M

mada. (T. rgyags pa; C. jiao; J. kyō; K. kyo 憍). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “conceit,” “arrogance”; one of the forty-six mental factors (CAITTA) according to the VAIBHĀṢIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA and one of the fifty-one according to the YOGĀCĀRA school; it is listed among the twenty secondary afflictions (UPAKLEŚA). Conceit is considered to be a derivative of “passion” (RĀGA), since it entails an arrogant, self-absorbed state of mind that produces an air of superiority, invulnerability, and self-adoration. Some of the conditions that lead to conceit include: (1) one’s youth or virility; (2) one’s family lineage or social status; (3) one’s wealth; (4) one’s seemingly autonomous freedom in action; (5) one’s apparent longevity and invulnerability to disease; (6) one’s intelligence or knowledge; (7) one’s virtue or charitable activities; (8) one’s physical appearance or personal adornments.

Madhupiṇḍikasutta. (C. Miwanyu jing; J. Mitsugan’yukyō; K. Mirhwanyu kyŏng 蜜丸喩經). In Pāli, “Discourse on the Honey Ball,” the eighteenth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the 115th SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA, along with an untitled recension of unidentified affiliation in the EKOTTARĀGAMA). The Buddha addresses a prince named Daṇḍapāni, describing his teachings as avoiding discord with beings in this world, as indifference to perceptions, as abandoning doubts, and as not craving for existence. The disciple Mahākaccāna (S. MAHĀKĀTYĀYANA) then further explicates the sermon’s meaning and the Buddha praises his erudition. The AṬṬHASĀLINĪ cites the Madhupiṇḍikasutta as an example of a scripture that, although preached by a disciple, still qualifies as the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA) because Mahākaccāna’s exegesis is based on a synopsis given first by the Buddha. The Madhupiṇḍikasutta is best known for its discussion of how the process of sensory perception culminates in conceptual proliferation (P. papañca; S. PRAPAÑCA). Any sentient being will be subject to an impersonal causal process of perception in which consciousness (P. viññāṇa; S. VIJÑĀNA) occurs conditioned by a sense base and a sense object; the contact between these three brings about sensory impingement (P. phassa; S. SPARŚA), which in turn leads to sensation (VEDANĀ). At that point, however, the sense of ego intrudes and this process then becomes an intentional one, whereby what one feels, one perceives (P. saññā; S. SAṂJÑĀ); what one perceives, one thinks about (P. vitakka; S. VITARKA); and what one thinks about, one conceptualizes (papañca). However, by allowing oneself to experience sensory objects not as things-in-themselves but as concepts invariably tied to one’s own point of view, the perceiving subject now becomes the hapless object of an inexorable process of conceptual subjugation: viz., what one conceptualizes becomes proliferated conceptually (P. papañcasaññāsaṅkhā; a term apparently unattested in Sanskrit) throughout all of one’s sensory experience in the past, present, and future. The consciousness thus ties together everything that can be experienced in this world into a labyrinthine network of concepts, all tied to oneself and projected into the external world as craving (TṚṢṆĀ), conceit (MĀNA), and wrong views (DṚṢṬI), thus creating bondage to SAṂSĀRA. The goal of training is a state of mind in which this tendency toward conceptual proliferation is brought to an end (P. nippapañca; S. NIṢPRAPAÑCA).

madhyamadeśa. (P. majjhimadesa; T. yul dbus; C. zhongguo; J. chūgoku; K. chungguk 中國). In Sanskrit, “central land”; a term used to refer to the region of the Buddha’s activities in what is today northeastern India, said to encompass an area some nine hundred leagues (YOJANA) in circumference. The term is also used more figuratively to refer to a civilized region, especially a region in which Buddhism has been established. Thus, it is considered to be fortunate not simply to be reborn as a human but to be reborn as a human in such a central region, where one will have ready access to the teachings of Buddhism. See KṢAṆASAṂPAD.

Madhyamāgama. (P. Majjhimanikāya; T. Dbu ma’i lung; C. Zhong ahan jing; J. Chūagongyō; K. Chung aham kyŏng 中阿含觀). In Sanskrit, the “Medium [Length] Scriptures”; the division of the Sanskrit SŪTRAPIṬAKA corresponding closely to, but also substantially larger, than the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA of the Pāli canon. The Madhyamāgama collection is no longer extant in an Indic language but is preserved in its entirety in a Chinese translation made by Gautama Saṃghadeva between 397 and 398; a few fragments of a Sanskrit recension have been discovered (such as at TURFAN), and there are Tibetan translations of some individual sūtras from the collection. The extant Sanskrit fragments are ascribed to the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school; since these fragments correspond closely to the Chinese renderings, it is generally accepted that the Chinese translation of the Madhyamāgama represents the Sarvāstivāda school’s recension of this collection. The Madhyamāgama contains 222 sūtras, eighty of which correspond to suttas in the Pāli AṄGUTTARANIKĀYA, eleven to suttas in the SAṂYUTTANIKĀYA, and twelve to suttas in the DĪGHANIKĀYA. Of the Pāli Majjhimanikāya’s 152 suttas, ninety-eight have corresponding recensions in the Madhyamāgama. See also ĀGAMA.

Madhyamaka. (T. Dbu ma pa; C. San lun zong/Zhongguan; J. Sanronshū/Chūgan; K. Sam non chong/Chunggwan 三論/中). In Sanskrit, “Middle Way (school)”; a proponent or follower of the middle way” (MADHYAMAPRATIPAD); Buddhism is renowned as the middle way between extremes, a term that appears in the Buddha’s first sermon (see P. DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA) in which he prescribed a middle path between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. Thus, all proponents of Buddhism are in a sense proponents of the middle way, for each school of Buddhist philosophy identifies different versions of the two extremes and charts a middle way between them. The term Madhyamaka has however come to refer more specifically to the school of Buddhist philosophy that sets forth a middle way between the extreme of eternalism (ŚĀŚVATADṚṢṬI) and the extreme of annihilationism (UCCHEDADṚṢṬI). The Madhyamaka school derives from the works of NĀGĀRJUNA, the c. second century CE philosopher who is traditionally regarded as its founder. His major philosophical works, especially his MŪLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ (a.k.a. MADHYAMAKAŚĀSTRA), as well as the writings of his disciple ĀRYADEVA, provide the locus classicus for the school (which only seems to have been designated the Madhyamaka school after Āryadeva’s time). Commentaries on their works (by such figures as BUDDHAPĀLITA, BHĀVAVIVEKA, and CANDRAKĪRTI) provide the primary medium for philosophical expression in the school. Madhyamaka was highly influential in Tibet, where it was traditionally considered the highest of the four schools of Indian Buddhist philosophy (Madhyamaka, YOGĀCĀRA, SAUTRĀNTIKA, and VAIBHĀṢIKA). Tibetan exegetes discerned two branches in the Madhyamaka, the PRĀSAṄGIKA (associated with Buddhapālita and Candrakīrti) and the SVĀTANTRIKA (associated with Bhāvaviveka and ŚĀNTARAKṢITA). The works of Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva were also widely studied in East Asia, forming the basis of the “Three Treatises” school (C. SAN LUN ZONG; K. Sam non chong; J. Sanronshū), where the three treatises are the ZHONG LUN (the “Middle Treatise,” or Madhyamakaśāstra), the SHI’ERMEN LUN (“Twelve Gate Treatise,” or *Dvādaśamukhaśāstra), and the BAI LUN (“Hundred Verses Treatise,” *ŚATAŚĀSTRA), the latter two attributed to Āryadeva. The Madhyamaka school is most renowned for its exposition of the nature of reality, especially its deployment of the doctrines of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) and the two truths (SATYADVAYA). Because of its central claim that all phenomena are devoid or empty (śūnya) of intrinsic existence (SVABHĀVA), its proponents are also referred to as ŚŪNYAVĀDA and Niḥsvabhāvavāda. The doctrine of emptiness has also led to the charge, going back to the time of Nāgārjuna and continuing into the contemporary era, that the Madhyamaka is a form of nihilism, a charge that Nāgārjuna himself deftly refuted. Central to Madhyamaka philosophy is the relation between emptiness and dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). Dependent origination in its Madhyamaka interpretation refers not only to the twelvefold chain but more broadly to the fact that all phenomena arise in dependence on other factors. Hence, everything is dependent, and thus is empty of independent and intrinsic existence (NIḤSVABHĀVA). As Nāgārjuna states, “Because there are no phenomena that are not dependently arisen, there are no phenomena that are not empty.” This analysis becomes key to the Madhyamaka articulation of the middle way: because everything is dependently arisen, the extreme of annihilation (UCCHEDĀNTA) is avoided; because everything is empty, the extreme of permanence (ŚĀSVATĀNTA) is avoided. Although most of the major schools of Buddhist philosophy speaks of the two truths—the ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and the conventional truth (SAṂVṚTISATYA)—this category is especially important for Madhyamaka, which must simultaneously proclaim the emptiness of all phenomena (the ultimate truth) while describing the operations of the world of cause and effect and the processes governing the path to enlightenment (all of which are deemed conventional truths). Although the true character of conventional truth is misperceived as a result of ignorance (AVIDYĀ), conventional truths themselves are not rejected; as Nāgārjuna states, “Without relying on the conventional, the ultimate cannot be taught; without understanding the ultimate, NIRVĀṆA is not attained.” The precise nature of the two truths and their relation is explored in detail in the Madhyamaka treatises, most famously in the sixth chapter of Candrakīrti’s MADHYAMAKĀVATĀRA. Although most renowned for its doctrine of emptiness, Madhyamaka is a MAHĀYĀNA school and, as such, also offers detailed expositions of the path (MĀRGA) to the enlightenment. These works that focus on soteriological issues include the SUHṚLLEKHA and RATNĀVALĪ of Nāgārjuna, the CATUḤŚATAKA of Āryadeva, the MADHYAMAKĀVATĀRA of Candrakīrti, the BODHICARYĀVATĀRA of ŚĀNTIDEVA, the BHĀVANĀKRAMA of KAMALAŚĪLA, and the BODHIPATHAPRADĪPA of ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA.

Madhyamakahṛdaya. (T. Dbu ma’i snying po). In Sanskrit, “Essence of the Middle Way”; the major work of the sixth-century Indian MADHYAMAKA (and, from the Tibetan perspective, SVĀTANTRIKA) master BHĀVAVIVEKA (also referred to as Bhavya and Bhāviveka). The text is written in verse, accompanied by the author’s extensive prose commentary, entitled the TARKAJVĀLĀ. The Madhyamakahṛdaya is preserved in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, the TARKAJVĀLĀ only in Tibetan. The work is in eleven chapters, the first three and the last two of which set forth the main points in Bhāvaviveka’s view of the nature of reality and the Buddhist path, dealing with such topics as BODHICITTA, the knowledge of reality (tattvajñāna), and omniscience (SARVAJÑĀTĀ). The intervening chapters set forth the positions (and Bhāvaviveka’s refutations) of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, including the ŚRĀVAKA, YOGĀCĀRA, Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, Vedānta, and Mīmāṃsā. These chapters (along with ŚĀNTARAKṢITA’s TATTVASAṂGRAHA) are a valuable source of insight into the relations between Madhyamaka and the other Indian philosophical schools of the day. The chapter on the śrāvakas, for example, provides a detailed account of the reasons put forth by the mainstream Buddhist schools as to why the Mahāyāna SŪTRAs are not the word of the Buddha. Bhāvaviveka’s response to these charges, as well as his refutation of Yogācāra in the subsequent chapter, are particularly spirited.

