The Gaṇḍī Sūtra

The traditional adversaries of the gods who are frequently portrayed in brahmanical mythology as having a disruptive effect on cosmological and social harmony.

Awakening refers to the state of realization and understanding possessed by a buddha regarding the nature of things.

The famous bamboo grove near Rājagṛha where the Buddha regularly stayed and gave teachings. It was situated on land donated by King Bimbisāra of Magadha and was the first of several landholdings donated to the Buddhist saṅgha during the time of the Buddha.

Epithet of a buddha.

Epithet of a buddha.

One dedicated to perfect awakening in order to liberate all living beings.

The Indian scholar who assisted with the translation of the text into Tibetan. His dates are unknown but he lived sometime during the late 10th century to the middle of the 11th century.

A class of celestial spirits and minor gods (deva) in both Hindu and Buddhist cosmologies who are said to live on scents. They are messengers, singers, and skilled musicians and dancers.

A percussion instrument made from a wooden beam cut from specific trees to particular proportions, it has been widely used in Buddhist monasteries as an instrument for summoning monks to assembly.

Lower class of divine beings described as eagle-type birds with gigantic wingspans. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth.

One who listens to the Buddha’s teaching in order to reach liberation.

A park outside Rājagṛha where the Buddha often resided, within the Bamboo Grove (Veṇuvana). The Tibetan rendering bya ka lan da ka makes it clear that the Tibetans considered the kalandaka to be a kind of bird, while Sanskrit and Pali sources generally agree that it is a kind of squirrel. It is therefore likely that this word refers to the Indian flying squirrel, Petaurista philippensis.

A class of beings related to the demon Māra (literally “death” in Sanskrit) or a term for the demon Māra himself. Māra and the māras are portrayed as the primary adversaries and tempters of people who vow to take up the religious life, and māras can be understood as a class of demonic beings responsible for perpetuating the illusion that keeps beings bound to the world and worldly attachments and the mental states those beings elicit.

The demon Māra. See “māra.”

State of mental absorption or one-pointed concentration.

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

Those of religious or philosophical orders that were contemporary with the early Buddhist order, including Jains, Jaṭilas, Ājīvikas, and Cārvākas. Initially, the term tīrthika or tīrthya may have referred to non-brahmanic ascetic orders. Tīrthika (“forder”) literally translates as “one belonging to or associated with (possessive suffix –ika) stairs for landing or for descent into a river,” or “a bathing place,” or “a place of pilgrimage on the banks of sacred streams” (Monier-Williams). The term may have originally referred to temple priests at river crossings or fords where travelers propitiated a deity before crossing. The Sanskrit term seems to have undergone metonymic transfer in referring to those able to ford the turbulent river of saṃsāra (as in the Jain tīrthaṅkaras, “ford makers”), and it came to be used in Buddhist sources to refer to teachers of rival religious traditions. The Sanskrit term is closely rendered by the Tibetan mu stegs pa: “those on the steps (stegs pa) at the edge (mu).”

The profound nondual understanding of the ultimate reality of emptiness of all things, it is personified as a goddess described as the “Mother of all Victorious Ones” (Sarvajinamātā).

King of the Kośala state during the time of the Buddha.

A class of beings who, in the Buddhist tradition, are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

Modern Rajgir. Nearby is Vulture Peak mountain (Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata), where the Buddha is said to have taught the Prajñāpāramitā and other teachings, and the Bamboo Grove (Veṇuvana) where the Buddha regularly gave teachings.

The name of a meditative absorption.

A famous translator and editor of canonical texts during the second spread of Indian Buddhism into Tibet. He lived from 958–1055.

One who has attained liberation entirely through their own contemplation as a result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, does not have the accumulated merit and motivation to teach others.

The Tibetan translator of this text. His dates are unknown but he lived sometime during the late 10th century to the middle of the 11th century.

One who has accomplished the final fruition of the path of the hearers and is liberated from saṃsāra.