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གང་པོས་ཞུས་པ།

The Questions of Pūrṇa

Pūrṇaparipṛcchā

འཕགས་པ་གང་གང་པོས་ཞུས་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།

’phags pa gang pos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Questions of Pūrṇa”

Āryapūrṇaparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra

Toh 61

Degé Kangyur, vol. 42 (dkon brtsegs, nga), folios 168.b–227.a..

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

First published 2020
Current version v 1.2.16 (2021)
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co.

Summary

s.1

In Veṇuvana, outside Rājagṛha, Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra asks the Buddha about the conduct of bodhisattvas practicing on the path to awakening. The Buddha replies by describing the attitudes that bodhisattvas must possess as well as their benefits. Then, at the request of Maudgalyāyana, the Buddha recounts several of his past lives in which he himself practiced bodhisattva conduct. At the end of the teaching, the Buddha instructs the assembly about how to deal with specific objections to his teachings that outsiders might raise after he himself has passed into nirvāṇa.

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Acknowledgements

ac.1

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Benjamin Collet-Cassart and Nika Jovic translated the text from Tibetan into English and wrote the introduction. James Gentry then compared the translation with Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation. Finally, Andreas Doctor compared the draft translation with the original Tibetan and edited the text. Ryan Damron and Thomas Doctor also helped resolve several difficult passages.

This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

ac.2

Work on this text would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship of 王学文 and 马国凤, which is most gratefully acknowledged.

Introduction

i.1

The Questions of Pūrṇa is the seventeenth sūtra among the forty-nine titles included in The Heap of Jewels collection in the Degé Kangyur. Although traditional scholars have quoted this sūtra in a number of Tibetan writings,1 the text has to our knowledge received very little attention in modern scholarship.2 Only a few of the texts contained in The Heap of Jewels are extant in Sanskrit, and The Questions of Pūrṇa is unfortunately not among them. There is only one Chinese translation (Taishō 310–17), produced by the renowned translator Kumārajīva, (344–413 ᴄᴇ) who completed the translation toward the end of his life in 405 ᴄᴇ, while residing in the then Chinese capital of Chang’an (today’s Xi’an). The Tibetan translation was completed in the early translation period and is listed in both early ninth-century catalogs, the Denkarma (Tib. ldan dkar ma) and the Phangthangma (Tib. ’phang thang ma). This English translation is based on the Degé block print, the Comparative Edition (Tib. dpe bsdur ma), and the Stok Palace manuscript, comparing these line by line with Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation.

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra

The Questions of Pūrṇa

Chapter One

The Conduct of Bodhisattvas

[F.168.b] [B1]

1.1

Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas!

1.2

Thus did I hear at one time: The Blessed One was residing at the Veṇuvana in Rājagṛha, together with a great saṅgha of many monks and with countless bodhisattva great beings. At that time, the venerable Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra arose, draped his shawl over one shoulder, and knelt on his right knee. With his palms joined together in the direction of the Blessed One he said, “Blessed One, I have a few questions to ask you. Thus-Gone One, please consider me with love and grant me this request.”

Chapter Two

Erudition

2.1

“Pūrṇa,” continued the Blessed One, “if bodhisattvas possess four qualities, they will amass great knowledge, such that it will not be exhausted, like the ocean. Constantly amassing a precious treasure of erudition, they will‍—by comprehending the meaning that is definitive with regard to phenomena‍—correctly penetrate the meaning of words. What are the four?

2.2

“(1) Since bodhisattvas pursue the Dharma, they pursue the twelve branches of the scriptures. These are the discourses, hymns and praises, prophecies, verses, aphorisms, narratives, former events, former births, extensive teachings, marvels, biographies, and profound doctrines. Upon receiving these teachings, bodhisattvas read them, recite them, and properly recollect them. After that, they practice these teachings in accordance with the way they are taught. Pūrṇa, if bodhisattvas possess this first quality, they will amass great knowledge, such that it will not be exhausted, like the ocean. Constantly amassing a precious treasure of erudition, [F.172.b] they will‍—by comprehending the meaning that is definitive with regard to phenomena‍—correctly penetrate the meaning of words.

Chapter Three

Irreversible Progress

3.1

“Pūrṇa,” said the Blessed One, “if bodhisattvas possess four qualities, their progress toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening will be irreversible. What are the four?

3.2

“(1) If bodhisattvas hear a Dharma teaching they have not heard before, rather than saying, ‘This is not the Dharma’ they should reflect on it in terms of its meaning. If bodhisattvas possess this first quality, their progress toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening will be irreversible.”

Chapter Four

The Possession of Roots of Virtue

4.1

“Pūrṇa,” continued the Blessed One, “if bodhisattva great beings who are genuinely following the Great Vehicle constantly rely on and familiarize themselves with four qualities, they will gather all virtues in the most perfect manner, and they will possess all the roots of virtue. What are the four?

4.2

“Pūrṇa, (1) noble sons and daughters who have given rise to the mind set on awakening within the Great Vehicle should rely on and cultivate the practice of patience. As they cultivate patience, if their minds are in a state of equanimity, they will attain the perfections of that profound sameness, as well as the perfection of the sameness of all beings. When such bodhisattvas are endowed with the perfection of the sameness of the mind and the perfection of the sameness of wisdom‍—whether they are walking, standing, sitting, lying down, sleeping, or awake‍—if someone comes along carrying a vessel filled with urine, poison, hot liquid, garbage, fire, ashes, excrement, or embers and pours the content of the vessel on their heads, or strikes their limbs with full force, these bodhisattvas should avoid becoming angry or resentful, thus becoming distracted and aggressive. They should not even ask, ‘What did I do wrong?’ They should also not regard the other person with hostility. Instead, they should tame their minds by one-pointedly pursuing their Dharma practice, without losing a clear focus on the aim of their practice. Such bodhisattvas will think, ‘When that person comes to me carrying a vase filled with urine, poison, ashes, or embers and tries to harm my body, my body is not hurt or injured by those substances.’ [F.191.b] Thus analyzing things in terms of their multiple causes and conditions, bodhisattvas will then contemplate this matter in accordance with the way things really are, asking themselves, ‘Who is pouring these substances on me?’ ‘On whom are these substances poured?’ ‘What are the substances poured?’ At that time, they will not find anyone who is the pourer, anyone who is the recipient of this act, or anything that is poured. Contemplating and investigating in this way with proper mindfulness, they will not find any of these things, and they will therefore not apprehend or behold any phenomenon. Because they do not apprehend or behold any phenomenon, they will also not give rise to anger or resentment.

