the master of all the sages. He is called Jyotīrasa. He is renowned for his great power and has developed great insight, skill, and majesty. He will liberate you from this place. Go pay homage to him!”

7.­73

When they heard those words, all the nāgas joined their palms in the direction of the sage Jyotīrasa and called for help in unison. Then, with the appearance of a sage, the bodhisattva sage Jyotīrasa miraculously left his place and arrived at the sacred site of wise sages, surrounded and attended by many hundreds of thousands of gods, kinnaras, and yakṣas. All the nāgas prostrated to him and supplicated him with utmost respect, “Please protect us so that we may return to our residences and live happily! Please liberate us from this place!”

7.­74

Through the power of circumstances, the great sage, who was observing time and had knowledge about it, started to talk to them about the order of the lunar mansions:

7.­75
“I will explain to you how
You can all be free.
Nothing else will be of benefit to you,
So listen to this attentively!
7.­76
“We are now in Punarvasu,
And it is the last month of the summer.
It is the solar deity,
And it is connected to all the nāgas.
7.­77
“Since you do not engage
In the observation of the stars,
This sage will teach you
By condensing this topic to its essence.”
7.­78

The nāgas said:

7.­79
“Who placed the planets
And the stars of the lunar mansions in the sky? [F.195.a]
Please expound to us the knowledge
Of the yearly cycle that delights the wise ones!
7.­80
“How are the moon, the sun,
The lunar mansions, and the planets coursing?
Which lunar mansion will appear
During the first month?
7.­81
“What are the muhūrtas of the different months?
What is their sequence?
What is their deity? What is their family?
What is their heaviness? What is their lightness?
7.­82
“What are their benefits? What is their harm?
What are their strengths? Please tell us quickly about this!
What brings about the night?
What is in front of the sun?
7.­83
“How many steps of shadow are there
When the sun circles around?
During which month is the sun in the south?
How does it reside in the north?
7.­84
“Sage, we ask all these questions to you.
Please teach us all this!”
Through his great insight,
The expert of the world Jyotīrasa replied,
7.­85
“O nāgas! In the past,
At the beginning of the fortunate eon,
A wealthy human king appeared
In the glorious city of Pañcālā.
7.­86
“He had given up desires, he was righteous,
He wished for chastity, and he was very learned,
But his queen
Longed for sensual pleasure.
7.­87
“At that time, she associated with a reckless man
And fornicated with him repeatedly
In a place without other people,
With the aim of becoming pregnant.
7.­88
“She became pregnant through the power of the Dharma,
And an ugly son was born.
He had the head, the neck,
The ears, and the face of a donkey.
7.­89
“His head was repulsive and covered with matted hairs,
But the other half of his body was human.
When she saw him, the queen panicked
And quickly abandoned him in the latrines.
7.­90
“Because he was filthy and disgusting to touch,
The rākṣasī Female Donkey took him with her
And brought him to her dwelling place in the snow mountains,
Where she raised him lovingly as if he were her own son.
7.­91
“Since she made him drink rejuvenating elixir,
He spent his time in the company of the gods.
He acquired great insight and became skilled,
Diligent, and compassionate.
7.­92
“He developed great majesty and love,
And he benefitted all sentient beings. [F.195.b]
Hosts of gods gathered together
And paid homage to Uṣṭra.
7.­93
“Out of affection for him,
They manifested a snow mountain
Covered with trees filled with flowers and fruits.
It was fragrant and delightful,
7.­94
“All kinds of plants were growing on it,
And it was home to many types of birds.
For sixty thousand years the sage Uṣṭra
Resided there in isolation.
7.­95
“He engaged in the ascetic practice
Consisting in standing on one foot.
Śakra and Brahmā paid homage to him,
And all the gods openly praised him.
7.­96
“All the gods of the form realm,
Led by Brahmā, approached him.
As did all the gods of the desire realm,
Led by Śakra.
7.­97
“All the nāgas, yakṣas, and kumbhāṇḍas
Also came close to him,
As did all the wise ones within the world‍—
The sages practicing pure conduct
7.­98
“And all the beings residing
In the desire and form realms.
They all worshiped the sage Uṣṭra
With a variety of offerings.
7.­99
“Bowing with their palms joined,
Śakra and Brahmā asked him,
‘O excellent being,
How may we please you, Guide?
7.­100
“ ‘What are your expectations and intentions?
Please tell us what you want!’
The sage Uṣṭra replied,
‘I remember how the planets, lunar mansions, and stars
7.­101
“ ‘Appeared in the sky
During the previous eons.
Each day, the lunar mansions
Change from one to the other.
7.­102
“ ‘In all my lives, I have known
The qualities and activities of the lunar mansions.’
All the hosts of gods then said,
‘In this excellent eon,
7.­103
“ ‘This knowledge has disappeared.
Please kindly present to us
The sequence of the lunar mansions!
Please tell us about their activities and qualities
7.­104
“ ‘While they remain in this world!
Ocean of qualities, please explain this to us!’
“The sage Uṣṭra replied,
‘First of all, there is the lunar mansion called Kṛttikā.

[. . .]60 [F.212.a]

7.­105

At this point all the nāgas gathered at the sacred site of wise sages developed respect and appreciation for the supreme teacher, the sage Jyotīrasa, and diligently worshiped him to the best of their abilities.

7.­106

This concludes the chapter called “The Presentation of the Conjunctions of the Lunar Mansions,” the seventh among the eleven chapters included in “The Quintessence of the Sun,” the Great Vehicle discourse of The Great Assembly. [B11]


8.

Chapter Eight

8.­1

Sāgara then said:

8.­2
“You remember past lives
Based on the placement of the lunar mansions in the sky.
Wise one, leader of the three realms,
Clear-minded one, glorious being,
8.­3
“As an example of your love and compassion,
And in accordance with your affection for everyone,
Please liberate all the nāgas from this place!
Your discipline and observances
8.­4
“Are unmatched in the three realms.
You bring satisfaction to all the nāgas.
You are the master of all sages, [F.212.b]
And you are worthy to be worshiped by the humans.

9.
Chapter Nine

The Recollection of the Buddha

9.­1

When the evil Māra saw that all the nāgas had taken refuge in the Blessed One, [F.215.a] he became exceedingly distressed and scared, and his body began to shake like the leaves of a jujube tree. Sweating, he raised his two hands and lamented:

9.­2
“The nāgas have gone for refuge.
All beings have become deluded
And placed on the path of immortality.
Look at this endless deceit!”
9.­3

The daughter of Māra named Free of Darkness said:


10.
Chapter Ten

The Travel to Mount Sumeru

10.­1

Then, the Blessed One said to the bodhisattva great being Jyotīrasa, “Noble son, tell me the message of that group of nāgas.”

With a mind devoid of afflictions, Jyotīrasa replied, “Blessed One, it is time for you to come! Blessed One, please perform your deeds!”

10.­2

The Blessed One replied, “Noble son, [F.220.a] it is time for the Thus-Gone One to reveal the inconceivable teaching on the nāgas’ karmic action‍—the teaching of purification.”


11.
Chapter Eleven

The Going for Refuge of the Nāgas

11.­1

While showering rains of flowers, precious gems, and Dharma robes, playing instruments and drums, and singing melodious songs, all the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, and asuras present there departed from the summit of Mount Sumeru together with the Blessed One. Attended by his saṅgha of hearers and surrounded by his saṅgha of bodhisattvas, the Blessed One then took a seat on the cushions that had been prepared for him at the center of the sacred site of wise sages. To worship the Blessed One, all the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, asuras, and kinnaras showered rains of various ornaments, powders, flowers, and precious gems from the sky. The nāgas also offered the Blessed One different kinds of flowers, perfumes, precious gems, silken clothes, fine fabrics, Dharma robes, and ornaments. They circumambulated him three times, prostrated to his feet, and sat in front of him to listen to the Dharma. The nāga king Sāgara then asked, “Respected Blessed One, what are the deeds through which sentient beings are born as nāgas?”


12.

Conclusion

12.­1

Then the elder Ājñātakauṇḍinya said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, please bless the nāgas! Please make this Dharma teaching, which involves the conduct of teaching about the inconceivable karmic action, blaze for a long time!”

