The Prophecy of Śrī Mahādevī

Toh 739
Degé Kangyur, vol. 94 (rgyud ’bum, tsha), folios 230.a–234.b
Translated by the Sakya Pandita Translation Group (International Buddhist Academy Division)
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2011
Current version v 2.20.18 (2021)
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Table of Contents
Summary
This sūtra recounts an event that took place in the buddha realm of Sukhāvatī. The discourse commences with the Buddha Śākyamuni relating to the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara the benefits of reciting the various names of Śrī Mahādevī. The Buddha describes how Śrī Mahādevī acquired virtue and other spiritual accomplishments through the practice of venerating numerous tathāgatas and gives an account of the prophecy in which her future enlightenment was foretold by all the buddhas she venerated. The Buddha then lists the one hundred and eight blessed names of Śrī Mahādevī to be recited by the faithful. The sūtra ends with the Buddha Śākyamuni giving a dhāraṇī and a brief explanation on the benefits of reciting the names of Śrī Mahādevī, namely the eradication of all negative circumstances and the accumulation of merit and happiness.
Acknowledgments
This sūtra was translated from Tibetan into English, under the supervision of Khenpo Ngawang Jorden, by the monks Jamyang Choesang and Kunsang Choepel, and the lay people Boyce Teoh and Solvej Nielsen, members of the Sakya Pandita Translation Group (International Buddhist Academy Division), Kathmandu.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Introduction
This text extols the virtues and benefits of devotional practices, such as the recitation of sacred names and formulae or mantras. It can thus be said to be related to the bhakti or devotional movement in the religious life of the Indian subcontinent, a form of religious expression found in all major religions of the world. Faith (śraddhā; dad pa) is an essential factor of the path to awakening. It is listed among the five spiritual faculties (indriya; dbang po) and the eleven wholesome mental states.1
In this sūtra, Śrī Mahādevī cultivated her faith by venerating and chanting names of the enlightened ones, thus accomplishing the roots of virtue that become the cause of her future awakening. The narrative takes place in the buddha realm Sukhāvatī, where the Buddha Śākyamuni explains to the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara the benefits of reciting Śrī Mahādevī’s names. He further explains how Śrī Mahādevī herself gained the roots of virtue by venerating numerous tathāgatas, whom the Buddha lists. He then relates the prophecy of Śrī Mahādevī’s future enlightenment, bestowed upon her by those buddhas, and lists her one hundred and eight names. The sūtra ends with the Buddha Śākyamuni giving a dhāraṇī and a brief explanation on how to practice the recitation of Śrī Mahādevī’s names.
Most Kangyurs include two copies of the text, one (Toh 193) in the General Sūtra (mdo sde) section and one (Toh 739) among the Collected Tantras (rgyud ’bum), classified under Kriyātantra.2 As neither copy of the Tibetan version has a colophon, there is no information regarding the translators. However, it must have been translated in the early period, since it is listed in the early ninth century Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) catalog of texts translated into Tibetan from Sanskrit. Versions of this sūtra in Sanskrit and Chinese are still extant today. The present translation appears to be the first into a Western language.
The Degé edition of this sūtra was compared with various editions of the Tibetan canon, namely, the Narthang, Kangxi, and Lhasa editions, as well as with the Sanskrit of the Gilgit manuscript as edited by Nalinaksha Dutt. The English translation has been made on the basis of the Tibetan, with a few exceptions as indicated in the notes. The great many proper names contained in the sūtra are here given in Sanskrit, but translations have been added in parentheses in the case of the “one hundred and eight names”—which are, rather, epithets describing Mahādevī.
The Prophecy of Śrī Mahādevī
Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
[F.230.b]Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavān was dwelling in Sukhāvatī together with the great saṅgha of bodhisattvas, among them the following bodhisattva mahāsattvas of the excellent eon:3 Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Ārya Avalokiteśvara, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkaṃbhin, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Kṣitigarbha, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Samantabhadra, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Ākāśagarbha, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Vajrapāṇi, and Bodhisattva Sarvabhayahara, and similarly Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sarvamaṅgaladhārin, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sarvapuṇyalakṣaṇadhārin, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Candrasūryatrailokyadhārin, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sarvatīrthamaṅgaladhārin, and Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta.
Then Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara went to the place where the Bhagavān was, paid homage at the Bhagavān’s feet, and remained at one side. Śrī Mahādevī also went toward the Bhagavān, paid homage at his feet, and circumambulated him three times. Then she also paid homage to all the bodhisattva mahāsattvas who were dwelling in Sukhāvati and remained at one side.4 [F.231.a]
The Bhagavān was adorned with many hundreds of thousands of merits and surrounded by as many as ten million tathāgatas. As Śakra, Brahmā, and the guardians of the world all offered their praises and acclaim, the Bhagavān, having gazed at Śrī Mahādevī, addressed Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara as follows in his Great Brahmā voice:
“Avalokiteśvara, if any one of the kings, ministers, bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, upāsikās, brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, or śūdras retains this praise, “The One Hundred and Eight Names5 of Śrī Mahādevī Which Are Renowned as Stainless,” then the kṣatriya king’s kingdom, the fears of those beings there, as well as the epidemics and harmful influences will all be pacified,6 and no one at all will fear robbers, rogues, humans, or nonhumans. Wealth, grains, treasuries, and stores will all increase, and the Glorious Mahādevī will no doubt abide in the home of this kṣatriya king.”