Chapter Five

The Power of Miraculous Displays

5.1

Then, through the power of the Blessed One’s miraculous abilities, many trillions of light rays radiated from the pores of his skin. Masses of blazing fire as huge as Mount Sumeru also emerged from each of his pores; and thus-gone ones teaching the Dharma, as numerous as all the grains of sand in the Ganges river, also emerged from each pore. The entire assembly present witnessed these miraculous displays. After the Blessed One had manifested them, he asked the venerable Pūrṇa, “Pūrṇa, did you see the power of the miraculous displays coming from the pore of each body hair of the Thus-Gone One?”

Chapter Six

Great Compassion

6.1

Then the venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana thought, “The Blessed One has perfectly taught the conduct of bodhisattvas through his great compassion. The Blessed One is therefore quite astonishing! Why? Because bodhisattvas will practice the Dharma of the Buddha in the most excellent manner and will cause sentient beings to comprehend the meaning of the absence of arising and ceasing.”

Chapter Seven

Responding to Controversies

7.1

At that time, a monk called Elephant Trunk who was present in the assembly arose, draped his shawl over one shoulder, and knelt on his right knee. With his palms joined together, he said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, to hear about those hardships undergone by the Thus-Gone One gave me goosebumps and made me shed tears. I would now like to ask a question. The Blessed One himself has said, ‘In the past, when I was a bodhisattva, my actions always accorded with my words, and my words always accorded with my actions.’ [F.220.a] When he first gave rise to the mind set on awakening, the Blessed One made the commitment to liberate all sentient beings. Given that he made such a commitment but may pass into nirvāṇa without having yet liberated all sentient beings, what should be answered, after the Blessed One has passed away, when some people argue with the monks saying, ‘In the past, your great teacher made the commitment to liberate all sentient beings, so why is it that sentient beings have not yet transcended suffering?’ ”

Chapter Eight

Venerable Pūrṇa

8.1

Then venerable Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, it is a great wonder that in the past, when the Blessed One was practicing bodhisattva conduct, he observed those various types of virtuous qualities so resolutely!”

“Thus it is, Pūrṇa, thus it is,” answered the Blessed One. “For a long time, while I practiced bodhisattva conduct, I observed those virtuous principles very resolutely.” At that point, the Blessed One uttered these verses to explain this clearly:

Notes

n.1

See for example Deshung Rinpoche 2003 and Kilty 2010. Four verses taken directly from Kumārajīva’s translation have also been incorporated into a Chan text dating from the fifth century (Greene 2012, 582).

n.2

In his article on the Vyākhyāyukti, Peter Verhagen cites Vasubandhu to the effect that a “Pūrṇasūtra” was lost or at least incompletely transmitted by his time (Verhagen 2005, 590). Peter Skilling lists The Questions of Pūrṇa in a series of discourses mentioning tathāgata caityas (Skilling 2016, p.31). Ulrich Pagel mentions the sūtra in a few lists in two articles, once in a list of texts that include mention of dhāraṇī (Pagel 2007, 164, 167) and another time in a list of texts that give a sixfold typology of “skill” (Pagel 2012, 337).

n.3

The few minor differences between them can be easily explained by the separate transmission histories of each text. Less likely, the similarity could theoretically also be due to both translations having relied on a nearly identical Sanskrit source text.

n.4

For instance, lha ’dre (“gods and spirits”) and byams sdang (“love/attachment and aversion”).

n.5

The Denkarma and Phangthangma catalogs both have separate sections for texts translated from Chinese, but that potential distinguishing feature seems to have been overridden as a classification for this text by its belonging to the section of works included in the The Heap of Jewels collection.

n.6

Those mentioned in the Kangyur include: (1) Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, the interlocutor in the present text; he is mentioned in many sūtras including The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Toh 176); (2) the Pūrṇa who was one of the second group of five monks ordained by the Buddha, the “five friends” (nye lnga sde), all Vārāṇasī merchants’ sons, headed by Yaśas; (3) the Pūrṇa of The Deeds of Pūrṇa (Pūrṇāvadāna, found in Tibetan in The Chapter on Medicines, ch. 6 of the Vinayavastu, Toh 1), son of a wealthy Aparāntaka merchant and his slave girl, a successful maritime expedition leader before going forth as a monk, and almost certainly also the protagonist in The Precious Discourse on the Blessed One’s Extensive Wisdom That Leads to Infinite Certainty (Toh 99); (4) an older Pūrṇa, the “Elder Pūrṇa from Kuṇḍopadāna,” who is also mentioned in The Deeds of Pūrṇa as one of the monks in the Buddha’s airborne entourage; (5) a very rich and generous brahmin called Pūrṇa from the Mountains of the South who invites the Buddha and receives a prediction of enlightenment, but is not ordained; he is the subject of the first story in The Hundred Accounts of Noble Deeds, Beginning with That of Pūrṇa (Pūrṇapramukhāvadānaśataka, Toh 343); and (6) the sickly and short-lived Pūrṇa of Śrāvasti, attendant of Aniruddha, who became an arhat just before he died and is the subject of one of the stories in the first chapter of The Hundred Deeds (Karmaśataka, Toh 340).

n.7

Here we have emended the Tibetan ’jigs pa (“fear”) to ’jig pa (“perish,” “decay”) to reflect the Chinese translation: 具足不壞信 (“Filled with incorruptible faith”).

n.8

Stok Palace reads: ye shes dang mthong ba (“wisdom and vision”).

n.9

Here, we have preferred the Narthang, Kangxi, Yongle, Lhasa, and Stok Palace editions: rtog. Degé reads: rtogs.