12.­2

The Blessed One said, “As long as the great stūpas in this four-continent world still contain beings who diligently engage in practice, this Dharma teaching will continue to be practiced on the four continents. What are those great stūpas? Here in Jambudvīpa, many past buddhas, bodhisattvas, solitary buddhas, and hearers have continuously resided at this stūpa‍—the sacred site of wise sages called Complete Support‍—and they will continue to reside here in the future. The perfect buddhas of the past have entrusted this sacred site of wise sages called Complete Support to Varuṇa, to ensure that the great teachings remain for a long time. I also entrust it to him. He will joyfully ripen those persons who abide by the Dharma and diligently engage in practice. He will also protect those donors and benefactors who strive to serve those who abide by the Dharma.”


c.

Colophon

c.­1

This was translated by the Indian preceptors Sarvajñadeva, Vidyākaraprabha, and Dharmākara and the translator Bandé Zangkyong. It was then edited and finalized by the translator-editor Bandé Kawa Paltsek.


n.

Notes

n.­1
Hoernle 1916, pp. 121–25.
n.­2
Peter Alan Roberts, trans., The King of Samādhis Sūtra, Toh 127 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018).
n.­3
See Mahamegha Translation Team, trans. The Great Cloud (1), Toh 232.
n.­4
Denkarma, folio 297.b; note that the title in the Denkarma is ’phags pa ’dus pa chen po’i sde nyi ma’i snying po The Denkarma is dated to c. 812 ᴄᴇ. In this catalog, The Quintessence of the Sun is included among the “Miscellaneous Mahāyāna Sūtras” (theg pa chen po’i mdo sde sna tshogs) with a length of thirteen sections (bam po). See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, p. 46, no. 81.
n.­5
Ed. Bhikkhu Pāsādika 1989, pp. 79–82.
n.­6
Cutler 2002, pp. 231–32 and 253.
n.­7
Lévi 1905, pp. 256–58; Lévi 1904, pp. 546–47 and 565.
n.­8
Kotyk 2017, pp. 58–64; Mak 2015, pp. 64–66.
n.­54
Based on the following section of the text, it is unclear what those fifteen dangers are.
n.­59
Translated based on Stok: zhig. Degé: bzhi (“four”).
n.­60
The entire section that follows (folios 196.a.1–212.a.4) has not been translated here.

b.

Bibliography

Tibetan Sources

nyi ma’i snying po (Sūryagarbha). Toh 257, Degé Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, za), folios 91.b–245.b.

nyi ma’i snying po. 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. 66, pp. 262–616.

nyi ma’i snying po. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 63 (mdo sde, na), folios 161.b–394.b.

glang ru lung bstan pa (Gośṛṅgavyākaraṇa). Toh 357, Degé Kangyur vol. 76 (mdo sde, aH), folios 220.b–232.a. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2021. [Full citation listed in secondary sources]

zla ba’i snying po (Candragarbha). Toh 356, Degé Kangyur vol. 76 (mdo sde, aH), folios 216.a–229.b.

snying rje pad+ma dkar po (Karuṇā­puṇḍarīka). Toh 112, Degé Kangyur vol. 50 (mdo sde, cha), folios 129.a–297.b.

ting nge ’dzin gyi rgyal po (Samādhirāja). Toh 127, Degé Kangyur vol. 55 (mdo sde, da), folios 1.b–170.b. English translation in Roberts 2018. [Full citation listed in secondary sources]

sprin chen po (Mahāmegha). Toh 232, Degé Kangyur vol. 64 (mdo sde, wa), folios 113.a–214.b. English translation in Mahamegha Translation Team 2022. [Full citation listed in secondary sources]

blo gros mi zad pas bstan pa (Akṣayamati­nirdeśa). Toh 175, Degé Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 79.a–174.b. English translation in Braarvig and Welsh 2020. [Full citation listed in secondary sources]

Nāgārjuna. mdo kun las btus pa (Sūtrasamuccaya). Toh 3934, Degé Tengyur vol. 110 (dbu ma, ki), folios 148.b–215.a. See also Bhikkhu Pāsādika 1989.

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

Chomden Rikpai Raltri (bcom ldan rig pa’i ral gri). bstan pa rgyas pa rgyan gyi nyi ’od. In bka’ gdams gsung ’bum phyogs bsgrigs thengs gsum pa, 1:191–266. Chengdu: si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2009. BDRC W1PD153536.

Chinese Sources

Rizang fen 日藏分. Taishō 397-14. (Translation of the Sūryagarbhasūtra by Narendrayaśas [Naliantiyeshe 那連提耶舍]).

Secondary Sources

Bhikkhu Pāsādika, ed. Nāgārjuna’s Sūtrasamuccaya: A Critical Edition of the Mdo kun las btus pa. Fontes Tibetici Havnienses 2. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, 1989.

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

Braarvig, Jens, and David Welsh, trans. The Teaching of Akṣayamati (Akṣayamati­nirdeśa, Toh 175). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.

Cutler, Joshua W. C., ed. The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Vol. 3. Translated by The Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 2002.

Demiéville, Paul. Choix d’études bouddhiques. Leiden: Brill, 1973.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Prophecy on Mount Gośṛṅga (Gośṛṅgavyākaraṇa, Toh 357). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.

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

Hoernle, A. F. Rudolph. Manuscript Remains of Buddhist Literature Found in Eastern Turkestan. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1916.

Kotyk, Jeffrey Theodore. “Buddhist Astrology and Astral Magic in the Tang Dynasty.” PhD diss., Leiden University, 2017.

Lévi, Sylvain (1904). “Notes chinoises sur l’Inde: IV. Le pays de Kharoṣṭra et l’écriture kharoṣṭrī.” Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient 4 (1904): 543–79.

‍—‍—‍—(1905). “Notes chinoises sur l’Inde: V. Quelques documents sur le bouddhisme indien dans l’Asie centrale (première partie).” Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient 5 (1905): 253–305.

Mahamegha Translation Team (2022), trans. The Great Cloud (1) (Mahāmegha, Toh 232). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.

Mak, Bill M. “Indian Jyotiṣa through the Lens of Chinese Buddhist Canon.” Journal of Oriental Studies 48, no. 1 (June 2015): 1–19.

Martin, Dan. Unearthing Bon Treasures: Life and Contested Legacy of a Tibetan Scripture Revealer, with a General Bibliography of Bon. Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library 1. Leiden: Brill, 2001. 

Nakamura, Hajime. Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Biographical Notes. Intercultural Research Institute Monograph Series 9. Tokyo: KUFS Publication, 1980.

Nattier, Jan. Once Upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1991.

Roberts, Peter Alan, trans. The King of Samādhis Sūtra (Samādhi­rājasūtra, Toh 127). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.

Silk, Jonathan A. Managing Monks: Administrators and Administrative Roles in Indian Buddhist Monasticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.


g.

Glossary

g.­1

Absence of Heat

  • ma dros pa
  • མ་དྲོས་པ།
  • —

A buddha realm located in the eastern direction during the time of the Buddha Śākyamuni. Also called Absence of Torment.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­7
  • g.­3
g.­2

Absence of marks

  • mtshan ma med pa
  • མཚན་མ་མེད་པ།
  • animitta

The absence of the conceptual identification of perceptions, knowing that the true nature has no attributes, such as color or shape. One of the three gateways of liberation.

10 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­14
  • 4.­51
  • 4.­75
  • 4.­104
  • 4.­115
  • 4.­117
  • 4.­118
  • 7.­47
  • g.­62
  • g.­267

Links to further resources:

  • 36 related glossary entries
g.­3

Absence of Torment

  • yongs su gdung ba med pa
  • ཡོངས་སུ་གདུང་བ་མེད་པ།
  • —

A buddha realm located in the eastern direction during the time of the Buddha Śākyamuni. Also called Absence of Heat.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­1
  • 2.­9
  • n.­38
  • g.­1
g.­5

Absorption

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

A synonym for meditation, this refers to the state of deep meditative immersion that results from different modes of Buddhist practice.