Madhyamakālaṃkāra. (T. Dbu ma rgyan). In Sanskrit, “Ornament of the Middle Way”; a verse work in ninety-seven stanzas by the eighth-century Indian master ŚĀNTARAKṢITA; it is accompanied by a prose commentary (vṛtti) by the author. Both the root text and commentary are lost in the original Sanskrit (although verses cited elsewhere remain) but preserved in Tibetan translation. Whereas Śāntarakṣita’s other major work, the TATTVASAṂGRAHA, is valued largely for its detailed discussion of competing Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools of Indian philosophy, the Madhyamakālaṃkāra, which was composed later, is regarded as the foundational text of the YOGĀCĀRA–MADHYAMAKA synthesis that occurred in late Indian Buddhism, what Tibetan doxographers would dub YOGĀCĀRA–SVĀTANTRIKA–MADHYAMAKA. Śāntarakṣita argues that the proper method for gaining realization of reality is to first come to the Yogācāra understanding that external objects do not exist and then move to the Madhyamaka view that mind also is empty of self. The Madhyamakālaṃkāra famously states (at stanzas 92–93), “Through relying on mind-only, the nonexistence of external objects should be known. Relying on this [Madhyamaka] mode, it should be known that this [mind] also is completely selfless. Those who, having mounted the chariot of the two modes, grasp the reins of reasoning thereby attain the state of a Mahāyānist exactly as it is.” Śāntarakṣita argues that anything that has intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA) must be intrinsically either one or many. Whatever is neither intrinsically one nor many must lack intrinsic nature. He then goes on to subject a wide range of important philosophical categories to this reasoning in an effort to demonstrate that nothing is endowed with intrinsic nature. These categories include the conditioned (such as the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind), the unconditioned (NIRVĀṆA), the person (PUDGALA) asserted by the VĀTSĪPUTRĪYAs, and space (ĀKĀŚA). He continues on to apply this same reasoning to the major categories of consciousness of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, focusing upon VAIBHĀṢIKA, SAUTRĀNTIKA, and the various subschools of VIJÑĀNAVĀDA. In the course of this section, he considers such important topics in Buddhist epistemology as whether or not the object casts an image or “aspect” (ĀKĀRA), toward the perceiving consciousness, and whether reflexivity (SVASAṂVEDANA) exists. He concludes that consciousness lacks intrinsic nature (NIḤSVABHĀVA). Roughly the last third of the text is devoted to an exposition of the two truths (SATYADVAYA). He concludes by stating that the follower of the Buddha has compassion for those who hold mistaken philosophical views.

Madhyamakāloka. (T. Dbu ma snang ba). In Sanskrit, “Illumination of the Middle Way”; the major independent (as opposed to commentarial) work of the late eighth-century Indian master KAMALAŚĪLA. The work is preserved only in Tibetan translation. While the MADHYAMAKĀLAṂKĀRA of Kamalaśīla’s teacher, ŚĀNTARAKṢITA, is considered the foundational philosophical text of the YOGĀCĀRA–MADHYAMAKA synthesis, the Madhyamakāloka is its most important and detailed exposition. As such, it deals with a number of central epistemological and logical issues to articulate what is regarded as the defining tenet of the YOGĀCĀRA–SVĀTANTRIKA–MADHYAMAKA school: that major YOGĀCĀRA doctrines, such as “mind-only” (CITTAMĀTRA) and the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA), are important in initially overcoming misconceptions, but they are in fact only provisional (NEYĀRTHA) teachings for those who have not yet understood the Madhyamaka view. The Madhyamakāloka is also important for its exploration of such central MAHĀYĀNA doctrines as the TATHĀGATAGARBHA and the question of the EKAYĀNA. On this latter point, Kamalaśīla argues against the Yogācāra position that there are three final vehicles (ŚRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, and BODHISATTVA vehicles, with some beings excluded from any path to liberation; see SAMUCCHINNAKUŚALAMŪLA; ICCHANTIKA) in favor of the position that there is a single vehicle to buddhahood for all beings.

Madhyamakaratnapradīpa. (T. Dbu ma rin po che’i sgron ma). In Sanskrit, “Jeweled Lamp for the Middle Way”; a work of MADHYAMAKA philosophy attributed to Bhavya or BHĀVAVIVEKA. However, because the work contains references to CANDRAKĪRTI and DHARMAKĪRTI, who lived after Bhāvaviveka, some scholars do not consider it to be the work of the author of the PRAJÑĀPRADĪPA, but by a later scholar by that name, sometimes referred to as Bhavya II. The work begins with a discussion of the two truths (SATYADVAYA) and then goes on to offer criticisms of the positions of both non-Buddhist and Buddhist philosophical schools, with the latter including VAIBHĀṢIKA and SAUTRĀNTIKA, as well as YOGĀCĀRA. The text continues with a presentation and defense of the Madhyamaka interpretation of the two truths, followed by a presentation of the practices of the BODHISATTVA and of the three bodies (TRIKĀYA) of the Buddha. The text concludes with a paean to NĀGĀRJUNA and the benefits of following his teachings.

Madhyamakārthasaṃgraha. (T. Dbu ma’i don bsdus pa). In Sanskrit, “Summary of the Meaning of the Middle Way”; a brief text in verse attributed to BHĀVAVIVEKA. As the title suggests, it provides a brief outline of the basic topics of MADHYAMAKA philosophy, such as the middle way between the extremes of existence and nonexistence, Madhyamaka reasoning, and the two truths.

Madhyamakaśāstra. (T. Dbu ma’i bstan bcos; C. Zhong lun; J. Chūron; K. Chung non 中論). In Sanskrit, “Treatise on the Middle Way”; an alternative title of the magnum opus of the second-century Indian exegete NĀGĀRJUNA. See MŪLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ.

Madhyamakāvatāra. (T. Dbu ma la ’jug pa). In Sanskrit, “Entrance to the Middle Way” (translated also as “Supplement to the Middle Way”); the major independent (as opposed to commentarial) work of the seventh-century Indian master CANDRAKĪRTI, who states that it is intended as an avatāra (variously rendered as “primer,” “entrance,” and “supplement”) to NĀGĀRJUNA’s MŪLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ. The work is written in verse, to which the author provides an extensive prose commentary (bhāṣya). The work is organized around ten “productions of the aspiration to enlightenment” (BODHICITTOTPĀDA), which correspond to the ten stages (BHŪMI) of the bodhisattva path (drawn largely from the DAŚABHŪMIKASŪTRA) and their respective perfections (PĀRAMITĀ), describing the salient practices and attainments of each. These are followed by chapters on the qualities of the bodhisattva, on the stage of buddhahood, and a conclusion. The lengthiest (comprising approximately half of the work) and most important chapter of the text is the sixth, dealing with the perfection of wisdom (PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ). This is one of the most extensive and influential expositions in Indian literature of Madhyamaka philosophical positions. In it, Candrakīrti provides a detailed discussion of the two truths—ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and conventional truth (SAṂVṚTISATYA)—arguing that all things that have these two natures and that conventional truths (which he glosses as “concealing truths”) are not in fact true because they appear falsely to the ignorant consciousness. He also discusses the crucial question of valid knowledge (PRAMĀṆA) among the unenlightened, relating it to worldly consensus (lokaprasiddha). The sixth chapter also contains one of the most detailed refutations of YOGĀCĀRA in MADHYAMAKA literature, treating such topics as the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA), the foundational consciousness (ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA), and the statements in the sūtras that the three realms of existence are “mind-only” (CITTAMĀTRA). This chapter also contains Candrakīrti’s most famous contribution to Madhyamaka reasoning, the sevenfold reasoning designed to demonstrate the absence of a personal self (PUDGALANAIRĀTMYA). Adding to and elaborating upon a fivefold reasoning found in Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Candrakīrti argues that the person does not intrinsically exist because of it: (1) not being the aggregates (SKANDHA), (2) not being other than the aggregates, (3) not being the basis of the aggregates, (4) not depending on the aggregates, (5) not possessing the aggregates, (6) not being the shape of the aggregates, and (7) not being the composite of the aggregates. He illustrates this reasoning by applying it to the example of a chariot, which, he argues, is not to be found among its constituent parts. The sixth chapter concludes with a discussion of the sixteen and the twenty forms of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), which include the emptiness of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀŚŪNYATĀ). The work was the most widely studied and commented upon Madhyamaka text in Tibet among all sects, serving, for example, as one of the “five texts” (ZHUNG LNGA) that formed the DGE LUGS scholastic curriculum. The work is preserved only in Tibetan, although a Sanskrit manuscript of verses has been discovered in Tibet.

Madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya. (S). See MADHYAMAKĀVATĀRA.

madhyamapratipad. (P. majjhimapaṭipadā; T. dbu ma’i lam; C. zhongdao; J. chūdō; K. chungdo 中道). In Sanskrit, “middle way”; a well-known description of the Buddhist path (MĀRGA), with two important denotations. As set forth by the Buddha in his first sermon, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dharma” (P. DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA; S. DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASŪTRA), the middle way refers to a religious path between the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification or extreme asceticism, extremes that the Buddha himself experienced prior to his enlightenment, the former during his youth as a prince, and the latter during his practice of self-mortification. In this first sermon, the Buddha identifies the middle way between these two extremes as the eightfold path (S. ĀRYĀṢṬĀṄGAMĀRGA). As expounded by NĀGĀRJUNA and his followers, the middle way is a philosophical position between the extremes of permanence (ŚĀŚVATĀNTA) and annihilation (UCCHEDĀNTA) (sometimes also called the extremes of existence and nonexistence; see ANTAGRĀHADṚṢṬI). Although the precise meaning of this interpretation of the middle way is widely discussed and debated, one interpretation identifies the extreme of permanence as the position that everything exists ultimately and the extreme of annihilation as the position that nothing exists even conventionally, with the middle way being the position that nothing exists ultimately but everything exists conventionally.