n.10

A related metaphor appears in the Narthang edition: de phyir mang thos btsal bar bya/ btsal nas chu bzhin gnas bya ste/ chos dbyings sangs rgyas rjes dran na/ mang du thos pa de las skye. (“Therefore, one should pursue erudition and then remain like water. When one recollects the expanse of phenomena and the Buddha, erudition is born from that.”)

n.11

Translated based on the Narthang, Kangxi, Yongle, and Lhasa editions (gzugs), and the Chinese translation (形色). Degé reads: gzungs.

n.12

The Chinese translation reads: 菩薩不隨言知皆是虚誑知諸法空故但求於善語 (“Bodhisattvas do not follow the words;/ They know they are all deceptive./ But to understand that all phenomena are empty,/ They still pursue virtuous statements”).

n.13

Translated based on the Narthang, Kangxi, Yongle, Lithang, Choné, Lhasa, and Stok Palace editions (’jigs), and the Chinese translation (畏). Degé reads: ’jig.

n.14

The Chinese translation reads: 眞妙法 (“authentic sublime Dharma”).

n.15

Translated based on the Narthang, Kangxi, Lithang, Choné, and Stok Palace editions (’jigs), and the Chinese translation (畏). Degé reads: ’jig.

n.16

The Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné editions read: dben (“void”).

n.17

Translated based on the Narthang (nang zhes bya ba ni dngos po ’di gnyis ’du byed pa yang mi bden zhing slu bar byed pa yin) and Lhasa (nang zhes bya ba’i dngos po ’di gnyis ’du byed pa yang mi bden zhing slu bar byed pa yin) editions. Degé reads: nang zhes bya bas dngos po ’di gnyis ’du byed pa yang mi bden zhing slu bar byed pa yin (“since they are said to be inner, those two categories of phenomena are conditioned, untrue, and deceptive”). The Chinese translation reads: 内名爲二。此事虚誑 (“Inner is said to be twofold. These things are false and deceptive”).

n.18

The word dharma (Tib. chos) in this text denotes and shifts between multiple interconnected senses, such as “phenomena,” “teachings,” “qualities,” “reality,” and “trainings on the path.”

n.19

Here we have emended mngon thob ’phags, as found in the different Tibetan editions, to mngon mtho ’phags, in accordance with the Chinese translation (轉高增).

n.20

We have been unable to identify the types of cloth mentioned in this list, apart from kāśīkā cloth, which is the name of fabric produced in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī). Perhaps the others are also names of fabrics from cities known for their production of fine fabrics.

n.21

Translated based on the Kangxi, Yongle, and Stok Palace editions: ’grul. Degé reads: ’drul.

n.22

Translated based on the Stok Palace edition (smra dka’) and the Chinese translation: 難與語 (“difficulty with words”). Degé reads: smra dga’ (“fond of talking”).

n.23

Here we have emended Degé’s lam log can (“following wrong paths”) to ma log can, in accordance with the Chinese translation: 無反復, (“not to return something”), since the general pattern throughout these verses is to have terms with similar meanings next to each other. Different variants for this line are found in the Tibetan editions: byas pa mi gzo lam log can (Degé, Choné), bya dka’ mi bzod le lo can (Stok Palace), byas pa mi gzo snyams log can (Lhasa), bya dga’ myi bzod leb log can (Yongle), byas pa mi bzod lam log can (Kangxi), and byas pa mi bzo lim log can (Narthang).

n.24

Here, we have preferred the Narthang, Kangxi, Yongle, Lhasa, and Chinese versions, all of which, unlike the Degé version, negate the verb “to cultivate.”

n.25

The Comparative Edition wrongly has smas pa here instead of smras pa, archaic for “wounded,” as it appears in the Degé edition.

n.26

Translated based on the Kangxi and Yongle editions (sems), and the Chinese translation (思). Degé reads: bzod (“patience”).

n.27

Translated based on the Kangxi (mi byed) and Yongle (myi byed) editions, and the Chinese translation (不作). Degé reads: bzod byed (“I will remain patient”).

n.28

Translated based on the Stok Palace edition (gal te ngan pas lan byas na) and the Chinese translation (若還以惡報). Degé reads: gal te ngan pa’i las byas na (“If I commit negative actions”).

n.29

Translated based on the Narthang, Kangxi, Yongle, and Lhasa editions: ’dod pa mang ba. Degé reads: ’dod pa med pa.

n.30

Meaning “leader.”

n.31

Here we have emended dga’ zhing (“joyfully”), as found in the different Tibetan editions, to ’ga’ zhig, in accordance with the Chinese translation (若有人: “if there were someone . . .”). The Tibetan could be the result of a two-stage scribal error: first, an accidental error transforming ’ga’ to dga’, based on the appearance of dga’ in the previous verse; then, a deliberate “correction” of zhig to zhing, to “make sense” of dga’.

n.32

Translated based on the Narthang and Lhasa editions (lha ’dre) and the Chinese translation (天神). Degé reads: lha klu (“gods and nāgas”). Most instances of lha ’dre in Tibetan Kangyur discourses appear in texts translated from Chinese.

n.33

Translated based on the Narthang, Kangxi, Yongle, Lithang, Choné, and Lhasa editions: yon tan ldan. Degé reads: yon tan bden.

n.34

Tibetan: g.yo dang mi g.yo sems can; Chinese: 動不動衆生. This most likely refers to beings in the desire realm (Skt. kāmadhātu) constantly “moving/shifting” throughout saṃsāra, and beings in the two higher realms of form (Skt. rūpadhātu) and formlessness (Skt. arūpadhātu) “unmoving/unshifting” throughout saṃsāra in the same manner, respectively. Cf. Soothill’s entry for the similar 動不動法: “The mutable and the immutable, the changing and the unchanging, the kāmadhātu or realms of metempsychosis and the two higher realms, rūpadhātu and arūpadhātu.”

n.35

The Chinese translation, as it appears in the Taishō, has this as a rhetorical question: (世尊以何思何行擧下足: “With what intent or behavior/ Does the Blessed One lift and place down his feet?”).

n.36

These refer to the three divisions of time pertaining to the longevity of the Dharma on earth after the passing of the Buddha. During the first period, the Dharma is upheld properly; during the intermediate period, only a semblance of the Dharma remains; and during the final period, the Dharma declines until it vanishes.

