༄༅། །་་་མག་ང་བན་པ།

The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā

Candrottarādārikāvyākaraṇa
 འཕགས་པ་་་་མག་ང་བན་པ་ས་་བ་ག་པ་ན་ ་མ།
’phags pa bu mo zla mchog lung bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā”

Āryacandrottarādārikāvyākaraṇanāmamahāyānasūtra

· Toh 191 ·
Degé Kangyur vol. 61 (mdo sde, tsa), folios 224.b–243.b

ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ

· Jinamitra · Bandé Yeshé Dé ·
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co. TABLE OF CONTENTS
ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
1. The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā
c. Colophon
ab. Abbreviations
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
· Tibetan Sources
· Sanskrit (fragments and excerpts)
· Chinese
· Other Sources
g. Glossary
s. SUMMARY
s.1 In Vaiśālī, a daughter is born to the wealthy Licchavī couple Vimalakīrti and
his beautiful wife, Vimalā. At their daughter’s birth, she speaks eloquently in
verse, and gives forth a brilliant golden-colored light that surpasses even the
light of the moon, thus earning her the name Candrottarā (“Surpassing the
Moon”). All around the city, men are besotted with the idea of marrying her.
To defuse the situation, the girl promises to go out into the city after seven
days and choose a husband. Before this she takes the eight-branched
purification vows, whereupon a lotus with an emanation of a thus-gone one
seated upon it miraculously appears in her hand. The emanation tells her
about the Buddha Śākyamuni, and she resolves to meet him. When she
leaves the house on the seventh day, she is mobbed by a crowd of would-be
suitors. She evades them by rising into the air, and from there delivers a
teaching on the futility of lust and desire. She then calls upon the crowd of
men to join her in going to meet the Buddha. On the way, they meet
Śāriputra and other elders. The elders question her and are impressed by the
profundity and eloquence of her answers. When she arrives in the presence
of the Buddha himself, numerous bodhisattvas ask her further questions.
The Buddha is delighted by her answers, and after she makes the aspiration
to seek awakening for the benefit of all beings, he smiles. When Ānanda
asks what his smile means, the Buddha predicts her future awakening.
ac. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ac.1 This text was translated by Annie Bien and revised and introduced by the
84000 editorial team. The translator wishes to thank Khyongla Rato
Rinpoche for giving the oral transmission, and Leslie Kriesel for editing the
initial draft.
ac.2 The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. George FitzHerbert edited the
translation and the introduction, and Ven. Konchog Norbu copyedited the
text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
ac.3 The translation of this text has been made possible through the
generous sponsorship of Make and Wang Xiao Juan.
i. INTRODUCTION
i.1 The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā takes place in the city of Vaiśālī, and its
main protagonist is the young daughter of the wealthy Licchavī couple
Vimalakīrti and his wife Vimalā. Although this appears to refer to the same
Vimalakīrti who is the main protagonist of the well-known Great Vehicle
scripture The Teaching of Vimalakīrti,1 no mention is made of Vimalakīrti at this
time being a follower of the Buddha.
i.2 As soon as the couple’s daughter is born, she appears to be about eight
years old, and speaks eloquently in verse about her former lives. She is so
magnificently beautiful and radiant that her light “far surpassed the radiance
of the moon,” earning her the name Candrottarā (“Exceeding the Moon”).
Men of all social statuses from around the city are besotted by the girl and
obsessed with marrying her, and they pursue her father for favor.2 Some
follow him around and lavish gifts on him, while others threaten him and
plot her abduction. Her father is distraught, but the girl remains undaunted
and promises to go out into the city after seven days in retreat to make her
choice. On the sixth day, she takes the eight-branched purification vows,
whereupon an extraordinary jeweled lotus with an emanation of a thus-gone
one seated upon it miraculously appears in her hand. She speaks to this
apparition, which informs her that he has been sent by the Buddha, the Lion
of the Śākyas. She questions the emanation about this Buddha, and resolves
to meet him. On the seventh day, she leaves the house as planned, and is
mobbed by a crowd of lustful would-be suitors. She evades this boisterous
crowd by rising into the air to the height of a palm tree, and from there, still
holding the lotus with the thus-gone one seated upon it, she delivers a
teaching on the futility of lust and desire. When the crowd has been pacified
by this, she asks them to join her in going to meet the Buddha at
Kūṭāgāraśālā in the Great Forest near Vaiśālī where he is staying.
i.3 On the way there, they meet a group of elders who are walking to the city
to collect alms. Śāriputra questions the girl, and the elders are impressed by
the profundity of her answers and the confident eloquence with which she
speaks, so they decide to accompany her back to Kūṭāgāraśālā. When she
arrives in the presence of the Buddha himself, numerous bodhisattvas ask
her further questions. Śāriputra then resumes his questioning, at which the
girl extols the superiority of the complete awakening of a bodhisattva over
the limited awakening of a hearer like him.
i.4 The Buddha praises her answers, whereupon the thus-gone one seated on
the girl’s lotus rises and dissolves into the Buddha’s navel. At this, the
Buddha manifests a miraculous display in which innumerable similar
jeweled lotuses, each with a thus-gone one seated upon it, spring from every
pore of his body and fill the great trichiliocosm with the light of the Dharma.
The girl is delighted by this, and throws her lotus toward the Blessed One as
an offering with the aspiration that she too may become a teacher of the
Dharma. Mid-air, the flower transforms into a huge pavilion of flowers that
hovers over the Buddha’s head. Another lotus then appears in her hand, and
she throws this too, with a further aspiration to teach the Dharma for the
benefit of beings. It too transforms into a pavilion of flowers that hovers
above the first. In the same way, further lotuses keep appearing in her hand,
she keeps throwing them with further aspirations to teach the Dharma, and
they keep transforming into pavilions of flowers that hover above the last,
until the tenth flower, when she makes the aspiration to reach complete
awakening. At this point, the stacked pavilions of flowers reach all the way
up the brahmā heavens above, and great myriads of gods gather to bear
witness.
i.5 Just then, the Buddha gives one of his cosmically radiant smiles. When
Ānanda asks what the smile means, the Buddha prophesies Candrottarā’s
future lives and eventual complete awakening as a buddha. When she hears
this prophecy, Candrottarā is overjoyed, and rises into the sky to the height
of seven palm trees. There, she transforms her female form into that of a boy,
who, when he descends, touches the Buddha’s feet and requests to go forth
as a renunciant in the Buddha’s dispensation. After the child’s parents give
their consent for this, the sūtra concludes with the boy’s verses of praise for
the Blessed One.
i.6 The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā is among a group of Great Vehicle sūtras
in which daughters of powerful or wealthy laymen are presented as highly
realized and eloquent beings who receive prophecies of future awakening
from the Buddha. Several of these sūtras feature the daughters of kings. Both
Aśokadattā’s Prophecy (Toh 76)3 and The Questions of Vimalaprabhā (Toh 168)
center on daughters of King Ajātaśatru. The daughters of King Prasenajit are
 the main protagonists in The Questions of the Girl Vimalaśraddhā (Toh 84),4 The
Questions of Vimaladattā (Toh 77), and The Lion’s Roar of Śrīmālādevī (Toh 92).5 A
point made in many of these discourses, including this one, is that there is
no distinction of gender in emptiness. Nevertheless, reflecting the monastic
milieu of these Great Vehicle texts, the predictions in each case include the
female protagonist transforming into a male form at some stage on the
journey to complete awakening.
i.7 There is no extant Sanskrit for the entirety of The Prophecy of the Girl
Candrottarā, though a fragment of a Sanskrit manuscript dating from circa 500
ᴄᴇ does survive and is preserved as part of the Schøyen Collection. A verse
from the text is also cited by Śāntideva (fl. eighth century ᴄᴇ) in his discourse
on the folly of lust in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, which is extant in both Sanskrit and
in Tibetan translation (Toh 3940). Śāntideva refers to the text as Candrottarā-
dārikāparipṛcchā (“The Girl Candrottarā’s Questions”), which appears to be an
alternative title of the same text. The Sanskrit excerpts from both of these
sources have been introduced, translated, and carefully compared with the
Tibetan and Chinese in Braarvig and Harrison (2002). Based on the similarity
in some respects between this sūtra and The Girl Sumati’s Questions (Toh 74),6
which was translated into Chinese as early as the third century ᴄᴇ, and also
on the linguistic evidence of the Sanskrit fragments that are in regular
classical Sanskrit rather than the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit of the earliest
Great Vehicle sūtras, Braarvig and Harrison have tentatively suggested that
the Candrottarādārikāparipṛcchā in its present form reflects Great Vehicle
Buddhism in its middle period, and belongs to a cluster of sūtras that
appeared around the first half of the third century.7
i.8 The Chinese translation of the Candrottarādārikāvyākaraṇa/Candrottarādārikā-
paripṛcchā was made in 591 ᴄᴇ by Jñānagupta (Ch. Shenajueduo), a prominent
translator during the Sui dynasty, with the title Yueshangnü jing (Taishō 480).
It is closely parallel to the later Tibetan translation, though there are
divergences in detail and in the idioms of expression. The sūtra was
translated into Korean as Wol sang nyeo gyeong (K415). Sections of the Chinese
version have been translated into English by Diana Paul in her work Women
in Buddhism (1985),8 and a full English translation from the Chinese has been
published by Rolf Giebel (2018).9
i.9 The colophon to the Tibetan translation, as found in the various Kangyur
recensions, does not explicitly name a translator but says that it was edited
and finalized by Jinamitra and Yeshe Dé, perhaps indicating that these
translators revised an earlier translation. It is listed in both the
Phangthangma and Denkarma imperial-era catalogs of translated texts
compiled in the early ninth century.10 Butön Rinchen Drup, in his fourteenth
century History of Buddhism, attributes the translation directly to Yeshé Dé.11
i.10 This English translation is based on the Tibetan as found in the Degé
Kangyur, in consultation with the variant readings listed in the Comparative
Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace Kangyur. Where variant readings
other than the Degé have been preferred, this has been recorded in the notes.
To our knowledge, this is the first full English translation of the sūtra from
Tibetan.
 The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā
1. The Translation
[F.224.b]

1.1 Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

1.2 Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing at Kūṭāgāraśālā in
the Great Forest at Vaiśālī. He was staying there with a large saṅgha of
monks, which consisted of five hundred worthy ones. All of them had
thoroughbred minds, had done what they needed to do, and had
accomplished their work, put down their burdens, fulfilled their own
purpose, completely exhausted the bonds of mundane existence, thoroughly
liberated their minds through correct understanding, and reached the
sublime perfection of all mental powers.12 [F.225.a]
1.3 There were also eight thousand13 bodhisattvas who were renowned for
their knowledge, and who had attained recollection and unhindered
eloquence,14 meditative absorption, and acceptance toward phenomena as
nonarising. They were endowed with the five superknowledges, had
unobstructed speech,15 were not hypocritical, and lacked flattery. Their
intention was free of desire for selfish profit and they taught the Dharma
without regard for worldly things. They had reached the perfection of
patience toward the profound Dharma, were endowed with fearlessness,
had completely transcended the activities of Māra, had abandoned karmic
obscurations, and were without doubts concerning the nature of
phenomena. With their aspiration fully formed over countless hundreds of
thousands of myriad eons, they were skilled at speaking in melodious verse
with a smiling countenance and without frowning. Their minds were not
overwhelmed, they had an uninterrupted eloquence, and they had attained
acceptance toward the equality of phenomena. They outshone the limitless
audience in attendance with their great fearlessness.
1.4 They were skilled in the wisdom that with a single word teaches for a
hundred thousand myriad eons. They had conviction that every
phenomenon that arises in the past, future, and present is like an illusion, a
mirage, the moon in water, a dream, a reflection, and an echo—that it is
empty, signless, wishless, void, unfluctuating, and ungraspable, like the
nature of space. They were skilled in immeasurable insight and wisdom, and
skilled in knowing the functioning of the minds of all sentient beings. They
were skilled at teaching the Dharma in accordance with the inclinations of
sentient beings. Their unobstructed minds were free from craving for
phenomena. They had acceptance that was free from secondary afflictions.
They were skilled in knowing phenomena as they are. They were
thoroughly immersed in the full range of qualities of limitless buddha fields.
They could always and continuously realize the meditative absorption that
recollects the Buddha. They were skilled in knowing the supplications to
limitless buddhas. [F.225.b] They were skilled in abandoning obsessions,
views, afflictions, and latent impulses. By means of every meditative
stabilization and meditative absorption they had fully mastered the one-
pointed superknowledges.
1.5 Among those eight thousand bodhisattvas were the bodhisattva great
beings Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta,
Durabhisambhava, Gandhahastin, Anikṣiptadhura, Sūryagarbha, Dhāraṇī-
śvararāja, Emitting the Light of Incense, Sound of Thunder, King of Definite
Golden Luster, Nārāyaṇa,16 Ratnapāṇi, Ratnamudrāhasta, Gaganagañja,
Amśurāja, Priyadarśana, Liberator of Beings, Nityodyukta,
Nityaprahasitapramuditendriya, Apāyajaha, Vanquishing Vajra State,
Vanquishing the Three Worlds State, Vanquishing Unwavering State,
Amoghadarśin, Śrīgarbha, Padmaśrī, Gajagandhahastin,
Gambhīrapratibhāna, Mahāpratibhāna, Dharmodgata, Without Doubting the
Nature of Phenomena, Moves with the Strength of a Lion, Removing All
Fear, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, Loud Roar of the Great Lion, Inexpressible,
Pratibhānakūṭa, and the bodhisattva great being Maitreya.
1.6 Then the kings and eminent persons, city and country folk, attendants,
brahmins, kṣatriyas, and householders all paid their respects to the Blessed
One. They revered him, worshiped him, and made offerings to him during
his stay at Kūṭāgāraśālā in the Great Forest at the great city of Vaiśālī.
[F.226.a]
1.7 At that time, in the great city of Vaiśālī, there lived a Licchavī known as
Vimalakīrti. He was rich and wealthy, an opulently wealthy and prosperous
man, with many treasuries and storehouses. His wife, Vimalā, was beautiful,
lovely to behold, with a full figure and good complexion. After nine months
passed, she gave birth to a daughter with a fine body, beautiful, lovely to
 behold, with perfect limbs, fingers, and toes. As soon as this daughter was
born, their entire home was suffused with a great light, and the earth
trembled. Outside, the gutters above the doors dripped with ghee and oil,
and those who were weak, defenseless, hungry, and impoverished were
satisfied. In the great city of Vaiśālī, large drums, clay drums, gongs,
cymbals, and tambourines all resounded without being struck, and a great
rain of flowers came down. In the four corners of the house, four large
treasure chests filled with a variety of precious gems appeared and then
opened, shining light everywhere.
1.8 As soon as she was born, the girl neither wailed nor shed tears. Instead,
she placed her ten fingers and palms together and spoke these verses:

1.9 “Committing wrong deeds does not lead to

Pleasant rebirth in an immaculate body.
Committing wrong deeds does not lead to
Households like this with enjoyments and riches.

1.10 “Through generosity, discipline, restraint, heedfulness,

And respectful devotion to the guru—
Through such deeds, excellent in nature —
One is born in an eminent person’s home.

1.11 “When the guide, the Victor Kāśyapa,

Entered the city of Vaiśālī for alms,
I saw him from the top of the mansion,
And when I saw him, I remembered my devotion for him.

1.12 “Then, with utter devotion, [F.226.b]

I thought, ‘I have no flowers, ointments,
Powdered incense, food, or drink,
So with what can I make an offering to the teacher?’

1.13 “Then I heard a voice: ‘A buddha acts

Without concern for reward, but for the sake of liberating beings.
Engendering compassion out of love for the world,
A buddha graces the world by accepting alms.

1.14 “ ‘If you wish to worship such victors,

Make the aspiration yourself for buddhahood.
There is no offering in the three worlds
Greater than the resolute development of the mind of awakening.’

1.15 “After I heard that voice from the sky,

And saw that buddha adorned with the supreme marks,
 I produced an unwavering mind set on awakening,
And I jumped from the building.

1.16 “Hovering in the sky at the height of a palm tree,

I saw the buddhas who dwell in the ten directions,
With forms just like that of the Victor Kāśyapa,
Great jeweled mountains like Mount Meru.

1.17 “Through the power of that victor, in the palm of my hand

There appeared a great bowl of mandārava flowers.
I scattered them over Kāśyapa,
And the flowers hung in the sky as a canopy.

1.18 “As I gazed upon limitless buddhas in the ten directions,

Their bodies adorned with signs,
Flowers formed canopies over them,
Just as they did for Kāśyapa.

1.19 “While hovering in the sky, I spoke these words:

‘I will practice for as many eons as there are atoms of water.
I will never give up until I reach awakening.
May I become a buddha, the foremost of human beings.’