Madhyāntavibhāga. (T. Dbus mtha’ rnam ’byed; C. Bianzhongbian lun; J. Benchūbenron; K. Pyŏnjungbyŏn non 辯中邊論). In Sanskrit, “Differentiation of the Middle Way and the Extremes”; one of the five works (together with the ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRA, the MAHĀYĀNASŪTRĀLAṂKĀRA, the RATNAGOTRAVIBHĀGA, and the DHARMADHARMATĀVIBHĀGA) said to have been presented to ASAṄGA by the bodhisattva MAITREYA in the TUṢITA heaven. (More precisely, the title Madhyāntavibhāga refers to the Madhyāntavibhāgakārikā attributed to Maitreya; VASUBANDHU. wrote a commentary to the text, entitled Madhyāntavibhāgabhāṣya, and STHIRAMATI wrote a commentary entitled Madhyāntavibhāgaṭīkā). Written in verse, it is one of the most important YOGĀCĀRA delineations of the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA), especially as they figure in the path to enlightenment, where the obstacles created by the imaginary (PARIKALPITA) are overcome ultimately by the antidote of the consummate (PARINIṢPANNA). The “middle way” exposed here is that of the Yogācāra, and is different from that of NĀGĀRJUNA, although the names of the two extremes to be avoided—the extreme of permanence (ŚĀŚVATĀNTA) and the extreme of annihilation (UCCHEDĀNTA)—are the same. Here the extreme of permanence is the existence of external objects, the imaginary nature (PARIKALPITASVABHĀVA). The extreme of annihilation would seem to include Nāgārjuna’s emptiness of intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA). The middle way entails upholding the existence of consciousness (VIJÑĀNA) as the dependent nature (PARATANTRASVABHĀVA) and the existence of the consummate nature (PARINIṢPANNASVABHĀVA). The work is divided into five chapters, which consider the three natures, the various forms of obstruction to be abandoned on the path, the ultimate truth according to YOGĀCĀRA, the means of cultivating the antidotes to the defilements, and the activity of the MAHĀYĀNA path. See also MAITREYANĀTHA.

Madhyāntika. (P. Majjhantika; T. Nyi ma gung pa; C. Motiandi; J. Matsudenchi/Madenchi; K. Malchŏnji 末田地). The third of the five teachers (dharmācārya) mentioned in Indian Sanskrit texts as the initial successors of the Buddha: viz., MAHĀKĀŚYAPA, ĀNANDA, Madhyāntika, ŚĀṆAKAVĀSIN, and UPAGUPTA. The AŚOKĀVADĀNA records that he lived a hundred years after the Buddha’s death and, after becoming an ARHAT, was sent by his teacher Ānanda to disseminate Buddhism in Kashmir (see KASHMIR-GANDHĀRA). According to BUDDHAGHOSA’s fifth-century CE VINAYA commentary, the SAMANTAPĀSĀDIKĀ, Madhyāntika was the preceptor of MAHINDA (S. Mahendra), the son of King Asoka (S. AŚOKA), who converted the Sinhalese king DEVĀNAṂPIYATISSA to Buddhism in the third century BCE, thus inaugurating Buddhism in Sri Lanka. According to that same text, after the third Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, THIRD), Madhyāntika traveled to Kashmir, where he led countless Kashmiris to enlightenment and ordained a thousand as novice monks (ŚRĀMAṆERA). He is also said to have tamed a malevolent NĀGA living in a lake there. The DA TANG XIYU JI by the Chinese pilgrim XUANZANG (600/602–664) records that the Buddha predicted before his PARINIRVĀṆA that Madhyāntika would travel to Udyāna in Kashmir to disseminate the dharma. Fifty years after the Buddha’s death, Madhyāntika heard this prediction from his teacher Ānanda and set out on a successful mission to that region. Xuanzang reports that, in Udyāna, Madhyāntika supervised the carving of a hundred-foot-high wooden image of MAITREYA Buddha; Madhyāntika used his spiritual powers to send a sculptor directly to the TUṢITA heaven (on three separate occasions, according to the account) so he would be able to accurately model the image after the person of Maitreya himself. Sanskrit VINAYA materials, including those from the MAHĀSĀṂGHIKA and MŪLASARVĀSTIVĀDA schools, typically list Madhyāntika as the third successor of the Buddha. He is also subsequently listed as the third Indian patriarch (ZUSHI) in early Chinese records of dharma transmission (CHUANFA), such as the FU FAZANG YINYUAN ZHUAN and the CHU SANZANG JIJI, as well as in early Chan genealogical records, such as the CHUAN FABAO JI and the LIDAI FABAO JI. Later Chan lineage texts compiled after about the early ninth century, such as the BAOLIN ZHUAN and the JINGDE CHUANDENG LU, eliminate him from the roster and move Śāṇakavāsin up to the position of third patriarch.

madhyendriya. (T. dbang po ’bring; C. zhonggen; J. chūkon; K. chunggŭn 中根). In Sanskrit, “average faculties”; a term used to describe those disciples of the Buddha whose intellectual capacity is between that of the least intelligent (MṚDVINDRIYA) and the most intelligent (TĪKṢṆENDRIYA), and thus average. The term appears particularly in discussions of UPĀYA, the Buddha’s ability to adapt his teachings to the intellects, interests, and aspirations of his disciples. Thus, in consideration of the abilities of his audience, the Buddha would teach different things to different people, sometimes extolling a particular practice to those of middling and lesser faculties, knowing that they were temporarily unable to practice the highest teaching. Precisely what constitutes the Buddha’s highest teaching is a point of considerable disagreement over the course of Buddhist thought, with the advocates of one faction consigning the teaching held to be highest by another faction to the category of teachings intended for those of middling or lesser faculties.

mae chi. In Thai, “nun” (although not a novice ŚRĀMAṆERIKĀ or fully ordained BHIKṢUNĪ) or the “order of nuns” in Thailand; those who are ordained as mae chi observe the eight precepts (SIKṢĀPADA; cf. AṢṬĀṄGASAMANVĀGATAṂ UPAVĀSAṂ, UPOṢADHA), dress in white robes similar in style to the saffron robes of the monks, shave their heads every fortnight, and spend much of their time in religious observances. However, because mae chi have not received a monastic ordination and are thus technically still laywomen (UPĀSIKĀ), they are not afforded the special legal status of fully ordained monks, and typically receive far less financial support from both the government and the laity. During the last two decades of the twentieth century, the number of mae chi increased substantially, particularly among college-educated women. Moreover, there was also an increased emphasis on practicing and teaching VIPASSANĀ (S. VIPAŚYANĀ) meditation, as well as on providing young women with opportunities for religious education, particularly those who were economically disadvantaged. The majority of women who ordain as nuns, however, continue to be middle aged and older, in sharp contrast to monks, most of whom ordain as either novices or as young men, and who often enter the monkhood for only a single rains retreat (Thai. pansa, P. vassa; S. VARṢĀ). In the late 1990s, there were around ten thousand nuns in Thailand, compared with almost two hundred thousand monks.

Mae Thorani. (Thai). See THORANI.

Magadha. (T. Yul ma ga dha; C. Mojietuo [guo]; J. Makatsuda[koku]; K. Magalta [kuk] 摩掲佗[國]). The largest of the sixteen states (MAHĀJANAPADA) that flourished in northern India between the sixth and third centuries BCE. As described in Pāli sources, its capital was Rājagaha (S. RĀJAGṚHA) and, during the lifetime of the Buddha was ruled by King BIMBISĀRA and his usurper son Ajātasattu (S. AJĀTAŚATRU), both of whom became patrons of Buddhism. The Ganges River (GAṄGĀNADĪ) was the border between Magadha and the powerful Licchavi federation. Beginning with Bimbisāra, the relative strength of Magadha vis-à-vis its neighbors rose steadily for several centuries. Ajātasattu annexed the kingdom of Kosala (S. KOŚALA) with the aid of the Licchavis after which he reduced the latter to vassals. The capital of Magadha was moved from Rājagaha to Pāṭaliputta (S. PĀṬALIPUTRA) sometime after Ajātasattu and subsequently became the seat of government for the Mauryan Empire. The height of Magadha’s influence was reached in the third century BCE during the reign of the emperor Asoka (S. AŚOKA), when the authority of Pāṭaliputta extended across the north of the Indian subcontinent from Bengal in the east, to Afghanistan in the west and south to the borders of Tamil Nadu. Magadha has been described as the birthplace of Buddhism, and its language, the language of the Buddha. Buddhism in the region received its greatest impetus during the reign of Asoka, whose inscriptions indicate that he promoted the religion throughout his empire. Later depictions of Asoka that appear in Pāli sources portray him as exclusive in his patronage of Buddhism, although his own epigraphs indicate that he lent royal support to brāhmaṇas and non-Buddhist ŚRAMAṆA sects as well.

Ma gcig lab sgron. (Machik Labdrön) (c. 1055–1149). Female Tibetan Buddhist master who codified the important meditation tradition called “severance” (GCOD), classified as one of the so-called eight great conveyances that are lineages of achievement (SGRUB BRGYUD SHING RTA CHEN PO BRGYAD). Born in the southern Tibetan region of LA PHYI, Ma gcig lab sgron was recognized at a young age to be a prodigy. According to her traditional biographies, she had a natural propensity for the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ literature, spending much of her youth reading and studying its root texts and commentaries. She continued her religious education under the monk known as Grwa pa mngon shes (Drapa Ngönshe) and Skyo ston Bsod nams bla ma (Kyotön Sönam Lama) in a monastic setting where she was eventually employed to use her skills in ritual recitation and exegesis. She then took up the lifestyle of a tantric YOGINĪ, living as the consort of the Indian adept Thod pa Bhadra and giving birth to perhaps five children. Reviled in one source as “a nun who had repudiated her religious vows,” Ma gcig lab sgron left her family and eventually met the figure who would become her root guru, the famed Indian yogin PHA DAM PA SANGS RGYAS who transmitted to her the instructions of “pacification” (ZHI BYED) and MAHĀMUDRĀ. She combined these with her training in prajñāpāramitā and other indigenous practices, passing them on as the practice of severance, principally to the Nepalese yogin Pham thing pa and her own son Thod smyon bsam grub (Tönyön Samdrup). Ma gcig lab sgron is revered as a ḌĀKINĪ, an emanation of the Great Mother (Yum chen mo, as the goddess PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ is known in Tibetan), and the female bodhisattva TĀRĀ. Her reincarnations have also been recognized in contemporary individuals, including the former abbess of the important SHUG GSEB nunnery, Rje btsun Rig ’dzin chos nyid zang mo (Jetsun Rikdzin Chönyi Sangmo). Ma gcig lab sgron remains a source of visionary inspiration for new ritual cycles, as well as a primary Tibetan example of the ideal female practitioner. Her tradition of severance continues to be widely practiced by Tibetan Buddhists of all sectarian affiliations.