n.37

This follows the Chinese 轉法輪經. The Tibetan Stok Palace version has chos kyi ’khor lo’i mdo sde, whereas the Degé version has the rather redundant chos kyi ’khor lo yongs su bskor ba’i ’khor lo. This title is probably a reference to the Dharmacakrapravartanasūtra (Toh 31) and/or the Dharmacakrasūtra (Toh 337), each of which contains what is considered the first teaching delivered by the Buddha.

n.38

The Tibetan only very partially reflects the Chinese here: 梨師山鹿園; literally: ṛṣi (梨師) mountain (山) deer (鹿) park (園).

n.39

The term nam mkha’i sa mtshams, the “edge of space” or “boundary of space,” is only found elsewhere in the Kangyur as an impossibility describing the tenth kind of acceptance (in chapter 35 of the Buddhavataṃsaka, Toh 44, Degé Kangyur vol. 36, F.383.b), and could conceivably be a reference to the ineffability of the Bodhisattva Collection, although that does not fit the syntax. It is also possible that “the edge of space” here is a reference to the sacred geography of Vārāṇasī, which is said to consist of an environment of five concentric rings associated with the elements (fire, water, wind, earth, and space). Since the Deer Park in Sarnath would be at the outer edge of that geographic map, it would hence be “at the edge of space.” The subsequent reference to Veṇuvana (near Rājagṛha) would then seem to imply that the term applies to everything outside of Vārāṇasī. Thanks to Paul Hackett for making this suggestion to us.

n.40

The four attitudes are not clearly listed in the text. However, based on the following accounts of the Buddha’s past lives as a bodhisattva, the four seem to be love, compassion, generosity, and patience.

n.41

As this passage seems corrupt in Tibetan (Degé reads: mod gal ngas ni ’di lta bu’i smon lam dang brtson ’grus chen po bskyed nas blo dang ldan pa ’di lta ste/ sangs rgyas dang/ de’i nyan thos dag la ’di ltar rigs pa’i tshul dri ba’i rgyu dang rkyen yod par gyur na sdug bsngal dang du blangs nas sems can rnams sems can dmyal ba las thar bar byed pas mod gal mkhas pa dag gis thos par gyur na nga’i mang du thos pa’i bsngags pa brjod), we have translated it based on the Chinese: 目連。我發如是大願。精進諮問有智。所謂佛及弟子。可有如是道理因縁代受苦惱。令諸衆生出地獄不。目連。智者聞已。但爲我讃説多聞。.

n.42

Translated based on the Narthang, Kangxi, Yongle, and Stok Palace editions (lha ’dre) and the Chinese translation (天鬼神). Degé reads: lha klu (“gods and nāgas”).

n.43

Translated based on Stok Palace edition: nyes pa’i ’du shes skyed pa byed. Degé reads: nyes pa’i ’du shes skyed pa med (“He has not perceived me as an evil person”). The Chinese translation reads: 而不能使以我為親 (“However, I could not make him consider me a friend”).

n.44

The Chinese translation reads: 骨髓 (“marrow”). This might be related to what Devadatta cries as he is about to enter the Hell of Ceaseless Torment.

n.45

Stok Palace alternatively reads: sems can rnams kyi sems (“the minds of sentient beings”).

n.46

The Chinese translation reads: 倍 (“twice as much as”).

n.47

Translated based on the Stok Palace edition: ngas chos de thos nas/ sems rtse gcig tu ’khor rnams nyan thos dang rang sangs rgyas kyi ’bras bu yongs su gnyer ba la gzud pa’i phyir ’dun par gyur pa kho nar zad do. Degé reads: ngas chos de bstan pas nga’i ’khor rnams las sems rtse gcig tu nyan thos dang rang sangs rgyas kyi ’bras bu yongs su gnyer ba dag gzud pa’i phyir ’dun par gyur pa kho nar zad do (“By delivering this teaching, my only motivation has been to look after those among my retinue who one-pointedly pursue the fruition of the hearers and solitary buddhas”).

n.48

We are unsure what the twofold abode (Tibetan: gnas gnyis) refers to. It might perhaps refer to the form realm (Tibetan: gzugs kyi khams, Sanskrit: rūpadhātu) and the formless realm (Tibetan: gzugs med pa’i khams, Sanskrit: arūpadhātu).

Bibliography

Source Texts

’phags pa gang pos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Pūrṇaparipṛcchāsūtra). Toh 61, Degé Kangyur vol. 42 (dkon brtsegs, nga), folios 168b.1–227a.6.

‍—‍—‍—. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009, vol. 42, pp. 168b.1–227a.6.

‍—‍—‍—. Stok Palace Kangyur (stog pho brang bris ma bka’ ’gyur). Vol. 38 (dkon brtsegs, nga), folios 319v–411v.

富樓那會 (Fu lou na hui). Taishō shinshū daizōkyō (大正新脩大藏經). Vol. 11, 310 (大寶積經), scrolls 77–79.

Secondary References

Conze, Edward. The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.

Greene, Eric Matthew. “Meditation, Repentance, and Visionary Experience in Early Medieval Chinese Buddhism.” Unpublished Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkley, 2012.

Kilty, Gavin. The Mirror of Beryl: A Historical Introduction to Tibetan Medicine. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2010.

Muller, A. Charles, ed. Digital Dictionary of Buddhism. buddhism-dict.net. Edition of 12/26/2007.

Pagel, Ulrich. “The Dhāraṇī of Mahāvyutpatti #748: Origin and Formation.” Buddhist Studies Review, vol. 24, no. 2 (2007): 151–91.

Pagel, Ulrich. “The Bodhisattvapiṭaka and Akṣayamatinirdeśa: Continuity and Change in Buddhist Discourses.” The Buddhist Forum, vol. 3 (2012): 333–73.

Deshung Rinpoche. The Three Levels of Spiritual Perception: A Commentary on the Three Visions. Translated by Jared Rhoton. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003.

Skilling, Peter. “Caitya, Mahācaitya, Tathāgatacaitya: Questions of Terminology in the Age of Amaravati.” In Amaravati: The Art of an Early Buddhist Monument in Context, edited by Akira Shimada and Michael Willis, 23–26. London: British Museum, 2016.