53 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­28
  • 1.­29
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­5
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­29
  • 2.­34
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­70
  • 2.­73
  • 2.­76
  • 2.­77
  • 2.­79
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­26
  • 4.­27
  • 4.­32
  • 4.­34
  • 4.­35
  • 4.­37
  • 4.­44
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­51
  • 4.­62
  • 4.­96
  • 4.­121
  • 4.­124
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­10
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­5
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­17
  • 6.­25
  • 7.­39
  • 7.­53
  • 8.­34
  • 9.­22
  • 9.­23
  • 9.­27
  • 9.­29
  • 9.­30
  • 10.­34
  • 12.­33
  • 12.­38
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­42
  • 12.­57
  • g.­80
  • g.­242
  • g.­243

Links to further resources:

  • 76 related glossary entries
g.­6

Abused Tree

  • gshe ba’i shing
  • གཤེ་བའི་ཤིང་།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­9

Aggregate

  • phung po
  • ཕུང་པོ།
  • skandha

The five aggregates of form, sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

14 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­23
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­84
  • 3.­52
  • 4.­34
  • 4.­47
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­104
  • 4.­119
  • 7.­50
  • 8.­32
  • g.­77
  • g.­86

Links to further resources:

  • 57 related glossary entries
g.­10

Airāvaṇa

  • sa srung gi bu
  • ས་སྲུང་གི་བུ།
  • Airāvaṇa

A nāga king.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 7.­62
  • 12.­14

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­11

Ājñātakauṇḍinya

  • kun shes kau Di n+ya
  • ཀུན་ཤེས་ཀཽ་ཌི་ནྱ།
  • Ājñāta­kauṇḍinya

Another name for Kauṇḍinya. As he was the first to understand the Buddha Śākyamuni’s teaching on the four truths of the noble ones, he received the name Ājñātakauṇḍinya (Kauṇḍinya Who Understood).

15 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­30
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­4
  • 4.­5
  • 4.­7
  • 4.­8
  • 4.­23
  • 4.­51
  • 4.­79
  • 4.­85
  • 4.­87
  • 6.­4
  • 10.­32
  • 11.­25
  • 12.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 11 related glossary entries
g.­13

Anavatapta

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

A nāga king.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 10.­15
  • 12.­17

Links to further resources:

  • 21 related glossary entries
g.­14

Apalāladatta

  • chu sog ma med kyis byin
  • ཆུ་སོག་མ་མེད་ཀྱིས་བྱིན།
  • Apalāladatta

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­18

Asura

  • lha ma yin
  • ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།
  • —

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).

40 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­33
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­64
  • 2.­79
  • 2.­84
  • 2.­90
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­50
  • 3.­52
  • 3.­58
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­105
  • 4.­107
  • 4.­108
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­119
  • 4.­122
  • 4.­123
  • 5.­1
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­18
  • 7.­39
  • 10.­11
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­25
  • 11.­1
  • 12.­36
  • 12.­37
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­69

Links to further resources:

  • 106 related glossary entries
g.­20

Attractive

  • yid ’phrog
  • ཡིད་འཕྲོག
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­21

Bad Plough

  • gshol ngan
  • གཤོལ་ངན།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­23

Bhārgava

  • ngan spong gi bu
  • ངན་སྤོང་གི་བུ།
  • Bhārgava

Name of a sage.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­67
  • 7.­68

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­24

Bhūta

  • ’byung po
  • འབྱུང་པོ།
  • bhūta

A generic term for spirits or ghosts.

6 passages contain this term:

  • 5.­1
  • 5.­7
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­19
  • 9.­28
  • 12.­38

Links to further resources:

  • 37 related glossary entries
g.­25

Bimbisāra

  • gzugs can snying po
  • གཟུགས་ཅན་སྙིང་པོ།
  • Bimbisāra

King of Magadha who lived at the time of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

18 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­42
  • 1.­45
  • 1.­47
  • 1.­50
  • 1.­53
  • 1.­54
  • 1.­56
  • 1.­62
  • 1.­65
  • 1.­69
  • 1.­74
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­22
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­72
  • 3.­1
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 17 related glossary entries
g.­28

Blue Topknot

  • gtsug phud sngon po
  • གཙུག་ཕུད་སྔོན་པོ།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­29

Body-Piercing Needle

  • lus ’bigs pa’i khab
  • ལུས་འབིགས་པའི་ཁབ།
  • —

A nāga king.

7 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 8.­33
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­28
  • 12.­8
  • 12.­9
g.­30

Born from an Ornament

  • rgyan skyes
  • རྒྱན་སྐྱེས།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­32

Brahmā

  • tshangs pa
  • ཚངས་པ།
  • Brahmā

A high-ranking deity, presiding over a divine world where other beings consider him the creator; he is also considered to be the “Lord of the Sahā World” (our universe).

21 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­30
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­31
  • 4.­33
  • 4.­118
  • 6.­18
  • 7.­95
  • 7.­96
  • 7.­99
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­25
  • 10.­27
  • 10.­31
  • 10.­33
  • 12.­66
  • 12.­67
  • g.­167

Links to further resources:

  • 125 related glossary entries
g.­36

Bright Eyes

  • mig gsal
  • མིག་གསལ།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­37

Buddha realm

  • sangs rgyas kyi zhing
  • སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཞིང་།
  • buddhakṣetra

Roughly a synonym for “universe,” although Buddhist cosmology contains many universes of different types and dimensions. “Buddha realm” indicates, in regard to any type of universe, that it is the field of influence of a particular buddha.

114 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­16
  • 1.­27
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­30
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­38
  • 1.­49
  • 1.­70
  • 1.­73
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­5
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­10
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­22
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­31
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­37
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­56
  • 2.­57
  • 2.­64
  • 2.­65
  • 2.­66
  • 2.­69
  • 2.­72
  • 2.­73
  • 2.­74
  • 2.­75
  • 2.­76
  • 2.­77
  • 2.­87
  • 2.­90
  • 2.­91
  • 2.­94
  • 2.­95
  • 2.­97
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­22
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­37
  • 3.­40
  • 3.­52
  • 3.­54
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­13
  • 4.­15
  • 4.­77
  • 4.­112
  • 4.­121
  • 4.­123
  • 5.­12
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­25
  • 7.­38
  • 7.­39
  • 7.­57
  • 8.­32
  • 9.­21
  • 9.­22
  • 9.­23
  • 10.­23
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­25
  • 10.­26
  • 10.­32
  • 10.­34
  • 12.­27
  • 12.­31
  • 12.­36
  • 12.­56
  • 12.­57
  • 12.­69
  • n.­35
  • n.­38
  • n.­43
  • g.­1
  • g.­3
  • g.­12
  • g.­22
  • g.­66
  • g.­93
  • g.­106
  • g.­174
  • g.­175
  • g.­184
  • g.­211
  • g.­286
  • g.­297

Links to further resources:

  • 25 related glossary entries
g.­38

Campaka Color

  • tsam pa ka’i mdog
  • ཙམ་པ་ཀའི་མདོག
  • —

A buddha residing in the eastern direction at the time of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

16 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­22
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­11
  • 3.­14
  • 4.­33
  • 4.­47
g.­40

Celestial Tree

  • nam mkha’i shing
  • ནམ་མཁའི་ཤིང་།
  • —

Name of a mercenary demon.

6 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­1
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­12
  • 7.­16
  • 7.­22
  • 7.­24
g.­44

Collection of Sounds

  • sgra bsags
  • སྒྲ་བསགས།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­45

Complete Support

  • kun rten
  • ཀུན་རྟེན།
  • —

A holy site blessed by the presence of sages.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­29
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­3
g.­47

Concentration

  • bsam gtan
  • བསམ་གཏན།
  • dhyāna

The fifth of the six perfections. Generally one of the synonyms for meditation, referring to a state of mental stability. The specific four concentrations are four successively subtler states of meditation that are said to lead to rebirth into the corresponding four levels of the form realm.