maggacitta. In Pāli, “path consciousness”; a term synonymous with “path knowledge” (maggañāṇa); the moment of consciousness that occurs upon accessing any one of the four supramundane or noble paths (P. ariyamagga; S. ĀRYAMĀRGA), viz., that of the stream-enterer (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (P. sakadāgāmi; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (P. anāgāmi; ANĀGĀMIN), and worthy one (P. arahant; S. ARHAT). It marks the attainment of what is called “purity of knowledge and vision” (ÑĀṆADASSANAVISUDDHI), which is the seventh and final purity (visuddhi; cf. S. VIŚUDDHI) that is developed along the path to liberation. Path consciousness is immediately preceded by GOTRABHŪÑĀṆA or “change-of-lineage knowledge,” that point at which consciousness first takes the NIRVĀṆA element (P. nibbānadhātu) as its object, thereby freeing the practitioner from belonging to the lineage of ordinary worldlings (P. puthujjana; cf. S. PṚTHAGJANA). Path consciousness is immediately followed by two or three moments of “fruition consciousness” (PHALACITTA), after which the mind subsides into the subconscious continuum (BHAVAṄGASOTA). The difference between path consciousness and fruition consciousness may be described in the following way with reference to the stream-enterer: through the path of stream-entry, one “becomes” free of the first three fetters (SAṂYOJANA), whereas through fruition of stream-entry one “is” free of the first three fetters. Because path consciousness represents the first moment of entering of the path, it occurs only once to any given practitioner on each of the four paths. Fruition consciousness, on the other hand, is not so limited and thus may repeat itself innumerable times during a lifetime.

maggāmaggañāṇadassanavisuddhi. (S. *margāmargajñānadarśanaviśuddhi; C. dao feidao zhijian qingjing; J. dōhidōchikenshōjō; K. to pido chigyŏn ch’ŏngjŏng 道非道智見清淨). In Pāli, “purity of knowledge and vision of what is and is not the path.” According to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the fifth of seven “purities” (visuddhi; cf. S. VIŚUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. This purity consists of the understanding that distinguishes between what is the right path and what is the wrong path. It requires as a prerequisite the cultivation of methodological insight (nayavipassanā) through contemplating the nature of the five aggregates (P. khandha; S. SKANDHA). Through an understanding of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS and dependent origination (P. paṭiccasamuppāda; S. PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), the practitioner realizes that the aggregates come into being and pass away from moment to moment, and that as a consequence they are insubstantial, unreliable, and empty, like a mirage. During this stage of purification, ten experiences arise, which, if the practitioner becomes attached to them, function as defilements of insight (vipassanūpakkilesa). These include: (1) radiant light (obhāsa), (2) knowledge (ñāṇa), (3) rapture (pīti), (4) tranquility (passaddhi), (5) pleasure (sukha), (6) determination (adhimokkha), (7) energy (paggaha), (8) awareness (upaṭṭhāna), (9) equanimity (upekkhā), and (10) delight (nikanti). These ten defilements may cause the practitioner to believe that he has attained liberation, when in fact he has not. They are overcome with continued practice, whereby the mind comes to regard them with indifference as mere concomitants of insight.

Magoksa. (麻谷寺). In Korean, “Hemp Valley Monastery”; the sixth district monastery (PONSA) of the contemporary CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism, located on T’aehwasan (Exalted Splendor Mountain) outside the city of Kongju in South Ch’ungch’ŏng province. The origins of the monastery and its name are obscure. One record claims that Magoksa was established by the Silla VINAYA master CHAJANG (fl. c. 590–658) in 643; because so many people attended Chajang’s dharma lecture at the monastery’s founding, the audience was said to have been “as dense as hemp stalks,” so the Sinograph for “hemp” (ma) was given to the name of the monastery. This claim is, however, suspect since the monastery is located in what was then the territory of Silla’s rival Paekche. A second theory is that the monastery was founded in 845 by Muju Muyŏm (799–888), founder of the Sŏngjusan school of the Nine Mountains school of Sŏn (KUSAN SŎNMUN). When Muyŏm returned to Silla in 845 from his training in China, he is said to have named the monastery after his Chinese CHAN teacher Magu Baoche (K. Magok Poch’ŏl; b. 720?). Finally, it is also said that the monastery’s name simply derives from the fact that hemp was grown in the valley before the monastery’s establishment. In 1172, during the Koryŏ dynasty, Magoksa was significantly expanded in scope by POJO CHINUL (1158–1210) and his disciple Suu (d.u.), who turned it into a major monastery in the region. Following the Japanese Hideyoshi invasions of 1592–1598, the monastery sat destroyed for some sixty years until several of its shrine halls were reconstructed by Kakch’ŏng (d.u.) in 1651 and the monastery returned to prominence. The Taegwang pojŏn (Basilica of Great Brightness) is Magoksa’s central sanctuary and enshrines an image of the buddha VAIROCANA; the building was reconstructed in 1172 by Pojo Chinul and again in 1651. In front of the basilica is a juniper tree planted by the independence fighter Kim Ku (1876–1949), who later lived at the monastery as a monk. Magoksa’s main buddha hall (taeung pojŏn; see TAEUNG CHŎN) enshrines a ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha statue that is flanked by AMITĀBHA and BHAIṢAJYAGURU, and the calligraphy hanging outside this hall is reported to be that of Kim Saeng (711–790/791), one of Silla’s most famous calligraphers. One of Magoksa’s unique structures is its five-story, Koryŏ-era stone pagoda, which is built upon a two-story-high stone base; its bronze cap suggests Tibetan influences that may have entered Korea via the Mongol Yuan dynasty. It is one of only three STŪPAs of similar style known to exist worldwide. The Yŏngsan chŏn (Vulture Peak Hall) is decorated with paintings of the eight stereotypical episodes in the life of the Buddha (p’alsang; see C. BAXIANG); it is also called the Ch’ŏnbul chŏn, or Thousand Buddhas Hall, for the many buddha statues enshrined around the inside perimeter of the hall. The building, which was reconstructed by Kakch’ŏng in 1651, is today’s Magoksa’s oldest extant building, with a plaque that may display the calligraphy of King Sejo (r. 1455–1468).

mahābhaya. (T. ’jigs pa chen po; C. dakewei; J. daikai; K. taegaoe 大可畏). In Sanskrit, the “great fears”; things that are frightening and from which one may need the protection of either a BODHISATTVA or a specific text or practice. The great fears are often listed as eight, with various constituents. One common list is earth, water, fire, wind, snakes, elephants, thieves, and kings; another is lions, elephants, fire, snakes, thieves, violent waters (including floods and storms at sea), imprisonment, and demons.

Mahābherīhārakaparivarta. (T. Rnga bo che chen po’i le’u; C. Dafagu jing; J. Daihokkukyō; K. Taebŏpko kyŏng 大法鼓經). A Sanskrit MAHĀYĀNA sūtra translated into Chinese by GUṆABHADRA in the fifth century as the “Great Drum Sūtra”; it is considered one of the major sūtras for the exposition of the notion of the “embryo of the buddhas” (TATHĀGATAGARBHA). It is one of two texts (the other being the Mahāyāna AṄGULIMĀLĪYASŪTRA) that make specific reference to the TATHĀGATAGARBHASŪTRA, stating that only BODHISATTVA–MAHĀSATTVAs understand the nature of the tathāgatagarbha and thus preserve the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra. This sūtra also sets forth the doctrine of a single vehicle (EKAYĀNA), similar to that found in the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA.

mahābhūmika. (T. sa chen po pa; C. dadi fa; J. daijihō; K. taeji pŏp 大地法). In Sanskrit, lit. “factors of wide extent”; “omnipresent mental factors” (DHARMA) that ground all conscious activity; also known as CITTAMAHĀBHŪMIKA. In the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA system, ten specific factors are said universally to accompany all consciousness activity and are therefore known as “omnipresent mental factors.” The ten are: (1) “sensation” or “feeling” (VEDANĀ), (2) “volition” or “intention” (CETANĀ), (3) “perception” (SAṂJÑĀ), (4) “zest” or “desire to act” (CHANDA), (5) “sensory contact” (SPARŚA), (6) “discernment” (MATI), (7) “mindfulness” (SMṚTI), (8) “attention” (MANASIKĀRA), (9) “determination” (ADHIMOKṢA), (10) “concentration” (SAMĀDHI). To give but one example of how these factors are viewed as ubiquitous, even such mental states as distraction are still characterized by a relative “lack” of concentration, not a complete absence thereof; hence, “concentration” remains an omnipresent mental factor even amid distraction. There is also a list of six “fundamental afflictions” or “defiled factors of wide extent” (KLEŚA-mahābhūmika) that are associated with all defiled thoughts: delusion (MOHA), heedlessness (pramāda; see APRAMĀDA), lassitude (KAUSĪDYA), lack of faith (ĀŚRADDHYA), sloth (STYĀNA), and restlessness (AUDDHATYA). Finally, there are also two “unwholesome factors of wide extent” (AKUŚALA-mahābhūmika): lack of shame (ahrī; cf. HRĪ) and lack of dread (anapatrāpya; cf. APATRĀPYA).

mahābhūta. (T. ’byung ba chen po; C. dazhong/sida; J.daishu/shidai; K. taejong/sadae 大種/四大). In Sanskrit and Pāli, the “great elements”; or “major elementary qualities” of which the physical world of materiality or form (RŪPA) is composed. According to ABHIDHARMA analysis, these elements involve not only the common manifestations of earth (PṚTHIVĪ; P. paṭhavī), water (ĀPAS; P. āpo), fire (TEJAS; P. tejo), and wind (VĀYU; P. vāyu/vāyo), but also the fundamental qualities of the physical world that these elements represent. Thus, the quality of solidity is provided by earth, the quality of cohesion by water, the quality of heat or warmth by fire, and the quality of mobility by wind. All physical objects are said to possess of all four of the great elements, in greater or lesser proportion.

mahābodhi. (T. byang chub chen po; C. da puti/wushang puti; J. daibodai/mujōbodai; K. tae pori/musang pori 大菩提/無上菩提). In Sanskrit, “great enlightenment”; the enlightenment of a buddha and the enlightenment to which the BODHISATTVA aspires. In this sense, it is distinguished from the term BODHI, which can be used more broadly to describe both the enlightenment of a buddha as well as the enlightenment of an ARHAT. The term mahābodhi is thus synonymous with SAṂBODHI and ANUTTARASAMYAKSAṂBODHI, which are only used with reference to buddhas. Mahābodhi is also used to refer to both the BODHI TREE and to the monastery constructed at BODHGAYĀ, since those are the sites where ŚĀKYAMUNI achieved “great enlightenment.” See also MAHĀBODHI TEMPLE.

mahābodhinirmāṇakāya. (T. byang chub chen po’i sprul sku). In Sanskrit, “emanation body of great enlightenment”; the familiar form assumed by a buddha in order to subdue the afflictions of sentient beings, which performed such deeds as going forth from the world, achieving enlightenment under the BODHI TREE, turning the wheel of the dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA), and passing into PARINIRVĀṆA. Among the three bodies of a buddha—the DHARMAKĀYA, the SAṂBHOGAKĀYA, and the NIRMĀṆAKĀYA—this body is a subtype of the last. It is also called a “supreme emanation body” (UTTAMANIRMĀṆAKĀYA) to distinguish it from other forms in which a buddha may appear in the world.

mahābodhisattva. (T. byang chub sems dpa’ chen po; C. da pusa; J. daibosatsu; K. tae posal 大菩薩). In Sanskrit, “great bodhisattva”; a term that sometimes has the specific sense of a bodhisattva who has achieved the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA). Such a bodhisattva is also called an āryabodhisattva.