Then those bodhisattva mahāsattvas said, “Bhagavāṇ, these words are well said. Excellent! Excellent! Those people who will retain the names of Śrī Mahādevī and who will put them into practice once they have heard them7 will have those aforementioned qualities and benefits.”
Then Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Ārya Avalokiteśvara asked the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, where did Śrī Mahādevī generate her roots of virtue?”
The Bhagavān replied, “Śrī Mahādevī [F.231.b] generated roots of virtue in the presence of tathāgatas as numerous as the grains of sand of the river Ganges. O Avalokiteśvara, in the past, in a world system called Ratnasaṃbhavā, the tathāgata called Ratnakusumaguṇasāgaravaiḍūryakanakagirisuvarṇakāṃcanaprabhāsaśrī came forth into the world. Śrī Mahādevī generated roots of virtue in his presence and in the presence of many other tathāgatas, too. Now, the names of the tathāgatas make Śrī Mahādevī’s roots of virtue flourish and come to fulfillment. They stay with her always, these names that here in this world Śrī Mahādevī recites precisely and that dispel all sins, eliminate all offenses, make all effects8 stainless, gather and increase wealth and grains, eradicate poverty, attract and catch the attention of all gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, pacifying all epidemics, natural misfortunes,9 disputes, conflicts, dissensions, and arguments, and that will bring the six perfections to fulfilment. They are as follows:10
“Having treated these names of tathāgatas with veneration, one should retain and recite them, and in this way the merit of a son or daughter of a noble family will increase immensely.
“Now, all the tathāgatas made the following prophecies concerning Śrī Mahādevī: ‘Śrī Mahādevī, in the future you will become the tathāgata, the arhat, the truly complete buddha called Śrīmaṇiratnasambhava in the world system called Śrīmahāratnapratimaṇḍitā. And that world system will be adorned with various sorts of divine jewels. This very tathāgata will spread light in that world system, and those bodhisattvas dwelling there in that world will spontaneously become radiant and have immeasurable life spans. The word buddhadharmasaṅgha will also come down from the sky, and the bodhisattvas who will be born in that buddha field will all be born from the centers of lotuses.’ [F.233.a]
“What is the twelve-line praise with one hundred and eight names that is renowned as being stainless?11
“O fearless Avalokiteśvara, please hearken to the names of Śrī Mahādevī. They are as follows:12
“Oṃ! Look at us, save us, and emancipate us from all sufferings. Make us turn in the direction of all collections of merits, svāhā.37 Oṃ gaṅgādisarvatīrthānām abhimukhī kuru38 svāhā | oṃ sāvitryai svāhā | sarvamaṅgaladhāriṇyai svāhā | caturvedanakṣatragrahagaṇādimūrtyai svāhā | brahmaṇe svāhā | viṣṇave svāhā | rudrāya svāhā | viśvamukhāya svāhā | oṃ nigrigrini sarvakāryasādhani sini sini āvāhayāmi devi śrīvaiśravaṇāya svāhā | suvarṇadhanadhānyākarṣaṇyai svāhā | sarvapuṇyākarṣaṇyai svāhā | śrīdevatākarṣaṇyai svāhā | sarvapāpanāśanyai svāhā | sarvālakṣmīpraśamanyai svāhā | sarvatathāgatābhiṣiktāyai svāhā | sarvadevatābhimukhaśriye svāhā | āyurbalavarṇakarāyai svāhā | sarvapavitramaṅgalahastāyai svāhā | siṃhavāhinyai svāhā | padmasaṃbhūtāyai svāhā | sarvakṛtyakākhordavināśanyai svāhā.39
“Fearless Avalokiteśvara, anyone who is going to retain and recite these names of Śrī Mahādevī—which eliminate all offenses, overcome all sins, accumulate all merits, eliminate40 all inauspiciousness, and accumulate all glories, happiness, and good fortune—and who is going to retain and recite41 these names of the tathāgatas, should rise in the morning, clean up, and, having offered flowers and incense to all the buddhas, also offer sandalwood incense to Śrī Mahādevī. Then, when they recite these names, all glory, all happiness and joys, will be obtained. The gods will all guard, protect, and preserve42 them, and all of their purposes will be fulfilled.”
When the Bhagavān had thus spoken, the fearless bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, [F.234.b] Śrī Mahādevī43, the entire retinue, and the world, including gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas, rejoiced and [678] praised the words of the Bhagavān.
Notes
Bibliography
Āryaśrīmahādevīvyākaraṇam. Sanskrit in Gilgit Manuscripts, edited by Nalinaksha Dutt, 91–100. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1984. www.dsbcproject.org.
’phags pa lha mo chen mo dpal lung bstan pa (Āryaśrīmahādevīvyākaraṇa). Toh 193, Degé Kangyur, vol. 61 (mdo sde, tsa), folios 246.a–250.b.
’phags pa lha mo chen mo dpal lung bstan pa (Āryaśrīmahādevīvyākaraṇa). Toh 739, Degé Kangyur, vol. 94 (rgyud ’bum, tsha), folios 230.b–234.a.