44 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­30
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­35
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­5
  • 2.­10
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­34
  • 2.­64
  • 2.­75
  • 2.­76
  • 2.­79
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­40
  • 3.­54
  • 4.­13
  • 4.­70
  • 4.­76
  • 4.­82
  • 4.­84
  • 4.­95
  • 4.­96
  • 4.­97
  • 4.­121
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­6
  • 7.­17
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­20
  • 9.­22
  • 10.­18
  • 11.­49
  • 12.­32
  • 12.­37
  • 12.­56
  • g.­55
  • g.­56
  • g.­65
  • g.­81
  • g.­237
  • g.­244

Links to further resources:

  • 49 related glossary entries
g.­49

Dharmākara

  • d+harmA ka ra
  • དྷརྨཱ་ཀ་ར།
  • Dharmākara

Butön includes the Kashmiri abbot Dharmākara in his list of ninety-three paṇḍitas invited to Tibet to assist in the translation of the Buddhist scriptures. Tāranātha dates Dharmākara to the rule of *Vanapāla, son of Dharmapāla. With Paltsek, he translated two of Kalyāṇamitra’s works on Vinaya, the Vinaya­praśnakārikā (’dul ba dri ba’i tshig le’ur byas pa, Toh 4134) and the Vinaya­praśnaṭīkā (’dul ba dri ba rgya cher ’grel pa, Toh 4135).

2 passages contain this term:

  • i.­2
  • c.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­50

Dīpaṅkara

  • mar me mdzad
  • མར་མེ་མཛད།
  • Dīpaṅkara

The buddha who preceded Śākyamuni and gave him the prophecy of his buddhahood.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­45

Links to further resources:

  • 34 related glossary entries
g.­57

Elapatra

  • e la’i ’dab ma
  • ཨེ་ལའི་འདབ་མ།
  • Elapatra

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­22

Links to further resources:

  • 5 related glossary entries
g.­58

Elavarṇa

  • e la’i gdong
  • ཨེ་ལའི་གདོང་།
  • Elavarṇa

A nāga king. The Tibetan e la’i gdong seems to reflect elamukha rather than the attested elavarṇa.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­59

Element

  • khams
  • ཁམས།
  • dhātu

One way of describing experience and the world in terms of eighteen elements (eye and form, ear and sound, nose and smell, tongue and taste, body and physical objects, and mind and mental phenomena, to which the six consciousnesses are added). Also refers here to the “four great elements.”

15 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­23
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­78
  • 2.­79
  • 2.­84
  • 3.­52
  • 4.­47
  • 4.­104
  • 4.­114
  • 4.­119
  • 5.­1
  • 7.­50
  • 8.­32
  • 11.­25
  • 12.­49

Links to further resources:

  • 56 related glossary entries
g.­60

Elephant Extinction

  • glang po zad
  • གླང་པོ་ཟད།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­63

Endowed with Garlands of Light

  • ba lang gi ’od kyi phreng ba can
  • བ་ལང་གི་འོད་ཀྱི་ཕྲེང་བ་ཅན།
  • —

A nāga king. (Note that this translation is partly tentative, as the Tibetan ba lang, which ordinarily means “cow,” “bull,” or “elephant,” has not been rendered into English, as its meaning here is unclear.)

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­64

Endowed with Jewel Garlands

  • rin po che’i phreng ba can
  • རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་ཕྲེང་བ་ཅན།
  • —

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­5
g.­65

Equipoise

  • mnyam par bzhag pa
  • mnyam par gzhag pa
  • མཉམ་པར་བཞག་པ།
  • མཉམ་པར་གཞག་པ།
  • samāhita
  • samāpatti

A state of mental equipoise derived from deep concentration.

7 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­30
  • 1.­59
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­69
  • 4.­71
  • 4.­104
  • 6.­25

Links to further resources:

  • 11 related glossary entries
g.­72

Female Donkey

  • bong mo
  • བོང་མོ།
  • —

A rākṣasī.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­90
g.­76

Five higher perceptions

  • mngon par shes pa lnga
  • མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ་ལྔ།
  • pañcābhijñā

Divine sight, divine hearing, the ability to know past and future lives, the ability to know the minds of others, and the ability to produce miracles.

6 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­15
  • 7.­68
  • 7.­69
  • 12.­27
  • 12.­31
  • g.­129

Links to further resources:

  • 30 related glossary entries
g.­84

Four Great Kings

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

Four deities on the base of Mount Sumeru, each the guardian of his direction: Vaiśravaṇa in the north, Dhṛtarāṣṭra in the east, Virūpākṣa in the west, and Virūḍhaka in the south.

6 passages contain this term:

  • 6.­18
  • 7.­65
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­10
  • 12.­66
  • g.­156

Links to further resources:

  • 44 related glossary entries
g.­90

Free of Darkness

  • mun bral
  • མུན་བྲལ།
  • —

Name of a daughter of Māra.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 9.­3
  • 9.­8
  • 9.­30
g.­92

Gajaśīrṣa

  • ba lang mgo
  • བ་ལང་མགོ
  • Gajaśīrṣa

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­10
g.­95

Gandharva

  • dri za
  • དྲི་ཟ།
  • gandharva

A class of semidivine beings sometimes referred to as “heavenly musicians.”

4 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 6.­12
  • 10.­24
  • 12.­69

Links to further resources:

  • 114 related glossary entries
g.­96

Ganges

  • gang gA
  • གང་གཱ།
  • Gaṅgā

The sacred river of North India.

27 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­31
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­69
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­29
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­35
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­63
  • 2.­73
  • 2.­74
  • 2.­87
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­37
  • 3.­41
  • 3.­45
  • 3.­52
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­17
  • 6.­25
  • 8.­32

Links to further resources:

  • 43 related glossary entries
g.­97

Garuḍa

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

A class of divine being described as an eagle-type bird with a gigantic wingspan. They were traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they were thought to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth

30 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­33
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­57
  • 2.­78
  • 2.­84
  • 3.­52
  • 3.­58
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­105
  • 4.­107
  • 4.­108
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­119
  • 4.­122
  • 4.­123
  • 5.­1
  • 6.­12
  • 7.­39
  • 8.­28
  • 10.­24
  • 12.­36
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­69

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­98

Gautama

  • gau ta ma
  • གཽ་ཏ་མ།
  • Gautama

The family name of the Buddha Śākyamuni, it is often used by those who are not his followers.

12 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­4
  • 7.­19
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­23
  • 7.­25
  • 7.­40
  • 7.­59
  • 7.­63
  • 7.­66
  • 9.­7
  • 9.­13
  • g.­141

Links to further resources:

  • 18 related glossary entries
g.­100

Given by a Householder

  • khyim bdag gis byin
  • ཁྱིམ་བདག་གིས་བྱིན།
  • —

A nāga king.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­26
  • 12.­31
  • 12.­34
g.­101

Given by the Mountain

  • ri bos byin
  • རི་བོས་བྱིན།
  • —

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­18
g.­102

Given by the River

  • chu bas byin
  • ཆུ་བས་བྱིན།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­103

Given by the Water God

  • chu lhas byin
  • ཆུ་ལྷས་བྱིན།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­107

Godānīya

  • ba lang spyod
  • བ་ལང་སྤྱོད།
  • Godānīya

One of the four continents of the human world according to traditional Indian cosmology, it is situated to the west of Mount Sumeru.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­5
  • 12.­10
  • g.­51

Links to further resources:

  • 13 related glossary entries
g.­111

Great Movement

  • rgyu ba chen po
  • རྒྱུ་བ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­112

Green Grass

  • rtswa sngon po
  • རྩྭ་སྔོན་པོ།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­115

Heaven Free from Strife

  • ’thab bral
  • འཐབ་བྲལ།
  • Yāma

The lowest of the heavenly realms, it is characterized by freedom from difficulty.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­65
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­16

Links to further resources:

  • 40 related glossary entries
g.­116

Heaven of Delighting in Emanations

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

The fifth (counting from the lowest) of the six heavens in the desire realm.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­65
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­16

Links to further resources:

  • 41 related glossary entries
g.­117

Heaven of Joy

  • dga’ ldan
  • དགའ་ལྡན།
  • Tuṣita

The fourth level of the heavens of the realm of desire, it is the last stopping place of a buddha-to-be before his descent and reincarnation on earth; at present it is the abode of the future Buddha Maitreya.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­65
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­16

Links to further resources:

  • 66 related glossary entries
g.­118

Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations

  • gzhan ’phrul dbang byed
  • གཞན་འཕྲུལ་དབང་བྱེད།
  • Paranirmita­vaśavartin

The highest heaven in the desire realm.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­65
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­16

Links to further resources:

  • 43 related glossary entries
g.­127

High Flier

  • mthon por ’phur
  • མཐོན་པོར་འཕུར།
  • —

Name of a sage.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­67
  • 7.­68
g.­128

High Snow Mountain

  • gangs mtho ba
  • གངས་མཐོ་བ།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­133

Invisible Wrists

  • tshigs mi mngon
  • ཚིགས་མི་མངོན།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­137

Jambudvīpa

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

The name of the southern continent in Buddhist cosmology, which can mean the known world of humans or more specifically the Indian subcontinent. A gigantic, miraculous rose-apple (jambu) tree at the source of the great Indian rivers is said to give the continent its name.