Mahābodhi Society. An organization founded in 1891 by a group that included the Sinhalese nationalist and Buddhist leader, Anagārika Dharmapāla (1864–1933; see DHARMAPĀLA, ANAGĀRIKA). Dharmapāla had been shocked to read EDWIN ARNOLD’s 1886 newspaper account of the sad condition of BODHGAYĀ, the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment. Arnold described a dilapidated temple surrounded by hundreds of broken statues scattered in the jungle. The MAHĀBODHI TEMPLE itself had stood in ruins prior to renovations undertaken by the British in 1880. Also of great concern was the fact that the site had been under Śaiva control since the eighteenth century, with reports of animal sacrifice taking place in the environs of the temple. The society was established with the aim of restoring Bodhgayā as place of Buddhist worship and pilgrimage and it undertook a series of unsuccessful lawsuits to that end; a joint Hindu–Buddhist committee was eventually established in 1949 to oversee the site. The society also sought to return other neglected sites, such as KUŚINAGARĪ, the place of the Buddha’s PARINIRVĀṆA, to places of Buddhist pilgrimage. Although the restoration of Indian Buddhist sites was the impetus for the founding of the Mahābodhi Society, this was not its only activity. It was the first organization of the modern period to seek to promote pan-Buddhist solidarity; Dharmapāla himself traveled widely on behalf of the society to North America, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. The journal of the society, called The Mahā Bodhi, founded in 1892, has published articles and translations for more than a century.

Mahābodhi Temple. (T. Byang chub chen po; C. Daputisi; J. Daibodaiji; K. Taeborisa 大菩提寺). The “Temple of the Great Awakening”; proper name used to refer to the great STŪPA at BODHGAYĀ, marking the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment, and hence the most important place of pilgrimage (see MAHĀSTHĀNA) in the Buddhist world. The Emperor AŚOKA erected a pillar and shrine at the site in the third century BCE. A more elaborate structure, called the VAJRĀSANA GANDHAKUṬĪ (“perfumed chamber of the diamond seat”), is depicted in a relief at Bodhgayā, dating from c. 100 BCE. It shows a two-storied structure supported by pillars, enclosing the BODHI TREE and the vajrāsana, the “diamond seat,” where the Buddha sat on the night of his enlightenment. The forerunner of the present structure is described by the Chinese pilgrim XUANZANG. This has led scholars to speculate that the temple was built between the third and sixth centuries CE, with subsequent renovations. Despite various persecutions by Hindu kings, the site continued to receive patronage, especially during the Pāla period, from which many of the surrounding monuments date. The monastery fell into neglect after the Muslim invasions that began in the thirteenth century. British photographs from the nineteenth century show the monastery in ruins. Restoration of the site was ordered by the British governor-general of Bengal in 1880, with a small eleventh-century replica of the monastery serving as a model. There is a tall central tower some 165 feet (fifty meters) in height, with a high arch over the entrance with smaller towers at the four corners. The central tower houses a small shrine with an image of the Buddha. The structure is surrounded by stone railings, some dating from 150 BCE, others from the Gupta period (300–600 CE), which preserve important carvings. The area came under the control of a Śaiva mahant in the eighteenth century. In the late nineteenth century, the Sinhalese Buddhist activist Anagārika Dharmapāla (see DHARMAPĀLA, ANAGĀRIKA), was part of a group that founded the MAHĀBODHI SOCIETY and began an unsuccessful legal campaign to have control of the site returned to Buddhists. In 1949, after Indian independence, the Bodhgayā Temple Act was passed, which is established a joint committee of four Buddhists and four Hindus to oversee the monastery and its grounds.

Mahābodhivaṃsa. In Pāli, the “History of the Great Bodhi [Tree]”; a prose chronicle recounting the history of the BODHI TREE. It was composed in Sri Lanka by the monk Upatissa in the tenth or eleventh century CE. The work begins with an account of the buddha Dīpaṅkara (S. DĪPAṂKARA), the lives of the bodhisatta (BODHISATTVA) under previous buddhas, the life of Gotama (S. GAUTAMA) Buddha, his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, his parinibbāna (PARINIRVĀṆA) and the distribution of his relics, and the three Buddhist councils in India. It then tells of MAHINDA’s mission to Sri Lanka, the conversion of the island to Buddhism, the arrival of SAṄGHAMITTĀ with a branch of the Bodhi tree, and the commencement of pūjā in honor of the tree.

mahābrahmā. (T. Tshang pa chen po; C. Dafan tian; J. Daibonten; K. Taebŏm ch’ŏn 大梵天). In Sanskrit and Pāli, the “great BRAHMĀ”; the highest of the three heavens that constitute the first absorption (DHYĀNA) of the realm of subtle materiality (RŪPADHĀTU) in the Buddhist cosmological system. The term often appears in plural, as mahābrahmāṇaḥ (P. mahābrahmāno), suggesting that this heaven is not the domain of a single brahmā, of whom the divinities of the two lower heavens are his subjects and ministers, but rather that a number of mahābrahmā gods inhabit this heaven. However, it is typically a single Brahmā, often called Brahmā SAHĀṂPATI, who appears in the sūtras. In the BRAHMAJĀLASUTTA, the false belief in a creator god derives from the fact that the first mahābrahmā divinity to be reborn in this heaven at the beginning of world cycle falsely imagined himself to be the creator of the beings who were reborn after him in the brahmā heavens, with those beings in turn believing his claim and professing it on earth after they were reborn as humans. As with all the heavens of the realm of subtle materiality, one is reborn as a divinity there through achieving the same level of concentration (dhyāna) as the gods of that heaven during one’s practice of meditation in a previous lifetime. See also BRAHMALOKA.

Mahācakravāḍa. (S). See CAKRAVĀḌA.

mahādarśajñāna. (S). See ĀDARŚAJÑĀNA.

Mahādeva. (T. Lha chen; C. Mohetipo; J. Makadaiba; K. Mahajeba 摩訶提婆). An Indian monk of questionable historicity, credited with the infamous “five theses” (pañcavastūni). Mahādeva appears in numerous accounts of the early centuries of the Buddhist order, but the various reports of dates, his affiliation, and his character are contradictory. Although extolled in some accounts, the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀṢĀ recounts that he had sexual relations with his mother; that he murdered his father, his mother, and several ARHATs; and that his cremation fire was fueled by dog excrement. Some accounts make him a participant at the second Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, SECOND), said to have occurred a century after the Buddha’s death, which resulted in the schism of the SAṂGHA into the conservative STHAVIRANIKĀYA and the more liberal MAHĀSĀṂGHIKA. However, the chief point of controversy there seems to have been ten relatively minor rules of discipline, the most serious of which was the prohibition against monks and nuns handling gold or silver. If Mahādeva was a historical figure, it is more likely that he was involved in a later schism that occurred within the Mahāsāṃghika, as a result of which the followers of Mahādeva formed the CAITYA subsect. The theses attributed to Mahādeva challenge the authority of the arhat. Although there is a lack of consistency in the various renditions of the five theses, according to one widely repeated version, the five are (1) arhats are subject to erotic dreams and nocturnal emissions; (2) arhats retain a subtle form of ignorance, called the “unafflicted ignorance” (AKLIṢṬĀJÑĀNA), which prevents them from knowing the names of people, trees, grasses, and which road to take without being told; (3) arhats are therefore subject to doubt; (4) arhats thus must rely on others for corroboration, including on the question of whether they have achieved enlightenment; (5) entry into the path can be achieved simply by attaining the first DHYĀNA, becoming a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA), and exclaiming “Oh suffering” (rather than by the more protracted method of the noble eightfold path). These theses, which are widely reported, reflect the Mahāsāṃghika attack on the arhat ideal, and presumably the Sthaviranikāya conception thereof. When these charges were leveled, and by whom, is unclear. In some accounts, Mahādeva was himself subject to each of these faults (reflecting on his transgression, he cried out “Oh suffering” in the night and later sought to deceive those who heard him by explaining that he had been contemplating the first of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS) and stated the five theses to protect his own claim to being an arhat.

Mahādhammasamādānasutta. (C. Shoufa jing; J. Juhōkyō; K. Subŏp kyŏng 受法經). In Pāli, the “Larger Discourse on Undertaking the DHARMA”; the forty-sixth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the 175th sūtra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a gathering of monks in the JETAVANA grove at Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ). The Buddha explains the different consequences that befall those who act with ignorance and those who act with wisdom. He then describes four ways of undertaking things in this life and the good and bad consequences that accrue to one who follows these ways. The first way is to live a painful life now, followed by a painful future existence; the second way is to live a pleasant life now, followed by a painful existence; the third way is to live a painful life now, followed by a pleasant existence; the fourth way is to live a pleasant life now, followed by a pleasant existence. The Buddha illustrates his points using the similes of a bitter gourd of poison, a bronze cup of a flavorful poisoned beverage, a medicine made from cow’s urine, and a flavorful medicinal drink.

Mahādukkhakkhandhasutta. (C. Kuyin jing; J. Kuongyō; K. Koŭm kyŏng 苦陰經). In Pāli, the “Greater Discourse on the Mass of Suffering”; the thirteenth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the ninety-ninth SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to his disciples at Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ) to refute the claims of naked JAINA ascetics that their teachings were identical to the teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha explains the full implications of sensual pleasures, the advantages of renouncing them, and the path needed to escape from their influence. Finally he asserts that outside his teachings these truths are unknown, and that only a buddha and his disciples can teach of them.

Mahāgopālakasutta. (C. Fangniu pin; J. Hōgobon; K. Pangu p’um 放牛品). In Pāli, the “Greater Discourse on the Cowherd”; the thirty-third sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (separate recensions appear in the Chinese translations of the SAṂYUKTĀGAMA and the EKOTTARĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to an assembly of monks at the JETAVANA grove in the city of Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ). The Buddha describes the conditions under which the teachings can prosper, using the example of the cowherd. Just as when a cowherd is equipped with the requisite skills in tending his cattle his herd can be expected to grow and prosper, so, too, when a monk is equipped with the requisite skills in leading the holy life, the teachings can be expected to grow and prosper.