’phags pa lha mo chen mo dpal lung bstan pa. 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. 61, pp. 690-700 (Toh 193), and vol. 94, pp 638-50 (Toh 739).
Amoghavajra, trans. 大吉祥天女十二契一百八名無垢大乘經, Taishō 1253.
Glossary
Ākāśagarbha
- nam mkha’ snying po
- ནམ་མཁའ་སྙིང་པོ།
- Ākāśagarbha
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Anekaratnāṃśumālā
- ’od zer ’bar ba du mas ’khor ba
- འོད་ཟེར་འབར་བ་དུ་མས་འཁོར་བ།
- Anekaratnāṃśumālā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Aprameyasuvarṇottaprabhāsaśrī
- dpag tu med pa’i gser mdog snang ba’i dpal
- དཔག་ཏུ་མེད་པའི་གསེར་མདོག་སྣང་བའི་དཔལ།
- Aprameyasuvarṇottaprabhāsaśrī
A tathāgata.
Arhat
- dgra bcom pa
- དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
- arhant
“Worthy.” A being who has eliminated afflictive emotions and hence is liberated from suffering. The Tibetan, following the traditional Sanskrit semantic gloss of ari han, understands the term as “foe destroyer.”
Asaṃkhyeyavīryasusaṃprasthitaśrī
- brtson ’grus grangs med pa la rab tu zhugs pa’i dpal
- བརྩོན་འགྲུས་གྲངས་མེད་པ་ལ་རབ་ཏུ་ཞུགས་པའི་དཔལ།
- Asaṃkhyeyavīryasusaṃprasthitaśrī
A tathāgata.
Aṣṭagrahāṣṭāviṃśatinakṣatraśrī
- gza’ brgyad dang rgyu skar nyi shu rtsa brgyad kyi dpal
- གཟའ་བརྒྱད་དང་རྒྱུ་སྐར་ཉི་ཤུ་རྩ་བརྒྱད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Aṣṭagrahāṣṭāviṃśatinakṣatraśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Asura
- lha ma yin
- ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།
- asura
Demi-gods, titans.
Avalokiteśvara
- spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug
- སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག
- Avalokiteśvara
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching and main interlocutor.
Bhagavān
- bcom ldan ’das
- བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
- bhagavat
A general term of respect given to persons of spiritual attainment. Translations into English have been “Holy One,” “Blessed One,” and “World-Honored One.” It is here given in the Sanskrit nominative case, bhagavān.
Bhikṣu
- dge slong
- དགེ་སློང་།
- bhikṣu
A fully ordained monk of the Buddhist Saṅgha.
Bhikṣuṇī
- dge slong ma
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- bhikṣuṇī
A fully ordained nun of the Buddhist Saṅgha.
Bhūta
- byung po
- བྱུང་པོ།
- bhūta
A class of beings who are connected with the elements (water, fire, air, earth), like the river spirits, tree spirits, and so on.
Brahmā
- tshangs pa
- ཚངས་པ།
- Brahmā
Vedic creator god. In Buddhist texts Brahmā refers to various gods in high situations of cyclic existence.
Brāhmaṇa
- bram ze
- བྲམ་ཟེ།
- brāhmaṇa
A member of priestly caste.
Brahmaviṣṇumaheśvaraśrī
- tshangs pa dang khyab ’jug dang dbang phyug chen po thams cad kyi dpal
- ཚངས་པ་དང་ཁྱབ་འཇུག་དང་དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Brahmaviṣṇumaheśvaraśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Candanakusumatejonakṣatraprabhāsaśrī
- tsan dan gyi me tog gzi brjid skar ’od kyi dpal
- ཙན་དན་གྱི་མེ་ཏོག་གཟི་བརྗིད་སྐར་འོད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Candanakusumatejonakṣatraprabhāsaśrī
A tathāgata.
Candrasūryatrailokyadhārin
- nyi zla dang ’jig rten gsum ’dzin pa
- ཉི་ཟླ་དང་འཇིག་རྟེན་གསུམ་འཛིན་པ།
- Candrasūryatrailokyadhārin
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Catuḥpañcalokapālaśrī
- ’jig rten skyong ba bzhi dang lnga’i dpal
- འཇིག་རྟེན་སྐྱོང་བ་བཞི་དང་ལྔའི་དཔལ།
- Catuḥpañcalokapālaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Caturvedaśrī
- rig byed bzhi’i dpal
- རིག་བྱེད་བཞིའི་དཔལ།
- Caturvedaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Dhāraṇī
- gzungs
- གཟུངས།
- dhāraṇī
Dhāraṇīs are long strings of syllables which sum up some meaning of Dharma. Their use allows the meaning to be retained in memory. Hence the name, which means “that which holds / retains.”
Dharmarājaśrī
- chos kyi rgyal po’i dpal
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོའི་དཔལ།
- Dharmarājaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Dhārmavikurvaṇadhvajavegaśrī
- chos kyi cho ’phrul rgyal mtshan shugs kyi dpal
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཆོ་འཕྲུལ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་ཤུགས་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Dhārmavikurvaṇadhvajavegaśrī
A tathāgata.