6 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 7.­40
  • 9.­13
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­15
  • g.­191

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­138

Jyotīrasa

  • skar ma la dga’ ba
  • སྐར་མ་ལ་དགའ་བ།
  • Jyotīrasa

Name of a sage.

18 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­67
  • 7.­68
  • 7.­69
  • 7.­70
  • 7.­71
  • 7.­72
  • 7.­73
  • 7.­84
  • 7.­105
  • 8.­6
  • 8.­31
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­35
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­21
  • 10.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­139

Kalandakanivāpa

  • ka lan da ka gnas
  • ཀ་ལན་ད་ཀ་གནས།
  • Kalandakanivāpa

Literally, the “Squirrel Feeding Ground.” A location within the Veṇuvana where the Buddha Śākyamuni stayed. The place received 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:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • 1.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 19 related glossary entries
g.­142

Karkoṭaka

  • stobs kyis rgyu
  • སྟོབས་ཀྱིས་རྒྱུ།
  • Karkoṭaka

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­144

Kāśyapa

  • ’od srung
  • འོད་སྲུང་།
  • Kāśyapa

One of the six buddhas who preceded Śākyamuni in this Fortunate Eon. Also the name of one of the Buddha Śākyamuni’s principal pupils.

8 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­48
  • 11.­61
  • 11.­72
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­9
  • 12.­32
  • 12.­33
  • g.­232

Links to further resources:

  • 28 related glossary entries
g.­145

Kaṭapūtana

  • lus srul po
  • ལུས་སྲུལ་པོ།
  • kaṭapūtana

Ugly spirits with rotting bodies.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­77
  • 2.­78
  • 3.­58
  • 5.­5
  • 7.­39

Links to further resources:

  • 13 related glossary entries
g.­148

Kawa Paltsek

  • dpal brtsegs
  • དཔལ་བརྩེགས།
  • —

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Paltsek (eighth to early ninth century), from the village of Kawa north of Lhasa, was one of Tibet’s preeminent translators. He was one of the first seven Tibetans to be ordained by Śāntarakṣita and is counted as one of Guru Rinpoche’s twenty-five close disciples. In a famous verse by Ngok Lotsawa Loden Sherab, Kawa Paltsek is named along with Chokro Lui Gyaltsen and Zhang (or Nanam) Yeshé Dé as part of a group of translators whose skills were surpassed only by Vairotsana.

He translated works from a wide variety of genres, including sūtra, śāstra, vinaya, and tantra, and was an author himself. Paltsek was also one of the most important editors of the early period, one of nine translators installed by Trisong Detsen (r. 755–797/800) to supervise the translation of the Tripiṭaka and help catalog translated works for the first two of three imperial catalogs, the Denkarma (ldan kar ma) and the Samye Chimpuma (bsam yas mchims phu ma). In the colophons of his works, he is often known as Paltsek Rakṣita (rak+Shi ta).

2 passages contain this term:

  • i.­2
  • c.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 18 related glossary entries
g.­151

Kinnara

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

A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name‍—which means “Is that a human?”‍—suggests some confusion as to their identity.

29 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­33
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­78
  • 2.­84
  • 3.­52
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­105
  • 4.­107
  • 4.­108
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­119
  • 4.­122
  • 4.­123
  • 5.­1
  • 6.­12
  • 7.­39
  • 7.­73
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­1
  • 12.­36
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­69

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­157

Kumbhāṇḍa

  • grul bum
  • གྲུལ་བུམ།
  • kumbhāṇḍa

A class of beings subordinate to the great king of the south, Virūḍhaka. The name is a play on the word āṇḍa, which means “egg” but is a euphemism for testicle, as they are often depicted as having testicles as big as pots (from khumba, or “pot”).

14 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­78
  • 2.­94
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­107
  • 4.­123
  • 7.­39
  • 7.­97
  • 10.­3
  • 11.­23
  • 12.­34
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­41
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­69

Links to further resources:

  • 30 related glossary entries
g.­166

Magadha

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

The largest kingdom of North India during the time of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

7 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­22
  • 2.­72
  • 7.­40
  • 8.­26
  • 12.­18
  • g.­25
  • g.­213

Links to further resources:

  • 31 related glossary entries
g.­167

Mahābrahmā

  • tshangs pa chen po
  • ཚངས་པ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahābrahmā

Beings from the third heaven of the realm of form, meaning “great Brahmā.”

8 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­12
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­22
  • 3.­1
  • 7.­65
  • 9.­30
  • g.­104

Links to further resources:

  • 125 related glossary entries
g.­171

Mahoraga

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

A class of nonhuman beings shaped like enormous serpents.

26 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­33
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­78
  • 2.­84
  • 3.­52
  • 3.­58
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­105
  • 4.­107
  • 4.­108
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­119
  • 4.­122
  • 4.­123
  • 5.­1
  • 6.­12
  • 7.­39
  • 10.­24
  • 12.­36
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­69

Links to further resources:

  • 71 related glossary entries
g.­176

Māra

  • bdud
  • བདུད།
  • māra

A class of beings related to the demon Māra. See also the “four māras.”

53 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­33
  • 1.­35
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­74
  • 2.­79
  • 2.­84
  • 2.­87
  • 2.­92
  • 2.­94
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­22
  • 3.­37
  • 3.­52
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­105
  • 4.­119
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­7
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­12
  • 7.­17
  • 7.­33
  • 7.­37
  • 7.­40
  • 7.­41
  • 7.­43
  • 7.­48
  • 7.­49
  • 7.­53
  • 7.­54
  • 8.­31
  • 8.­34
  • 9.­9
  • 9.­15
  • 9.­16
  • 10.­23
  • 10.­24
  • 12.­36
  • 12.­37
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­49
  • 12.­56
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­69

Links to further resources:

  • 115 related glossary entries
g.­177

Māra

  • bdud
  • བདུད།
  • Māra

An obstacle maker; a personification of evil.

44 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • 1.­64
  • 1.­67
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­33
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­10
  • 7.­14
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­24
  • 7.­27
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­32
  • 7.­35
  • 7.­37
  • 7.­48
  • 7.­54
  • 7.­61
  • 7.­63
  • 7.­64
  • 8.­23
  • 8.­29
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­6
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­13
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­20
  • 9.­30
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­25
  • 12.­42
  • 12.­43
  • 12.­46
  • 12.­47
  • 12.­48
  • 12.­49
  • g.­90
  • g.­176
  • g.­218

Links to further resources:

  • 115 related glossary entries
g.­180

Moon Protector

  • zla ba srung
  • ཟླ་བ་སྲུང་།
  • —

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­7
g.­182

Mount Kalatiya

  • ri kha la ti ya
  • རི་ཁ་ལ་ཏི་ཡ།
  • Kalatiya

A mountain located near Mount Sumeru.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­29
  • 7.­55
g.­183

Mount Sumeru

  • ri rab
  • རི་རབ།
  • Sumeru

In Buddhist cosmology, the sacred mountain at the center of the world.

29 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­15
  • 6.­6
  • 7.­29
  • 7.­31
  • 7.­50
  • 10.­3
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­10
  • 10.­11
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­22
  • 10.­23
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­25
  • 10.­26
  • 10.­28
  • 10.­29
  • 10.­32
  • 10.­40
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­81
  • 12.­14
  • g.­84
  • g.­107
  • g.­182
  • g.­209
  • g.­224

Links to further resources:

  • 70 related glossary entries
g.­186

Moving in Places

  • gnas na rgyu
  • གནས་ན་རྒྱུ།
  • —

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­12
g.­187

Mucilinda

  • btang bzung
  • བཏང་བཟུང་།
  • Mucilinda

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­21

Links to further resources:

  • 5 related glossary entries
g.­188

Muhūrta

  • yud tsam
  • ཡུད་ཙམ།
  • muhūrta

Period of time in ancient India that corresponds to the thirtieth part of a full day.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­81

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­189

Nāga

  • klu
  • ཀླུ།
  • nāga

A semidivine class of beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments and are known to hoard wealth and esoteric teachings. They are associated with snakes and serpents.

