A novice who had a conversation with Prince Jayasena on the life of the bhikkhu. Aciravata repeats this conversation to the Buddha who thereupon preaches the Dantabhūmi Sutta. MN.iii.128ff.

The nov …

Probably the name of a brahmin clan, the Agnivesyāyanas, and the Ksatriyas who were so styled, took the name from their brahmin priests.

The name is used by the Buddha in addressing Saccaka Nigaṇṭhap …

AjitakesakambalaKesakambalaAjita

Head of one of the six heretical sects mentioned in the Pitakas as being contemporaneous with the Buddha. He is described as a Titthaka (non-Buddhist teacher), leade …

A headman (gāmani). He came to the Buddha in the Pārileyyaka Mango Grove in Nāḷandā and asked him various questions, recorded in the Saṃyutta Nikāya. SN.iv.312ff. One of these related to the custo …

Assaji¹

The fifth of the Pañcavaggiyā monks. When the Buddha preached the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, he was the last in whom dawned the eye of Truth, and the Buddha had to discourse to h …

AññātakoṇḍaññaKoṇḍañña

One of the five ascetics known as the Pañcavaggiyā. When, after the Enlightenment, the Buddha visited them at Isipatana and preached the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, Koṇḍañña w …

Bandhumatī¹

The city of birth of Vipassī Buddha. DN.i.7

5townBandhumatī²

Wife of King Bandhumā and mother of Vipassī Buddha. DN.i.7

A Pacceka Buddha. MN.iii.70

Bhaddiya¹

An anāgāmī, one of seven persons who became arahants as soon as they were born in Avihā. SN.i.35 SN.i.60

Bhaddiya²Kāligodhāputta

Chief among monks of aristocratic …

One of the Chabbaggiyā. His followers were called Bhummajakā.

A class of devas, earth bound deities. They belong to the lowest category of devas. AN.iv.119

Uncle of Prince Jayasena. He was a friend of Sambhūta, and, when the latter left the household, he was accompanied by his friends Bhūmija, Jeyyasena and Abhirādhana, all of whom joined the Order. MN.i …

A holy river where men bathe in order to expiate their sins. MN.i.39

4river

A group of six monks, contemporary with the Buddha, frequently mentioned as being guilty of various Vinaya offences. Vin.i.84f. Vin.i.104 Vin.i.106 Vin.i.111 Vin.i.113 Vin.i.114 Vin.i.138 Vin.i.160 …

Channa¹

A Wanderer, classed among those who wore clothes. He is only mentioned once, in the Aṅguttara Nikāya, AN.iii.215 where we are told that he visited Ānanda at Sāvatthī and asked him …

Cunda¹

A worker in metals living in Pāvā. When the Buddha reached Pāvā on his way to Kusinārā, he stayed in Cunda’s Mango grove. There Cunda visited him and invited him and the monks to a …

An arahant. With the Buddha’s sanction, and wishing to be of service to the Order, he took upon himself the task of appointing night’s-lodgings to travelling monks and of directing them to meals. He …

GijjhakūṭaVulture’s Peak

One of the five hills encircling Rājagaha. It was evidently a favourite resort of those who followed the religious life.

The Buddha seems to have been attracted by its solit …

IsipatanaMigadayaDeer Park

An open space near Benares, the site of the famous Migadāya or Deer Park. It was eighteen leagues from Uruvelā, and when Gotama gave up his austere penances his friends, th …

A prince who once visited the novice Aciravata at Veḷuvana in Rājagaha and asked him to teach the Doctrine. Reluctantly the novice did so, but at the end of the exposition Jayasena declared that he wa …

Slave of King Caṇḍapajjota. His father was non-human, and he himself could travel sixty leagues a day. When Pajjota discovered that Jīvaka had fled, after administering to him some medicine containin …

Mentioned as having stayed with Mahā Moggallāna on Gijjhakūṭa. Once, when they were going down to Rājagaha for alms, Lakkhaṇa noticed that at a certain spot Moggallāna smiled; on asking him why, he wa …

MahāmoggallānaMoggallānaKolita

The second of the Chief Disciples of the Buddha. He and Sāriputta went forth as disciples of Sañjaya. After some time, Sāriputta, wandering about in Rājagaha, met Assaj …

MakkhaliGosāla

One of the six heretical teachers contemporaneous with the Buddha. He held that there is no cause, either ultimate or remote, for the depravity of beings or for their rectitude. The at …

A group of monks, followers of Mettiya and Bhummajaka forming part of the Chabbaggiyā (Group of Six Monks).

Twice they brought an unfounded charge of breach of morality against Dabba Mallaputta, who …

A nun who, at the instigation of the Mettiyabhummajakā, charged Dabba Mallaputta with having violated her chastity. She was expelled from the Order for this offence.

A Paribbājaka. He once visited the Buddha at Veḷuvana and questioned him regarding predestination. The Buddha explains to him that suffering arises from various causes—bile, phlegm, wind, bodily humou …

MāraNamuciKaṇhaAdhipatiAntakaPamattabandhuPāpimā

Generally regarded as the personification of Death, the Evil One, the Tempter. Sometimes known as the Dark One (Kaṇha). Snp.355 MN.i.377 DN.ii.262 T …

A class of beings classed with Garuḷas and Supaṇṇas and playing a prominent part in Buddhist folk lore. They are gifted with miraculous powers and great strength. Generally speaking, they are confused …

A king, ancestor of the Sākyas and the Kolians.