Mahāgosiṅgasutta. (C. Niujiaosuoluolin jing; J. Gokakusararingyō; K. Ugaksararim kyŏng 牛角娑羅林經). In Pāli, the “Greater Discourse in Gosiṅga Park”; the thirty-second sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the 184th sūtra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA). On a beautiful moonlit night, while dwelling in the Gosiṅga woodland park, ŚĀRIPUTRA asks the eminent monks ĀNANDA, REVATA, ANIRUDDHA, MAHĀKĀŚYAPA, and MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA what kind of mendicant might adorn the park with their virtues. Each expresses his view, to which Śāriputra adds his own. The Buddha confirms their opinions, noting that each ideal in its own way would be an adornment to the Gosiṅga park.

Mahāgovindasutta. (C. Dianzun jing; J. Tensongyō; K. Chŏnjon kyŏng 典尊經). In Pāli, the “Great Discourse on Mahāgovinda”; the nineteenth sutta in the DĪGHANIKĀYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the third sūtra in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA). A celestial musician (gandhabba; GANDHARVA) named Pañcasikha recounts to the Buddha how the BRAHMĀ divinity Sanaṅkumāra once taught his fellow divinities a noble teaching acquired from a brāhmaṇa named Mahāgovinda. The Buddha reveals that he himself was that Mahāgovinda in a previous existence and that the teaching he set forth then as a bodhisatta (S. BODHISATTVA) could only lead to rebirth in the brahmā heavens. But now as a buddha, his teaching leads to the higher goals of the stream-enterer (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (P. sakadagāmi; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (P. anāgāmi; S. ANĀGĀMIN), and the highest goal of the arahant (ARHAT).

Mahāhatthipadopamasutta. (C. Xiangjiyu jing; J. Zōshakuyugyō; K. Sangjŏgyu kyŏng 象跡喩經). In Pāli, the “Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant’s Footprint”; the twenty-eighth sutta contained in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the thirtieth sūtra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA), preached by Sāriputta (S. ŚĀRIPUTRA) to an assembly of monks at the JETAVANA grove in the town of Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ). Using the simile of the elephant’s footprint, Sāriputta explains how just as the footprints of all animals can be contained in the footprint of an elephant, so all wholesome phenomena were contained in the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. He expounds on the four truths in terms of the four elements (MAHĀBHŪTA) of earth, water, fire, and air, and the dependent origination (P. paṭiccasamuppāda; S. PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA) of the five aggregates (P. khandha; S. SKANDHA).

mahājanapada. (T. grong khyer chen po; C. dacheng; J. daijō; K. taesŏng 大城). In Pāli, literally “great country.” Sixteen mahājanapadas or states are mentioned in Pāli texts as flourishing in northern India at the time of the Buddha. They were Kāsi, Kosala (KOŚALA), Aṅga, MAGADHA, Vajji, MALLA, Cetiya, Vaṃsa, Kuru, Pañcāla, Maccha, Sūrasena, Assaka, AVANTI, GANDHĀRA, and Kamboja. Of these, the first fourteen are included in Majjhimadesa (the middle country), while the last two are in Uttarāpatha (the northern region).

Mahākāla. (T. Nag po chen po; C. Daheitian; J. Daikokuten; K. Taehŭkch’ŏn 大黑天). In Sanskrit, the “Great Black One”; one of the most important wrathful deities of tantric Buddhism. He is a DHARMAPĀLA or “protector of the dharma,” of the LOKOTTARA or “supramundane” variety; that is, one regarded as the manifestation of a buddha or bodhisattva. He is said to be the wrathful manifestation of AVALOKITEŚVARA, the bodhisattva of compassion. In the form of Avalokiteśvara with a thousand arms and eleven heads (see SĀHASRABHUJASĀHASRANETRĀVALOKITEŚVARA), the top head is that of Mahākāla. He has many aspects, including two-, four-, and six-armed forms, and appears in several colors, the most famous being black and white. He wears a crown of five skulls, symbolizing the transmutation of the five afflictions (KLEŚA) into the five wisdoms (PAÑCAJÑĀNA) of a buddha. One of his most popular forms in Tibet is as Pañjaranātha or “Protector of the Pavilion.” In this form, which derives from the Vajrapañjaratantra, he is the protector of the HEVAJRATANTRA cycle. Here is depicted as a dwarf-like figure, holding a wooden staff across his arms. In Japan, where he is known as Daikokuten, Mahākāla is a less frightening figure and is one of the “seven gods of good fortune” (SHICHIFUKUJIN), extolled as a god of wealth and a god of the household.

Mahākālika. (S). See KĀLIKA.

mahākalpa. (P. mahākappa; T. bskal chen; C. dajie; J. daikō; K. taegŏp 大劫). In Sanskrit, “great eon”; one of the vast units of time in Buddhist cosmology, said to be equal in length to eighty KALPAs. A kalpa is traditionally said to be the length of time it would take to remove all the mustard seeds stored in a cube that was one YOJANA in height, length, and breadth, if one seed were removed each century. It is also said to be the length of time it would take to wear away a stone of similar size by wiping that stone with a piece of silk once every century. When it is said that a great kalpa is equal in length to eighty kalpas, a kalpa is sometimes referred to as an “intermediate eon” (ANTARAKALPA). When used to describe the duration of a particular world system, a great eon is divided into four periods: a period of nothingness, a period of creation, and period of subsistence, and a period of destruction, each twenty kalpas in length (see KALPA).

Mahākapphiṇa. (P. Mahākappina; T. Ka pi na chen po; C. Mohejiebinna; J. Makakōhinna; K. Mahagŏppinna 摩訶劫賓那). Sanskrit proper name of an eminent ARHAT deemed by the Buddha foremost among those who taught monks. According to Pāli accounts (where he is referred to as Mahākappina), he was older than the Buddha and had been the king of a frontier kingdom whose capital was Kukkutavatī. His wife was a princess from the city of Sāgala named Anojā. Mahākappina was endowed with a great intellect and every day he sent messengers from his city to inquire if scholars were traveling through his realm. One day, merchants from Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ) visited Kukkutavatī and told the king about the Buddha and his teachings. On hearing the news, the king was overjoyed and, presenting the travelers with a gift of thousands of coins, resolved to meet the Buddha himself. Setting out for Sāvatthi with his retinue, Mahākappina found his path blocked by three rivers. These he crossed by means of an “asseveration of truth” (see SATYAVACANA), in which he declared, “If this teacher indeed be a perfect buddha, let not even the hooves of my horses get wet.” When the royal delegation approached the Buddha, he preached to them, whereupon all of them attained arhatship and entered the order. When Anojā and the other royal wives heard the news, they resolved to follow their husbands and enter the order as nuns. When the Buddha preached to the women they all attained stream-entry (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA) and took ordination. Mahākappina used to spend his time in the bliss of meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA) and was wont to exclaim, “Oh joy, Oh joy.” While dwelling at the Maddakucchi Deer Park, he wondered whether he needed to attend the fortnightly confessional (P. UPOSATHA; S. UPOṢADHA). The Buddha, knowing his thoughts, appeared before him and instructed him to attend. Thinking Mahākappina too inactive, he instructed him to teach the dharma to others. Mahākappina complied, and by means of a single sermon a thousand recluses attained arhatship. In the Mahāyāna sūtras, where he is known by his Sanskrit name, Mahākapphiṇa, he is listed among the monks in audience for the preaching of the SUKHĀVATĪVYŪHASŪTRA.

mahākaruṇā. (T. snying rje chen mo; C. dabei; J. daihi K. taebi 大悲). In Sanskrit, “great compassion”; the compassion specific to BODHISATTVAs, viz., the wish to free all sentient beings from suffering. In expositions of the bodhisattva path, great compassion is distinguished from compassion (KARUṆĀ), often defined as the wish that others be free from suffering. “Great compassion” is distinguished both by its scope (all beings) and its agency (one oneself wishes to remove the suffering of others). Thus, it is said that compassion is possessed by both ŚRĀVAKAs and PRATYEKABUDDHAs who seek the state of the ARHAT, whereas great compassion is limited to bodhisattvas, who decide to seek buddhahood in order to fulfill the wish to liberate all beings from suffering. In this sense, great compassion is regarded as the precursor to BODHICITTA. Thirty-two specific types of a tathāgata’s great compassion are listed in the MAHĀVYUTPATTI. Mahākaruṇā is also an epithet of AVALOKITEŚVARA, the bodhisattva of compassion (see MAHĀKARUṆIKA), and specifically to his manifestation as the “thousand-armed and thousand-handed AVALOKITEŚVARA” (S. SĀHASRABHUJASĀHASRANETRĀVALOKITEŚVARA).

Mahākaruṇika. (T. Thugs rje chen po; C. Dabeizhe; J. Daihisha; K. Taebija 大悲者). In Sanskrit, “Great Compassionate One”; an epithet of AVALOKITEŚVARA, the bodhisattva of compassion. The name Mahākaruṇika is also used specifically to refer to one of the more famous iconographic forms of the bodhisattva, his manifestation as the “thousand-armed and thousand-handed Avalokiteśvara” (S. SĀHASRABHUJASĀHASRANETRĀVALOKITEŚVARA). In some versions of this image, each of the hands has an eye in the palm, indicating its ability compassionately to see and offer assistance to suffering sentient beings. In China, the esoteric code associated with Mahākaruṇika, the DABEI ZHOU (great compassion DHĀRAṆĪ), is often chanted at regular offices, especially in Chan monasteries, and is a common part of funeral ceremonies for monks and nuns. ¶ In the UPĀYAKAUŚALYASŪTRA, Mahākaruṇika is the name of the Buddha in his previous life as a ship captain. Learning that a bandit plans to murder a group of five hundred merchants also traveling on the ship, the ship captain kills the bandit in order to save the lives of the merchants and to prevent the bandit from committing himself the misdeed of murder. It is said that the ship captain did not suffer any negative results from this deed. This story is often cited as an example of justifiable homicide in Buddhism.

Mahākāśyapa. (P. Mahākassapa; T. ’Od srung chen po; C. Mohejiashe; J. Makakashō; K. Mahagasŏp 摩訶迦葉). Sanskrit name of one of the Buddha’s leading disciples, regarded as foremost in the observance of ascetic practices (P. DHUTAṄGA; S. dhūtaguṇa). According to the Pāli accounts (where he is called Mahākassapa) his personal name was Pipphali and he was born to a brāhmaṇa family in MAGADHA. Even as a child he was inclined toward renunciation and as a youth refused to marry. Finally, to placate his parents, he agreed to marry a woman matching in beauty a statue he had fashioned. His parents found a match in Bhaddā Kapilānī (S. BHADRA-KAPILĀNĪ), a beautiful maiden from Sāgala. But she likewise was inclined toward renunciation. Both sets of parents foiled their attempts to break off the engagement, so in the end they were wed but resolved not to consummate their marriage. Pipphali owned a vast estate with fertile soil, but one day he witnessed worms eaten by birds turned up by his plowman. Filled with pity for the creatures and fearful that he was ultimately to blame, he resolved then and there to renounce the world. At the same time, Bhaddā witnessed insects eaten by crows as they scurried among sesame seeds put out to dry. Feeling pity and fear at the sight, she also resolved to renounce the world. Realizing they were of like mind, Pipphali and Bhaddā put on the yellow robes of mendicants and abandoned their property. Although they left together, they parted ways lest they prove a hindrance to one another. Realizing what had transpired, the Buddha sat along Pipphali’s path and showed himself resplendent with yogic power. Upon seeing the Buddha, Pipphali, whose name thenceforth became Kassapa, immediately recognized him as his teacher and was ordained. Traveling to Rājagaha (S. RĀJAGṚHA) with the Buddha, Mahākassapa requested to exchange his fine robe for the rag robe of the Buddha. The Buddha consented, and his conferral of his own rag robe on Mahākassapa was taken as a sign that, after the Buddha’s demise, Mahākassapa would preside over the convention of the first Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST). Upon receiving the Buddha’s robe, he took up the observance of thirteen ascetic practices (dhutaṅga) and in eight days became an arahant (S. ARHAT). Mahākassapa possessed great supranormal powers (P. iddhi; S. ṚDDHI) and was second only to the Buddha in his mastery of meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA). His body was said to be adorned with seven of the thirty-two marks of a superman (MAHĀPURUṢALAKṢAṆA). So revered by the gods was he, that at the Buddha’s funeral, the divinities would not allow the funeral pyre to be lit until Mahākassapa arrived and had one last chance to worship the Buddha’s body. Mahākassapa seems to have been the most powerful monk after the death of the Buddha and is considered by some schools to have been the Buddha’s successor as the first in a line of teachers (dharmācārya). He is said to have called and presided over the first Buddhist council, which he convened after the Buddha’s death to counter the heresy of the wicked monk SUBHADRA (P. Subhadda). Before the council began, he demanded that ĀNANDA become an arhat in order to participate, which Ānanda finally did early in the morning just before the event. At the council, he questioned Ānanda and UPĀLI about what should be included in the SŪTRA and VINAYA collections (PIṬAKA), respectively. He also chastised Ānanda for several deeds of commission and omission, including his entreaty of the Buddha to allow women to enter the order (see MAHĀPRAJĀPATĪ), his allowing the tears of women to fall on the Buddha’s corpse, his stepping on the robe of the Buddha while mending it, his failure to recall which minor monastic rules the Buddha said could be ignored after his death, and his failure to ask the Buddha to live for an eon or until the end of the eon (see CĀPĀLACAITYA). Pāli sources make no mention of Mahākassapa after the events of the first council, although the Sanskrit AŚOKĀVADĀNA notes that he passed away beneath three hills where his body will remain uncorrupted until the advent of the next buddha, MAITREYA. At that time, his body will reanimate itself and hand over to Maitreya the rag robe of ŚĀKYAMUNI, thus passing on the dispensation of the buddhas. It is said that the robe will be very small, barely fitting over the finger of the much larger Maitreya. ¶ Like many of the great arhats, Mahākāśyapa appears frequently in the MAHĀYĀNA sūtras, sometimes merely listed as a member of the audience, sometimes playing a more significant role. In the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEŚA, he is one of the ŚRĀVAKA disciples who is reluctant to visit Vimalakīrti. In the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, he is one of four arhats who understands the parable of the burning house and rejoices in the teaching of a single vehicle (EKAYĀNA); later in the sūtra, the Buddha prophesies his eventual attainment of buddhahood. Mahākāśyapa is a central figure in the CHAN schools of East Asia. In the famous Chan story in which the Buddha conveys his enlightenment by simply holding up a flower before the congregation and smiling subtly (see NIANHUA WEIXIAO), it is only Mahākāśyapa who understands the Buddha’s intent, making him the first recipient of the Buddha’s “mind-to-mind” transmission (YIXIN CHUANXIN). He is thus considered the first patriarch (ZUSHI) of the Chan school.

Mahākātyāyana. (P. Mahākaccāna; T. Ka tya’i bu chen po; C. Mohejiazhanyan; J. Makakasen’en; K. Mahagajŏnyŏn 摩訶迦旃延). Also known as Kātyāyana (P. Kaccāna, Kaccāyana); Sanskrit name of one of the Buddha’s chief disciples and an eminent ARHAT deemed foremost among the Buddha’s disciples in his ability to elaborate on the Buddha’s brief discourses. According to the Pāli accounts, where he is known as Mahākaccāna, he was the son of a brāhmaṇa priest who served King Caṇḍappajjota of AVANTI. He was learned in the Vedas and assumed his father’s position upon his death. He was called Kaccāna because of the golden hue of his body and because it was the name of his clan. Once, he and seven companions were sent by the king to invite the Buddha to Avanti, the capital city of Ujjenī (S. Ujjayinī). The Buddha preached a sermon to them, whereupon they all attained arhatship and entered the order. Mahākaccāna took up residence in a royal park in Ujjenī, where he was treated with great honor by the king. He was such an able preacher and explicator of doctrine that many persons joined the order, until, it is said, the entire kingdom of Avanti sparkled with yellow robes. He became most renowned for his discourses in the MADHUPIṆḌIKASUTTA, Kaccāyanasutta, and Parāyanasutta. In a previous life, Mahākaccāna was a thaumaturge (vijjādhara; S. VIDHYĀDHARA) during the time of the buddha Padumuttara. It was then that he first made the vow to win the eminence he eventually did under Gotama (S. Gautama) Buddha. Although living far away in Avanti, Mahākaccāna often went to hear the Buddha preach, and the assembled elders always left a place for him. He is said to have requested the Buddha to allow for special dispensation to ordain new monks in outlying regions without the requisite number of monastic witnesses. Mahākaccāna was noted for his ability to provide detailed exegeses of the Buddha’s sometimes laconic instructions and brief verses, and several suttas in the Pāli canon are ascribed to him. According to tradition, he is the author of the NETTIPPAKARAṆA and the PEṬAKOPADESA, which seek to provide the foundational principles that unify the sometimes variant teachings found in the suttas; these texts are some of the earliest antecedents of commentarial exegesis in the Pāli tradition and are the only commentaries included in the suttapiṭaka proper. He is also said to be the author of the Pāli grammar, the Kaccāyanavyākaraṇa. According to the Sanskrit tradition, Mahākātyāyana was the initiator of the STHAVIRANIKĀYA branch of the mainstream Buddhist schools and traditional compiler of the ABHIDHARMA. The JÑĀNAPRASTHĀNA of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMAPIṬAKA is attributed to him, but it was certainly composed several hundred years later by an author of the same name. He is often depicted holding an alm’s bowl (PĀTRA) or with his fingers interlaced at his chest. Like many of the great arhats, Mahākātyāyana appears frequently in the MAHĀYĀNA sūtras, sometimes merely as a member of the audience, sometimes playing a more significant role. In the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEŚA, he is one of the ŚRĀVAKA disciples who is reluctant to visit the lay BODHISATTVA VIMALAKĪRTI. In the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, he is one of four arhats who understand the parable of the burning house and who rejoices in the teaching of the one vehicle (EKAYĀNA); later in the sūtra, the Buddha prophesies his eventual attainment of buddhahood.

Mahākauṣṭhila. (S). See KAUṢṬHILA.

Mahālisutta. In Pāli, the “Discourse to Mahāli”; the sixth sutta of the DĪGHANIKĀYA (there is no equivalent recension in the Chinese translations of the ĀGAMAs); preached by the Buddha to the Licchavi chief Mahāli at the Kūṭāgārasālā in Vesāli (S. VAIŚĀLĪ). Mahāli tells the Buddha that the ascetic Sunakkhatta claimed to be able to see heavenly forms but was not able to hear heavenly sounds. Mahāli asks whether such attainments are possible, whereupon the Buddha explains how through meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA) they indeed can be developed. He further explains to Mahāli that these supernatural powers are not the reason why people join the Buddhist order, but rather to attain the four degrees of sanctity, namely, those stream-enterer (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (P. sakadagāmi; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (P. anāgāmi; S. ANĀGĀMIN), and arahant (S. ARHAT). These are to be attained by following the noble eightfold path (P. ariyāṭṭhaṅgikamagga; see S. AṢṬĀṄGIKAMĀRGA). The question is then raised as to whether the soul and body are the same or different. This leads to another discussion of Buddhist practice and attainments, beginning with taking refuge in the three jewels, observing the precepts, renouncing the world to become a Buddhist monk, and controlling the senses with mindfulness (P. sati; S. SMṚTI), to cultivating the four meditative absorptions (P. jhāna; S. dhyāna), and developing the six superknowledges (P. abhiññā; S. ABHIJÑĀ), which culminate in enlightenment and liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