Drumarājavivardhitaśrī
- shing gi rgyal po ltar skyes pa’i dpal
- ཤིང་གི་རྒྱལ་པོ་ལྟར་སྐྱེས་པའི་དཔལ།
- Drumarājavivardhitaśrī
A tathāgata.
Excellent Eon
- bskal pa bzang po
- བསྐལ་པ་བཟང་པོ།
- bhadrakalpa
A cosmological era that has buddhas appear in it.
Four Vedas
- rig byed bzhi
- རིག་བྱེད་བཞི།
- catvāro vedāḥ
The textual base for Brahmanism in India is the Vedas: 1) Ṛgveda, 2) Yajurveda, 3) Sāmaveda, and 4) Atharvaveda.
Gaganapradīpābhirāmaśrī
- nam mkha’i sgron ma’i ’od bzang dpal
- ནམ་མཁའི་སྒྲོན་མའི་འོད་བཟང་དཔལ།
- Gaganapradīpābhirāmaśrī
A tathāgata.
Gambhīradharmaprabhārājaśrī
- zab mo’i chos kyi ’od kyi rgyal po’i dpal
- ཟབ་མོའི་ཆོས་ཀྱི་འོད་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོའི་དཔལ།
- Gambhīradharmaprabhārājaśrī
A tathāgata.
Gandharva
- dri za
- དྲི་ཟ།
- gandharva
The name of a kind of preta (ghost). These spirits are said to live on odours, hence their name “smell-eater.” Known for their music.
Gaṅgāsarvatīrthamukhamaṅgalaśrī
- gang gA’i mu stegs kyi sgo thams cad kyi bkra bshis kyi dpal
- གང་གཱའི་མུ་སྟེགས་ཀྱི་སྒོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་བཀྲ་བཤིས་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Gaṅgāsarvatīrthamukhamaṅgalaśrī
A tathāgata.
Garuḍa
- nam mkha’ lding
- ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།
- garuḍa
A mythical creature which is half bird, half man, and is the enemy of serpents.
Guṇasamudrāvabhāsamaṇḍalaśrī
- yon tan rgya mtsho snang ba’i dkyil ’khor gyi dpal
- ཡོན་ཏན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་སྣང་བའི་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར་གྱི་དཔལ།
- Guṇasamudrāvabhāsamaṇḍalaśrī
A tathāgata.
Indraketudhvajarājaśrī
- dbang po’i tog gi rgyal tshan gyi rgyal po’i dpal
- དབང་པོའི་ཏོག་གི་རྒྱལ་ཚན་གྱི་རྒྱལ་པོའི་དཔལ།
- Indraketudhvajarājaśrī
A tathāgata.
Jñānārciḥsāgaraśrī
- ye shes ’od ’phro rgya mtsho’i dpal
- ཡེ་ཤེས་འོད་འཕྲོ་རྒྱ་མཚོའི་དཔལ།
- Jñānārciḥsāgaraśrī
A tathāgata.
Jyotiḥsaumyagandhāvabhāsaśrī
- skar ’od zhi ba’i spos snang dpal
- སྐར་འོད་ཞི་བའི་སྤོས་སྣང་དཔལ།
- Jyotiḥsaumyagandhāvabhāsaśrī
A tathāgata.
Kinnara
- mi’am ci
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- kinnara
Meaning “Is it a man?” These are a class of beings included in the god realms. They are half-bird/half-human in appearance; hence their name.
Kṣatriya
- rgyal rigs
- རྒྱལ་རིགས།
- kṣatriya
Warrior caste.
Kṣitigarbha
- sa’i snying po
- སའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- Kṣitigarbha
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Kubera
- ku be ra
- ཀུ་བེ་ར།
- Kubera
One of the four great kings, also known as Vaiśravaṇa.
Kuberakāntā
- ku be ra’i snying du sdug ma
- ཀུ་བེ་རའི་སྙིང་དུ་སྡུག་མ།
- Kuberakāntā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Kumbhāṇḍa
- grul bum
- གྲུལ་བུམ།
- kumbhāṇḍa
A class of yakṣa that lives in water but have the heads of various types of insects or animals.
Kusumeśvarā
- me tog gi dbang phyug ma
- མེ་ཏོག་གི་དབང་ཕྱུག་མ།
- Kusumeśvarā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Lakṣmyākarṣaṇaśrī
- phun sum tshogs pa ’gugs pa’i dpal
- ཕུན་སུམ་ཚོགས་པ་འགུགས་པའི་དཔལ།
- Lakṣmyākarṣaṇaśrī
A tathāgata.
Mādhavāśrayā
- khyab ’jug la brten ma
- ཁྱབ་འཇུག་ལ་བརྟེན་མ།
- Mādhavāśrayā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Mahāpraṇidhivegaśrī
- smon lam chen po’i shugs kyi dpal
- སྨོན་ལམ་ཆེན་པོའི་ཤུགས་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Mahāpraṇidhivegaśrī
A tathāgata.
Mahāsattva
- sems dpa’ chen po
- སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།
- mahāsattva
Mahāsthāmaprāpta
- mthu chen thob pa
- མཐུ་ཆེན་ཐོབ་པ།
- Mahāsthāmaprāpta
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Mahāsthānagataśrī
- gnas thams cad na yod pa’i dpal
- གནས་ཐམས་ཅད་ན་ཡོད་པའི་དཔལ།
- Mahāsthānagataśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Maheśvara
- dbang phyug chen po
- དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ།
- Maheśvara
A common way of referring to Śiva, the great and omnipotent god of mainstream Hindu religion.