248 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­35
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­24
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­29
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­53
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­57
  • 2.­58
  • 2.­59
  • 2.­70
  • 2.­75
  • 2.­78
  • 2.­79
  • 2.­81
  • 2.­87
  • 2.­95
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­22
  • 3.­37
  • 3.­52
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­107
  • 4.­108
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­122
  • 4.­123
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­5
  • 6.­5
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­18
  • 7.­17
  • 7.­18
  • 7.­19
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­23
  • 7.­27
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­29
  • 7.­30
  • 7.­31
  • 7.­32
  • 7.­34
  • 7.­36
  • 7.­38
  • 7.­39
  • 7.­55
  • 7.­58
  • 7.­61
  • 7.­62
  • 7.­65
  • 7.­68
  • 7.­69
  • 7.­70
  • 7.­71
  • 7.­72
  • 7.­73
  • 7.­76
  • 7.­78
  • 7.­85
  • 7.­97
  • 7.­105
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­6
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­19
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­31
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­34
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­13
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­16
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­23
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­28
  • 10.­29
  • 10.­30
  • 10.­35
  • 10.­36
  • 10.­37
  • 10.­38
  • 10.­39
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­6
  • 11.­7
  • 11.­8
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­10
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­23
  • 11.­26
  • 11.­27
  • 11.­34
  • 11.­35
  • 11.­38
  • 11.­47
  • 11.­50
  • 11.­52
  • 11.­55
  • 11.­57
  • 11.­61
  • 11.­62
  • 11.­63
  • 11.­64
  • 11.­67
  • 11.­68
  • 11.­69
  • 11.­70
  • 11.­71
  • 11.­72
  • 11.­75
  • 11.­76
  • 11.­89
  • 11.­91
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­4
  • 12.­5
  • 12.­6
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­8
  • 12.­9
  • 12.­10
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­13
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­15
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­17
  • 12.­18
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­20
  • 12.­21
  • 12.­22
  • 12.­23
  • 12.­24
  • 12.­25
  • 12.­26
  • 12.­28
  • 12.­31
  • 12.­32
  • 12.­34
  • 12.­35
  • 12.­36
  • 12.­37
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­41
  • 12.­42
  • 12.­56
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­59
  • 12.­60
  • 12.­62
  • 12.­64
  • 12.­68
  • 12.­69
  • g.­6
  • g.­10
  • g.­13
  • g.­14
  • g.­20
  • g.­21
  • g.­27
  • g.­28
  • g.­29
  • g.­30
  • g.­36
  • g.­44
  • g.­48
  • g.­57
  • g.­58
  • g.­60
  • g.­63
  • g.­64
  • g.­71
  • g.­92
  • g.­97
  • g.­100
  • g.­101
  • g.­102
  • g.­103
  • g.­111
  • g.­112
  • g.­114
  • g.­128
  • g.­131
  • g.­133
  • g.­135
  • g.­142
  • g.­154
  • g.­163
  • g.­164
  • g.­180
  • g.­185
  • g.­186
  • g.­187
  • g.­190
  • g.­196
  • g.­202
  • g.­216
  • g.­222
  • g.­228
  • g.­252
  • g.­253
  • g.­259
  • g.­260
  • g.­263
  • g.­275
  • g.­280
  • g.­289
  • g.­291
  • g.­301

Links to further resources:

  • 91 related glossary entries
g.­190

Nanda

  • dga’ bo
  • དགའ་བོ།
  • Nanda

One of the main nāga kings, usually associated with the nāga king Upananda.

6 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­28
  • 7.­55
  • 7.­56
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­29
  • g.­280

Links to further resources:

  • 16 related glossary entries
g.­192

Nārāyaṇa

  • sred med kyi bu
  • སྲེད་མེད་ཀྱི་བུ།
  • Nārāyaṇa

An alternate name for Viṣṇu (khyab ’jug).

6 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­28
  • 2.­71
  • 2.­72
  • 3.­1
  • 6.­18
  • 9.­27

Links to further resources:

  • 31 related glossary entries
g.­196

Pale Yellow Gold

  • gser ser skya
  • གསེར་སེར་སྐྱ།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­201

Piśāca

  • sha za
  • ཤ་ཟ།
  • piśāca

A class of nonhumans said to dwell in impure and perilous places, where they feed on impure things, including flesh.

12 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­78
  • 3.­58
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­107
  • 4.­122
  • 4.­123
  • 5.­1
  • 7.­39
  • 11.­23
  • 12.­41
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­69

Links to further resources:

  • 30 related glossary entries
g.­203

Preta

  • yi dgas
  • ཡི་དགས།
  • preta

A class of sentient beings constantly suffering from hunger and thirst. They also represent one of the six realms of rebirth.

33 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­38
  • 1.­49
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­78
  • 3.­58
  • 4.­17
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­89
  • 4.­92
  • 4.­107
  • 4.­122
  • 4.­123
  • 5.­1
  • 7.­39
  • 8.­13
  • 11.­2
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­6
  • 11.­7
  • 11.­23
  • 11.­46
  • 11.­48
  • 11.­50
  • 11.­52
  • 11.­55
  • 11.­61
  • 12.­41
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­69
  • g.­53
  • g.­269
  • g.­303

Links to further resources:

  • 50 related glossary entries
g.­205

Protecting Guardian

  • rtas bsrungs
  • རྟས་བསྲུངས།
  • —

Name of a sage.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­67
  • 7.­68
g.­207

Punarvasu

  • nab so
  • ནབ་སོ།
  • Punarvasu

The name of a lunar asterism. Its chief star is known as Beta Geminorum in the occidental tradition.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­76

Links to further resources:

  • 2 related glossary entries
g.­209

Pūrvavideha

  • lus ’phags po
  • ལུས་འཕགས་པོ།
  • Pūrvavideha

One of the four continents of the human world according to traditional Indian cosmology, it is situated to the east of Mount Sumeru.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­11
  • g.­158

Links to further resources:

  • 12 related glossary entries
g.­210

Pūtana

  • srul po
  • སྲུལ་པོ།
  • pūtana

A class of disease-causing spirits associated with cemeteries and dead bodies.

8 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­78
  • 2.­94
  • 3.­58
  • 4.­123
  • 4.­124
  • 5.­1
  • 7.­39
  • 12.­69

Links to further resources:

  • 11 related glossary entries
g.­211

Quintessence of the Sun’s Energy

  • nyi ma’i shugs kyi snying po
  • ཉི་མའི་ཤུགས་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
  • —

A bodhisattva residing in a buddha realm in the eastern direction at the time of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

14 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­10
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­18
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­22
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­11
  • 3.­12
  • 4.­33
  • 4.­47
  • 4.­51
g.­213

Rājagṛha

  • rgyal po’i khab
  • རྒྱལ་པོའི་ཁབ།
  • Rājagṛha

The capital of the ancient kingdom of Magadha.

4 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • 1.­1
  • g.­293

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­214

Rākṣasa

  • srin po
  • སྲིན་པོ།
  • rākṣasa

A class of nonhuman beings that are often, but certainly not always, considered demonic in the Buddhist tradition. They are often depicted as flesh-eating monsters who haunt frightening places and are ugly and evil-natured.

10 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­28
  • 2.­78
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­107
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­41
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­69
  • g.­215

Links to further resources:

  • 47 related glossary entries
g.­215

Rākṣasī

  • srin mo
  • སྲིན་མོ།
  • rākṣasī

A female rākṣasa.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 4.­12
  • 7.­90
  • g.­72

Links to further resources:

  • 12 related glossary entries
g.­216

Red Eyes

  • mig dmar
  • མིག་དམར།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­222

Sāgara

  • rgya mtsho
  • རྒྱ་མཚོ།
  • Sāgara

A nāga king.

14 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 7.­65
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­33
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­28
  • 10.­35
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­9
  • 12.­13
  • 12.­59
  • 12.­61
  • 12.­63

Links to further resources:

  • 19 related glossary entries
g.­223

Sage

  • drang srong
  • དྲང་སྲོང་།
  • ṛṣi

An ancient Indian spiritual title, especially for divinely inspired individuals credited with creating the foundations for all Indian culture.