Soothill, William Edward and Lewis Hodous. A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms. Digital version: buddhistinformatics.ddbc.edu. Taipei: Dharma Drum Buddhist College, 2010.

Verhagen Peter C. “Studies in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Hermeneutics (4): The Vyākhyāyukti by Vasubandhu.” Journal Asiatique 293.2 (2005): 559–602.

Glossary

g.1

Affliction

kun nas nyon mongs pa

ཀུན་ནས་ཉོན་མོངས་པ།

saṃkleśa

煩惱

Saṃsāra, in being nothing but afflicted; its opposite is “purification” (vyavadāna).

g.2

Aggregates

phung po

ཕུང་པོ།

skandha

The fivefold basic grouping of the components out of which the world and the personal self are formed.

g.3

Ānanda

kun dga’ bo

ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།

Ānanda

阿難

The Buddha’s cousin and principal attendant.

g.4

Aphorisms

ched du brjod pa’i sde

ཆེད་དུ་བརྗོད་པའི་སྡེ།

udāna

憂陀那

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.5

Ascetic practices

sbyangs pa’i yon tan

སྦྱངས་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན།

dhūtaguṇa

頭陀

An optional set of thirteen practices that monastics can adopt in order to cultivate greater detachment. They consist of 1) wearing patched robes made from discarded cloth rather than from cloth donated by laypeople; 2) wearing only three robes; 3) going for alms; 4) not omitting any house while on the alms round, rather than begging only at those houses known to provide good food; 5) eating only what can be eaten in one sitting; 6) eating only food received in the alms bowl, rather than more elaborate meals presented to the Saṅgha; 7) refusing more food after indicating one has eaten enough; 8) dwelling in the forest; 9) dwelling at the root of a tree; 10) dwelling in the open air, using only a tent made from one’s robes as shelter; 11) dwelling in a charnel ground; 12) satisfaction with whatever dwelling one has; and 13) sleeping in a sitting position without ever lying down.

g.6

Bimbisāra

gzugs can snying po

གཟུགས་ཅན་སྙིང་པོ།

Bimbisāra

洴沙

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

g.7

Biographies

rtogs pa brjod pa’i sde

རྟོགས་པ་བརྗོད་པའི་སྡེ།

avadāna

阿波陀那

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.8

Black Line Hell

thig nag

ཐིག་ནག

Kālasūtra

黑繩大

One of the eight hot hells.

g.9

Brahmaghoṣa

tshangs pa’i dbyangs

ཚངས་པའི་དབྱངས།

Brahmaghoṣa

梵音聲

A thus-gone one of the past.

g.10

Brahmin

bram ze

བྲམ་ཟེ།

brāhmaṇa

婆羅門

A member of the Indian priestly caste.

g.11

Crushing Hell

bsdus ’joms

བསྡུས་འཇོམས།

Saṃghāta

僧伽陀

One of the eight hot hells.

g.12

Damaśrī

da ma shi ri

ད་མ་ཤི་རི།

Damaśrī

陀摩尸利

A prince living in the past at the time of the buddha Merugandha.

g.13

Deer Park

ri dwags rgyu ba’i tshal

རི་དྭགས་རྒྱུ་བའི་ཚལ།

Mṛgadāva

梨師山鹿園

The forest, located outside of Vārāṇasī where the Buddha first taught the Dharma.

g.14

Devadatta

lhas byin

ལྷས་བྱིན།

Devadatta

調達, 提婆達多

A cousin of Buddha Śākyamuni who broke with him and established his own community. His tradition was still continuing during the first millennium ᴄᴇ. He is portrayed as engendering evil schemes against the Buddha and even succeeding in wounding him. He is usually identified with wicked beings in accounts of previous lifetimes.

g.15

Dhāraṇī

gzungs

གཟུངས།

dhāraṇī

陀羅尼

A formula invoking a particular deity for a particular purpose; dhāraṇīs are longer than most mantras, and their applications are more specialized.

g.16

Discourses

mdo’i sde

མདོའི་སྡེ།

sūtravarga

修多羅

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.17

Eight limbs of the noble path

’phags pa’i lam yan lag brgyad pa

འཕགས་པའི་ལམ་ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད་པ།

āryāṣṭāṅgamārga

八聖道

Right view, intention, speech, actions, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

g.18

Eighteen unique qualities

ma ’dres pa bco brgyad

མ་འདྲེས་པ་བཅོ་བརྒྱད།

aṣṭādaśāveṇikā

十八不共法

Eighteen special features of a buddha’s behavior, realization, activity, and wisdom that are not shared by other beings.

g.19

Elements

khams

ཁམས།

dhātu

One way of describing experience and the world in terms of eighteen elements (eye and form, ear and sound, nose and odor, tongue and taste, body and touch, mind and mental objects, to which the six consciousnesses are added).

g.20

Elephant Trunk

glang po che’i lag

གླང་པོ་ཆེའི་ལག

象手

A monk. Interlocutor of the Buddha in the Questions of Pūrṇa sūtra.

g.21

Emptiness

stong pa nyid

སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།

śūnyatā

One of the three doors of liberation.

g.22

Erudition

mang du thos pa

མང་དུ་ཐོས་པ།

bahuśrutya, bāhuśrutya

多聞

g.23

Evil Mind

sdig pa’i yid

སྡིག་པའི་ཡིད།

惡意

Name of a demon who lived in the past.

g.24

Expanding Arm

rab tu ’phel ba’i dpung

རབ་ཏུ་འཕེལ་བའི་དཔུང་།

増肩

A thus-gone one of the past.

g.25

Extensive teachings

shin tu rgyas pa’i sde

ཤིན་ཏུ་རྒྱས་པའི་སྡེ།

vaipulya

方廣經

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.26

Extremely Hot Hell

rab tu tsha ba

རབ་ཏུ་ཚ་བ།

Pratāpana

大炙

One of the eight hot hells.

g.27

Five faculties

dbang po lnga

དབང་པོ་ལྔ།

pañcendriya

五根

Faith, mindfulness, diligence, concentration, and insight.

g.28

Five higher perceptions

mngon par shes pa lnga

མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ་ལྔ།

pañcābhijña

Divine sight, divine hearing, knowledge of the minds of others, remembrance of past lives, and ability to perform miracles. See “six higher perceptions,” the same list with the addition of “ability to destroy mental defilements,” which can only be attained by Buddhist practitioners.

g.29

Five powers

stobs lnga

སྟོབས་ལྔ།

pañcabala

五力

Faith, mindfulness, diligence, concentration, and insight. Similar to the five faculties but differing in that they cannot be shaken by adverse conditions.

g.30

Former births

skyes pa’i rabs kyi sde

སྐྱེས་པའི་རབས་ཀྱི་སྡེ།

jātaka

本生經

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.31

Former events

de lta bu byung ba’i sde

དེ་ལྟ་བུ་བྱུང་བའི་སྡེ།

itivṛttaka

如是諸經

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.32

Four applications of mindfulness

dran pa nye bar gzhag pa bzhi

དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ་བཞི།

catuḥsmṛtyupasthāna

四念處

A fundamental practice of Buddhist meditation: the close application of mindfulness to the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena.

g.33

Four bases of miraculous displays

rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa bzhi

རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ་བཞི།

catvāraṛddhipādā

四如意足

Determination, discernment, diligence, and concentration.

g.34

Four concentrations

bsam gtan bzhi

བསམ་གཏན་བཞི།

caturdhyāna

四禪

The four levels of concentration of beings residing in the form realm.

g.35

Four fearlessnesses

mi ’jigs pa bzhi

མི་འཇིགས་པ་བཞི།

caturvaiśāradya

四無所畏

Fearlessness in declaring that one has (1) awakened, (2) ceased all illusions, (3) taught the obstacles to awakening, and (4) shown the way to liberation.

g.36

Four relinquishments

yang dag par spong ba bzhi

ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ་བཞི།

catuḥsamyakprahāṇa

四正勤

Four types of relinquishment consisting in abandoning existing negative mind states, abandoning the production of such states, giving rise to virtuous mind states that are not yet produced, and letting those states continue.

g.37

Fruitful Conduct

gdon mi za ba’i spyod pa

གདོན་མི་ཟ་བའི་སྤྱོད་པ།

不空行

A thus-gone one of the past.

g.38

Gandharvas

dri za

དྲི་ཟ།

gandharva

揵闥婆

A class of semi-divine beings sometimes referred to as “heavenly musicians.”

g.39

Garuḍas

nam mkha’ lding

ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།

garuḍa

迦樓羅

A class of semi-divine bird-like beings.

g.40

Good Profit

legs par rnyed pa

ལེགས་པར་རྙེད་པ།

吉利

Name of Buddha Śākyamuni in a past life, when he was a merchant practicing bodhisattva conduct.

g.41

Great Wailing Hell

ngu ’bod chen po

ངུ་འབོད་ཆེན་པོ།

Mahāraurava

大叫喚

One of the eight hot hells.

g.42

Healer of Men

mi’i sman

མིའི་སྨན།

人藥

Name of Buddha Śākyamuni in a past life, when he was a prince practicing bodhisattva conduct.

g.43

Heaven of the Thirty-Three

sum cu rtsa gsum lha’i gnas

སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ་ལྷའི་གནས།

Trāyastriṃśa

忉利天

The second lowest of the six heavens of the desire realm, located on top of Mount Sumeru in the Buddhist cosmology.

g.44

Hell of Ceaseless Torment

mnar med pa

མནར་མེད་པ།

Avīci

阿鼻大

One of the eight hot hells.

g.45

Hot Hell

tsha ba

ཚ་བ།

Tāpana

One of the eight hot hells.

g.46

Hymns and praises

dbyangs kyis bsnyad pa’i sde

དབྱངས་ཀྱིས་བསྙད་པའི་སྡེ།

geya

祇夜

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.47

Irreversible

phyir mi ldog pa

ཕྱིར་མི་ལྡོག་པ།

avaivartika

不退轉

g.48

Īśvarasena

dbang phyug gi sde

དབང་ཕྱུག་གི་སྡེ།

Īśvarasena

摩醯斯那

A king who lived in the past.

g.49

Kalandaka Forest

ka lan da ka

ཀ་ལན་ད་ཀ

Kalandaka

迦蘭陀

A grove or forest within the Veṇuvana near Rājagṛha, where Buddha Śākyamuni spent several monsoon retreats and delivered many Great Vehicle teachings. In other texts it is known as the Kalandakanivāsa or °nivāpa, the dwelling place or feeding ground of kalandaka‍—crows or other birds according to Tibetan renderings, but some Sanskrit and Pali sources suggest flying squirrels.

g.50

Kaṭamorakatiṣya

ka ta mo ra ka ti sha

ཀ་ཏ་མོ་ར་ཀ་ཏི་ཤ།

Kaṭamorakatiṣya

迦樓羅提舍

One of the members of a group of four monks described in the Vinaya as followers of Devadatta that attempted to create a schism in the Buddhist saṅgha.

g.51

Kauverdu

ke’u wer du

ཀེའུ་ཝེར་དུ།

Kauverdu

橋越兜

A bodhisattva of the past.

g.52

Khaṇḍadravja

khaN Da dra ba bya

ཁཎ་ཌ་དྲ་བ་བྱ།

Khaṇḍadravja

蹇陀達多

One of the members of a group of four monks described in the Vinaya as followers of Devadatta that attempted to create a schism in the Buddhist saṅgha.

g.53

Kinnaras

mi’am ci

མིའམ་ཅི།

kinnara
kiṃnara

緊那羅

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

g.54

King of All Qualities’ Light Rays

yon tan thams cad kyi ’od zer gyi rgyal po

ཡོན་ཏན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་འོད་ཟེར་གྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

Sarvaguṇa

一切功德光明王

Past buddha who lived countless eons ago.

g.55

Kokālika

ko ka li ka

ཀོ་ཀ་ལི་ཀ

Kokālika

拘迦梨

One of the members of a group of four monks described in the Vinaya as followers of Devadatta that attempted to create a schism in the Buddhist saṅgha.

g.56

Kṣāntibala

bzod pa’i stobs

བཟོད་པའི་སྟོབས།

Kṣāntibala

忍力

Name of the Buddha Śākyamuni in a past life, when he was a sage practicing bodhisattva conduct.

g.57

Magadha

ma ga dha

མ་ག་དྷ།

Magadha

摩竭

The largest kingdom of northern India during the time of the Buddha.

g.58

Mahābala

stobs pa che

སྟོབས་པ་ཆེ།

Mahābala

大力

Name of the Buddha Śākyamuni in a past life, when he was a king practicing bodhisattva conduct.

g.59

Mahākāśyapa

’od srung chen po

འོད་སྲུང་ཆེན་པོ།

Mahākāśyapa

摩訶迦葉

A senior student of Buddha Śākyamuni, famous for his austere lifestyle.

g.60

Mahāmaudgalyāyana

maud gal gyi bu chen po

མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ་ཆེན་པོ།

Mahāmaudgalyāyana

大目揵連

Alternate name for Maudgalyāyana, one of the closest disciples of the Buddha Śākyamuni, known for his miraculous abilities.

g.61

Mahāsthāmaprāpta

mthu chen thob pa

མཐུ་ཆེན་ཐོབ་པ།

Mahāsthāmaprāpta

那羅延

Dharma-preaching monk living at the time of the buddha King of All Qualities’ Light Rays.

g.62

Mahāśumata

ma hA shu ma ta

མ་ཧཱ་ཤུ་མ་ཏ།

Mahāśumata

摩訶耐摩陀

Son of Śani, householder who lived in the past at the time of the buddha King of All Qualities’ Light Rays.

g.63

Mahoragas

lto ’phye chen po

ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahoraga

摩睺羅伽

A class of non-human beings shaped like enormous serpents.

g.64

Maitreya

byams pa

བྱམས་པ།

Maitreya

彌勒

Bodhisattva of loving kindness; the next buddha to follow Śākyamuni.

g.65

Marvels

rmad du byung ba’i chos kyi sde

རྨད་དུ་བྱུང་བའི་ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྡེ།

adbhutadharma

未曾有經

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.66

Maudgalyāyana

maud gal

མཽད་གལ།

Maudgalyāyana

目揵連

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

g.67

Merugandha

me ro gan dha

མེ་རོ་གན་དྷ།

Merugandha

彌樓揵馱

A past buddha who lived countless eons ago.

g.68

Merurāja

ri’i rgyal po

རིའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

Merurāja

山王

A thus-gone one of the past.

g.69

Mount Sumeru

ri rab

རི་རབ།

Sumeru

須彌山

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

g.70

Nāga

ཀླུ།

nāga

龍神

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

g.71

Narratives

gleng gzhi’i sde

གླེང་གཞིའི་སྡེ།

nidāna

尼陀那

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.72

Pariṇāyaka

rab tu ’dren pa

རབ་ཏུ་འདྲེན་པ།

Pariṇāyaka

導師

Reincarnation of Damaśrī, prince living in the past at the time of the buddha Merugandha.

g.73

Perfumed chamber

dri gtsang khang

དྲི་གཙང་ཁང་།

gandhakuṭī

精舍

Term that was first used in reference to the Buddha’s personal residence. Later, after the Buddha’s passing, the term came to denote the inner chamber of Buddhist monasteries in India, where a Buddha statue was housed to represent the Buddha’s residence at the monastery.

g.74

Preceptor

mkhan po

མཁན་པོ།

upādhyāya

和上

A personal preceptor and teacher.

g.75

Profound doctrines

gtan la phab par bstan pa’i sde

གཏན་ལ་ཕབ་པར་བསྟན་པའི་སྡེ།

upadeśa

論議經

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.76

Prophecies

lung du bstan pa’i sde

ལུང་དུ་བསྟན་པའི་སྡེ།

vyākaraṇa

受記經

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.77

Purification

rnam par byang ba

རྣམ་པར་བྱང་བ།

vyavadāna

清淨

The purification of affliction (saṃkleśa).

g.78

Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra

byams ma’i bu gang po

བྱམས་མའི་བུ་གང་པོ།

Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra

富樓那彌多羅尼子

Main interlocutor of the buddha in the Questions of Pūrṇa sūtra.

g.79

Rājagṛha

rgyal po’i khab

རྒྱལ་པོའི་ཁབ།

Rājagṛha

王舍城

The capital of the ancient kingdom of Magadha.

g.80

Reviving Hell

yang sos

ཡང་སོས།

Saṃjīva

One of the eight hot hells.

g.81

Sage

drang srong

དྲང་སྲོང་།

ṛṣi

仙人

Indian sage or wise man (often a wandering ascetic or hermit).

g.82

Śakra

brgya byin

བརྒྱ་བྱིན།

Śakra

釋, 帝釋

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

g.83

Samudradatta

rgya mtshos byin

རྒྱ་མཚོས་བྱིན།

Samudradatta

三聞陀達多

One of the members of a group of four monks described in the Vinaya as followers of Devadatta that attempted to create a schism in the Buddhist saṅgha.

g.84

Śani

sha ni

ཤ་ནི།

Śani

闍匿

Householder who lived in the past at the time of the buddha King of All Qualities’ Light Rays.

g.85

Śāriputra

shA ri’i bu

ཤཱ་རིའི་བུ།

Śāriputra

舍利弗

One of the closest disciples of the Buddha Śākyamuni, known for his insight.

g.86

Sense source

skye mched

སྐྱེ་མཆེད།

āyatana

One way of describing experience and the world in terms of twelve sense sources (eye and form, ear and sound, nose and odor, tongue and taste, body and touch, mind and mental objects).

g.87

Seven limbs of awakening

byang chub kyi yan lag bdun

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག་བདུན།

saptabodhyaṅga

七覺意

Mindfulness, discrimination, diligence, joy, pliability, absorption, and equanimity.

g.88

Signlessness

mtshan ma med pa

མཚན་མ་མེད་པ།

animitta

無相

One of the three doors of liberation.

g.89

Six higher perceptions

mngon par shes pa drug

མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ་དྲུག

ṣaḍabhijñā

六神通, 六通

Divine sight, divine hearing, knowledge of the minds of others, remembrance of past lives, ability to perform miracles, and ability to destroy all mental defilements.

g.90

Smṛtipratilabdha

dran pa thob pa

དྲན་པ་ཐོབ་པ།

Smṛtipratilabdha

得念

Reincarnation of Damaśrī, prince living in the past at the time of the buddha Merugandha.

g.91

Śula

shu la

ཤུ་ལ།

Śula

首羅

Reincarnation of Damaśrī, prince living in the past at the time of the buddha Merugandha.

g.92

Sumeru

ri rab

རི་རབ།

Sumeru

須彌山

A thus-gone one of the past.

g.93

Sunetra

legs pa’i spyan

ལེགས་པའི་སྤྱན།

Sunetra

善眼

A thus-gone one of the past.

g.94

Supratiṣṭhita

shin tu brtan pa

ཤིན་ཏུ་བརྟན་པ།

Supratiṣṭhita

堅牢

A hearer who lived in the past and was a disciple of the buddha Merugandha.

g.95

Supreme Assembly

’khor mchog

འཁོར་མཆོག

上衆

A thus-gone one of the past.

g.96

Teacher

slob dpon

སློབ་དཔོན།

ācārya

A spiritual teacher (sometimes more specifically the deputy or substitute of the upādhyāya).

g.97

Ten strengths

stobs bcu

སྟོབས་བཅུ།

daśabala

十力

The ten strenghts of a buddha: reflection, intention, application, insight, aspiration, vehicle, conduct, manifestation, awakening, and turning the Dharma wheel.

g.98

The Determined One

rus pa can

རུས་པ་ཅན།

骨髓

The name, mentioned in the Questions of Pūrṇa sūtra, that Devadatta will receive upon reaching the fruition of a solitary buddha.

g.99

Three doors of liberation

rnam par thar pa’i sgo gsum

རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པའི་སྒོ་གསུམ།

trivimokṣamukha

三解脫門

Emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness.

g.100

Three types of knowledge

rig pa gsum

རིག་པ་གསུམ།

trividyā

三明

The three kinds of supernormal cognition among the six supernormal powers (六神通). Applied to buddhas they are called 三達, and applied to worthy ones they are called 三明. They are the power of divine vision (天眼通), whereby they can observe the full course of passage by sentient beings through the six destinies; the power of the knowledge of previous lifetimes (宿命通), (宿住通), whereby they know the events of countless kalpas of previous lifetimes experienced by themselves, as well as by all the beings in the six destinies; and the power of the extinction of contamination (漏盡通), whereby they completely extinguish all the afflictions of the three realms and thus are no longer subject to rebirth in the three realms. In the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (倶舍論) 27, the three are termed 住智識證明, 死生識證明, and 漏盡識證明 (Skt. tri-vidya, tisrovidyāḥ, traividya; Pāli ti-vijjā; Tib. rig pa gsum).

g.101

Total Isolation

rab tu dben pa

རབ་ཏུ་དབེན་པ།

Name of a great city in the world, countless eons ago.

g.102

Trichiliocosm

stong gsum gyi stong chen po’i ’jig rten gyi khams

སྟོང་གསུམ་གྱི་སྟོང་ཆེན་པོའི་འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས།

trisāhasramahāsāhasralokadhātu

三千大千世界

A series of parallel universes containing one billion worlds, according to traditional Indian cosmology.

g.103

Twelve links of dependent origination

rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba’i yan lag bcu gnyis

རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་འབྱུང་བའི་ཡན་ལག་བཅུ་གཉིས།

dvādaśāṅgapratītyasamutpāda

十二因縁

The twelve causal links that perpetuate life in saṃsāra; starting with ignorance and ending with death.

g.104

Unimpeded Vision

thogs ma mi mnga’ ba’i spyan

ཐོགས་མ་མི་མངའ་བའི་སྤྱན།

Asaṅganetra

無礙眼

A thus-gone one of the past.

g.105

Universal monarch

’khor los sgyur ba’i rgyal po

འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

cakravartin

轉輪聖王

Monarch ruling over the four continents of human beings.

g.106

Vārāṇasī

bA ra NA si

བཱ་ར་ཎཱ་སི།

Vārāṇasī

波羅奈

City in northern India where the Buddha first taught the Dharma.

g.107

Veṇuvana

’od ma’i tshal

འོད་མའི་ཚལ།

Veṇuvana

竹园

A bamboo grove or forest containing a monastery, north of Rājagṛha, where Buddha Śākyamuni spent several monsoon retreats and delivered many Great Vehicle teachings.

g.108

Verses

tshigs su bcad pa’i sde

ཚིགས་སུ་བཅད་པའི་སྡེ།

gāthā

伽陀

One of the twelve branches of Buddhist scriptures.

g.109

Virtues of ascetic practice

sbyangs pa’i chos

སྦྱངས་པའི་ཆོས།

dhūtadharma

頭陀法

The qualities associated with the observance of ascetic practices.

g.110

Vulture Peak Mountain

bya rgod phung po’i ri

བྱ་རྒོད་ཕུང་པོའི་རི།

Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata

耆闍崛山

The mountain where many Great Vehicle teachings were delivered by Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.111

Wailing Hell

ngu ’bod

ངུ་འབོད།

Raurava

叫喚

One of the eight hot hells.

g.112

Wishlessness

smon pa med pa

སྨོན་པ་མེད་པ།

apraṇihita

無願

One of the threedoors of liberation.

g.113

World

’dzam bu’i gling

འཛམ་བུའི་གླིང་།

Jambudvīpa

閻浮提

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 (Skt. jambu) tree at the source of the great Indian rivers is said to give the continent its name.

g.114

Worthy one

dgra bcom pa

དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།

arhat

阿羅漢

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

g.115

Yakṣa

gnod sbyin

གནོད་སྦྱིན།

yakṣa

夜叉

A class of mostly malevolent beings that cause harm to humans. One of the eight classes of spirits.

g.116

Yaśas

ya sha

ཡ་ཤ།

Yaśas

耶舍

Reincarnation of Damaśrī, prince living in the past at the time of the buddha Merugandha.

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