Mahoraga
- lto ’phye chen po
- ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།
- mahoraga
The name of a particularly powerful preta. A malign local spirit.
Mañjuśrī
- ’jam dpal
- འཇམ་དཔལ།
- Mañjuśrī
Nāga
- klu
- ཀླུ།
- nāga
Nāgas are serpent-like animals who live (invisibly) in the human realm and have an ambivalent status, on occasion positive but also frequently harmful.
Nārāyaṇavratasannāhasumeruśrī
- sred med kyi bu’i brtul zhugs kyi go cha ri rab kyi dpal
- སྲེད་མེད་ཀྱི་བུའི་བརྟུལ་ཞུགས་ཀྱི་གོ་ཆ་རི་རབ་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Nārāyaṇavratasannāhasumeruśrī
A tathāgata.
Niravadyasthānavāsinī
- kha na ma tho ba med pa’i gnas na ’dug ma
- ཁ་ན་མ་ཐོ་བ་མེད་པའི་གནས་ན་འདུག་མ།
- Niravadyasthānavāsinī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Nirmitameghagarjanayaśaḥśrī
- sprul ba’i ’brug sgra snyan pa’i dpal
- སྤྲུལ་བའི་འབྲུག་སྒྲ་སྙན་པའི་དཔལ།
- Nirmitameghagarjanayaśaḥśrī
A tathāgata.
Perfections
- pha rol tu phyin pa
- ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།
- pāramitā
Also translated as “transcendences.” The term is used to define the actions of a bodhisattva. The six perfections are: generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration and wisdom.
Piśāca
- sha za
- ཤ་ཟ།
- piśāca
A type of malevolent ghost, considered to belong to the preta realm. Tibetan translates the term as “flesh-eaters.”
Prajñāpradīpāsaṃkhyeyaprabhāketuśrī
- shes rab sgron ma grangs med pa’i ’od kyi me tog gi dpal
- ཤེས་རབ་སྒྲོན་མ་གྲངས་མེད་པའི་འོད་ཀྱི་མེ་ཏོག་གི་དཔལ།
- Prajñāpradīpāsaṃkhyeyaprabhāketuśrī
A tathāgata.
Pramodabhāgyalolā
- skal ba dang ldan par ’dod pa
- སྐལ་བ་དང་ལྡན་པར་འདོད་པ།
- Pramodabhāgyalolā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Praṇidhānasāgarāvabhāsaśrī
- smon lam rgya mtshos snang ba’i dpal
- སྨོན་ལམ་རྒྱ་མཚོས་སྣང་བའི་དཔལ།
- Praṇidhānasāgarāvabhāsaśrī
A tathāgata.
Pratyekabuddha
- rang sangs rgyas
- རང་སངས་རྒྱས།
- pratyekabuddha
The disciples of the Buddha who followed the Lesser Vehicle (Hīnayāna). The term “pratyekabuddha” means that they “on their own” became “buddhas.”
Preta
- yi dwags
- ཡི་དྭགས།
- preta
“Ghost,” “Hungry ghost.”
Prophecy
- lung bstan pa
- ལུང་བསྟན་པ།
- vyākaraṇa
A prophecy usually made by the Buddha or another tathāgata concerning the perfect awakening of one of their followers; a literary genre or category of works that contain such prophecies.
Puruṣakārāśrayā
- mthu rtsal gyi gnas
- མཐུ་རྩལ་གྱི་གནས།
- Puruṣakārāśrayā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Rākṣasa
- srin po
- སྲིན་པོ།
- rākṣasa
A general term in Indian culture for a type of spirit that (inter alia) haunts cemeteries and eats human flesh.
Ratnakusumaguṇasāgaravaiḍūryakanakagirisuvarṇakāṃcanaprabhāsaśrī
- rin po che’i me tog yon tan gyi rgya mtsho baidUrya dang gser gyi ri bo mdog mdzes gser ’od dpal
- རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་མེ་ཏོག་ཡོན་ཏན་གྱི་རྒྱ་མཚོ་བཻདཱུརྱ་དང་གསེར་གྱི་རི་བོ་མདོག་མཛེས་གསེར་འོད་དཔལ།
- Ratnakusumaguṇasāgaravaidūryakanakagirisuvarṇakāṃcanaprabhāsaśrī
A tathāgata in the past, in a world system called Ratnasaṃbhavā.
Ratnārciḥparvataśrī
- rin chen ’od ’phro ri bo’i dpal
- རིན་ཆེན་འོད་འཕྲོ་རི་བོའི་དཔལ།
- Ratnārciḥparvataśrī
A tathāgata.
Ratnasaṃbhavā
- nor bu rin po che las byung ba
- ནོར་བུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ལས་བྱུང་བ།
- Ratnasaṃbhavā
The world system of the tathāgata Ratnakusumaguṇasāgaravaiḍūryakanakagirisuvarṇakāṃcanaprabhāsaśrī.
Sāgaragarbhasaṃbhavaśrī
- rgya mtsho’i snying po las byung ba’i dpal
- རྒྱ་མཚོའི་སྙིང་པོ་ལས་བྱུང་བའི་དཔལ།
- Sāgaragarbhasaṃbhavaśrī
A tathāgata.
Śakra
- brgya byin
- བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
- Śakra
One of the chief Vedic deities. God of war and Lord of heaven.
Samantabhadra
- kun tu bzang po
- ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ།
- Samantabhadra
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Samantāvabhāsavijitasaṃgrāmaśrī
- kun tu snang ba gyul las rnam par gyal ba’i dpal
- ཀུན་ཏུ་སྣང་བ་གྱུལ་ལས་རྣམ་པར་གྱལ་བའི་དཔལ།
- Samantāvabhāsavijitasaṃgrāmaśrī
A tathāgata.
Sarvabhayahara
- ’jigs pa thams cad sel ba
- འཇིགས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་སེལ་བ།
- Sarvabhayahara
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Sarvabhūtayakṣarākṣasapretapiśācakuṃbhāṇḍamahoragaśrī
- byung bo thams cad dang gnod sbyin dang srin po dang yi dgas dang sha za dang grul bum dang lto ’phye chen po thams cad kyi dpal
- བྱུང་བོ་ཐམས་ཅད་དང་གནོད་སྦྱིན་དང་སྲིན་པོ་དང་ཡི་དགས་དང་ཤ་ཟ་དང་གྲུལ་བུམ་དང་ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvabhūtayakṣarākṣasapretapiśācakuṃbhāṇḍamahoragaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvabodhisattvaśrī
- byangs chub sems pa thams cad kyi dpal
- བྱངས་ཆུབ་སེམས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvabodhisattvaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvadevagaṇamukhaśrī
- lha’i tshogs thams cad la mngon du phyogs pa’i dpal
- ལྷའི་ཚོགས་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་མངོན་དུ་ཕྱོགས་པའི་དཔལ།
- Sarvadevagaṇamukhaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvadevanāgayakṣagandharvāsuragaruḍakinnaramahoragaśrī
- lha dang klu dang gnod sbyin dang dri za dang lha ma yin dang nam mkha’ lding dang mi ’am ci dang lto ’phye chen po thams cad kyi dpal
- ལྷ་དང་ཀླུ་དང་གནོད་སྦྱིན་དང་དྲི་ཟ་དང་ལྷ་མ་ཡིན་དང་ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་དང་མི་འམ་ཅི་དང་ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvadevanāgayakṣagandharvāsuragaruḍakinnaramahoragaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvadevatābhimukhaśrī
- lha sogs pa thams cad kyi dpal
- ལྷ་སོགས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvadevatābhimukhaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvadevatābhiṣiktā
- lha thams cad kyi dbang bskur ba
- ལྷ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དབང་བསྐུར་བ།
- Sarvadevatābhiṣiktā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvadevatāmātṛ
- lha thams cad kyi ma
- ལྷ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་མ།
- Sarvadevatāmātṛ
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvadhanadhānyākarṣaṇaśrī
- nor dang ’bru thams cad sdud pa’i dpal
- ནོར་དང་འབྲུ་ཐམས་ཅད་སྡུད་པའི་དཔལ།
- Sarvadhanadhānyākarṣaṇaśrī
A tathāgata.
Sarvadharmaprabhāsavyūhaśrī
- chos kyi snang ba thams cad bkod pa’i dpal
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྣང་བ་ཐམས་ཅད་བཀོད་པའི་དཔལ།
- Sarvadharmaprabhāsavyūhaśrī
A tathāgata.
Sarvagrahaśrī
- zla thams cad kyi dpal
- ཟླ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvagrahaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvakinnarasarvāsuryottamaśrī
- dpal gyi mchog mi ’am ci mo thams cad dang lha ma yin mo thams cad kyi dpal gyi mchog
- དཔལ་གྱི་མཆོག་མི་འམ་ཅི་མོ་ཐམས་ཅད་དང་ལྷ་མ་ཡིན་མོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ་གྱི་མཆོག
- Sarvakinnarasarvāsuryottamaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvālakṣmīnāśayitrī
- bkra mi shis pa thams cad med par byed pa
- བཀྲ་མི་ཤིས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་མེད་པར་བྱེད་པ།
- Sarvālakṣmīnāśayitrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvamaṅgaladhārin
- dga’ byed kyi bkra bshis thams cad ’dzin pa
- དགའ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་བཀྲ་བཤིས་ཐམས་ཅད་འཛིན་པ།
- Sarvamaṅgaladhārin
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Sarvamaṅgaladhāriṇī
- bkra shis thams cad ’dzin ma
- བཀྲ་ཤིས་ཐམས་ཅད་འཛིན་མ།
- Sarvamaṅgaladhāriṇī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvanadīsaricchrī
- chu klung dang mtsho thams cad kyi dpal
- ཆུ་ཀླུང་དང་མཚོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvanadīsaricchrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkaṃbhin
- sgrib pa thams cad rnam par sel ba
- སྒྲིབ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་རྣམ་པར་སེལ་བ།
- Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkaṃbhin
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Sarvapāpahantrī
- sdig pa thams cad ’phrog ma
- སྡིག་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་འཕྲོག་མ།
- Sarvapāpahantrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvapṛthivīśrī
- sa thams cad dang rgyal po thams cad kyi dpal
- ས་ཐམས་ཅད་དང་རྒྱལ་པོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvapṛthivīśrī
- Sarvarājaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvapuṇyākarṣaṇaśrī
- bsod nams thams cad sdud pa’i dpal
- བསོད་ནམས་ཐམས་ཅད་སྡུད་པའི་དཔལ།
- Sarvapuṇyākarṣaṇaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvapuṇyalakṣaṇadhārin
- bsod nams kyi mtshan tham cad ’dzin pa
- བསོད་ནམས་ཀྱི་མཚན་ཐམ་ཅད་འཛིན་པ།
- Sarvapuṇyalakṣaṇadhārin
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Sarvapuṇyopacitāṅgī
- bsod nams kyi phung po thams cad kyi lus can
- བསོད་ནམས་ཀྱི་ཕུང་པོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་ལུས་ཅན།
- Sarvapuṇyopacitāṅgī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvarṣipavitraśrī
- drang srong thams cad dag par byed pa’i dpal
- དྲང་སྲོང་ཐམས་ཅད་དག་པར་བྱེད་པའི་དཔལ།
- Sarvarṣipavitraśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvāryaśrāvakapratyekabuddhaśrī
- ’phags pa nyan thos dang rang sangs ryas thams cad kyi dpal
- འཕགས་པ་ཉན་ཐོས་དང་རང་སངས་རྱས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvāryaśrāvakapratyekabuddhaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvasattvābhimukhī
- sems can thams cad la mngon du phyogs ma’i dpal
- སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་མངོན་དུ་ཕྱོགས་མའི་དཔལ།
- Sarvasattvābhimukhī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvaśrī
- bkra shis thams cad kyi dpal
- བཀྲ་ཤིས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvasumeruparvatarājaśrī
- ri bo’i rgyal po ri rab thams cad kyi dpal
- རི་བོའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་རི་རབ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvasumeruparvatarājaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvasvarāṅgarutanirghoṣaśrī
- gsung gi yan lag thams cad kyi sgra dbyangs dpal
- གསུང་གི་ཡན་ལག་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་སྒྲ་དབྱངས་དཔལ།
- Sarvasvarāṅgarutanirghoṣaśrī
A tathāgata.
Sarvatathāgatābhiṣiktā
- de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi dbang bskur ba
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དབང་བསྐུར་བ།
- Sarvatathāgatābhiṣiktā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvatathāgatamātṛ
- de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi yum
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་ཡུམ།
- Sarvatathāgatamātṛ
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvatathāgataśrī
- de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi dpal
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvatathāgataśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvatathāgatavaśavartinī
- de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad dbang sgyur ma
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་དབང་སྒྱུར་མ།
- Sarvatathāgatavaśavartinī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvatīrthā
- mu tegs kyi sgo thams cad kyi bkra shis ma
- མུ་ཏེགས་ཀྱི་སྒོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་བཀྲ་ཤིས་མ།
- Sarvatīrthā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvatīrthābhimukhaśrī
- mu tegs thams cad du mngon du phyogs pa’i dpal
- མུ་ཏེགས་ཐམས་ཅད་དུ་མངོན་དུ་ཕྱོགས་པའི་དཔལ།
- Sarvatīrthābhimukhaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvatīrthamaṅgaladhārin
- mu stegs kyi bkra bshis tham cad ’dzin pa
- མུ་སྟེགས་ཀྱི་བཀྲ་བཤིས་ཐམ་ཅད་འཛིན་པ།
- Sarvatīrthamaṅgaladhārin
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Sarvatoyasamudraśrī
- chu thams cad kyi rgya mtsho’i dpal
- ཆུ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་རྒྱ་མཚོའི་དཔལ།
- Sarvatoyasamudraśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvauṣadhitṛṇavanaspatidhanadhānyaśrī
- sman dang rtsi tog dang shing dang nor dang ’bru thams cad kyi dpal
- སྨན་དང་རྩི་ཏོག་དང་ཤིང་དང་ནོར་དང་འབྲུ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvauṣadhitṛṇavanaspatidhanadhānyaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvavidyādhararājaśrī
- rig sngags ’chang gi rgyal po thams cad kyi dpal
- རིག་སྔགས་འཆང་གི་རྒྱལ་པོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvavidyādhararājaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sarvavidyādharavajrapāṇivajradharaśrī
- rig sngags ’chang dang lag na rdo rje dang rdo rje ’chang ba thams cad kyi dpal
- རིག་སྔགས་འཆང་དང་ལག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ་དང་རྡོ་རྗེ་འཆང་བ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་དཔལ།
- Sarvavidyādharavajrapāṇivajradharaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Śatasahasrabhujā
- lag pa ’bum dang ldan ma
- ལག་པ་འབུམ་དང་ལྡན་མ།
- Śatasahasrabhujā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Śatasahasrakoṭipadmavivarasaṃcchannā
- pad ma’i mchog ’bum gyis bkab ma
- པད་མའི་མཆོག་འབུམ་གྱིས་བཀབ་མ།
- Śatasahasrakoṭipadmavivarasaṃcchannā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Śatasahasranayanā
- mig ’bum dang ldan ma
- མིག་འབུམ་དང་ལྡན་མ།
- Śatasahasranayanā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Śatasahasraśirā
- mgo ’bum dang ldan ma
- མགོ་འབུམ་དང་ལྡན་མ།
- Śatasahasraśirā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Sattvāśayaśamanaśarīraśrī
- sems can gyi bsam pa zhi bar mdzad pa’i sku’i dpal
- སེམས་ཅན་གྱི་བསམ་པ་ཞི་བར་མཛད་པའི་སྐུའི་དཔལ།
- Sattvāśayaśamanaśarīraśrī
A tathāgata.
Smṛtiketurājaśrī
- dran pa’i tog gi rgyal po’i dpal
- དྲན་པའི་ཏོག་གི་རྒྱལ་པོའི་དཔལ།
- Smṛtiketurājaśrī
A tathāgata.
Śrāvaka
- nyan thos
- ཉན་ཐོས།
- śrāvaka
The disciples of the Buddha who followed the Lesser Vehicle (Hīnayāna). A śrāvaka is explained as someone who hears the teachings and then proclaims them to others.
Śrī Mahādevī
- lha mo chen mo dpal
- ལྷ་མོ་ཆེན་མོ་དཔལ།
- Śrī Mahādevī
“Glorious Great Goddess.” This is also a widespread name in Hindu contexts; it is, for example, an epithet of Śiva’s consort.
Śrīmahāratnapratimaṇḍitā
- dpal rin po ches brgyan pa
- དཔལ་རིན་པོ་ཆེས་བརྒྱན་པ།
- Śrīmahāratnapratimaṇḍitā
The world system of the buddha Śrīmaṇiratnasambhava.
Śrīmaṇiratnasambhava
- dpal nor bu rin po che las byung ba
- དཔལ་ནོར་བུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ལས་བྱུང་བ།
- Śrīmaṇiratnasambhava
A buddha in the world system called Śrīmahāratnapratimaṇḍitā.
Śūdra
- dmangs rigs
- དམངས་རིགས།
- śūdra
The name of the lowest of the four castes. “Untouchables.”
Sukhāvatī
- bde ba can
- བདེ་བ་ཅན།
- Sukhāvatī
The buddha realm where the narrative of this teaching takes place.
Suparikīrtitanāmadheyaśrī
- shin tu yongs su brjod pa mtshan gsol dpal
- ཤིན་ཏུ་ཡོངས་སུ་བརྗོད་པ་མཚན་གསོལ་དཔལ།
- Suparikīrtitanāmadheyaśrī
A tathāgata.
Tathāgata
- de bzhin gshegs pa
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།
- tathāgata
“Thus gone.” An epithet of buddhas.
Unnati
- mthong ma
- མཐོང་མ།
- Unnati
Skt. “Advancement,” Tib. “She who has Vision.” One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Upāsaka
- dge bsnyen
- དགེ་བསྙེན།
- upāsaka
Layman.
Upāsikā
- dge bsnyen ma
- དགེ་བསྙེན་མ།
- upāsikā
Laywoman.
Vaiśya
- rje’u rigs
- རྗེའུ་རིགས།
- vaiśya
The merchant caste.
Vajrapāṇi
- lag na rdo rje
- ལག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།
- Vajrapāṇi
One of the bodhisattvas attending the delivery of this teaching.
Varuṇa
- chu lha
- ཆུ་ལྷ།
- Varuṇa
Vedic deity of the sky, water, and ocean.
Vimalanirmalakaraśrī
- dri ma med pa
- dri ma med par byed pa’i dpal
- དྲི་མ་མེད་པ།
- དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་བྱེད་པའི་དཔལ།
- Vimalanirmalakaraśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Viṣṇu
- khyab ’jug
- ཁྱབ་འཇུག
- Viṣṇu
One of the eight great gods in the Indian pantheon.
Vividhavicitramaṇimaulidharā
- nor bu rnam pa sna tshogs kyis mdzes par byas pa’i cod pan thogs pa
- ནོར་བུ་རྣམ་པ་སྣ་ཚོགས་ཀྱིས་མཛེས་པར་བྱས་པའི་ཅོད་པན་ཐོགས་པ།
- Vividhavicitramaṇimaulidharā
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.
Vivṛddhi
- rnam par skye ba ma
- རྣམ་པར་སྐྱེ་བ་མ།
- Vivṛddhi
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī. (The stog pho brang Kangyur has rnam par ’phel ma.)
Yakṣa
- gnod sbyin
- གནོད་སྦྱིན།
- yakṣa
Yakṣas are a class of beings who assail and cause harm to humans. One of the eight classes of spirits.
Yama
- gshin rje
- གཤིན་རྗེ།
- Yama
Lord of the dead.
Yamavaruṇakuberavāsavaśrī
- gshin rje dang chu lha dang ku be ra dang brgya byin la sogs pa’i dpal
- གཤིན་རྗེ་དང་ཆུ་ལྷ་དང་ཀུ་བེ་ར་དང་བརྒྱ་བྱིན་ལ་སོགས་པའི་དཔལ།
- Yamavaruṇakuberavāsavaśrī
One of the names of Śrī Mahādevī.