115 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­9
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­67
  • 2.­15
  • 3.­5
  • 3.­18
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­35
  • 4.­51
  • 7.­25
  • 7.­29
  • 7.­30
  • 7.­31
  • 7.­32
  • 7.­38
  • 7.­55
  • 7.­67
  • 7.­68
  • 7.­69
  • 7.­71
  • 7.­72
  • 7.­73
  • 7.­74
  • 7.­77
  • 7.­84
  • 7.­94
  • 7.­97
  • 7.­98
  • 7.­100
  • 7.­104
  • 7.­105
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­6
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­8
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­27
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­31
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­35
  • 9.­7
  • 9.­12
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­23
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­25
  • 10.­28
  • 10.­31
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­70
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­5
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­8
  • 12.­9
  • 12.­10
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­13
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­15
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­17
  • 12.­18
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­20
  • 12.­21
  • 12.­22
  • 12.­23
  • 12.­24
  • 12.­25
  • 12.­26
  • 12.­27
  • 12.­28
  • 12.­29
  • 12.­30
  • 12.­31
  • 12.­32
  • 12.­33
  • 12.­36
  • 12.­37
  • 12.­42
  • g.­23
  • g.­35
  • g.­39
  • g.­45
  • g.­46
  • g.­61
  • g.­67
  • g.­68
  • g.­89
  • g.­127
  • g.­138
  • g.­160
  • g.­161
  • g.­165
  • g.­205
  • g.­206
  • g.­208
  • g.­212
  • g.­221
  • g.­240
  • g.­248
  • g.­249
  • g.­265
  • g.­278
  • g.­281
  • g.­283
  • g.­290

Links to further resources:

  • 23 related glossary entries
g.­224

Sahā

  • mi mjed
  • མི་མཇེད།
  • Sahā

This present universe of ours, usually referring to the whole trichiliocosm but at times only to our own world with its four continents surrounding Mount Sumeru. Sahā means “endurance,” as beings here have to endure suffering.

66 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­27
  • 1.­30
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­35
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­5
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­10
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­22
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­24
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­40
  • 2.­48
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­53
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­56
  • 2.­57
  • 2.­65
  • 2.­66
  • 2.­69
  • 2.­70
  • 2.­72
  • 2.­74
  • 2.­75
  • 2.­76
  • 2.­77
  • 2.­87
  • 2.­91
  • 2.­94
  • 2.­95
  • 2.­97
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­40
  • 3.­54
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­15
  • 4.­121
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­25
  • 9.­22
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­23
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­27
  • 10.­31
  • 10.­32
  • 10.­34
  • 12.­56
  • g.­32

Links to further resources:

  • 57 related glossary entries
g.­225

Śakra

  • brgya byin
  • བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
  • Śakra

Alternate name for Indra, the lord who rules the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.

27 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­30
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­31
  • 2.­50
  • 2.­51
  • 3.­1
  • 4.­118
  • 6.­18
  • 7.­65
  • 7.­95
  • 7.­96
  • 7.­99
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­23
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­25
  • 10.­27
  • 10.­30
  • 12.­66
  • 12.­67
  • g.­119
  • g.­147

Links to further resources:

  • 107 related glossary entries
g.­226

Śākya

  • shAkya
  • ཤཱཀྱ།
  • Śākya

Name of the clan into which the Buddha Śākyamuni was born.

10 passages contain this term:

  • 6.­7
  • 6.­10
  • 6.­24
  • 7.­34
  • 7.­36
  • 7.­57
  • 7.­69
  • 8.­17
  • g.­141
  • g.­255

Links to further resources:

  • 18 related glossary entries
g.­227

Śākyamuni

  • shAkya thub pa
  • ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།
  • Śākyamuni

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

An epithet for the historical Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama: he was a muni (“sage”) from the Śākya clan. He is counted as the fourth of the first four buddhas of the present Good Eon, the other three being Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, and Kāśyapa. He will be followed by Maitreya, the next buddha in this eon.

89 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­13
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­21
  • 2.­22
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­24
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­40
  • 2.­49
  • 2.­51
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­53
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­65
  • 2.­67
  • 2.­69
  • 2.­70
  • 2.­72
  • 2.­74
  • 2.­75
  • 2.­87
  • 2.­95
  • 2.­97
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­30
  • 3.­31
  • 3.­40
  • 3.­45
  • 3.­54
  • 3.­60
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­17
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­25
  • 7.­38
  • 12.­57
  • g.­1
  • g.­3
  • g.­11
  • g.­12
  • g.­22
  • g.­25
  • g.­38
  • g.­50
  • g.­66
  • g.­93
  • g.­98
  • g.­99
  • g.­105
  • g.­106
  • g.­132
  • g.­139
  • g.­140
  • g.­144
  • g.­146
  • g.­150
  • g.­153
  • g.­166
  • g.­168
  • g.­172
  • g.­173
  • g.­174
  • g.­175
  • g.­179
  • g.­211
  • g.­220
  • g.­226
  • g.­230
  • g.­232
  • g.­235
  • g.­255
  • g.­257
  • g.­281
  • g.­284
  • g.­288
  • g.­293
  • g.­300

Links to further resources:

  • 52 related glossary entries
g.­228

Samudradatta

  • rgya mtshos byin
  • རྒྱ་མཚོས་བྱིན།
  • Samudradatta

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­25
g.­233

Seven precious substances

  • rin po che sna bdun
  • རིན་པོ་ཆེ་སྣ་བདུན།
  • saptaratna

The list of seven precious substances varies. They can be gold, silver, turquoise, coral, pearl, emerald, and sapphire; or they may be ruby, sapphire, beryl, emerald, diamond, pearls, and coral.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­29
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­22

Links to further resources:

  • 43 related glossary entries
g.­237

Six perfections

  • pha rol tu phyin pa drug
  • ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་དྲུག
  • ṣaṭpāramitā

The trainings of the bodhisattva path: generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and insight.

10 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­3
  • 2.­78
  • 2.­84
  • 7.­48
  • 8.­32
  • 9.­22
  • 11.­2
  • 12.­36
  • g.­47
  • g.­200

Links to further resources:

  • 29 related glossary entries
g.­239

Solitary buddha

  • rang sangs rgyas
  • རང་སངས་རྒྱས།
  • pratyekabuddha

Someone who has attained liberation without relying on a teacher in their final lifetime and as a result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, does not have the accumulated merit and motivation to teach others. Like śrāvaka (“hearer”), this term is also used to denote Buddhists who do not follow the Mahāyāna.

22 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­52
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­79
  • 4.­52
  • 4.­96
  • 4.­115
  • 4.­117
  • 4.­121
  • 5.­5
  • 5.­19
  • 6.­5
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­25
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­27
  • 12.­31
  • n.­20
  • g.­42
  • g.­274
  • g.­292

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­248

Stable

  • brtan po
  • བརྟན་པོ།
  • —

Name of a sage.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­68
g.­252

Strength of the Ocean

  • mtsho gyad
  • མཚོ་གྱད།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­253

Strength of the Water

  • chu’i shugs
  • ཆུའི་ཤུགས།
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­254

Sublime states

  • tshangs pa’i gnas
  • ཚངས་པའི་གནས།
  • brahmavihāra

The four qualities of limitless love, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

20 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­5
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­65
  • 2.­66
  • 2.­74
  • 2.­82
  • 2.­92
  • 3.­55
  • 3.­60
  • 7.­48
  • 7.­70
  • 8.­32
  • 9.­21
  • 9.­22
  • 9.­23
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­33

Links to further resources:

  • 14 related glossary entries
g.­256

Śūdra

  • dmangs rigs
  • དམངས་རིགས།
  • śūdra

The fourth and lowest of the classes in the Indian caste system, it generally encompasses the laboring class.

23 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­41
  • 1.­43
  • 1.­44
  • 1.­45
  • 1.­46
  • 1.­47
  • 1.­48
  • 1.­67
  • 1.­68
  • 1.­69
  • 1.­70
  • 1.­72
  • 1.­73
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­31
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­52
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­105
  • 4.­119
  • 5.­2
  • 7.­66

Links to further resources:

  • 12 related glossary entries
g.­258

Support of Discipline

  • tshul khrims rten
  • ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་རྟེན།
  • —

Name of a demon.