In the Ambaṭṭha Sutta DN.i.92 it is stated that Okkāka, being fond of his queen and wishing to transfer the kingdom to her son, banished from the kingd …

PacchābhummaPacchābhūma

The name given to the district to the west of the Middle Country. SN.iii.5 SN.iii.6 Mention is also made of the Pacchābhūmakā brahmins, who are carriers of water pots, fire wo …

One of the seven human beings born in the Avihā-world, where they will pass completely away. SN.i.35 SN.i.60

PokkharasātiPokkharasādi

A brahmin of great wealth and learning who lived in Ukkaṭṭha, on a royal demesne given by Pasenadi. Ambaṭṭha was the pupil of Pokkharasāti, who sent him to the Buddha at Icch …

A name for Sakka, because, as a human being, he bestowed gifts from town to town. SN.i.229

RāhuRāhubhadda

An Asura chieftain. The Saṃyutta Nikāya SN.i.49f. says that on one occasion when he seized the Moon god, and on another the Sun god, both these invoked the aid of the Buddha. The Bud …

SakkaVatrabhūVāsavaMaghavāMāghaPurindadaSahassakkhaSahassanettaSujampatiKosiya

Almost always spoken of as chief of the devas. The Saṃyutta Nikāya SN.i.229 contains a list of his names.

• Maghavā, be …

Sobhita¹

A Pacceka Buddha. MN.iii.71

Sobhita²

A monk who was foremost among those who could remember past births. AN.i.25 Thag.165–166

He was once accused of claiming to poss …

Soṇa¹

A Thera, declared chief of those possessing clear utterance. AN.i.24 He lived in Avantī, where he met Mahākaccāna and was later ordained by him, after much difficulty assembling the …

A rich brahmin of Campā, very learned in the Vedas; he lived in a royal domain, given to him as royal fief by King Bimbisāra. When the Buddha was in Campā, on the banks of the Gaggarā-lake, Soṇadaṇḍa …

A Licchavi prince of Vesāli. He was, at one time, a member of the Order and the personal attendant of the Buddha, but was later converted to the views of Korakkhattiya and went about defaming the Budd …

A monk whose Theragāthā verses speak of his humble origins and how he bowed and scaped before many people, until he was lifted up by the Buddha. Practcing in the forest he realized the Dhamma, so that …

Suppiyā¹

The name of the inhabitants of Rājagaha in the time of Kassapa Buddha. At that time Vepulla was called Supassa. SN.ii.192

Suppiyā²

An upāsaka of Benares. Her husban …

His mother took him to the monks for ordination, thinking thus to ensure for him supreme happiness. Sānu lost his intellectual discernment and grew distraught and longed to go roaming. His former Yakk …

The fourth of the six deva worlds. AN.i.210

Four hundred years of human life are equal to one day of the Tusita world and four thousand years, so reckoned, is the term of life of a deva born in Tusit …

Upāli ¹

One of the most eminent of the Buddha’s immediate disciples. He belonged to a barber’s family in Kapilavatthu and entered the service of the Sākiyan princes. When Anuruddha and his …

Vaḍḍha¹

A Licchavi. He was a friend of the Mettiyabhummajakā, and, at their instigation, charged Dabba Mallaputta with having committed adultery with his wife. Dabba repudiated the charge, …

VepacittiSambara

An Asura chieftain, who was present with Namuci (Māra) at the preaching of the Mahāsamaya Sutta. DN.ii.259

Vepacitti was the friend of Rāhu, and when Rāhu seized Candimā and Suriya …

A brahmin clan. The Saṃyutta Nikāya mentions a lady of the gotta living in Kāmandā, who was evidently a teacher. A pupil of hers, having visited Udāyi, then staying in the Todeyya mango grove, told he …

A Buddha of the past, whose story is told in the Mahāpadāna Sutta. He was born in the Khema park in Bandhumatī, his father being Bandhumā and his mother Bandhumatī. He belonged to the Koṇḍañña gotta. …

A class of non human beings generally described as non-human. They are mentioned with Devas, Rakkhasas, Dānavas, Gandhabbas, Kinnaras, and Mahoragas (? Nāgas).

Elsewhere AN.ii.38 they rank, in progr …

The god of death. When beings die they are led before him to be judged according to their deeds. Birth, old age, illness, punishment for crime and death, are regarded as his messengers, sent among men …

Yasa ¹

He was the son of a very wealthy treasurer of Benares, and was brought up in great luxury, living in three mansions, according to the seasons and surrounded with all kinds of pleasu …

A class of Devas, mentioned in lists of devas between those of Tāvatiṃsā and those of Tusita.Vin.i.12 AN.i.228 AN.iii.287 MN.ii.194 MN.iii.100 Two hundred years of human life are but one day to the Yā …

ĀjīvakāĀjīvikā

A class of naked ascetics, Vin.i.291 followers of Makkhali Gosāla, regarded, from the Buddhist point of view, as the worst of sophists. Numerous references to the Ājīvakas are to be fo …