1.20 “When that lion’s roar of mine 17 was heard,

Twelve thousand devas, humans,
Asuras, yakṣas, and rākṣasas
Entered into the Buddha’s supreme awakening.

1.21 “After that, I was born as a celestial in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three,
And because my good karma had not been exhausted,
When I died and transmigrated from there, I came here to Jambudvīpa.
So, people, make merit!

1.22 “When I dwelt in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three,

I worshiped the Victor Śākyamuni. [F.227.a]
I had no interest in desire and physical pleasures.
But worshiped the victors again and again.

1.23 “Now, I have seen the merit ripen.

I can recall a hundred lifetimes like a single day.
If my good fortune is to be reborn here,
Then what wise person would not develop respect for the victors?”

Having spoken these verses, the girl said no more.

1.24 Due to the ripening of roots of virtue acquired during previous lives, her
body appeared as if it was dressed in precious celestial garments, and from
her body there radiated extraordinary golden-colored light that far
surpassed the radiance of the moon. For that reason, her parents named her
Candrottarā.
1.25 Then at that instant, that moment, that very second, it appeared to
everyone as if the girl Candrottarā had already reached the age of eight, and
wherever she stood, or walked, or sat, or took a rest, it was as if the ground
beneath her was illuminated by a golden-colored light, a fragrance of the
finest sandalwood rose from every pore of her body, and from her mouth
came the scent of the blue utpala flower.
1.26 When merchants, householders, princes, and others from important
families and high-ranking castes in the city of Vaiśālī heard about this girl
Candrottarā’s physical form and her perfect complexion, their minds were
ensnared by lustful desire, and they thought, “How good it would be if she
were to become my wife.”
Whereupon a great number of men set about trying to obtain her.
1.27 Some among them made approaches to the Licchavī Vimalakīrti, staying
close to him and venerating him. Some tried to rouse his interest by making
gifts of jewels, gold, silver, diamonds, beryl, cat’s-eye, sapphire, conch,
crystals, and coral, as abundant as grains of sand. [F.227.b] Some showed
off18 their wealth in cattle, grain, houses, luxuries, and food. Some showed
their ferocity by killing, binding, and beating male and female slaves,
workers, and laborers. Some threatened Vimalakīrti, saying, “If you do not
give us the girl Candrottarā, then we will cause great suffering and will
inflict great harm upon you.”
1.28 The Licchavī Vimalakīrti thought, “Right now, armed groups are on their
way to arrest and overthrow me. They will surely kidnap my daughter and
kill me too!” At this thought, he panicked and with his hair standing on end,
was immobilized by fear. Losing his mindfulness, and intimidated by others,
he wept in distress, staring without blinking at his daughter.
1.29 When the girl Candrottarā saw her father crying, his face covered in tears
and ashamed, she asked him, “Father, why are you weeping and staring like
this?”
1.30 The Licchavī Vimalakīrti replied to his daughter Candrottarā, “Daughter,
do you not understand that you will be kidnapped, and that there will be
fighting and conflict everywhere in this city on account of you? Because of
you, there are armies approaching, and we will be destroyed. If I thought
you wouldn’t be captured, I would not weep so.”
1.31 The girl Candrottarā then spoke to her father in verse:

1.32 “Even if all the beings in the world

 Were as vigorous as Nārāyaṇa
And rushed at me wielding weapons,
Still, they would not be able to harm me.

1.33 “Neither poison nor weapons can strike those with a loving heart,
Nor do vetālas and other frightful things arise.
Since a loving mind has neither harshness nor hatred,
Others can do no harm to a mind with love. [F.228.a]

1.34 “Father, I have great love for those of the world.

Little as I am, I delight in beings.
Since I have never brought suffering on others,
Suffering does not befall me, Father.

1.35 “Without desire, there is no attraction;

By cultivating love, there is no aversion.
Since I am without attraction, aversion, and ignorance,
Others cannot assail me, Father.

1.36 “My love for all beings

Is just like the love for my father and mother.
Father, those who love worldly beings like this
Will never be harmed by others.

1.37 “It might be possible to confine the sky within a narrow gorge,
Or Mount Meru within a mustard seed,
Or the expanse of the ocean within the hoofprint of a cow,
But it is impossible to destroy me, Father.”

1.38 After speaking these verses, the girl Candrottarā then told her parents,
“Father, Mother, I request that bells be rung and that this be proclaimed on
every road and at every crossroads and intersection: ‘In seven days from
now, the girl Candrottarā will come out, and when she comes out, she will
choose for herself whichever husband she wishes. You should prepare for
this: decorate the roads, crossroads, and intersections in all directions with
ornaments; sweep them and ritually cleanse them with flowers, incense,
perfumes, garlands, and ointments.’ ”
1.39 Then both parents of19 Candrottarā came out from their home and
announced, “Seven days from now, Candrottarā will come out, and when
she comes out, our daughter will choose whichever husband she wishes.
You should prepare for this: decorate the roads, crossroads, and
intersections in all directions with ornaments; sweep them and ritually
cleanse them with flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, and ointments.”
[F.228.b] This they proclaimed to all.
1.40 Everyone heard it, and a great number of men in Vaiśālī then set about
decorating every road, crossroad, and intersection accordingly, but each was
scheming in his mind, “How can I, and no one else, win the girl
Candrottarā?” So they competed with one another to beautify themselves.
Merchants and householders, ministers, brahmins, and princes, all the way
down to workers, washed themselves thoroughly, rubbed their bodies well,
dressed in fine clothing, and adorned themselves with various kinds of
jewelry. They told their servants, “Be attentive! If the girl Candrottarā looks
like she will not come with us of her own accord, we will have to take her by
force.”
1.41 And so, seven days passed, and a large crowd of men, enthralled and
amazed, gathered to see the girl Candrottarā.
1.42 Then, on the sixth day, during the full moon, the girl Candrottarā took the
full eight-branched purification vows. That night, just as people were going
to sleep, she went to the roof of the mansion and sat down. Then, by the
power of the Buddha, a lotus appeared in the right hand of the girl
Candrottarā. It was beautiful to behold and radiated clear light. Its stalk was
gold, its petals silver, its anthers beryl, its center emerald, and it had many
hundreds of thousands of petals. In the middle of this lotus appeared the
figure of a thus-gone one, the color of whose body was like gold, and blazed
with splendor. He was fully adorned with the thirty-two marks of a great
being and further by the eighty excellent marks. Seated in full lotus posture,
light rays from the thus-gone one’s body illuminated the entire house,
making everything clearly visible.
1.43 When the girl Candrottarā [F.229.a] saw the lotus and saw the figure of the
thus-gone one, she rejoiced with great delight. Elated, joyful, and happy, she
spoke the following verses to that figure of the thus-gone one:

1.44 “You who have such splendor,

What are you? Are you a god? Or if not, a nāga?
Are you an asura? A guhyaka? A kinnara?
Who are you? Please answer the question clearly.

1.45 “Your golden-colored body radiates a light

That is impossible to describe.
One moment it is gold, then rose,
Then swiftly it resembles crystal light.

1.46 “Henceforth, with this little body of mine,

Without perceptions, my mind shall not waver.20
Just to see your form, Protector,
Makes me feel expansive joy.
1.47 “Your glorious form blazes like fire,
Your beauty is as exalted as the greatest of mountains,
You are present just as you are beheld.21
Where have you come from, and where will you go?”

1.48 The figure of the thus-gone one then spoke these verses to Candrottarā:

1.49 “I am neither god nor nāga;

I am neither kinnara nor yakṣa.
I have been sent to you
By the Buddha, the Lion of the Śākyas.

1.50 “I am neither god nor yakṣa;

I am neither nāga nor kinnara.
The phenomenon of my arising here today is because of you—
It was instructed for the sake of taming gods and humans.”22

1.51 The girl Candrottarā replied to the figure of the thus-gone one in verse:

1.52 “That awakened one you call ‘Buddha’—

Tell me, what is his color like?
Tell me about his marks and form.
To hear this will help me understand.

1.53 “When you spoke that name ‘Buddha’ just now,

You did not mention his color, marks, or form.
What is the conduct that befits this Buddha?
Have confidence to speak here of his peerless deeds.”

1.54 Then that figure of the thus-gone one replied to the girl Candrottarā in verse:

1.55 “The color of his body is like gold,

He has the thirty-two supreme marks,
He is a basis of worship for all sentient beings —
For these reasons, he is called ‘Buddha.’ [F.229.b]

1.56 “He understands, with his focused mind,

All deeds in which sentient beings are engaged,
Whether noble or ignoble.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

1.57 “There is not the slightest thing he does not know

About every phenomenon in every aspect.
He has reached the perfection of wisdom.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’
1.58 “With his focused mind, though he has understood
The minds of every sentient being,
He never looks down
On the minds of others.

1.59 “The Buddha’s conduct is ennobled by generosity,

Ennobled in the highest by discipline,
Manifestly ennobled by patience and perseverance,
Perfectly ennobled by meditative stability and insight.

1.60 “Well trained in every craft,

There is nothing at all he does not know.
He has perfect love and compassion.
For these reasons, he is called ‘Buddha.’

1.61 “He turns the unsurpassed wheel,

The wheel of the Dharma.
He discerns ten million buddha fields
And gives teachings on the absence of self.

1.62 “His voice 23 pervades

Hundreds, thousands, hundreds of billions
Of buddha fields.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

1.63 “Its melodious sound brings understanding

To tens of billions of buddha fields
As numerous as the grains of sand of the River Ganges.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

1.64 “In just one of his hands, the Guide can hold
Tens of millions of buddha fields,
And dwell in them for ten million eons.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

1.65 “However many Mount Merus there are

In thousands of myriad buddha fields,
He could gather them up with a single strand of hair
And cast them into ten million buddha fields.

1.66 “He is naturally present in all dharmas.

Abiding there, he delights in the supreme state,24
And in sentient beings loosening their bonds.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’
1.67 “Powerful and endowed with the ten powers,
He has taken to heart the realization that is fearless,
Without any hesitation about the qualities of buddhahood.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

1.68 “Invisible from view is his uṣṇīṣa. [F.230.a]

Endowed with the five pure eyes,
He is in full command of the five faculties and the five powers,
And remains on the path of the branches of awakening.25

1.69 “His disposition is good, he is easy to befriend,

He is unsurpassable in peace and discipline,
He is unwavering, honest, and clear.
For these reasons, he is called ‘Buddha.’

1.70 “He is always in meditative equipoise,

Not subject to distraction.
He speaks at the right time for the needs of beings.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

1.71 “Excellent, endowed with all good qualities,

The basis of worship for migrating beings,
He is all-knowing and all-seeing.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

1.72 “I could speak for an eon,

Or even for a billion eons,
Of the significance of this Buddha.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’ ”

1.73 At this, the girl Candrottarā was delighted and she rejoiced. She was
delighted, ecstatic, and joyful, and the sight of the thus-gone one made her
thirst for more.

1.74 In response, she spoke these verses to the figure of the thus-gone one:

1.75 “What wise person, when they hear this Dharma,

Or about the abilities of a perfectly awakened one
With good qualities such as these,
Would be happy to stay at home, even for a few moments?

1.76 “Until I see the Well-Gone One,

I will abandon torpor and sleep.
I will seek neither food nor drink,
Nor will I remain upon this mat!
1.77 “Seeing you, I have become blissful,
Just hearing of these good qualities.
To see the eminent Buddha directly
Would bring me further incomparable joy.

1.78 “In over a billion eons it is extremely rare

To see supreme beings in this world.
Having now heard the name of the Worthy One,
I would see the Victor who has found great fortune.”

1.79 The emanation then said to her:

1.80 “The supreme being resides in the Great Forest.

His saṅgha, eight thousand strong, are courageous,
They are without vice,
And they have renounced the impure. [F.230.b]

1.81 “Each could hold up, in just one hand,

The billionfold universe of buddha fields for many eons.
They have attained meditative absorption, the superknowledges, and
eloquence.
They listen without agitation, like an ocean.

1.82 “In order to worship the victors, with magical powers

They proceed in moments to limitless buddha fields.
There, they worship myriad buddhas,
And within moments those steadfast ones return again.

1.83 “With no concept of ‘self,’ no concept of ‘buddha,’

With no concept of ‘buddha field’ and no concept of ‘sentient being,’26
Not veiled by any diverse conceptual elaborations,27
They work for the benefit of the great host of beings.

1.84 “If you wish to see that Subduer of Foes 28 and bodhisattva,
And likewise his saṅgha of monastics,
If you wish to hear the supreme Dharma before the Lord of Sages,
Then go to the Great Forest where the Teacher is staying.”

1.85 Then29 the girl Candrottarā, holding that very lotus with the figure of the
thus-gone one seated upon it, descended from the roof of the mansion, went
before her own father and mother, and spoke to her parents in the following
verses:

1.86 “Father, look! In my right hand

Is a beautiful golden-stalked lotus, pleasing to behold.
 Mother, look at the figure of this holy being.
Once seen, who would not take refuge in him?

1.87 “Mother, I see our entire home illuminated

By light the color of gold.
In an instant, the color transforms in many ways;
The measure of his image cannot be grasped!

1.88 “So, Mother, let us go before the Victor,

To the Great Forest, to see the Victor Gautama!
Let us bring flowers and the finest incense
To venerate the Thus-Gone One.”

1.89 Candrottarā’s father and mother,30

On hearing such pleasing words, said, “Good!”
Taking clothing, incense, perfumes,
Flowers, garlands, and ointments too,

1.90 Carrying large drums, clay drums, flat bells,31 parasols,

Conch shells, victory [F.231.a] banners, flutes, vīṇās,
And jeweled cymbals pleasing to hear,
They emerged from the house.32

1.91 At that time, on the seventh day, many hundreds of thousands of people
gathered to see the girl Candrottarā. Among them, some had minds
completely ensnared by lust, some just wanted to look at her, and some had
the idea to decorate the entire great city of Vaiśālī with ornaments. Boys and
girls also came out to watch from the platforms, gatehouses, pediments,
windows, balustrades, and roofs of the manors and mansions.
1.92 The girl Candrottarā then emerged from her home, carrying the figure of
the thus-gone one sitting on a lotus, accompanied by her parents and
surrounded and escorted by a large retinue who carried flowers, incense,
perfumes, garlands, ointments, powders, clothing, umbrellas, victory
banners, and silk flags, and played a variety of cymbals and drums.
1.93 When the many hundreds of thousands of people saw her setting off
toward the center of the city, they came running, thinking, “I must catch
her!” At that very moment, just as a great crowd of men from the great city of
Vaiśālī were rushing at her together, laughing and shouting, “Ha, ha! Come
here! Come here!” the girl Candrottarā,33 at that very moment, seeing this
large crowd of people running, and still holding in her hand the figure of the
thus-gone one sitting upon the lotus, rose into the sky to the height of a
palm tree, and remained there. Sitting there, she addressed that crowd of
men in verse:
1.94 “Behold this captivating body of mine,
Golden in color like flickering flame.
This beautiful body of mine, endowed with patience,
Has not arisen from a mind of lust.34 [F.231.b]

1.95 “Those who do not long for the objects of the senses,
And abandon lust, which burns like live coals,
And control the six sense faculties with vows
Lead the pure celibate life.35

1.96 “When they see the wives of others,

Those who form the thought, ‘They are my mothers and sisters,’
Will become beautiful and dearly loved,
And always supremely attractive.

1.97 “That this entire area is pervaded

By a scent that comes from the pores of my skin
Is not something I achieved through a lustful mind.
Rather, it is the karmic result of generosity and discipline.

1.98 “I do not experience desire,

Do not have lust for one who is without desire.
I speak the truth, never what is false.
This lord of sages before me is my witness.36

1.99 “In the past, you have been my fathers,

And I too have been your fathers, your brothers,
Your sisters and mothers, over and over again—
Who would feel lustful thoughts toward their mother?

1.100 “In the past, I have killed each one of you,

And in the past, you have killed me too.
Since we have all been each other’s mortal enemies,
How can you feel lustful thoughts?

1.101 “Lust does not lead to a beautiful body;

The lustful will not be reborn in happy realms.
Those who experience desire will not pass beyond sorrow.
Therefore, you should completely abandon lust.

1.102 “The foundation of lust37 leads to hell;

Desire leads to rebirth as pretas or animals.
Those whose minds are ensnared by desire
Will become kumbhāṇḍas, asuras, yakṣas, or piśācas.
1.103 “Through desire, they will be reborn one-eyed, lame,
Mute, and ugly to look at.
Those who indulge in base lustful behavior
Will be receptacles for all kinds of faults.

1.104 “Anyone who attains the sovereignty of a universal monarch,

Or of Śakra, lord of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, [F.232.a]
Or the power of mighty Brahmā,
Has practiced celibacy well.

1.105 “Those who always long for objects of desire

Will be blind, deaf, simpletons, dogs, pigs,
Camels, donkeys, monkeys, elephants,
Tigers, cattle, horses, locusts, and flies.

1.106 “Those who practice celibacy well

Will become joyous lords of the earth,
Merchants, householders, or ministers.
They will find happiness, joy, and peace.

1.107 “They will be solitary buddhas and worthy ones,

Clearly embellished by the marks of buddhahood.
Having realized the peace of unexcelled awakening,
They will act for the benefit of the great mass of sentient beings.38

1.108 “Those who are enslaved by lust39 are roasted,

Poisoned with smoke, and killed,
Or imprisoned, beaten, and threatened,
And their heads, nose, eyes, ears, and feet will be cut off.40

1.109 “Lustful behavior does not lead to just one fault.

Unsuitable desires lead to faults that are utterly limitless.
If you seek to be liberated quickly from that state,
Come! Let’s go to meet the Victor.

1.110 “Except for the Buddha, worshiped by gods and humans,

There are no others to serve as a support and final refuge.
Since a victor rarely appears, even in one hundred eons,
Let us all go there together.”

1.111 As soon as the girl Candrottarā finished speaking these verses, at that very
moment, the great earth trembled and the devaputras, who were residing in
the vault of the sky, cried, “How wonderful!” and a great clamor of cheers
 and laughter erupted from the hundreds and thousands of people there. A
rain of flowers also fell, as billions upon billions of cymbals resounded.
1.112 This greatly affected the men in the crowd, who were astonished and
afraid—it made, so to speak, their hair stand on end. Some of them were
thenceforth without desire, hatred, delusion, anger, quarrelsomeness, deceit,
malice, and conflict.41 All of them were freed from mental obscurations,
[F.232.b] physically refreshed, and freed from all afflictions. The girl
Candrottarā became as dear to them as a mother, a sister, or a teacher, and
they revered her, showering her with whatever flowers, incense, perfumes,
garlands, and ointments they were holding. And as they were being strewn,
at that very moment, those flowers were transformed through the power of
the Buddha into a flowered canopy half a league in size that hovered above
the crown of the figure of the thus-gone one. The girl Candrottarā then
descended from the sky to hover some four finger-widths above the earth,
and walking on air without touching the ground, she left the great city of
Vaiśālī. As eighty-four thousand residents of the great city of Vaiśālī
followed closely behind the girl Candrottarā, the earth trembled with every
rise and fall of their feet.
1.113 Early the next morning, the venerable Śāradvatīputra, together with about
five hundred monks dressed in their upper and lower robes and carrying
alms bowls, entered the great city of Vaiśālī to gather alms. As they
approached from afar, these great hearers saw the girl Candrottarā
surrounded by that great host of people. Seeing her, the venerable
Śāradvatīputra said to the venerable Mahākāśyāpa, “Venerable
Mahākāśyāpa, if this girl Candrottarā is to go before the Blessed One,
shouldn’t we know whether or not she has attained acceptance? We should
ask her some questions.”
1.114 So the venerable Śāradvatīputra, together with those monks, approached
the girl Candrottarā and asked, “Where are you going, girl?” [F.233.a]
1.115 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “you ask, ‘Where are you
going, girl?’ Elder, wherever you are going, I am going too.”
1.116 “Girl, I am going to Vaiśālī, and you are coming from Vaiśālī,” said
Śāradvatīputra. “How does it make any sense for you to say, ‘Elder,
wherever you are going, I am going too’?
1.117 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “where do you raise your
feet and where do you lower them?”
1.118 “Girl,” replied Śāradvatīputra, “I raise my feet in space and lower them in
the same space.”
1.119 The girl continued, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, I too raise my feet in space
and lower them in space. In the element of space there is not even the
slightest difference, so for that reason, Honorable Śāradvatīputra, I say,
 ‘Wherever you are going, I am going too.’ Honorable Śāradvatīputra, where
are you going?”
“Girl, I am going to nirvāṇa,”42 replied Śāradvatīputra.
1.120 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” said the girl, “since all dharmas are in
nirvāṇa,43 I am already there.”
1.121 Śāradvatīputra then asked, “Girl, if all dharmas go to parinirvāṇa,44 then
why are you not going to parinirvāṇa?”
1.122 “Honorable Śāradvatiputra,” replied the girl, “that which is in parinirvāṇa
does not pass into parinirvāṇa, for that which is in parinirvāṇa has no arising
and no disintegration. So apart from that which is in parinirvāṇa, there is
nothing at all that can become in parinirvāṇa. Why is that? Because that
which is in parinirvāṇa is itself parinirvāṇa.” [F.233.b]
1.123 Thus she spoke, and the venerable Śāradvatīputra then asked the girl
Candrottarā, “So, girl, are you a follower of the Hearer Vehicle, a follower of
the Solitary Buddha Vehicle, or a follower of the Great Vehicle?”
1.124 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “you have asked me what
vehicle I follow. Honorable Śāradvatīputra, ask yourself! Begging your
forbearance, may I ask,45 Honorable Śāradvatīputra, what is the Dharma that
you realize? Are you a follower of the Hearer Vehicle? Or a follower of the
Solitary Buddha Vehicle? Or a follower of the Great Vehicle?”
1.125 “Girl, I am none,” replied Śāradvatīputra. “Why? Because in the Dharma,
there are no concepts or elaborations, and there is neither difference, nor
identity, nor diversity.”
1.126 The girl continued, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, for that reason, with
regard to all dharmas —nonexistent conceptualizations, nonexistent
elaborations, all nonexistent phenomena that are distinguished, anything
that is dwelt upon, or phenomena that are completely beyond suffering —
there is nothing to be apprehended.”
1.127 “Girl, your eloquence is a marvel,” said Śāradvatīputra. “How many thus-
gone ones have you served?”
1.128 The girl replied, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, you have asked me how
many thus-gone ones I have served. As many as there are in suchness and
the realm of phenomena.”
1.129 “Girl, how many are there in suchness and the realm of phenomena?”
asked Śāradvatīputra.
1.130 The girl replied, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, there are as many as there are
in ignorance and craving for existence.” [F.234.a]
1.131 “Girl, how many are there in ignorance and craving for existence?” asked
Śāradvatīputra.
1.132 The girl replied, “As many, Honorable Śāradvatīputra, as there are in the
realms of sentient beings.”
1.133 “Girl, how many are there in the realms of sentient beings?” asked
Śāradvatīputra.
“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “they are as numerous as the
realms of blessed buddhas of the past, future, and present.”
1.134 “Girl, what are these answers you give?” asked Śāradvatīputra.
“Honorable Śāradvatīputra, I have answered whatever question the elder
has asked me!” she replied.
1.135 “Girl, what have I asked?” said Śāradvatīputra.
“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” she replied, “the words with which you
questioned were certainly instructive.”
1.136 “Girl, words are inherently limited because they do not designate
anything, so they cannot be ‘certainly instructive,’” said Śāradvatīputra.
1.137 “Likewise, Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “the one who asks
about all dharmas being unproduced, lacking cessation, and being without
characteristics, and the one who gives answers —neither is apprehended.”
1.138 “Girl,” said Śāradvatīputra, “in this way you have attained patience and
have the pure form of a bodhisattva, so it will not be long before you reach
complete buddhahood in unexcelled and perfectly complete awakening.”
1.139 The girl replied, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, the word ‘awakening’ is a
conceptual elaboration, ‘reach complete buddhahood’ is a conceptual
elaboration, and ‘near’ and ‘far’ are conceptual elaborations as well.
1.140 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, you said, [F.234.b] ‘It will not be long before
you reach complete buddhahood in unexcelled and perfectly complete
awakening.’ Honorable Śāradvatīputra, because awakening is unexcelled
and completely perfected, it is unproduced, lacks cessation, lacks
annihilation, lacks permanence, is not a unity nor a multiplicity, lacks
coming, lacks going, is inexpressible, lacks arising, and lacks an intrinsic
nature, so any complete buddhahood is not apprehended. Why? Because
awakening cannot be defined dualistically, because awakening is not dual
and is free from duality.”
1.141 Then the honorable Śāradvatīputra said to the girl Candrottarā, “Girl, you
should go before the Thus-Gone One. We are also going there to listen to the
Dharma.”
1.142 The girl Candrottarā replied to the elder Śāradvatīputra, “Honorable
Śāradvatīputra, the Thus-Gone One does not teach the Dharma to those who
wish to listen.”
1.143 “Well then, girl, to whom does the Thus-Gone One teach the Dharma?”
asked Śāradvatīputra.
1.144 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “to those who, though they
listen, are not pleased—to those who are not really pleased.”
1.145 “Girl,” said Śāradvatīputra, “many sentient beings have gone before the
Thus-Gone One for the purpose of listening to Dharma teachings. Does the
Thus-Gone One not teach the Dharma to them?”
1.146 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “those sentient beings who
maintain an idea of the Thus-Gone One or who believe the Dharma has an
intrinsic identity think, ‘This is the Thus-Gone One,’ ‘He teaches us the
Dharma,’ and ‘This is the Dharma that he teaches.’ [F.235.a] But those who
have understood the realm of phenomena do not have any such thoughts of
‘the Thus-Gone One,’ ‘the Dharma,’ or ‘the teaching’ like this.”
1.147 Then the elder Mahākāśyapa spoke, addressing his words to the elder
Śāradvatīputra: “Venerable Śāradvatīputra, since a girl with such eloquence
is going before the Thus-Gone One, there will surely be a great Dharma
teaching there, so it would be better for us to cut short our going for food
and return. It would not be right if we were absent when such a teaching is
heard.”

1.148 Those great hearers then turned around and headed back.

1.149 The girl Candrottarā proceeded to Kūṭāgāraśālā in the Great Forest. She
went to where the Blessed One was, bowed her head at the feet of the
Blessed One, circled the Blessed One three times, and presented him with
the flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, ointments, powders, clothing,
parasols, banners, and flags that she had brought, laying them out before
him.
1.150 The crowd of men also presented the Blessed One with what they had
brought: flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, and ointments. As soon as
they laid them out, at that very moment, the flowers transformed into a
flower canopy about ten leagues wide. It settled directly above the crown of
the Blessed One’s head.
1.151 Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta then addressed the girl Candrottarā: “Girl, from
where did you die and transmigrate when you came here? And when you
die here, where will you go?”
1.152 The girl replied, “Mañjuśrī, what do you think? From where did this this
figure of a thus-gone one that sits on a lotus in my right hand die and
transmigrate when he came here? [F.235.b] And when he dies here, where do
you think he will be reborn?”
1.153 “Girl, this is an emanation,” said Mañjuśrī. “As an emanation, he has no
death, transmigration, and rebirth.”
1.154 “Mañjuśrī,” continued the girl, “all phenomena are by nature just like
emanations, and even I have not seen their death, transmigration, and
rebirth.”
1.155 Then the bodhisattva Amoghadarśin addressed the girl Candrottarā: “Girl,
since perfect and complete awakening to buddhahood is not possible in the
body of a woman, why do you not transform your female body?”
1.156 “Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “all phenomena are characterized
by emptiness, and in emptiness there are no changes to be made and no
transformation.”
1.157 Then the bodhisattva Dharaṇīṃdhara addressed the girl Candrottarā:
“Girl, do you see the Thus-Gone One?”
1.158 “Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “just as this figure of a thus-gone
one sees, so do I see the Thus-Gone One.”
1.159 The bodhisattva Pratibhānakūṭa spoke: “Girl, have confidence to tell us
about the Dharma.”
1.160 “Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “in the realm of phenomena, there is
no narrating and no recounting, for the realm of phenomena cannot be
enumerated in words.”
1.161 The bodhisattva Asaṅgapratibhāna asked, “Girl, what Dharma teachings
have you heard in the presence of previous thus-gone ones?”
1.162 “Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “if you want to know, look up. A
thus-gone one is like the sky; the Dharma taught is just like the thus-gone
one, as are those who listen. Son of noble family, all phenomena are just like
the sky.”
1.163 The bodhisattva Gaganagañja asked, “Girl, how did you make offerings to
previous thus-gone ones, and how did you dedicate the merit?” [F.236.a]
1.164 “Son of noble family, it is like this,” replied the girl. “If, for example, the
emanation of a thus-gone one were to make offerings to a buddha, his
saṅgha of monks, and so forth, what would happen?”
“Girl, with an emanation, nothing would happen,” said Gaganagañja.
1.165 “Son of noble family, I gave offerings to previous thus-gone ones and
dedicated the merit in just that way,” said the girl.
1.166 The bodhisattva Asaṅgacitta asked, “Girl, how do you make beings
suffused with loving-kindness?”
“Son of noble family, I leave beings just as they are,” replied the girl.
1.167 “How are those beings, girl?” he asked.
“Son of noble family,” she said, “there is no past, there is no future, and
there is no present. Since the mind too has no past, no future, and no present,
the cultivation of loving-kindness cannot be captured by saying ‘it is like
this.’ ”
1.168 The bodhisattva Prāmodyarāja asked, “Girl, have you obtained the
Dharma eye?”
1.169 “Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “if I have not even obtained the
physical eye, how would I obtain the Dharma eye?”
1.170 The bodhisattva Sthiramati asked, “Girl, how long have you been
advancing toward unexcelled, perfectly complete awakening?”
“Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “for as long as water advances
toward a mirage, that is how long I have been advancing toward
awakening.”
1.171 Then the bodhisattva Maitreya asked the girl Candrottarā, “Girl, how long
will it be before you reach the complete buddhahood of unexcelled, perfectly
complete awakening?” [F.236.b]
“As long as it takes the bodhisattva Maitreya to pass beyond the stage of
an ordinary being and also pass beyond the stage of a buddha,” replied the
girl.
1.172 Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra addressed the Blessed One: “Blessed
One, this sister dons the great armor of a great leader and with her followers
speaks with utter fearlessness and without any inferiority—the girl’s
eloquence is amazing.”
1.173 The girl Candrottarā then said to the venerable Śāradvatīputra,
“Honorable Śāradvatīputra, it is like this. Take the example of fire —no
matter small it is, its nature is to burn, so anything brought close to it will be
burned. In the same way, Honorable Śāradvatīputra, since there is not the
slightest difference between the bodhisattvas with respect to the course of
all the thus-gone ones, all of them stay close in order to burn away all the
afflictions of themselves and others.”46
1.174 “Girl, once you have attained awakening, what will your buddha field be
like?” asked Śāradvatīputra.
1.175 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “in my buddha field, as in
any buddha field, Elder Śāradvatīputra, there would not be any trace
whatsoever of those who trust in lesser beings, who have weak insight, who
do not look out for the benefit of others, and who follow the Hearer
Vehicle —not even their names would be heard.”
1.176 “Girl, what are you saying?” asked Śāradvatīputra “If it is said ‘the realm
of phenomena is one, suchness is one,’ then how can you see hearers as
inferior, and buddhas as superior?”
1.177 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, it is like this,” replied the girl. “To give an
analogy, although there is not even the slightest difference between the
water in a cow’s hoofprint and the water in an ocean, [F.237.a] nevertheless,
in a hoofprint there is no room for immeasurable numbers of sentient beings
like there is in an ocean. In the same way, Honorable Śāradvatīputra,
although it is the case that both the thus-gone ones and hearers certainly
arise from the same realm of phenomena, nevertheless, hearers are incapable
of acting for the benefit of immeasurable and innumerable sentient beings
like thus-gone ones do.
1.178 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, it is like this. To give another analogy,
although there is not even the slightest difference between the space
element that fills the inside of a mustard seed and the space element that fills
all the world systems in the ten directions, nevertheless, in the space
element inside a mustard seed there is no room for the towns, cities,
kingdoms, and royal palaces that there are in the space of the ten directions.
Nor is there room for the Mount Merus and great oceans. In the same way,
Honorable Śāradvatīputra, although thus-gone ones and hearers certainly
arise from the same emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness,
nevertheless, hearers are incapable of acting for the benefit of immeasurable
and innumerable sentient beings like thus-gone, worthy, perfectly complete
buddhas do.”
1.179 “Girl, is not the liberation of buddhas and of hearers the same?” asked
Śāradvatīputra.
1.180 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, what are you saying?” replied the girl. “To
say that the liberation of buddhas and of hearers is the same is a calumny.”
[F.237.b]
1.181 “Why is that, girl?” asked Śāradvatīputra.
1.182 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, for this, ask yourself!” said the girl. “Begging
your forbearance, may I ask, Honorable Śāradvatīputra, when your mind
was liberated, did the great trichiliocosm of world systems become fully
settled and smooth like the palm of your hand?
1.183 “Did all the trees and mountains face you and bow, bow low, bow deeply?
1.184 “Were all bad transmigrations thoroughly pacified?
1.185 “Did all sentient beings become free from affliction?
1.186 “Was the great trichiliocosm of world systems from the Avīci hells below
right up to the Akaniṣṭha heavens above illuminated as if by colored light?
1.187 “Did all the gods salute you?
1.188 “Did an army of māras swarm the earth and sky for thirty leagues?
1.189 “Was there liberation through the insight of the single unique instant47 of
intention?
1.190 “At the very moment of your awakening, did you vanquish all māras?”
“Girl, not one of the things you have described occurred,” replied
Śāradvatīputra.
1.191 “Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” the girl continued, “these distinctive
qualities, and limitless others, occur for a bodhisattva at the sublime seat of
awakening. So, Honorable Śāradvatīputra, the liberation of a thus-gone one
and the liberation of a hearer are different.”
1.192 The Blessed One then gave his approval to the girl Candrottarā.
“Excellent!” he said. “Excellent, girl! Excellent! What you have taught is
most excellent.”
1.193 Then, through the power of the Buddha, [F.238.a] the figure of the thus-
gone one seated on a lotus in the right hand of the girl Candrottarā rose from
its lotus seat. It circumambulated the Blessed One three times, then entered
into the navel of the Blessed One himself.
1.194 The very next instant, through the power of the Buddha, the great earth
shook, and a golden-colored lotus appeared from each of the Blessed One’s
pores; their stems were gold, their petals silver, and their centers were made
from the śrīgarbha gem. On each of those lotuses appeared the figure of a
thus-gone one seated on a lotus and excellently adorned with all the marks.
Those figures of thus-gone ones then departed for the endless worlds in the
limitless ten directions, illuminating them all by teaching the Dharma in
those worlds that were without a buddha. Through the power of the
Buddha, those Dharma teachings were heard everywhere, even here.
1.195 On seeing such a great magical display, the girl Candrottarā rejoiced with
joy and delight. With tremendous joy, happiness, and exultation, she tossed
the lotus she had been holding in her right hand toward the Blessed One. As
soon as she threw it, the lotus transformed into a square storied pavilion of
flowers supported by four pillars, which hovered directly above the crown of
the Blessed One’s head. In the pavilion was a throne, its legs bedecked with
jewels and draped in divine fabric with many hundreds of thousands of
threads. Upon the throne appeared the figure of a thus-gone one just like the
Blessed Thus-Gone Śākyamuni.
1.196 Having thrown the lotus, she said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, by
this root of virtue, may I [F.238.b] become a teacher of the Dharma48 so that
beings who persist in grasping at ‘I’ and ‘mine’ may abandon grasping at ‘I’
and ‘mine.’ ”
1.197 Then again, through the power of the Buddha, a second lotus appeared in
her hand, and again she tossed it toward the Blessed One. As soon as she
threw it, it too transformed into a second pavilion of lotuses above the
Blessed One. And again she spoke:
1.198 “Blessed One, by this root of virtue, may I become a teacher of the Dharma
so that beings who hold the view of the destructible collection may abandon
the view of the destructible collection.”
1.199 Then again, through the power of the Buddha, a third lotus appeared in
her hand, and again she tossed it toward the Blessed One. As soon as she
threw it, it too transformed into a third pavilion of lotuses above the Blessed
One. And again she spoke:
1.200 “Blessed One, by this root of virtue, may I teach the Dharma to beings so
that conceptual thought, ideation, imputation, attraction, aversion, and
ignorance 49 are abandoned.”
1.201 Then again, through the power of the Buddha, a fourth lotus appeared in
her hand, and again she tossed it toward the Blessed One. As soon as she
threw it, it too transformed into a fourth pavilion of lotuses above the
Blessed One. And again she spoke:
1.202 “Blessed One, by this root of virtue, may I teach the Dharma to beings so
that the four errors are abandoned.”
1.203 Then again, through the power of the Buddha, a fifth lotus appeared in her
hand, and again she tossed it toward the Blessed One. As soon as she threw
it, it too transformed into a fifth pavilion of lotuses above the Blessed One.
And again she spoke: [F.239.a]
1.204 “Blessed One, by this root of virtue, may I teach the Dharma so that beings
who have the five obscurations may be rid of the five obscurations.”
1.205 Then again, through the power of the Buddha, a sixth lotus appeared in
her hand, and again she tossed it toward the Blessed One. As soon as she
threw it, it too transformed into a sixth pavilion of lotuses above the Blessed
One. And again she spoke:
1.206 “Blessed One, by this root of virtue, may I teach the Dharma so that beings
who depend on the six sense fields may come to understand the six sense
fields.”
1.207 Then again, through the power of the Buddha, a seventh lotus appeared in
her hand, and again she tossed it toward the Blessed One. As soon as she
threw it, it too transformed into a seventh pavilion of lotuses above the
Blessed One. And again she spoke:
1.208 “Blessed One, by this root of virtue, may I teach the Dharma so that beings
with the seven states of consciousness may come to understand the seven
states of consciousness.”
1.209 Then again, through the power of the Buddha, an eighth lotus appeared in
her hand, and again she tossed it toward the Blessed One. As soon as she
threw it, [F.239.b] it too transformed into an eighth pavilion of lotuses above
the Blessed One. And again she spoke:
1.210 “Blessed One, by this root of virtue, may I teach the Dharma so that beings
who are fixed on the eight errors may abandon the eight errors.”
1.211 Then again, through the power of the Buddha, a ninth lotus appeared in
her hand, and again she tossed it toward the Blessed One. As soon as she
threw it, it too transformed into a ninth pavilion of lotuses above the Blessed
One. And again she spoke:
1.212 “Blessed One, by this root of virtue, may I teach the Dharma so that beings
who persist in the nine causes of resentment may fully abandon the nine
causes of resentment.”
1.213 Then again, through the power of the Buddha, a tenth lotus appeared in
her hand, and again she tossed it toward the Blessed One. As soon as she
threw it, it too transformed into a tenth pavilion of lotuses directly above the
crown of the Blessed One’s head. And again she spoke:
1.214 “Blessed One, by this root of virtue, may I become a buddha endowed
with the ten powers, just like the Blessed One who right now pervades the
ten directions with light.”
1.215 The height of those storied lotus pavilions, one stacked above the other,
reached as high as the brahmā realms above. At that moment, drawn by
those stacked lotus pavilions, limitless tens of millions of gods gathered,
from the gods above the earth up to the brahmā deities. Whereupon, at that
moment, the Blessed One smiled.
1.216 It being the nature of blessed buddhas when they smile, from the mouth of
the Blessed One issued light rays of many colors, in many hundreds of
thousands of hues —blue, yellow, red, white, rose, and the colors of crystal
and silver—that completely illuminated limitless, innumerable world
systems, and, rising up to the brahmā worlds, outshone the sun and moon,
and then returned again and dissolved into the crown of the Blessed One’s
head.
1.217 Then the venerable Ānanda rose from his seat, [F.240.a] draped his upper
robe over one shoulder, placed his right knee on the ground, and bowed
toward the Blessed One with his palms joined. He addressed the Blessed
One in melodious verse, asking about the meaning of his smile:

1.218 “Wise one with the eye that directly perceives all,
Who has passed beyond uncertainty about all phenomena,
Whose power is unequaled in all worlds,
Powerful Victor, for what reason have you graced us with a smile?

1.219 “Since beginningless time you have bestowed your generosity,

Your discipline is like the purest precious jewel,
Your patience, too, is as unshakeable as Mount Meru.
O Great Sage, for what reason have you graced us with a smile?

1.220 “Having attained meditative stability and the strength of perseverance,

You are without ill will and are free from illness and aging —
Your mind is as deep as an ocean.
Great Sage, for what reason have you graced us with a smile?

1.221 “Resting in love and in compassion,

Your equanimity, Sage, is joyous.
With the fears of attachment and so on removed, you are at peace.
Great Sage, for what reason have you graced us with a smile?
1.222 “The light rays from a single hair
Swiftly eclipse the suns and moons
In the limitless world systems of the ten directions,
Outshining them in splendor and conferring sight.

1.223 “Sole protector of migrators, your speech is pure,

With the six branches, pleasing and attractive.
Those who hear it cannot be sated.
You pacify all afflictions without exception.

1.224 “Knowing all the mental activities there are,

Of all sentient beings in the limitless ten directions,
You are the one who severs those doubts.
Self-Emergent One,50 for what reason have you graced us with a smile?

1.225 “Today, whose mind is fixed upon awakening?

Who has entered the expansive Buddha Vehicle?
Pervasive Lord, what intention has been fulfilled?
Sage, for what reason have you graced us with a smile?

1.226 “Who today has defeated the four māras — [F.240.b]

The māra of the afflictions, the great māra lord of death,
The māra of the aggregates, and the māra of the gods?
For what reason have you graced us with a smile?

1.227 “Today, whose great purpose is so broad?

Who is it that makes the Dharma abundant,51 Lion of Humans?
Whose voice is it that today spreads in all directions?
Sage, for what reason have you graced us with a smile?

1.228 “Omniscient One who has abandoned all nonvirtues,

Who loves all sentient beings equally,
Who has abandoned all agitation and conceptual thought,52
Great Seer, for what reason have you graced us with a smile?

1.229 “Today, who has attained great breadth?

Whose aspirations are now so excellent?
Who now possesses the ten powers?
Subduer of Foes, for what reason have you graced us with a smile?

1.230 “Gods in the sky, and millions of nāgas,

Together with yakṣas, garuḍas, and mahoragas,
And men and women on earth with their palms joined
Look with joy upon the lord of gods and humans as the moon.53
1.231 “Many perfect bodhisattvas seeking the excellent Dharma,
Who have arrived like an ocean,
Request you, Subduer of Foes, pure of heart,
To explain the meaning of your smile.”

1.232 The Blessed One then replied to the venerable Ānanda in verse:

1.233 “Ānanda, do you see this girl before us,

Who upon seeing the supreme magical display of the victors
Generated the vast mind of awakening,
And now sits with palms joined before me?

1.234 “She, in former lives,

Made proper offerings to three hundred victors,
And directly asked all those victors,
‘How do I reach supreme awakening?’

1.235 “Not even once has she had a bad rebirth,

But has always been born in the world of gods and humans.
Never has she forsaken the mind of awakening,
And even at the time of death has been mindful of the succession of lives.

1.236 “When she saw the victor called Kāśyapa,

Beautiful of body, she leapt from the top of her mansion. [F.241.a]
She worshiped Kāśyapa with her vast mind
And thereby gained concordant acceptance.

1.237 “She supplicated the Buddha Krakucchanda,

Offering him a set of excellent clothing.
Because of that, the hue of her body is like gold,
And she is as beautiful and pure as the moon.

1.238 “She offered the teacher called Kanakamuni

The most sublime incense and perfume.
Because of that, the scents of utpala and sandalwood
Rise from her mouth and pores.

1.239 “For seven nights she observed

The best of the two-legged ones called Śikhīn.
Because of that, the color of her eyes is the darkest blue,
Which ordinary beings never tire of.

1.240 “Over five hundred lifetimes, she has abandoned desire

And conducted herself with perfect celibacy.
Because of that, when those tormented by lust see her,
 They who are attached become free from lust.

1.241 “She dwelt in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, then transmigrated here.
Here, she was reborn in a wealthy Licchavī household.
Recalling her previous rebirths among all manner of beings,
She can speak in melodious verse.

1.242 “Wishing to ripen her father and mother,

And likewise wanting to benefit other sentient beings,
She generates the mind of awakening for the sake of the awakening of each.
Because of that, she has been reborn in this wealthy household.

1.243 “So as to tame ladies, men, relatives, friends,

Young men, and young women,
She ripened sixty thousand of them
In the supreme Buddha Vehicle.

1.244 “It will not be long before she transforms her female body
And goes forth as a renunciant in my teachings,
Who, after practicing extensively in excellent celibacy,
Will die and migrate to a heavenly realm.

1.245 “Again dying and migrating from the heavenly realm,

She will guard this Dharma until the end of time.
And, having again benefited all kinds of beings here,
Will go again to Tuṣita.

1.246 “At the time of Ajita, vanquisher of enemies,

She will arise as the Conch Prince. [F.241.b]
Skilled in all arts and crafts,
He will be beautiful and have all excellent qualities.

1.247 “He will be honored by many hundreds of living beings,

And after worshiping the victor for three months,
Along with six thousand three hundred living beings,
Will leave his home and live with the Victor Ajita.

1.248 “He will become a holder of the Dharma method of transcendence.

And as such a hero,
Having died and migrated,
Will go to the world of Sukhāvatī.

1.249 “There, the intelligent one will meet and serve Amitābha,
And many millions of other buddhas
Who live in the limitless ten directions,
 As numerous as the grains of sand in the River Ganges.

1.250 “Attaining absorption, the superknowledges, perseverance, and power,

He will serve those world protectors
Who strive to benefit beings in the fortunate eon,
And in whatever naturally arisen worlds come after.

1.251 “Making offerings to them for many millions of eons,

He will ripen many millions of sentient beings,
And in eight hundred billion eons will be called
The Victorious One Candrottara.

1.252 “From the ūrṇā of that best of two-legged ones, Candrottara,

Will radiate captivating golden-hued light rays,
Each one of which
Will illuminate that entire world system.

1.253 “With the world suffused by that light,

The sun, moon, fire, and gems will not appear bright.
There will be no constellations,
And no reckoning of day and night.

1.254 “At that time there will be no solitary buddhas,

Or hearers, or non-Buddhist assemblies.
The saṅgha of the peerless one will be pure.
All of them will utterly forsake women.

1.255 “All people will be golden-hued,

Possess the signs of a hundred merits, and be lovely to look upon.
They will not be dependent on desire, nor gestate in the womb,
But will be born miraculously from a lotus.

1.256 “The hosts of heirs of victors

Will be more numerous than can be calculated.
All will have the superknowledges, be gentle in conduct, [F.242.a]
Have acceptance that phenomena do not arise, be unrivaled, and be free
from desire.

1.257 “There, there will be no māras, or those who apprehend.54

There will be none who transgress their training, or take positions.
In those worlds
There will be enjoyments like those of Tuṣita—

1.258 “Decorated with gold, silver, mother of pearl,

A clean and odor-free expanse.
 The lifespan of that Victorious One
Will be seven hundred and thirty billion years.

1.259 “When that teacher has passed into peace,

His holy Dharma will remain for an eon,
And while it remains, even after he has passed into nirvāṇa,
The treasure of his holy Dharma will not wane.

1.260 “If the marvels of that Victor and that buddha field
Were to be extolled for an eon,
Still it would be just a drop from the ocean;
No example whatsoever could express it.”

1.261 When the girl Candrottarā directly heard this prophecy in the presence of
the Blessed One, she was so joyful, so supremely joyful, that she rose into
the sky to the height of some seven palm trees, and as soon as she did so, the
girl transformed her female body into the actual body of a man. In the world,
the earth shook, a rain of flowers descended, the sound of many hundreds of
thousands of cymbals played by gods and humans resounded, and the
entire world was suffused by bright light.

1.262 Then, as the bodhisattva Candrottara hovered in the sky, he praised the
Blessed One with these verses:

1.263 “Mount Meru may shake, the sky may fall to earth,
Divine realms may be destroyed in an instant,
Oceans may stop moving, or the moon may fall from the sky,
But the Thus-Gone One would not speak falsehood.

1.264 “The bodies of sentient beings in the ten directions may merge into one,
Fire may become water and water become fire,
But the peerless Great Sage, source of good qualities, [F.242.b]
Would not speak false words just to appease beings.

1.265 “The narrow earth may seize the sky,

A hundred buddha fields may be squeezed inside a mustard seed,
A snare may be capable of catching the cold wind,
But you, Victor, would not speak false words.

1.266 “The Victor tells things how they truly are.

He has taught that my awakening is certain.
This is why the earth shook everywhere.
So without a doubt, sublime awakening will be attained.

1.267 “As the Self-Emergent One has foretold,

 I am prophesied for the supreme Buddha Vehicle.
In keeping with my striving over a hundred eons past,
I will turn the wheel of the supreme Dharma.

1.268 “Gods, humans, asuras, yakṣas, monks,

Laypeople, and bodhisattvas —
All will be endowed with the incomparable power of the well-gone ones,
Do not doubt it!

1.269 “All these phenomena are like illusions.

The victors have taught that pleasures are like dreams.
They have taught that there is no self, no person, no human,
No being, no life force, no individual.

1.270 “From the beginning, the true nature of

All things is that they are by nature pure and without an essence.
My previous nature as a woman
Was unreal, hollow, empty, void.

1.271 “This later form is also empty and momentary,

Unreal, unmoving, hollow, void.
To be free of thought and conceptualization,
Even that thought is like a bird’s track in the sky.

1.272 “Those who will reach incomparable buddhahood

In the great trichiliocosm of world systems,
And conquer the māras so difficult to subdue,
Are those who long to turn the excellent wheel of Dharma.

1.273 “They firmly generate the mind of awakening,

And by worshiping the thus-gone ones,
Quickly realize that the source of good qualities
Is the faultless path of the Victorious Teacher.

1.274 “Reaching the stage of a man, with exalted abilities and pleasant speech,
[F.243.a]
They pay homage to the Victor, the leader and best of humans,
He who creates joy and grants delightful things.
I praise the Lord, the Sage, source of the treasure of Dharma,

1.275 “The source of happiness, who grants all kinds of wellbeing;

The Thus-Gone One, unperturbed by the thorns of Māra;
The supreme being, praised by the praiseworthy;
The Self-Emergent Lord, free of craving —I praise you.
1.276 “When I look out, in all directions,
I see hundreds of faultless buddhas, unimaginable.
Just like the Lion of the Śākyas,
The buddhas of the ten directions proclaim my prophecy.

1.277 “In reality all victors are the same —Buddha.

Likewise all phenomena are the same in suchness.
Even beings are confirmed in ultimate reality.
Those who accept this will become victorious ones.”

1.278 After speaking these verses, the bodhisattva Candrottara descended from
the sky and touched the two feet of the Blessed One. As soon as he touched
them, many hundreds of thousands of buddhas appeared. Those blessed
buddhas also prophesied his unexcelled and perfectly complete awakening.
Directly seeing those blessed buddhas and again hearing his own prophecy,
he was delighted and rejoiced. With great happiness and joy, he made the
request to go forth in the presence of the Blessed One. He requested
permission to go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya that was excellently
spoken by the Blessed One himself.
1.279 The Blessed One replied, “Child,55 your parents must grant permission.”
Then the parents of the child, having seen the great miracle and having
directly heard the prophecy, said, “Blessed One, we give permission for this
child to go forth. [F.243.b] We also request to hear these teachings again
later.” So the Blessed One sent the child forth. The child went forth as a
renunciant, and ten thousand living beings generated the mind set on
unexcelled and perfectly complete awakening.
1.280 When this Dharma discourse was taught, seventy billion gods and
humans purified the dustless and stainless Dharma eye that looks upon
phenomena. Five hundred monks freed their minds from contaminations
with no further clinging, and two hundred nuns and twenty thousand living
beings who had not previously generated the mind of awakening, generated
the mind set on unexcelled and perfectly complete awakening.
1.281 When the Blessed One had finished speaking, the bodhisattva
Candrottara, the venerable Ānanda, and the bodhisattvas, the hearers, and
the entire entourage rejoiced along with the world of gods, humans, asuras,
and gandharvas, and praised what the Blessed One had said.

1.282 This concludes the noble Mahāyāna sūtra “The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā.”
c. Colophon
c.1 Edited and finalized by the Indian preceptor Jinamitra and the great editor-
translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.
ab. ABBREVIATIONS
C Choné (co ne) Kangyur
D Degé (sde dge) Kangyur
F Phukdrak MS (phug brag) Kangyur
H Lhasa (zhol) Kangyur
J Lithang (’jang sa tham) Kangyur
K Peking (pe cin) Kangxi Kangyur
N Narthang (snar thang) Kangyur
S Stok Palace (stog pho brang) Manuscript Kangyur
U Urga (ur ga) Kangyur
Y Peking Yongle (g.yung lo) Kangyur
n. NOTES
n.1 The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (https://read.84000.co/translation/toh176.html)
(Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, Toh 176).

n.2 On the age of children when entering marriage in ancient and medieval
India, see Jamison 2018.

n.3 Aśokadattā’s Prophecy (https://read.84000.co/translation/toh76.html) (Aśokadattāvyā-

karaṇa, Toh 76).

n.4 The Questions of the Girl Vimalaśraddhā

(https://read.84000.co/translation/toh84.html) (Dārikāvimalaśraddhāparipṛcchā, Toh
84).

n.5 For a full list of Great Vehicle sūtras in the Kangyur in which women and
girls are the main protagonists, see the introduction to Aśokadattā’s
Prophecy (Toh 76, i.5).

n.6 Sumatidārikāparipṛcchāsūtra (http://read.84000.co/translation/toh74.html) (Toh 74).

n.7 Braarvig and Harrison 2002, pp. 52–53. Diana Paul, in her treatment of the
text, also surmised that it was likely compiled around the third or fourth
century (Paul 1985, p. 190).

n.8 Paul 1985, pp. 190–99.

n.9 Giebel 2018.

n.10 Denkarma, F.298.a; Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, pp. 78–79; Phangthangma 2003, p.

12.

n.11 Butön Rinchen Drup, chos byung, folio 150.b.

n.12 Following N, U, H: sems thams cad kyi dbang gi dam pa’i pha rol tu son pa. D, S:
sems can thams cad kyi, “of all sentient beings.” The former reading (without
can) matches the Mahāvyutpatti entry for hearer qualities: [1088] sarvacetovaśi-
paramapāramiprāptaḥ, sems kyi dbang thams cad kyi dam pa’i pha rol tu son thob pa,
and is also corroborated by the Chinese.

n.13 Following S: brgyad stong. D: brgya stong. The former is corroborated by the
Chinese: ba qian.

n.14 On the close connection between these two attainments, dhāraṇī and
pratibhāna, see Braarvig 1985.

n.15 Y has the additional phrase tshul thogs pa med pa, “had an unobstructed
manner.”

n.16 Here Nārāyaṇa refers to a bodhisattva and is not an epithet of Viṣṇu.

n.17 Following Y, J, K, N, C, H, S: bdag gi, “of mine.” D: bdag gis.

n.18 Following S: ston par byed do. D: stobs par byed do.

n.19 Reading Y, K, H, S: zla mchog gi. D: zla mchog gis.

n.20 The translation of this and the preceding line is tentative. D: ngan bu lhan [J,
K, N, C, H, S slan] chad lus kyis ni//’du shes ma mchis sems mi g.yo//.

n.21 Translation tentative. D: ji ltar bzung zhing rab tu gnas.

n.22 Translation tentative: chos byung nga deng khyod kyi phyir// lha mi ’dul bas bka’
stsal to.

n.23 Literally “his tongue.”

n.24 Following F: gnas nas go ’phang mchog mnyes la. D, S: gsan nas go ’phang mchog
brnyes la (“listening, he attains the supreme state”). The latter reading seems
unlikely since there is no need to “attain” anything, as he is already a
buddha.

n.25 The Chinese also includes the word “seven”: the “seven branches of
awakening.”

n.26 Y, J, K, N, C omit this line.

n.27 Following D, S: spros pa sna tshogs kun. Y, J, K, N, C: spobs pa sna tshogs kun.
n.28 dgra thul de. We have translated this term literally. It is possibly an alternative
for dgra bcom pa (lit. “enemy-vanquisher”) which is the usual Tibetan
translation of “arhat,” used here as an epithet of the Buddha.

n.29 The Sanskrit fragment from the Schøyen Collection begins here. Braarvig and
Harrison 2002, pp. 55–57.

n.30 Though the girl’s speech has now ended, the Tibetan text continues in nine-
syllable meter for two more verses.

n.31 D, S: hab shang. Y, K: hab she; N: ha gshang. In a footnote to the Schøyen

fragment, Braarvig and Harrison note “The term hab śaṅ (the Thems spaṇs
reading, here followed by D) is not found in the lexicons, but N’s ha gśaṇ
points us in the direction of the gśaṇ, a musical instrument used especially by
the Bon pos, which resembles a flattish sort of bell. See Helffer, 1994: 215ff.”

n.32 End of Schøyen fragment.

n.33 The section cited by Śāntideva in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, which is extant in

Sanskrit, starts here. Braarvig and Harrison 2002, pp. 59–68. For another
English translation of this section of the sūtra, as cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya,
see Goodman 2016, pp. 79–80.

n.34 The Sanskrit of this verse, as cited by Śāntideva in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, has an
ambiguity whereby the girl is both teaching that her beauty has not been
produced by lust, but also that her beauty will not be won by lustful suitors.
See Braarvig and Harrison 2002, p. 60, n. 34.

n.35 D: gang dag tshangs spyod rnams spyod dag pa. The plural rnams has not been
rendered in the English translation. It could refer to those (pl.) who observe
celibacy, or to the aspects (pl.) of the celibate or spiritual life. This plural is
absent from the Sanskrit as cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya. Braarvig and Harrison
2002, p. 60.

n.36 Following D: kho mo ’dod chags ldan pa’i sems mi skyed// ’dod chags bral la chags pa
ma skyed cig// ji ltar smras bden nam yang brdzum min te// mdun gyi thub dbang ’di
ni bdag gi dpang. This verse, and those that follow, are very slightly different
as cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya from how they are found in the Kangyur
version of the sūtra. For translations of the verses as cited in the
Śikṣāsamuccaya, which is extant in Sanskrit, and comparison with the Tibetan,
see Braarvig and Harrison 2002, pp. 62 ff. The Sanskrit term translated into
Tibetan as both ’dod chags and chags pa in this verse, and rendered in English
as both “desire” and “lust,” is rāga.
 D: ’dod pa’i gzhi las. Here the Śikṣāsamuccaya citation reads (in Tibetan
n.37
translation) ’dod pa’i rgyus. Here the Sanskrit term translated as ’dod pa and
translated here into English as “lust” is kāma. In the following lines, ’dod
chags, translated here as “desire,” translates rāga.

n.38 This verse is absent from the Śikṣāsamuccaya. It is, however, included in the
Chinese translation of the sūtra.

n.39 D, S: ’dod pas ’khol ba dag. Here the Comparative Edition reads ’dod pas ’khor ba
dag. There are numerous small variations in how this verse is found across
the Kangyur editions of the sūtra, and in how it appears in the various
editions of the Tibetan translation of the Śikṣāsamuccaya. For these variants,
see Braarvig and Harrison 2002, p. 67.

n.40 The excerpt from the Śikṣāsamuccaya ends here.

n.41 In the Sanskrit of the Lalitavistara, rnam par gnod translates vyāhataṃ, hence the
translation here as “conflict.”

n.42 Tib. kho bo ni mya ngan las ’das par ’gro’o. This could also be translated (based
on the Tibetan) as “I am going to [a state that has] passed beyond sorrow,”
or, based on the assumed underlying Sanskrit, “I am going to
extinguishment.”

n.43 Following D: chos thams cad mya ngan las ’das par mchi ba lags pas. The Chinese
translation as well as S and F present this as a question: “Are not all dharmas
going…?”

n.44 Tib. gal te chos thams cad yongs su mya ngan las ’das par ’gro ba yin na. This could
also be translated (based on the Tibetan) as “if all dharmas are going to a
state that has passed completely beyond sorrow.”

n.45 Tib. khyod kyis ji ltar bzod pa de bzhin du lan gtab tu gsol. This polite phrase has
been rendered loosely. A more literal translation could be, “Pray, answer in
accordance with your forbearance.”

n.46 Following Y, K: bdag dang gzhan dag gi nyon mongs. D, S: gis.

n.47 Tib. sems kyi skad cig gcig dang ldan pa’i shes rab. In The Perfection of Wisdom in
Eighteen Thousand Lines (Toh 10, 64.29), the phrase skad cig gcig dang ldan pa’i
shes rab translates the Sanskrit ekakṣaṇasamāyuktayā prajñayā, referring to the
ekakṣaṇābhisaṃbodhi, the instant just prior to complete awakening.

n.48 Following D, S, in which bdag (“I”) may be read as the subject of chos ston par
gyur cig, “May I become a teacher of the Dharma.” Y, J, K, N, C instead read
 bdag gi, “this root of virtue of mine.”

n.49 In the mnemonic patterning of this section of the text, whereby the
numbering of the flower corresponds to a parallel numbering of the teaching
evoked in the aspiration, this third flower corresponds to the abandonment
of the three root poisons of attraction, aversion, and ignorance.

n.50 Following D, S, F: rang byung. Y, J, K, N, C read rab ’byung, “renunciant.”

n.51 Following D, S: chos lo legs bgyid. N, C read chos la legs bgyid, “excellent in
Dharma.” The translation from Chinese has, “Who has enriched the Dharma,
O lion among men?” Giebel 2018, p. 75.

n.52 Following D, S: rtog pa rnam. Y, K, J, N, C, H read log pa rnams, “errors.”

Corroborating the Degé and Stok reading, the Chinese has “discrimination.”

n.53 D: dga’ zhing lha mi dbang po zla ba lta. S: zla ba ltar.

n.54 Following S, Y, J, K, N, C: bdud med dmig can yod min zhing. D: bud med dmig can
yod min zhing, “none who perceive women.” The Chinese favors the reading
bdud, “māra.”

n.55 In Tibetan the term khye’u (“child”) is not explicitly gender-specific, but it
likely translates the Sanskrit dāraka, “boy.”
b. BIBLIOGRAPHY
· Tibetan Sources ·

’phags pa bu mo zla mchog lung bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya-
candrottarādārikāvyākaraṇanāmamahāyānasūtra). Degé Kangyur vol. 61 (mdo
sde, tsa), folios 224.b–243.b.

’phags pa bu mo zla mchog lung bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. bka’
’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i
bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan
Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108
volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China
Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. mdo sde, tsa, pp. 607–51.

’phags pa bu mo zla mchog lung bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Stok
Palace Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, ba), folios 292.a–317.a.

· Sanskrit (fragments and excerpts) ·

Braarvig, Jens and Paul Harrison. “Candrottarādārikāvyākaraṇa.” In Buddhist

Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection II, edited by Jens Braarvig et al., 51–68.
Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection. Oslo: Hermes Publishing, 2002.

· Chinese ·

Yueshangnü jing ⽉上⼥經 (Candrottarādārikāparipṛcchāsūtra), Taishō 480 (CBETA

(https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/en/T0480_001); SAT (https://21dzk.l.u-
tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2018/T480.html)).

· Other Sources ·
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.

Mahāvyutpatti (bye brag tu rtogs par byed pa chen po). Toh 4346, Degé Tengyur
vol. 204 (sna tshogs, co), folios 1.b–131.a.

Mahāvyutpatti with sGra sbyor bam po gñis pa

(https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index.php?page=volume&vid=263).
Bibliotheca Polyglotta, University of Oslo. Input by Jens Braarvig and
Fredrik Liland, 2010. Last accessed May 06, 2024.

Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang,
2003.

84000. Aśokadattā’s Prophecy

(http://read.84000.co/translation/toh76.html) (Aśokadattāvyākaraṇa, mya ngan med
kyis byin pa lung bstan pa, Toh 76). Translated by the UCSB Translation
Group. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha,
2023.

84000. The Questions of the Girl Vimalaśraddhā

(https://read.84000.co/translation/toh84.html) (Dārikāvimalaśraddhāparipṛcchā,
’phags pa bu mo rnam dag dad pas zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, Toh
84), Translated by the Karma Gyaltsen Ling Translation Group. Online
publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.

84000. The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (https://read.84000.co/translation/toh176.html)

(Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, dri ma med par grags pas bstan pa, Toh 176). Translated by
Robert A. F. Thurman. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of
the Buddha, 2017.

84000. The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (https://read.84000.co/translation/toh74.html)

(Acintyabuddhaviṣayanirdeśa, bu mo blo gros bzang mos zhus pa, Toh 74).
Translated by Dharmasāgara Translation Group. Online publication. 84000:
Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.

Bendall, Cecil and W. H. D. Rouse, trs. Śikṣā Samuccaya, A Compendium of

Buddhist Doctrine. Delhi: Motilal Barnarsidass, 1999. Reprint.

Braarvig, Jens. “Dhāraṇī and Pratibhāna: Memory and Eloquence of the

Bodhisattvas.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 8, no.
1 (1985): 17–29.

Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). chos ’byung (bde bar gshegs pa’i
bstan pa’i gsal byed chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i gter mdzod). In The
Collected Works of Bu-Ston, vol. 24 (ya), folios 1.b–212.a (pp. 633–1055). New
Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71. BDRC W22106
(https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:MW22106_ECEBF8).
Giebel, Rolf W., tr. “The Sūtra of the Girl Candrottara.” In The Scripture of
Master of Medicine, Beryl Radiance Tathāgatha/ The Sutra of the Girl Candrottarā,
43–84. BDK English Tripiṭaka Series. Moraga: Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai
America, 2018.

Goodman, Charles. “The Training Anthology” of Śāntideva: A Translation of the

Śikṣā-samuccaya. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

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

Jamison, Stephanie W. “Marriage and the Householder: vivāha, gṛhastha.” In

The Oxford History of Hinduism, Hindu Law: A New History of Dharmaśāstra.
Edited by Olivelle, Patrick and Donald R. Davis Jr. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2018, pp. 125–136.

Paul, Diana Y. “The Sūtra of the Dialogue of the Girl Candrottarā.” In Women
in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in Mahāyāna Buddhism, 190–99. 2nd ed.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.
g. GLOSSARY

· Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding ·

source language

AS Attested in source text

This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.

AO Attested in other text

This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.

AD Attested in dictionary
This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding
language.

AA Approximate attestation
The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names
where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested
in dictionaries or other manuscripts.

RP Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the
term.

RS Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan
translation.

SU Source unspecified
This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often
is a widely trusted dictionary.

g.1 acceptance that phenomena do not arise

mi skye ba’i chos la bzod pa

་་བ་ས་ལ་བད་པ།
anutpattikadharmakṣānti AD · anutpādakṣānti AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
 The bodhisattvas’ realization that all phenomena are unproduced and empty.
It sustains them on the difficult path of benefiting all beings so that they do
not succumb to the goal of personal liberation. Different sources link this
realization to the first or eighth bodhisattva level (bhūmi).

g.2 Ajita
mi ’pham

་ཕམ།
ajita AD
An epithet of Maitreya, meaning “Unconquerable.”

g.3 Akaniṣṭha
’og min

ག་ན།
akaniṣṭha AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The eighth and highest level of the Realm of Form (rūpadhātu), the last of the
five pure abodes (śuddhāvāsa); it is only accessible as the result of specific
states of dhyāna. According to some texts this is where non-returners
(anāgāmin) dwell in their last lives. In other texts it is the realm of the
enjoyment body (saṃbhogakāya) and is a buddhafield associated with the
Buddha Vairocana; it is accessible only to bodhisattvas on the tenth level.

g.4 Amitābha
’od dpag med

ད་དཔག་ད།
amitābha AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The buddha of the western buddhafield of Sukhāvatī, where fortunate
beings are reborn to make further progress toward spiritual maturity.
Amitābha made his great vows to create such a realm when he was a
bodhisattva called Dharmākara. In the Pure Land Buddhist tradition, popular
in East Asia, aspiring to be reborn in his buddha realm is the main emphasis;
in other Mahāyāna traditions, too, it is a widespread practice. For a detailed
description of the realm, see The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī, Toh 115.
In some tantras that make reference to the five families he is the tathāgata
associated with the lotus family.
 Amitābha, “Infinite Light,” is also known in many Indian Buddhist works as
Amitāyus, “Infinite Life.” In both East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions
he is often conflated with another buddha named “Infinite Life,”
Aparimitāyus, or “Infinite Life and Wisdom,”Aparimitāyurjñāna, the shorter
version of whose name has also been back-translated from Tibetan into
Sanskrit as Amitāyus but who presides over a realm in the zenith. For details
on the relation between these buddhas and their names, see The
Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) Toh 674, i.9.

g.5 Amoghadarśin
mthong ba don yod

མང་བ་ན་ད།
amoghadarśin AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Meaningful to Behold.”

g.6 Amśurāja
snang ba’i rgyal po

ང་བ་ལ་།
amśurāja AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “King of Illumination.”

g.7 Ānanda
kun dga’ bo

ན་དགའ་།
ānanda AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni
during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha
(according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers
of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other
sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King
Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).

Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have

memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all
the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist
saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The
phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras,
usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after
the passing of Mahākāśyapa.
g.8 Anikṣiptadhura
brtson pa mi gtong

བན་པ་་གང་།
anikṣiptadhura AD
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.9 Apāyajaha
ngan song spong

ངན་ང་ང་།
apāyajaha AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Abandoning Bad Transmigrations.”

g.10 Asaṅgacitta
thogs med sems

གས་ད་མས།
asaṅgacitta AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Unhindered Mind.”

g.11 Asaṅgapratibhāna
spobs pa thogs pa med pa

བས་པ་གས་པ་ད་པ།
asaṅgapratibhāna AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Unhindered Eloquence.”

g.12 asura
lha min

་ན།
asura AD
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).
g.13 Avalokiteśvara
spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug

ན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ག
avalokiteśvara AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
One of the “eight close sons of the Buddha,” he is also known as the
bodhisattva who embodies compassion. In certain tantras, he is also the lord
of the three families, where he embodies the compassion of the buddhas. In
Tibet, he attained great significance as a special protector of Tibet, and in
China, in female form, as Guanyin, the most important bodhisattva in all of
East Asia.

g.14 Bandé Yeshé Dé

ye shes sdes

་ས་ས།
—
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Yeshé Dé (late eighth to early ninth century) was the most prolific translator
of sūtras into Tibetan. Altogether he is credited with the translation of more
than one hundred sixty sūtra translations and more than one hundred
additional translations, mostly on tantric topics. In spite of Yeshé Dé’s great
importance for the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet during the imperial era,
only a few biographical details about this figure are known. Later sources
describe him as a student of the Indian teacher Padmasambhava, and he is
also credited with teaching both sūtra and tantra widely to students of his
own. He was also known as Nanam Yeshé Dé, from the Nanam (sna nam)
clan.

g.15 Blessed One

bcom ldan ’das

བམ་ན་འདས།
bhagavat AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to
Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in
specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six
auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The
Tibetan term—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan
to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going
 beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition
where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys
the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat
(“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to
break”).

g.16 Brahmā
tshangs pa

ཚངས་པ།
brahman AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to
be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator
god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods
(the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha
Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form
realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after
realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many
universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over
them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati)
and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).

g.17 brahmā deities

tshangs ris

ཚངས་ས།
brahmakāyika AD
Lit. “brahmā group,” this refers to deities who inhabit the brahmā realms, the
heavens of the form realm.

g.18 brahmin
bram ze

མ་།
brāhmaṇa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A member of the highest of the four castes in Indian society, which is closely
associated with religious vocations.

g.19 branches of awakening

byang chub yan lag
 ང་བ་ཡན་ལག
—
The seven branches of awakening are (1) mindfulness, (2) investigation of
the nature of reality, (3) energy, (4) joy, (5) tranquility, (6) concentration, and
(7) equanimity.

g.20 Buddha Vehicle

sangs rgyas theg pa

སངས་ས་ག་པ།
buddhayāna AD
The way to full awakening; another term for the Mahāyāna or Great Vehicle.

g.21 Candrottarā
zla mchog

་མག
candrottarā AO
The protagonist of this sūtra, whose name means “Surpassing the Moon.”

g.22 Candrottara
zla ba mchog

་བ་མག
candrottara AO
Name of the male bodhisattva whom the girl Candrottarā transforms into at
the end of the sūtra. Also the name of the future buddha he is predicted to
become.

g.23 celibacy
tshangs spyod

ཚངས་ད།
brahmacarya AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Brahman is a Sanskrit term referring to what is highest (parama) and most
important (pradhāna); the Nibandhana commentary explains brahman as
meaning here nirvāṇa, and thus the brahman conduct is the “conduct toward
brahman,” the conduct that leads to the highest liberation, i.e., nirvāṇa. This
is explained as “the path without outflows,” which is the “truth of the path”
among the four truths of the noble ones. Other explanations (found in the
Pāli tradition) take “brahman conduct” to mean the “best conduct,” and also
 the “conduct of the best,” i.e., the buddhas. In some contexts, “brahman
conduct” refers more specifically to celibacy, but the specific referents of this
expression are many.

g.24 Conch Prince

dung gi sras

ང་་ས།
—
A future rebirth of the girl Candrottarā during the time of the future buddha
Maitreya.

g.25 concordant acceptance

rjes ’thun bzod pa

ས་འན་བད་པ།
ānulomikī kṣāntiḥ AD
A level of patience reached by bodhisattvas on the path. Concordant acceptance
means acceptance that is concordant with the nature of reality. It precedes
acceptance that all phenomena do not arise (anutpattikadharmakṣānti).

g.26 destructible collection

’jig tshogs

འག་གས།
satkāya AD
The destructible collection refers to the five aggregates. The erroneous view
of the destructible collection refers to the view which takes the five
aggregates as the basis as of an existent self and the reality of notions of “I”
and “mine.”

g.27 devaputra
lha’i bu

་།
devaputra AD
In common use, the term is synonymous with ‘deva’. See also ‘god’.

g.28 Dharaṇīṃdhara
sa ’dzin

ས་འན།
dharaṇīṃdhara AD
 The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Earth Holder.”

g.29 Dhāraṇīśvararāja
gzungs kyi dbang phyug rgyal po

གངས་་དབང་ག་ལ་།
dhāraṇīśvararāja AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “King Among Lords of Dhāraṇīs.”

g.30 Dharma eye

chos kyi mig

ས་་ག
dharmacakṣus AD
One of the “five eyes” with which buddhas and bodhisattvas see.

g.31 Dharmodgata
chos ’phags

ས་འཕགས།
dharmodgata AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Dharma Arisen”

g.32 discipline
tshul khrims

ལ་མས།
śīla AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Morally virtuous or disciplined conduct and the abandonment of morally
undisciplined conduct of body, speech, and mind. In a general sense, moral
discipline is the cause for rebirth in higher, more favorable states, but it is
also foundational to Buddhist practice as one of the three trainings (triśikṣā)
and one of the six perfections of a bodhisattva. Often rendered as “ethics,”
“discipline,” and “morality.”

g.33 Durabhisambhava
’byung dka’

འང་དཀའ།
durabhisaṃbhava AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Difficult in Occurring.”
g.34 eight errors
log pa nyid brgyad

ག་པ་ད་བད།
aṣṭamithyātva AD
The eight errors are the opposite of the eightfold path: wrong view, wrong
thought, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort,
wrong mindfulness, and wrong meditation.

g.35 eight-branched purification vow

gso sbyong yan lag brgyad po · yan lag brgyad pa’i gso sbyong

ག་ང་ཡན་ལག་བད་། · ཡན་ལག་བད་པ་ག་ང་།
aṣṭāṇgasamanvāgatam upavāsam AD
The eight-branched purification vow, which may be taken as a temporary or
a lifelong commitment, consists first of the five precepts —refraining from (1)
killing, (2) stealing, (3) sexual misconduct, (4) lying, and (5) consuming
intoxicants —plus three further ones, namely refraining from (6) resting on a
high or luxurious bed, (7) wearing ornaments, makeup or perfume, and (8)
eating at improper times (after midday).

g.36 eighty excellent marks

dpe byad bzang po brgyad cu

ད་ད་བཟང་་བད་།
anuvyañjana AD
The eighty secondary physical characteristics of a buddha and of other great
beings (mahāpuruṣa), which include such details as the redness of the
fingernails and the blackness of the hair. Sometimes rendered as the “minor
marks” in terms of being secondary to the thirty-two major marks or signs of
a great being.

g.37 eloquence
spobs pa

བས་པ།
pratibhāna AD
The Tibetan, like the Sanskrit, literally means “confidence” or “courage” but
in the Buddhist sūtras it refers specifically to inspired speech, to being
perfectly eloquent in expressing the Dharma.

g.38 Emitting the Light of Incense

 spos kyi ’od zer rab tu gtong ba

ས་་ད་ར་རབ་་གང་བ།
—
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.39 five faculties

dbang po lnga

དབང་་།
pañcendriya AD
Included among the thirty-seven factors of awakening, the five faculties are
often listed as (1) faith, (2) perseverance, (3) mindfulness, (4) meditative
stability, and (5) wisdom.

g.40 five obscurations

sgrib pa lnga

བ་པ་།
pañcanīvaraṇa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Five impediments to meditation (bsam gtan, dhyāna): sensory desire (’dod pa la
’dun pa, kāmacchanda), ill will (gnod sems, vyāpāda), drowsiness and torpor
(rmugs pa dang gnyid, styānamiddha), agitation and regret (rgod pa dang ’gyod pa,
auddhatyakaukṛtya), and doubt (the tshom, vicikitsā).

g.41 five powers

stobs lnga

བས་།
pañcabala AD
The five powers, listed among the thirty-seven factors of awakening, are the
same as the five faculties, but pursued to greater degree. They are (1) faith,
(2) perseverance, (3) mindfulness, (4) meditative stability, and (5) wisdom.

g.42 five pure eyes

spyan lnga

ན་།
pañcacakṣus AD
 The five eyes consist of five faculties of pure vision acquired by buddhas and
bodhisattvas: the physical eye, the divine eye, the wisdom eye, the Dharma
eye, and the Buddha eye.

g.43 five superknowledges

mngon par shes pa lnga

མན་པར་ས་པ་།
pañcābhijñā AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The five supernatural abilities attained through realization and yogic
accomplishment: divine sight, divine hearing, knowing how to manifest
miracles, remembering previous lives, and knowing the minds of others.
(Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)

g.44 fortunate eon

bskal pa bzang po

བལ་པ་བཟང་།
bhadrakalpa AD
The name of the current eon, so-called because one thousand buddhas are
prophesied to appear during this time

g.45 four errors

phyin ci log bzhi

ན་་ག་བ།
caturviparyāsa AD
The four errors are (1) taking that which is impermanent to be permanent, (2)
taking that which is suffering to be happiness, (3) taking that which is
impure to be pure, and (4) taking that which is not a self to be a self.

g.46 four māras

bdud bzhi

བད་བ།
caturmāra AD
The four māras are symbolic personifications of the defects that prevent
awakening. The four are the māra of the gods (Skt. devaputramāra, Tib. lha’i
bu’i bdud), representing the distraction of pleasures; the māra of the
afflictions (kleśamāra, nyon mongs pa’i bdud), representing being controlled by
afflictions; the māra of the aggregates (skandhamāra, phung po’i bdud),
 representing identifying with the five aggregates; and the māra of the lord of
death (mṛtyumāra, ’chi bdag gi bdud), representing having one’s life cut short
by death.

g.47 Gaganagañja
nam mkha’ mdzod

ནམ་མཁའ་མད།
gaganagañja AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Sky Treasury.”

g.48 Gajagandhahastin
bal glang spos kyi glang po che

བལ་ང་ས་་ང་་།
gajagandhahastin AD
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.49 Gambhīrapratibhāna
spobs pa zab mo

བས་པ་ཟབ་།
gambhīrapratibhāna AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Profound Eloquence.”

g.50 Gandhahastin
spos kyi glang po

ས་་ང་།
gandhahastin AD
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.51 garuḍa
mkha’ lding

མཁའ་ང་།
garuḍa AD · suparṇa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the
king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding
a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies
 of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the
heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such
creatures.

g.52 Gautama
gau ta ma

་ཏ་མ།
gautama AD
Family name of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.53 generosity
sbyin pa

ན་པ།
dāna AD
In Great Vehicle Buddhism the first of the six perfections.

g.54 go forth
rab tu ’byung

རབ་་འང་།
pra√vraj AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The Sanskrit pravrajyā literally means “going forth,” with the sense of leaving
the life of a householder and embracing the life of a renunciant. When the
term is applied more technically, it refers to the act of becoming a male
novice (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or female novice (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma), this
being a first stage leading to full ordination.

g.55 god
lha

།
deva AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
In the most general sense the devas —the term is cognate with the English
divine—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist
texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend
and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas
and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of
the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth.
 The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number
between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire
realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A
being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in
the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form
and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable,
it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the
conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god
realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.

g.56 Great Forest

tshal chen po

ཚལ་ན་།
mahāvana AD
The great forest (mahāvana) was the location of Kūṭāgāraśālā, where the
Buddha and his community often stayed when visiting the great city of
Vaiśālī.

g.57 Great Sage

thub chen · thub dbang

བ་ན། · བ་དབང་།
mahāmuni AD
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.58 Great Seer

drang srong chen po

ང་ང་ན་།
mahaṛṣi AD
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.59 great trichiliocosm of world systems

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

ང་གམ་ི་ང་ན་ ་འག་ན་ི་ཁམས།
trisāhasramahāsāhasralokadhātu AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The largest universe described in Buddhist cosmology. This term, in
Abhidharma cosmology, refers to 1,000³ world systems, i.e., 1,000
“dichiliocosms” or “two thousand great thousand world realms” (dvisāhasra-
 mahāsāhasralokadhātu), which are in turn made up of 1,000 first-order world
systems, each with its own Mount Sumeru, continents, sun and moon, etc.

g.60 Great Vehicle

theg pa chen po

ག་པ་ན་།
mahāyāna AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
When the Buddhist teachings are classified according to their power to lead
beings to an awakened state, a distinction is made between the teachings of
the Lesser Vehicle (Hīnayāna), which emphasizes the individual’s own
freedom from cyclic existence as the primary motivation and goal, and those
of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna), which emphasizes altruism and has the
liberation of all sentient beings as the principal objective. As the term “Great
Vehicle” implies, the path followed by bodhisattvas is analogous to a large
carriage that can transport a vast number of people to liberation, as
compared to a smaller vehicle for the individual practitioner.

g.61 guhyaka
gsang ba pa

གསང་བ་པ།
guhyaka AD
Lit. “secret one.” A guhyaka is a class of yakṣa.

g.62 hearer
nyan thos

ཉན་ས།
śrāvaka AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the
verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the
Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of
the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own
liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the
wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering
inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no
independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate
themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing,
followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more
 time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into
the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are
also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”

g.63 Hearer Vehicle

nyan thos kyi theg pa

ཉན་ས་་ག་པ།
śrāvakayāna AD
The vehicle comprising the teachings of the “hearers” (śrāvaka), those
disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of a “worthy one”
(arhat) by seeking self-liberation. The hearers are typically defined as “those
who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard by others.”

g.64 Heaven of the Thirty-Three

sum cu rtsa gsum

མ་་་གམ།
trāyastriṃśa AD · trayastriṃśa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
In Buddhist cosmology, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three is the second lowest
of the six heavens in the desire realm (kāmadhātu). Situated on the flat summit
of Mount Sumeru, it lies above the Heaven of the Four Great Kings
(Caturmahārājakāyika) and below the Yāma Heaven. It consists of thirty-three
regions, each presided by one of thirty-three chief gods, and the overall ruler
is Śakra. The presiding gods are divided into four groups named in the
Abhidharmakośaṭīkā (Toh 4092): the eight gods of wealth, two Aśvin youths,
eleven fierce ones, and twelve suns. The thirty-three regions themselves are
enumerated and described in The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred
Dharma, Toh 287, 4.B.2 et seq.).

g.65 heirs of victors

rgyal sras

ལ་ས།
jinaputra AD
A synonym for bodhisattvas.

g.66 Inexpressible
brjod med

བད་ད།
—
 The name of a bodhisattva.

g.67 insight
shes rab

ས་རབ།
prajñā AD
In Great Vehicle Buddhism the sixth of the six perfections. Sometimes
translated as “wisdom.”

g.68 Jambudvīpa
’dzam gling

འཛམ་ང་།
jambudvīpa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The name of the southern continent in Buddhist cosmology, which can
signify either the known human world, or more specifically the Indian
subcontinent, literally “the jambu island/continent.” Jambu is the name used
for a range of plum-like fruits from trees belonging to the genus Szygium,
particularly Szygium jambos and Szygium cumini, and it has commonly been
rendered “rose apple,” although “black plum” may be a less misleading
term. Among various explanations given for the continent being so named,
one (in the Abhidharmakośa) is that a jambu tree grows in its northern
mountains beside Lake Anavatapta, mythically considered the source of the
four great rivers of India, and that the continent is therefore named from the
tree or the fruit. Jambudvīpa has the Vajrāsana at its center and is the only
continent upon which buddhas attain awakening.

g.69 Jinamitra
dzi na mi tra

་ན་་།
—
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Jinamitra was invited to Tibet during the reign of King Tri Songdetsen (khri
srong lde btsan, r. 742–98 ᴄᴇ) and was involved with the translation of nearly
two hundred texts, continuing into the reign of King Ralpachen (ral pa can, r.
815–38 ᴄᴇ). He was one of the small group of paṇḍitas responsible for the
Mahāvyutpatti Sanskrit–Tibetan dictionary.

g.70 Kanakamuni
 gser thub

གར་བ།
kanakamuni AD
A former buddha. In early Buddhism listed as the fifth of the seven buddhas,
with Śākyamuni as the seventh. Also known as the second buddha of the
fortunate eon, with Śākyamuni as the fourth. Known in Pali as Koṇāgamana.

g.71 Kāśyapa
’od srung

ད་ང་།
kāśyapa AD
A former buddha. In early Buddhism listed as the sixth of the seven
buddhas, with Śākyamuni as the seventh. Kāśyapa was the buddha who
immediately preceded Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.72 King of Definite Golden Luster

gser ’od rnam par nges pa’i rgyal po

གར་ད་མ་པར་ས་པ་ལ་།
—
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.73 kinnara
mi ’am ci

་འམ་།
kinnara AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A class of nonhuman beings that resemble humans to the degree that their
very name —which means “is that human?”—suggests some confusion as to
their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist
and Brahmanical literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half
human, half animal. They are often depicted as highly skilled celestial
musicians.

g.74 Krakucchanda
’khor ba ’jig

འར་བ་འག
krakucchanda AD
 A former buddha. In early Buddhism listed as the fourth of the seven
buddhas, with Śākyamuni as the seventh. The Tibetan translation of the
name means “Destroyer of Saṃsāra.” Known in Pali as Kakusandha.

g.75 kṣatriya
rgyal rigs

ལ་གས།
kṣatriya AD
A member of the warrior or royal caste. One of four main castes in the
classical fourfold division of Indian society.

g.76 kumbhāṇḍa
grul bum

ལ་མ།
kumbhāṇḍa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A class of dwarf beings subordinate to Virūḍhaka, one of the Four Great
Kings, associated with the southern direction. The name uses a play on the
word aṇḍa, which means “egg” but is also a euphemism for a testicle. Thus,
they are often depicted as having testicles as big as pots (from kumbha, or
“pot”).

g.77 Kūṭāgāraśālā
khang pa brtsegs pa’i gnas

ཁང་པ་བགས་པ་གནས།
kūṭāgāraśālā AD
An important early monastery located in the great forest near the city of
Vaiśālī. The name Kūṭāgāraśālā means “hall with an upper chamber,”
translated here as “storied pavilion.” The Buddha and his community stayed
at Kūṭāgāraśālā when they visited Vaiśālī.

g.78 league
dpag tshad

དཔག་ཚད།
yojana AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
 A measure of distance sometimes translated as “league,” but with varying
definitions. The Sanskrit term denotes the distance yoked oxen can travel in
a day or before needing to be unyoked. From different canonical sources the
distance represented varies between four and ten miles.

g.79 Liberator of Beings

sems can sgrol

མས་ཅན་ལ།
—
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.80 Licchavī
lits+tsha bI

་།
licchavī AD
The people of the city and region of Vaiśālī. The Licchavī were one of the
clans making up the Vṛji confederacy, an early republic at the time of the
Buddha.

g.81 Lion of Humans

mi’i seng ge

་ང་
narasiṃha AD
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.82 Lion of the Śākyas

sangs rgyas shAk+ya seng ge

སངས་ས་་ང་
śākyasiṃha AD
An epithet of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.83 Loud Roar of the Great Lion

seng ge chen po mngon par sgrogs pa’i sgra

ང་་ན་་མན་པར་གས་པ་།
—
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.84 Mahākāśyapa
 gnas brtan ’od srung chen po

གནས་ན་ད་ང་ན་།
mahākāśyapa AD
One of the Buddha’s principal śrāvaka disciples, he became a leader of the
saṅgha after the Buddha’s passing

g.85 Mahāpratibhāna
spobs pa chen po

བས་པ་ན་།
mahāpratibhāna AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Great Eloquence.”

g.86 Mahāsthāmaprāpta
mthu chen thob · mthu chen po thob pa

མ་ན་བ། · མ་ན་་བ་པ།
mahāsthāmaprāpta AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Endowed with Great Power.”

g.87 mahoraga
lto ’phye cher

་འ་ར།
mahoraga AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Literally “great serpents,” mahoragas are supernatural beings depicted as
large, subterranean beings with human torsos and heads and the lower
bodies of serpents. Their movements are said to cause earthquakes, and they
make up a class of subterranean geomantic spirits whose movement through
the seasons and months of the year is deemed significant for construction
projects.

g.88 Maitreya
byams pa

མས་པ།
maitreya AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The bodhisattva Maitreya is an important figure in many Buddhist traditions,
where he is unanimously regarded as the buddha of the future era. He is
said to currently reside in the heaven of Tuṣita, as Śākyamuni’s regent,
 where he awaits the proper time to take his final rebirth and become the fifth
buddha in the Fortunate Eon, reestablishing the Dharma in this world after
the teachings of the current buddha have disappeared. Within the Mahāyāna
sūtras, Maitreya is elevated to the same status as other central bodhisattvas
such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, and his name appears frequently in
sūtras, either as the Buddha’s interlocutor or as a teacher of the Dharma.
Maitreya literally means “Loving One.” He is also known as Ajita, meaning
“Invincible.”

For more information on Maitreya, see, for example, the introduction to

Maitreya’s Setting Out (Toh 198).

g.89 mandārava
man dA ra ba

མན་་ར་བ།
mandārava AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
One of the five trees of Indra’s paradise, its heavenly flowers often rain
down in salutation of the buddhas and bodhisattvas and are said to be very
bright and aromatic, gladdening the hearts of those who see them. In our
world, it is a tree native to India, Erythrina indica or Erythrina variegata,
commonly known as the Indian coral tree, mandarava tree, flame tree, and
tiger’s claw. In the early spring, before its leaves grow, the tree is fully
covered in large flowers, which are rich in nectar and attract many birds.
Although the most widespread coral tree has red crimson flowers, the color
of the blossoms is not usually mentioned in the sūtras themselves, and it
may refer to some other kinds, like the rarer Erythrina indica alba, which
boasts white flowers.

g.90 Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta

’jam dpal gzhon nur gyur pa

འཇམ་དཔལ་གན་ར་ར་པ།
mañjuśrīkumārabhūta AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Mañjuśrī is one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha” and a bodhisattva
who embodies wisdom. He is a major figure in the Mahāyāna sūtras,
appearing often as an interlocutor of the Buddha. In his most well-known
iconographic form, he is portrayed bearing the sword of wisdom in his right
hand and a volume of the Prajñāpāramitāsūtra in his left. To his name,
 Mañjuśrī, meaning “Gentle and Glorious One,” is often added the epithet
Kumārabhūta, “having a youthful form.” He is also called Mañjughoṣa,
Mañjusvara, and Pañcaśikha.

g.91 meditative absorption

ting nge ’dzin

ང་་འན།
samādhi AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative
states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras,
we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.

In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is

defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to
remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa
(sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the
term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental
states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of
mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference
without getting distracted.

g.92 meditative stability

bsam gtan

བསམ་གཏན།
dhyāna AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Dhyāna is defined as one-pointed abiding in an undistracted state of mind,
free from afflicted mental states. Four states of dhyāna are identified as being
conducive to birth within the form realm. In the context of the Mahāyāna, it
is the fifth of the six perfections. It is commonly translated as
“concentration,” “meditative concentration,” and so on.

g.93 mind of awakening

byang chub sems

ང་བ་མས།
bodhicitta AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
 In the general Mahāyāna teachings the mind of awakening (bodhicitta) is
the intention to attain the complete awakening of a perfect buddha for the
sake of all beings. On the level of absolute truth, the mind of awakening is
the realization of the awakened state itself.

g.94 Mount Meru

lhun po · ri rab

ན་། · ་རབ།
meru AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
According to ancient Buddhist cosmology, this is the great mountain
forming the axis of the universe. At its summit is Sudarśana, home of Śakra
and his thirty-two gods, and on its flanks live the asuras. The mount has four
sides facing the cardinal directions, each of which is made of a different
precious stone. Surrounding it are several mountain ranges and the great
ocean where the four principal island continents lie: in the south,
Jambudvīpa (our world); in the west, Godānīya; in the north, Uttarakuru; and
in the east, Pūrvavideha. Above it are the abodes of the desire realm gods. It
is variously referred to as Meru, Mount Meru, Sumeru, and Mount Sumeru.

g.95 Moves with the Strength of a Lion

seng ge’i stobs su ’gro ba

ང་་བས་་འོ་བ།
siṃhavikrāntagāmin
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.96 nāga
klu

།
nāga AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A class of nonhuman beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments,
where they guard wealth and sometimes also teachings. Nāgas are
associated with serpents and have a snakelike appearance. In Buddhist art
and in written accounts, they are regularly portrayed as half human and half
snake, and they are also said to have the ability to change into human form.
Some nāgas are Dharma protectors, but they can also bring retribution if they
are disturbed. They may likewise fight one another, wage war, and destroy
the lands of others by causing lightning, hail, and flooding.
g.97 Nārāyaṇa
sred med kyi bu

ད་ད་་།
nārāyaṇa AD
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.98 Nārāyaṇa
sred med bu

ད་ད་།
nārāyaṇa AD
One of the epithets of Viṣṇu, primarily used in Buddhist literature as a
paragon of bodily strength.

g.99 nature of things

chos nyid

ས་ད།
dharmatā AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The real nature, true quality, or condition of things. Throughout Buddhist
discourse this term is used in two distinct ways. In one, it designates the
relative nature that is either the essential characteristic of a specific
phenomenon, such as the heat of fire and the moisture of water, or the
defining feature of a specific term or category. The other very important and
widespread way it is used is to designate the ultimate nature of all
phenomena, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms and is
often synonymous with emptiness or the absence of intrinsic existence.

g.100 nine causes of resentment

mnar sems kyi dngos po dgu

མནར་མས་་དས་་ད
navāghātavastu AD
The nine causes of resentment are thinking that someone has done, is doing,
or will do injury to oneself; thinking that someone has done, is doing, or will
do injury to someone dear to oneself; and thinking that someone has done, is
doing, or will do a favor to someone who is hateful to oneself.

g.101 nirvāṇa
mya ngan ’das pa
 ་ངན་འདས་པ།
nirvāṇa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
In Sanskrit, the term nirvāṇa literally means “extinguishment” and the
Tibetan mya ngan las ’das pa literally means “gone beyond sorrow.” As a
general term, it refers to the cessation of all suffering, afflicted mental states
(kleśa), and causal processes (karman) that lead to rebirth and suffering in
cyclic existence, as well as to the state in which all such rebirth and suffering
has permanently ceased.

More specifically, three main types of nirvāṇa are identified. (1) The first type
of nirvāṇa, called nirvāṇa with remainder (sopadhiśeṣanirvāṇa), is the state in
which arhats or buddhas have attained awakening but are still dependent
on the conditioned aggregates until their lifespan is exhausted. (2) At the
end of life, given that there are no more causes for rebirth, these aggregates
cease and no new aggregates arise. What occurs then is called nirvāṇa
without remainder ( anupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa), which refers to the unconditioned
element (dhātu) of nirvāṇa in which there is no remainder of the aggregates.
(3) The Mahāyāna teachings distinguish the final nirvāṇa of buddhas from
that of arhats, the nirvāṇa of arhats not being considered ultimate. The
buddhas attain what is called nonabiding nirvāṇa (apratiṣṭhitanirvāṇa), which
transcends the extremes of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, i.e., existence and peace.
This is the nirvāṇa that is the goal of the Mahāyāna path.

g.102 Nityaprahasitapramuditendriya
rtag tu rgod dga’ dbang po

ག་་ད་དགའ་དབང་།
nityaprahasitapramuditendriya AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Faculty of Ever-Joyous Excitement.”

g.103 Nityodyukta
rtag tu brtson

ག་་བན།
nityodyukta AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Always Enthusiastic.”

g.104 Padmaśrī
pad ma’i dpal

པད་མ་དཔལ།
 padmaśrī AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Lotus Glory.”

g.105 parinirvāṇa
yongs su mya ngan las ’das pa

ངས་་་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
parinirvāṇa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
This refers to what occurs at the end of an arhat’s or a buddha’s life. When
nirvāṇa is attained at awakening, whether as an arhat or buddha, all
suffering, afflicted mental states (kleśa), and causal processes (karman) that
lead to rebirth and suffering in cyclic existence have ceased, but due to
previously accumulated karma, the aggregates of that life remain and must
still exhaust themselves. It is only at the end of life that these cease, and
since no new aggregates arise, the arhat or buddha is said to attain
parinirvāṇa, meaning “complete” or “final” nirvāṇa. This is synonymous with
the attainment of nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa).

According to the Mahāyāna view of a single vehicle (ekayāna), the arhat’s

parinirvāṇa at death, despite being so called, is not final. The arhat must still
enter the bodhisattva path and reach buddhahood (see Unraveling the Intent,
Toh 106, 7.14.) On the other hand, the parinirvāṇa of a buddha, ultimately
speaking, should be understood as a display manifested for the benefit of
beings; see The Teaching on the Extraordinary Transformation That Is the Miracle of
Attaining the Buddha’s Powers (Toh 186), 1.32.

The term parinirvāṇa is also associated specifically with the passing away of
the Buddha Śākyamuni, in Kuśinagara, in northern India.

g.106 patience
bzod pa

བད་པ།
kṣānti AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A term meaning acceptance, forbearance, or patience. As the third of the six
perfections, patience is classified into three kinds: the capacity to tolerate
abuse from sentient beings, to tolerate the hardships of the path to
buddhahood, and to tolerate the profound nature of reality. As a term
referring to a bodhisattva’s realization, dharmakṣānti (chos la bzod pa) can refer
 to the ways one becomes “receptive” to the nature of Dharma, and it can be
an abbreviation of anutpattikadharmakṣānti, “forbearance for the unborn
nature, or nonproduction, of dharmas.”

g.107 patience toward the profound Dharma

chos zab mo la bzod pa

ས་ཟབ་་ལ་བད་པ།
gaṃbhīradharmakṣānti AD
A level of patience that consists in accepting the teachings on emptiness.

g.108 perseverance
brtson ’grus

བན་འས།
vīrya AD
In Great Vehicle Buddhism the fourth of the six perfections. Sometimes
translated as “effort.”

g.109 physical eye

sha’i mig

ཤ་ག
māṃsacakṣus AD
One of the “five eyes” with which buddhas and bodhisattvas see.

g.110 piśāca
sha zar

ཤ་ཟར།
piśāca AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A class of nonhuman beings that, like several other classes of nonhuman
beings, take spontaneous birth. Ranking below rākṣasas, they are less
powerful and more akin to pretas. They are said to dwell in impure and
perilous places, where they feed on impure things, including flesh. This
could account for the name piśāca, which possibly derives from √piś, to carve
or chop meat, as reflected also in the Tibetan sha za, “meat eater.” They are
often described as having an unpleasant appearance, and at times they
appear with animal bodies. Some possess the ability to enter the dead bodies
of humans, thereby becoming so-called vetāla, to touch whom is fatal.

g.111 Prāmodyarāja
 mchog tu dga’ ba’i rgyal po

མག་་དགའ་བ་ལ་།
prāmodyarāja AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “King of Supreme Happiness.”

g.112 Pratibhānakūṭa
spobs pa brtsegs pa

བས་པ་བགས་པ།
pratibhānakūṭa AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Abundant Eloquence.”

g.113 Priyadarśana
mthong dga’

མང་དགའ།
priyadarśana AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Joyous to Behold.”

g.114 rākṣasa
srin po

ན་།
rākṣasa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
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 with a yearning for human flesh, and who additionally have
miraculous powers, such as being able to change their appearance.

g.115 Ratnamudrāhasta
lag na phyag rgya rin po che

ལག་ན་ག་་ན་་།
ratnamudrāhasta AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Bearer of the Jeweled Seal.”

g.116 Ratnapāṇi
lag na rin po che

ལག་ན་ན་་།
 ratnapāṇi AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Bearer of the Jewel.”

g.117 realm of phenomena

chos kyi dbyings

ས་་དངས།
dharmadhātu AD

g.118 recollection
gzungs

གངས།
dhāraṇī AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so
it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall
detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings —
an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula—that distills and “holds”
essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain
mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote
texts that contain such formulas.

g.119 Removing All Fear

’jigs pa kun sel

འགས་པ་ན་ལ།
—
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.120 River Ganges

gang gA · gang gA’I klung

གང་། · གང་ ི་ང་།

gaṅgā AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The Gaṅgā, or Ganges in English, is considered to be the most sacred river
of India, particularly within the Hindu tradition. It starts in the Himalayas,
flows through the northern plains of India, bathing the holy city of Vārāṇasī,
and meets the sea at the Bay of Bengal, in Bangladesh. In the sūtras,
 however, this river is mostly mentioned not for its sacredness but for its
abundant sands —noticeable still today on its many sandy banks and at its
delta—which serve as a common metaphor for infinitely large numbers.

According to Buddhist cosmology, as explained in the Abhidharmakośa, it is

one of the four rivers that flow from Lake Anavatapta and cross the southern
continent of Jambudvīpa—the known human world or more specifically the
Indian subcontinent.

g.121 rose
btsod ka

བད་ཀ
mañjiṣṭhā AD · māñjiṣṭha AD
A red dye common in ancient India, made from the root of the madder plant
(Rubia manjista, Rubia tinctorum), which can be used to achieve a range of
hues from pink to crimson. Sometimes known in English as “rose madder.”

g.122 Śakra
brgya byin

བ་ན།
śakra AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The lord of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (trāyastriṃśa).
Alternatively known as Indra, the deity that is called “lord of the gods”
dwells on the summit of Mount Sumeru and wields the thunderbolt. The
Tibetan translation brgya byin (meaning “one hundred sacrifices”) is based
on an etymology that śakra is an abbreviation of śata-kratu, one who has
performed a hundred sacrifices. Each world with a central Sumeru has a
Śakra. Also known by other names such as Kauśika, Devendra, and Śacipati.

g.123 saṅgha
dge ’dun

ད་འན།
saṅgha AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Though often specifically reserved for the monastic community, this term
can be applied to any of the four Buddhist communities —monks, nuns,
laymen, and laywomen—as well as to identify the different groups of
 practitioners, like the community of bodhisattvas or the community of
śrāvakas. It is also the third of the Three Jewels (triratna) of Buddhism: the
Buddha, the Teaching, and the Community.

g.124 Śāradvatīputra
sha ra dwa ti’i bu

ཤ་ར་་་།
śāradvatīputra AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, he was renowned for
his discipline and for having been praised by the Buddha as foremost of the
wise (often paired with Maudgalyāyana, who was praised as foremost in the
capacity for miraculous powers). His father, Tiṣya, to honor Śāriputra’s
mother, Śārikā, named him Śāradvatīputra, or, in its contracted form,
Śāriputra, meaning “Śārikā’s Son.”

g.125 Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin
sgrib pa thams cad rnam par sel ba

བ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་མ་པར་ལ་བ།
sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
An important bodhisattva, included among the “eight close sons of the
Buddha.” His name means “One Who Completely Dispels All Obscurations”
and, accordingly, he is said to have the power to exhaust all the obscurations
of anyone who merely hears his name. According to The Jewel Cloud (1.10, Toh
231), Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin originally dwelt in the realm of the Buddha
Padmanetra, but he was so touched by the Buddha Śākyamuni’s
compassionate acceptance of the barbaric and ungrateful beings who inhabit
this realm that he traveled to see the Buddha Śākyamuni, offer him worship,
and inquire about the Dharma. He is often included in the audience of sūtras
and, in particular, he has an important role in the The Basket’s Display, Toh
116, in which he is sent to Vārāṇasī to obtain Avalokitesvara’s mantra.

g.126 Self-Emergent One

rab ’byung

རབ་འང་།
svayaṃbhū AD
An epithet of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.127 seven states of consciousness

 rnam par shes pa gnas pa bdun

མ་པར་ས་པ་གནས་པ་བན།
saptavijñānasthiti AD
The seven states of consciousness are (1) beings such as humans and
heavenly beings, and beings living in suffering, who are different in body
and perception; (2) beings who are the first-born gods of the Brahmā world,
beings who are different in body but equal in perception; (3) beings who are
equal in body but different in perception, such as the Radiant Gods; (4)
beings who are equal in body and equal in perception, such as the All-
Illuminating Gods; (5) beings reborn in the sphere of boundless space;(6)
beings reborn in the sphere of boundless consciousness; and (7) beings
reborn in the sphere of nothingness.

g.128 signlessness
mtshan ma med pa

མཚན་མ་ད་པ།
nirnimittatā AD
Signlessness, along with wishlessness and emptiness, is one of the three
gateways of liberation that characterize of the true nature of things.

g.129 Śikhīn
gtsug tor

གག་ར།
śikhin AD
A former buddha. In early Buddhism listed as the second of the seven
buddhas, with Śākyamuni as the seventh. The first three buddhas —
Vipaśyin, Śikhin, and Viśvabhuk—appeared in an earlier eon than our own
Fortunate Eon, and therefore Śākyamuni is also often referred to as the
fourth buddha. Known in Pali as Sikhī.

g.130 six branches

yan lag drug

ཡན་ལག་ག
ṣaḍaṅga AD
The six branches are the six parts of the body: two arms, two legs, head, and
torso.

g.131 six sense faculties

 dbang po drug

དབང་་ག
ṣaḍindriya AD
The six sense faculties of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

g.132 six sense fields

skye mched drug

་མད་ག
ṣaḍāyatana AD
The six bases of perception through the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and
mind.

g.133 solitary buddha

rang sangs rgyas

རང་སངས་ས།
pratyekabuddha AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Literally, “buddha for oneself” or “solitary realizer.” Someone who, in his or
her last life, attains awakening entirely through their own contemplation,
without relying on a teacher. Unlike the awakening of a fully realized
buddha (samyaksambuddha), the accomplishment of a pratyekabuddha is not
regarded as final or ultimate. They attain realization of the nature of
dependent origination, the selflessness of the person, and a partial
realization of the selflessness of phenomena, by observing the suchness of
all that arises through interdependence. This is the result of progress in
previous lives but, unlike a buddha, they do not have the necessary merit,
compassion or motivation to teach others. They are named as “rhinoceros-
like” (khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpa) for their preference for staying in solitude or as
“congregators” (vargacārin) when their preference is to stay among peers.

g.134 Solitary Buddha Vehicle

rang sangs rgyas kyi theg pa

རང་སངས་ས་་ག་པ།
pratyekabuddhayāna AD
The vehicle of solitary buddhas who have reached awakening without
contact with a buddha, particularly characterized by contemplation on the
twelve phases of dependent origination.

g.135 son of noble family

 rigs kyi bu

གས་་།
kulaputra AD
A term of polite address in widespread use in India, used mainly for laymen.
It is also sometimes understood from the perspective of the Buddha’s
redefining of noble birth as determined by an individual’s ethical conduct
and integrity, so that a layperson who enters the Buddha’s Saṅgha is called a
“son or daughter of noble family” and in this sense “good” or “noble.”

g.136 Sound of Thunder

’brug sgra

འག་།
—
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.137 Śrīgarbha
dpal gyi snying po

དཔལ་ི་ང་།
śrīgarbha AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Essence of Glory.”

g.138 śrīgarbha gem

rin po che dpal gyi snying po

ན་་་དཔལ་ི་ང་།
śrīgarbharatna AD
A type of gem.

g.139 Sthiramati
blo gros brtan pa

་ོས་བན་པ།
sthiramati AD
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.140 storied pavilion

khang pa brtsegs pa

ཁང་པ་བགས་པ།
kūṭāgāra AD
g.141 suchness
de bzhin nyid

་བན་ད།
tathatā AD
The quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be
conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Elsewhere translated as “thusness.”

g.142 Sukhāvatī
bde ba cen

བ་བ་ན།
sukhāvatī AD

g.143 Sūryagarbha
nyi ma’i snying po

་མ་ང་།
sūryagarbha AD
The name of a bodhisattva meaning “Essence of the Sun.”

g.144 ten powers

stobs bcu

བས་བ།
daśabala AD
The ten powers of a tathāgata are (1) knowing what is possible and not
possible; (2) knowing the result of actions; (3) knowing the aspirations of
humans; (4) knowing the elements; (5) knowing the higher and lower
powers of humans; (6) knowing the paths that lead everywhere; (7) knowing
the origin of the afflictions that lead to meditation, liberation, absorption and
equanimity; (8) knowing previous lives; (9) the knowledge of transference
and death; (10) knowing the defilements are exhausted.

g.145 thirty-two marks of a great being

skyes bu chen po’i mtshan sum cu rtsa gnyis

ས་་ན་ ་མཚན་མ་་་གས།
dvātriṃśanmahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa AD

g.146 thoroughbred
cang shes
 ཅང་ས།
ājāneya AD
When used to describe the mind, the thoroughbred horse is used as
metaphor for the nobility, speed, strength, and refinement of intelligence.

g.147 Thus-Gone One

de bzhin gshegs pa

་བན་གགས་པ།
tathāgata AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations,
it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as
tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,”
is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence.
Tatha(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or
condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in
conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different
ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the
buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening
dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence
and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha
Śākyamuni.

g.148 Tuṣita
dga’ ldan

དགའ་ན།
tuṣita AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
Tuṣita (or sometimes Saṃtuṣita), literally “Joyous” or “Contented,” is one of
the six heavens of the desire realm (kāmadhātu). In standard classifications,
such as the one in the Abhidharmakośa, it is ranked as the fourth of the six
counting from below. This god realm is where all future buddhas are said to
dwell before taking on their final rebirth prior to awakening. There, the
Buddha Śākyamuni lived his preceding life as the bodhisattva Śvetaketu.
When departing to take birth in this world, he appointed the bodhisattva
Maitreya, who will be the next buddha of this eon, as his Dharma regent in
Tuṣita. For an account of the Buddha’s previous life in Tuṣita, see The Play in
 Full (Toh 95), 2.12, and for an account of Maitreya’s birth in Tuṣita and a
description of this realm, see The Sūtra on Maitreya’s Birth in the Heaven of Joy,
(Toh 199).

g.149 ūrṇā
mdzod spu

མད་།
ūrṇā AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
One of the thirty-two marks of a great being. It consists of a soft, long, fine,
coiled white hair between the eyebrows capable of emitting an intense
bright light. Literally, the Sanskrit ūrṇā means “wool hair,” and kośa means
“treasure.”

g.150 uṣṇīṣa
dbu yi gtsug tor

ད་་གག་ར།
uṣṇīṣa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
One of the thirty-two signs, or major marks, of a great being. In its simplest
form it is a pointed shape of the head like a turban (the Sanskrit term, uṣṇīṣa,
in fact means “turban”), or more elaborately a dome-shaped extension. The
extension is described as having various extraordinary attributes such as
emitting and absorbing rays of light or reaching an immense height.

g.151 utpala
ud pal

ད་པལ།
utpala AD
Nymphaea caerulea, sometimes known as the “blue lotus” though actually a
blue water lily.

g.152 Vaiśālī
yangs pa can

ཡངས་པ་ཅན།
vaiśālī AD
Capital of the Licchavī republic and an important city during the life of the
Buddha.
g.153 Vanquishing the Three Worlds
’jig rten gsum gyi gnas rnam par gnon pa

འག་ན་གམ་ི་གནས་མ་པར་གན་པ།
—
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.154 Vanquishing Unwavering State

mi g.yo ba’i gnas rnam par gnon pa

་ག་བ་གནས་མ་པར་གན་པ།
—
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.155 Vanquishing Vajra State

rdo rje’i gnas rnam par gnon pa

་་གནས་མ་པར་གན་པ།
—
The name of a bodhisattva.

g.156 vetāla
ro langs

་ལངས།
vetāla AD
A class of powerful beings that typically haunt charnel grounds and are
most often depicted entering into and animating corpses. Hence, the Tibetan
translation means “risen corpse.”

g.157 victor
rgyal ba

ལ་བ།
jina AD

g.158 Vimalā
dri med ma

་ད་མ།
vimalā AO
Vimalakīrti’s wife and Candrottarā’s mother.
g.159 Vimalakīrti
dri ma med par grags pa

་མ་ད་པར་གས་པ།
vimalakīrti AD
A wealthy merchant from Vaiśālī, who is the father of Candrottarā.

g.160 Well-Gone One

bde gshegs

བ་གགས།
sugata AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
One of the standard epithets of the buddhas. A recurrent explanation offers
three different meanings for su- that are meant to show the special qualities
of “accomplishment of one’s own purpose” (svārthasampad) for a complete
buddha. Thus, the Sugata is “well” gone, as in the expression su-rūpa
(“having a good form”); he is gone “in a way that he shall not come back,” as
in the expression su-naṣṭa-jvara (“a fever that has utterly gone”); and he has
gone “without any remainder” as in the expression su-pūrṇa-ghaṭa (“a pot
that is completely full”). According to Buddhaghoṣa, the term means that the
way the Buddha went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su) and where he went (Skt.
gata) is good (Skt. su).

g.161 wisdom
ye shes

་ས།
jñāna AD
Although the Sanskrit term jñāna can refer to knowledge in a general sense,
it is used in a Buddhist context to refer to the nonconceptual, direct
experience of reality, the mode of awareness of a realized being. Based on
the Tibetan etymology, it is also sometimes translated as “primordial
wisdom.”

g.162 Without Doubting the Nature of Phenomena

chos kyi rang bzhin the tsom med pa

ས་་རང་བན་་མ་ད་པ།
—
The name of a bodhisattva.
g.163 Worthy One
dgra bcom pa

ད་བམ་པ།
arhat AD
An epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati),
or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-
vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the
fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an
epithet of the Buddha.

g.164 yakṣa
gnod sbyin

གད་ན།
yakṣa AD
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and
other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may
be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled
through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where
they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.

Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these
include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa
armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms,
including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.