10 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­33
  • 7.­37
  • 7.­40
  • 7.­41
  • 7.­43
  • 7.­48
  • 7.­49
  • 7.­51
  • 7.­52
  • 7.­53
g.­259

Supratiṣṭhita

  • shin tu brtan pa
  • ཤིན་ཏུ་བརྟན་པ།
  • Supratiṣṭhita

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 10.­18

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­260

Supreme

  • rab mchog
  • རབ་མཆོག
  • —

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­263

Takṣaka

  • ’jog po
  • འཇོག་པོ།
  • Takṣaka

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30

Links to further resources:

  • 11 related glossary entries
g.­271

Three realms

  • srid pa gsum
  • srid pa gsum po
  • khams gsum
  • khams gsum pa
  • སྲིད་པ་གསུམ།
  • སྲིད་པ་གསུམ་པོ།
  • ཁམས་གསུམ།
  • ཁམས་གསུམ་པ།
  • tribhava
  • tridhātu

The desire realm, form realm, and formless realm.

17 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­5
  • 1.­30
  • 2.­14
  • 3.­30
  • 4.­25
  • 4.­33
  • 4.­51
  • 4.­61
  • 4.­72
  • 4.­76
  • 4.­98
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­30
  • n.­50

Links to further resources:

  • 27 related glossary entries
g.­275

Tīkṣṇadatta

  • rnon pos byin
  • རྣོན་པོས་བྱིན།
  • Tīkṣṇadatta

A nāga king.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­30
g.­279

Universal monarch

  • ’khor los sgyur ba
  • ’khor los sgyur ba’i rgyal po
  • འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བ།
  • འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • cakravartin

A cakravartin is a king who rules over at least one continent and gains his territory by rolling his magic wheel (cakra) over the land. This is as the result of the merit he has accumulated in previous lifetimes.

9 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­28
  • 2.­96
  • 2.­97
  • 3.­1
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­25
  • 9.­27
  • 11.­5
  • g.­266

Links to further resources:

  • 58 related glossary entries
g.­280

Upananda

  • nye dga’
  • ཉེ་དགའ།
  • Upananda

One of the main nāga kings, usually associated with the nāga king Nanda.

6 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­28
  • 7.­55
  • 7.­56
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­29
  • g.­190

Links to further resources:

  • 20 related glossary entries
g.­281

Uṣṭra

  • rnga bong
  • རྔ་བོང་།
  • Uṣṭra

A sage with a human body and the face of a donkey and expert in astrology, he was a past life of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

8 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­92
  • 7.­94
  • 7.­98
  • 7.­100
  • 7.­104
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­14
g.­282

Uttarakuru

  • byang gi sgra mi snyan
  • བྱང་གི་སྒྲ་མི་སྙན།
  • Uttarakuru

The northern continent of the human world according to traditional Indian cosmology, literally meaning “northern unpleasant sound.”

4 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­8
  • 12.­12
  • g.­296

Links to further resources:

  • 20 related glossary entries
g.­283

Utterly Glorious

  • rab tu dpal ldan
  • རབ་ཏུ་དཔལ་ལྡན།
  • —

Name of a sage.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 7.­68
g.­289

Varuṇa

  • chu lha
  • ཆུ་ལྷ།
  • Varuṇa

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 12.­2
  • 12.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­293

Veṇuvana

  • ’od ma’i tshal
  • འོད་མའི་ཚལ།
  • Veṇuvana

A forest monastery north of Rājagṛha where the Buddha Śākyamuni spent several monsoon retreats and delivered many Great Vehicle teachings.

4 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • 1.­1
  • g.­139

Links to further resources:

  • 22 related glossary entries
g.­298

Vidyākaraprabha

  • bid+yA ka ra pra b+ha
  • བིདྱཱ་ཀ་ར་པྲ་བྷ།
  • Vidyākara­prabha

According to Nyangral Nyima Öser’s history, Ralpachen invited the Indian abbot Vidyākaraprabha to Tibet along with Jinamitra, Surendrabodhi, and Dānaśīla in the first part of the ninth century. Vidyākaraprabha was the author of the Madhyamaka­nayasāra­samāsa­prakaraṇa, a work in the Yogācāra-Madhyamaka school pioneered by Śāntarakṣita, translated into Tibetan with Paltsek under the name dbu ma’i lugs kyi snying po mdor bsdus pa’i rab tu byed pa (Toh 3893). He worked with Paltsek on numerous other translations on topics as diverse as the Sphuṭārthā commentary to the Abhisamayālaṅkāra, an extract from the Vimuktimārga, and the early Vidyottamamahātantra.

2 passages contain this term:

  • i.­2
  • c.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 4 related glossary entries
g.­301

Wealth Giver

  • dbyig gtong
  • དབྱིག་གཏོང་།
  • —

A nāga king.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 7.­30
  • 12.­11
g.­302

Well-gone one

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

An epithet for a buddha.

10 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­45
  • 1.­47
  • 1.­57
  • 1.­69
  • 4.­5
  • 4.­87
  • 6.­1
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­50
  • 11.­66

Links to further resources:

  • 60 related glossary entries
g.­304

Worthy one

  • dgra bcom pa
  • དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
  • arhat

Used both as an epithet of buddhas and to refer to the final accomplishment of the śrāvaka path.

37 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­74
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­23
  • 2.­30
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­52
  • 2.­55
  • 2.­64
  • 2.­69
  • 2.­73
  • 2.­74
  • 2.­87
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­30
  • 3.­45
  • 3.­52
  • 3.­60
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­14
  • 4.­38
  • 4.­39
  • 4.­41
  • 4.­43
  • 4.­44
  • 4.­45
  • 4.­52
  • 4.­72
  • 4.­77
  • 4.­84
  • 4.­104
  • 8.­30
  • 11.­6
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­60

Links to further resources:

  • 96 related glossary entries
g.­305

Yakṣa

  • gnod sbyin
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • yakṣa

A class of nonhuman beings that haunt or protect natural places and cities. They can be malevolent (hence the Tibetan translation gnod sbyin, meaning “harm giver”) or benevolent and are known for bestowing wealth and worldly boons.

58 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­35
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­28
  • 2.­32
  • 2.­36
  • 2.­77
  • 2.­78
  • 2.­79
  • 2.­84
  • 2.­94
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­52
  • 3.­58
  • 4.­11
  • 4.­48
  • 4.­50
  • 4.­105
  • 4.­107
  • 4.­108
  • 4.­118
  • 4.­119
  • 4.­122
  • 4.­123
  • 5.­1
  • 6.­5
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­18
  • 7.­38
  • 7.­39
  • 7.­70
  • 7.­73
  • 7.­97
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­16
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­23
  • 10.­24
  • 10.­34
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­23
  • 12.­29
  • 12.­30
  • 12.­31
  • 12.­33
  • 12.­34
  • 12.­36
  • 12.­37
  • 12.­40
  • 12.­41
  • 12.­58
  • 12.­66
  • 12.­69
  • g.­70

Links to further resources:

  • 97 related glossary entries
g.­307

Zangkyong

  • bzang skyong
  • བཟང་སྐྱོང་།
  • —

Tibetan translator of the ninth century.

2 passages contain this term:

  • i.­2
  • c.­1
0

    Table of Contents


    Search this text


    Other ways to read

    Download PDF
    Download EPUB
    Download AZW3 (Kindle)
    Open in the 84000 App

    Spotted a mistake?

    Please use the contact form provided to suggest a correction.


    How to cite this text

    The following is an example of how to correctly cite this publication. Links to specific passages can be derived by right-clicking on the milestones markers in the left-hand margin (e.g. s.1). The copied link address can replace the url below.

    Dharmachakra Translation Committee (tr.). The Quintessence of the Sun (Sūryagarbha, Toh 257). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023:
    https://read.84000.co/translation/toh257.html?part=UT22084-066-015-chapter-7


    Other links

    84000 Homepage
    Reading Room Lobby
    Published Translations
    Search the Reading Room
    Sponsor Translation

    Bookmarks

    Copyright © 2011-2022 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha - All Rights Reserved
    • Website: https://84000.co
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy