Buddhānusmṛti

vii

Buddhānusmṛti: A Glossary of Buddhist Terms

Foreword

The Buddha taught that the Dhamma is not just the content of truth, but also what should be done to realize it. Progression in the Dhamma was a series of mental events, a learned skill (kusala) that fits the nature of each mediator. So too, a glossary could be defined as a kind of skillfulness - a series of carefully constructed mental events, or definitions, that imperceptibly but inexorably build towards the most effective and thorough teaching.

Dr. Kala Acharya's Buddhānusmṛti or Glossary of Buddhist Terms, admirably achieves this goal. It is a useful glossary that will help the beginning student of Buddhism as well as the scholar. Terms are organized in a way that allows easy access, and each term is thoroughly and clearly described. The work does not shy away from the basic questions : What are the texts? Why do they matter? How do we put Buddhist ideas and arguments in context so that we understand and use them well today? The reader will get a good sense of the conceptual history of each term and therefore an intellectual narrative of the development of Buddhism as a whole. The seven introductory sections further set the scene, so that the reader is grounded before he or she proceeds to the individual entries.

In this time of increasing religious pluralism as well as increasing religious tensions, basic introductions to the wealth of early Indian traditions is all the more necessary. The Buddhānusmṛti will provide learners with sophisticated understanding of Buddhist thought, so that they can more constructively and creatively think about the challenges and possibilities of contemporary religious and philosophical life today.

Laurie L. Patton
Associate Professor of
Early Indian Religions and Chair,
Department of Religion
Emory University Atlanta,
GA 30322 USA

Publisher's Note

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Buddhānusmṛti: A Glossary of Buddhist Terms

Preface

The Buddhānusmṛti (A Glossary of Buddhist Terms) is an attempt to introduce Buddhism to the common and the erudite reader.

A number of friends and well wishers wanted to know why one more glossary when quite a few are already being used. Of the numbers of reasons which prompted me to take up this work, I wish to elaborate only on two. As a teacher I realised the necessity of a work which will help a beginner as well as someone who has the background of the subject, to comprehend the terms, concepts and notions in Buddhism. The fresh learners should benefit from the Introduction and the Glossary. The references provided at appropriate places will help those already familiar with the subject to use this work as a spring board for further research.

Given the vastness as also the diversity of beliefs and concepts of Buddhism, I was compelled to be selective in choosing entries for the glossary. Generally terms required by students have been glossed. Sanskrit terms such as dharma which have different connotations in Buddhism have been elucidated to show how their meaning is different from the traditional exposition. In this process of explaining the terms I have used the scriptures, texts and commentaries of many known and unknown authors. Any shortcomings are of course mine and I will be pleased to receive any constructive suggestions to improve the contents of this work.

The glossary is not a mere academic pursuit. I have always believed that the teachings of the Buddha touch the heart and also shape the life of a person and there lies the second reason. The contents of the book may prepare a ground for sowing the seed of faith in all which is good in the beginning, in the middle and in the end.

“The Body is like the sacred Bodhi Tree,
From dust ever keep it free,
The mind... a reflecting mirror,
Let not dust be its cover.”
(Shen-hsiu)

Mumbai, August 27, 2001
Dr. Kala Acharya

Publisher's Note

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Buddhānusmṛti: A Glossary of Buddhist Terms

Acknowledgements

My thanks are due to

Dr. S. K. Somaiya, Vice President, Somaiya Vidyavihar who encouraged me to expeditiously complete this work.

Mr. Avinash S. Pandit, Chief Editor, Somaiya Publications Pvt. Ltd. who edited the manuscript carefully and made valuable suggestions to make the work presentable in contents and form.

Dr. Laurie Patton, Associate Professor of Early Indian Religions & Chair, Department of Religion, Emory University, U.S.A., for her foreword.

Dr. Shubhada Joshi, Prof. & Head, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Mumbai, for offering guidelines to do the work.

Dr. S. M. Bhatkhande, Director, K. J. Somaiya Indological Research Institute, Dr. D. K. Kharavandikar and Dr. P. G. Lalye for offering their valuable suggestions.

Dr. Mrs. Lalita Namjoshi, my colleague and Coordinator of our Institute who supported me throughout the endeavour.

Mrs. Mugdha Gadgil-Barve, my colleague at the Peetham who prepared the press copy painstakingly.

Mrs. Vidya Mahajan, my daughter and colleague at the Peetham for her mite in the preparation of the press copy.

Miss Supriya Deshmukh, lecturer in our Institute for working on the manuscript diligently.

Miss Devayani Manjrekar and Mrs. Madhavi Agashe of our Institute for typing the manuscript.

Buddhānusmṛti: A Glossary of Buddhist Terms

Acknowledgements

Mrs. Vaishali Bhide, Librarian of our Institute who checked meticulously the manuscript, made the necessary references available and helped to prepare appendices.

Mrs. Priyanka Churmure, Miss Veena Naik and Miss Rajeshri Bhunje for the secretarial assistance.

Mr. Deepak Chavan and Mr. Sachin Alhat for doing the errands.

Rev. Ashin Punnobhasa, U. Nyanawbatha, U. Veluriyanyana, Ashin Ariya Dhamma, U. Suvannalankara, Ashin Pannyissara and Asst. Prof. Mr. Somboon Satalalai, my students for Ph.D. for providing me valuable pieces of information.

Ms. Harinakshiben for the artistic presentation of the work.

Mr. Siddheshwar Sathe, Mr. Prakash Kerkar and the staff of the The Book Centre Ltd. for helping in the production of the book.

Mrs. Tejaswini Kulkarni for carrying over the typesetting of the work proficiently.

Mr. D. R. Amladi, Retd. Asst. Director, Maharashtra State Archives, Mumbai, for his valuable suggestions in the manuscript.

The trustees of Somaiya Vidyavihar, Mr. Sameer Somaiya, Mrs. Lilaben Kotak and Mr. P. M. Kavadia (Secretary, Somaiya Vidyavihar) for the support.

Kala Acharya

Publisher's Note

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

xii

Buddhānusmṛti: A Glossary of Buddhist Terms

Key to Transliteration

a	अ	ā	आ
i	इ	ī	ई
u	उ	ū	ऊ
ṛ	ऋ	ṝ	ॠ
lṛ	ऌ	e	ए
ai	ऐ	o	ओ
au	औ	k	क््
kh	ख्	g	ग्
gh	घ्	ṅ	ङ्
c	च््	ch	छ्
j	ज्	jh	झ्
ñ	ञ्	ṭ	ट््
ṭh	ठ्	ḍ	ड्््
ḍh	ढ्	ṇ	ण्
t	त्	th	थ्
d	द्	dh	ध्
n	न््	p	प्
ph	फ््	b	ब्
bh	भ्	m	म्
y	य्	r	र्
l	ल््	ḷ	ळ
v	व््	ś	श्
ṣ	ष्	s	स्
h	ह्
ṃ	The nasal sound which is marked by a dot and which belongs to the preceding vowel. A symbol in writing representing a distinct hard aspiration and marked by two perpendicular dots which sounds like h.

Key to Transliteration

xiii

Buddhānusmṛti: A Glossary of Buddhist Terms

To Use Buddhānusmṛti

To Use Buddhānusmṛti
(A Glossary of Buddhist Terms)

The material in this book is arranged under following sections: Introduction, Glossary, Appendices, Bibliography and Index.

Generally in the sections of Introduction and Glossary, terms or text in Sanskrit appear in round brackets. Terms and text in Pāli appear in square brackets. Names of literary works in running text appear in italics. At times non-English words also appear in italics. Plurals of non-English terms are indicated by a hyphen before the final 's', as for instance, bhikkhu-s.

In the Glossary section

(1) The head entry is in Sanskrit except in case of last few entries where it is in Pāli. (See (4) below.) The Sanskrit term is generally followed by its Pāli equivalent and later the English equivalent.

(2) The head entry in Sanskrit appears in bold. It is not enclosed within any brackets. The Pāli equivalent term appears within square brackets. Absence of a Pāli term is indicated by a dash within the square brackets.

(3) The head entries are arranged according to the English alphabet. Thus anātman is followed by anitya, followed by anusmṛti and so on.

(4) Head entries in Pāli are also arranged according to the English alphabet. Absence of the initial Sanskrit term is indicated with a hyphen within round brackets.

(5) Names of literary works under an entry to indicate references are not italicised but are abbreviated. In case of multiple references, the references are arranged alphabetically. A reference ends at the beginning of the abbreviated name of the next literary work.

(6) The names that follow AN, DN, KH, MN and SN are the titles of the Sutta-s. For example, in MN. Vattha, Vattha is the title of the Sutta in the Majjhima Nikāya.

Other references include name of the text, chapter and page numbers. For example, MST. IX. 43 denotes the 43rd page of the ninth chapter of the Mahāyāna Sūtrālaṅkāra of Asaṅga.

The references of the texts in verse form denote the name of the text followed by chapter number, followed by the number of the verse. For example MK. XVIII.5 denotes 5th verse from the 18th chapter of the Madhyamakaśāstra.

xiv

Buddhānusmṛti: A Glossary of Buddhist Terms

To Use Buddhānusmṛti

The references do not generally include reconstructed works.

The Glossary contains passages citing some important teachings of the Buddha. These passages in Pali and Sanskrit will facilitate the reader to have access to the original references.

The Index comprises Sanskrit, Pāli and English terms, arranged alphabetically according to the English alphabet.

To Use Buddhānusmṛti