Mahāmaudgalyāyana. (P. Mahāmoggallāna; T. Mo’u ’gal gyi bu chen po; C. Mohemujianlian/Mulian; J. Makamokkenren/Mokuren; K. Mahamokkŏllyŏn/Mongnyŏn 摩訶目犍連/目連). An eminent ARHAT and one of the two chief disciples of the Buddha, often depicted together with his friend ŚĀRIPUTRA flanking the Buddha. Mahāmaudgalyāyana was considered supreme among the Buddha’s disciples in supranormal powers (ṚDDHI). According to Pāli accounts, where he is called Moggallāna, he was older than the Buddha and born on the same day as Śāriputra (P. Sāriputta). Both he and Śāriputra were sons of wealthy families and were friends from childhood. Once, when witnessing a play, the two friends were overcome with a sense of the impermanence and the vanity of all things and decided to renounce the world as mendicants. They first became disciples of the agnostic Sañjaya Belaṭṭhiputta (SAÑJAYA VAIRĀṬĪPUTRA), although later they took their leave and wandered the length and breadth of India in search of a teacher. Finding no one who satisfied them, they parted company, promising one another that if one should succeed he would inform the other. Later Śāriputra met the Buddha’s disciple, Assaji (S. AŚVAJIT), who recited for him a précis of the Buddha’s teachings, the so-called YE DHARMĀ verse, which immediately prompted Śāriputra to attain the path of a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA). He repeated the stanza to Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who likewise immediately became a stream-enterer. The two friends thereupon resolved to take ordination as disciples of the Buddha and, together with five hundred disciples of their former teacher Sañjaya, proceeded to the Veḷuvana (S. VEṆUVANAVIHĀRA) grove where the Buddha was residing. The Buddha ordained the entire group with the formula ehi bhikkhu pabbajjā (“Come forth, monks”; see EHIBHIKṢUKĀ), whereupon all five hundred became arhats, except for Śāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana. Mahāmaudgalyāyana attained arhatship seven days after his ordination, while Śāriputra reached the goal one week later. The Buddha declared Śāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana his chief disciples the day they were ordained, noting that they had both strenuously exerted themselves in countless previous lives for this distinction; they appear often as the bodhisattva’s companions in the JĀTAKAs. Śāriputra was chief among the Buddha’s disciples in wisdom, while Mahāmaudgalyāyana was chief in mastery of supranormal powers. He could create doppelgängers of himself and transform himself into any shape he desired. He could perform intercelestial travel as easily as a person bends his arm, and the tradition is replete with the tales of his travels, such as flying to the Himālayas to find a medicinal plant to cure the ailing Śāriputra. Mahāmaudgalyāyana said of himself that he could crush Mount SUMERU like a bean and roll up the world like a mat and twirl it like a potter’s wheel. He is described as shaking the heavens of ŚAKRA and BRAHMĀ to dissuade them from their pride, and he often preached to the divinities in their abodes. Mahāmaudgalyāyana could see ghosts (PRETA) and other spirits without having to enter into meditative trance as did other meditation masters, and because of his exceptional powers the Buddha instructed him alone to subdue the dangerous NĀGA, Nandopananda, whose huge hood had darkened the world. Mahāmaudgalyāyana’s powers were so immense that during a terrible famine, he offered to turn the earth’s crust over to uncover the ambrosia beneath it; the Buddha wisely discouraged him, saying that such an act would confound creatures. Even so, Mahāmaudgalyāyana’s supranormal powers, unsurpassed in the world, were insufficient to overcome the law of cause and effect and the power of his own former deeds, as the famous tale of his death demonstrates. A group of naked JAINA ascetics resented the fact that the people of the kingdom of MAGADHA had shifted their allegiance and patronage from them to the Buddha and his followers, and they blamed Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who had reported that, during his celestial and infernal travels, he had observed deceased followers of the Buddha in the heavens and the followers of other teachers in the hells. They hired a group of bandits to assassinate the monk. When he discerned that they were approaching, the eighty-four-year-old monk made his body very tiny and escaped through the keyhole. He eluded them in different ways for six days, hoping to spare them from committing a deed of immediate retribution (ĀNANTARYAKARMAN) by killing an arhat. On the seventh day, Mahāmaudgalyāyana temporarily lost his supranormal powers, the residual karmic effect of having beaten his blind parents to death in a distant previous lifetime, a crime for which he had previously been reborn in hell. The bandits ultimately beat him mercilessly, until his bones had been smashed to the size of grains of rice. Left for dead, Mahāmaudgalyāyana regained his powers and soared into the air and into the presence of the Buddha, where he paid his final respects and passed into NIRVĀṆA at the Buddha’s feet. ¶ Like many of the great arhats, Mahāmaudgalyāyana appears frequently in the MAHĀYĀNA sūtras, sometimes merely listed as a member of the audience, sometimes playing a more significant role. In the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEŚA, he is one of the ŚRĀVAKA disciples who is reluctant to visit VIMALAKĪRTI. In the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, he is one of four arhats who understands the parable of the burning house and who rejoices in the teaching of the one vehicle (EKAYĀNA); later in the sūtra, the Buddha prophesies his eventual attainment of buddhahood. Mahāmaudgalyāyana is additionally famous in East Asian Buddhism for his role in the apocryphal YULANBEN JING. The text describes his efforts to save his mother from the tortures of her rebirth as a ghost (preta). Mahāmaudgalyāyana (C. Mulian) is able to use his supranormal powers to visit his mother in the realm of ghosts, but the food that he offers her immediately bursts into flames. The Buddha explains that it is impossible for the living to make offerings directly to the dead; instead, one should make offerings to the SAṂGHA in a bowl, and the power of their meditative practices will be able to save one’s ancestors and loved ones from rebirths in the unfortunate realms (DURGATI).

Mahāmāyā. (S). See MĀYĀ.

Mahāmāyātantra. (T. Sgyu ’phrul chen mo’i rgyud). In Sanskrit, the “Great Illusion Tantra”; an important ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA of the “mother tantra” class, famous for its instructions on “dream yoga,” one of the SIX YOGAS OF NĀROPA. It was translated into Tibetan during the earlier dissemination of the dharma (SNGA DAR) by VAIROCANA and GNUBS CHEN SANGS RGYAS YE SHES. It would later be counted as one of the five principal tantras of the SHANGS PA BKA’ BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

Mahāmāyūrī. (T. Rma bya chen mo; C. Kongque mingwang; J. Kujaku myōō; K. Kongjak myŏngwang 孔雀明王). In Sanskrit, “Great Peacock”; one of the five female protectors (RAKṢĀ) of VAJRAYĀNA Buddhism, who frequently appear in MAṆḌALAs and remain important in the Newar Buddhism of Nepal. She is green in color and is sometimes depicted holding a peacock feather, à propos her name. She is considered the female emanation of the buddha AMOGHASIDDHI. Mahāmāyūrī has long been associated with curing snakebites. For example, in the Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñidhāraṇī (T. Rma bya chen mo’i gzungs), an early Buddhist TANTRA, later classified as a KRIYĀTANTRA, a newly ordained monk named Svāti is bitten by a poisonous snake. ĀNANDA informs the Buddha, who imparts the DHĀRAṆĪ of Mahāmāyūrī which, when recited, cures snakebites.

Mahāmeghasūtra. (T. Sprin chen po’i mdo; C. Dafangdeng wuxiang jing/Dayun jing; J. Daihōdō musōkyō/Daiungyō; K. Taebangdŭng musang kyŏng/Taeun kyŏng 大方等無想經/大雲經). In Sanskrit, the “Great Cloud Sūtra”; it is also known in China as the Dafangdeng wuxiang jing. The Mahāmeghasūtra contains the teachings given by the Buddha to the bodhisattva “Great Cloud Secret Storehouse” (C. Dayunmizang) on the inconceivable means of attaining liberation, SAMĀDHI, and the power of DHĀRAṆĪs. The Buddha also declares that TATHĀGATAS remain forever present in the dharma and the SAṂGHA despite having entered PARINIRVĀṆA and that they are always endowed with the four qualities of NIRVĀṆA mentioned in the MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆASŪTRA, namely, permanence, bliss, purity, and selfhood (see GUṆAPĀRAMITĀ). The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra’s influence on the Mahāmeghasūtra can also be witnessed in the story of the goddess “Pure Light” (C. Jingguang). Having heard the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra in her past life, the goddess is told by the Buddha that she will be reborn as a universal monarch (CAKRAVARTIN). The sūtra is often cited for its prophecy of the advent of NĀGĀRJUNA, as well as for its injunctions against meat-eating. It was also recited in order to induce rain. In China, commentators on the Mahāmeghasūtra identified the newly enthroned Empress WU ZETIAN as the reincarnation of the goddess, seeking thereby to legitimize her rule. As Emperor Gaozong (r. 649–683) of the Tang dynasty suffered from increasingly ill health, his ambitious and pious wife Empress Wu took over the imperial administration. After her husband’s death she exiled the legitimate heir Zhongzong (r. 683–684, 705–710) and usurped the throne. One of the many measures she took to gain the support of the people was the publication and circulation of the Mahāmeghasūtra. Two translations by ZHU FONIAN and DHARMAKṢEMA were available at the time. Wu Zetian also ordered the establishment of monasteries called DAYUNSI (“Great Cloud Monastery”) in every prefecture of the empire.

Mahāmeghavana. In Pāli, “Great Cloud Grove”; a park in Sri Lanka donated to MAHINDA for use by the saṅgha (S. SAṂGHA) by King DEVĀNAṂPIYATISSA. The park was located on the southern outskirts of the Sinhalese capital, ANURĀDHAPURA, and received its name because a cloud appeared and rained upon the spot when the park was first laid out. The Mahāmeghavana was considered especially auspicious because it was said to have been visited by four of the five buddhas of the current auspicious eon (S. BHADRAKALPA; P. bhaddakappa), a fact Mahinda pointed out to the king after the park was donated to the saṅgha. The Mahameghavana came to be the site of many of the major monuments, shrines, and institutions of Sinhalese Buddhist history. These included the MAHĀVIHĀRA monastery, built for Mahinda, which became headquarters of the THERAVĀDA fraternity; the THŪPĀRĀMA monastery, which housed the first STŪPA or reliquary mound erected on the island; the southern branch of the BODHI TREE, brought to the island from India by Mahinda’s sister, the elder nun SAṄGHAMITTĀ; and the MAHĀTHŪPA and LOHAPĀSĀDA built by King DUṬṬHAGĀMAṆI. Subsequently at the Mahāmeghavana were also built the ABHAYAGIRI monastery by King VAṬṬAGĀMAṆI ABHAYA and the JETAVANA monastery by King MAHĀSENA. These two monasteries became headquarters of rival fraternities that seceded from the Mahāvihāra.

Mahāmoggallāna. (P). See MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA.

Mahāmucilinda. (S). See MUCILINDA.

mahāmudrā. (T. phyag rgya chen po; C. dayin/dashouyin; J. daiin/daishuin; K. taein/taesuin 大印/大手印). In Sanskrit, “great seal”; an important term in tantric Buddhism, especially in the traditions that flourished in Tibet. In Tibet, although it is extolled by all sects, mahāmudrā is particularly associated with the BKA’ BRGYUD sect and the lineage coming from TILOPA and NĀROPA to MAR PA and MI LA RAS PA. There, it is regarded as the crowning experience of Buddhist practice. It is a state of enlightened awareness in which phenomenal appearance and emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) are unified. It is also used to refer to the fundamental reality that places its imprint or “seal” on all phenomena of SAṂSĀRA and NIRVĀṆA. Mahāmūdrā literature exalts the ordinary state of mind as being both the natural and ultimate state, characterized by lucidity and simplicity. In mahāmudrā, the worldly mind is valued for its ultimate identity with the ordinary mind; every deluded thought contains within it the lucidity and simplicity of the ordinary mind. This identity merely needs to be recognized to bring about the dawning of wisdom, the realization that a natural purity pervades all existence, including the deluded mind. It is usually set forth in a threefold rubric of the basis (gzhi), path (lam), and fruition (’bras bu), with the first referring to the pure nature of the ordinary mind, the second referring to becoming aware of that mind through the practice of meditation, and the third referring to the full realization of the innate clarity and purity of the mind. There is some debate in Tibet whether mahāmudrā is exclusively a tantric practice or whether there is also a SŪTRA version, connected with TATHĀGATAGARBHA teachings. ¶ In tantric practice, mahāmudrā is also highest of the four seals, the others being the action seal (KARMAMUDRĀ), the pledge seal (SAMAYAMUDRĀ), and the wisdom seal (JÑĀNAMUDRĀ).

Mahāmudropadeśa. (T. Phyag rgya chen po’i man ngag). In Sanskrit, “Instructions on the Great Seal”; a text known primarily through its Tibetan translations. It records seminal instructions on the view and practice of MAHĀMUDRĀ, taught by TILOPA to his disciple NĀROPA on the banks of the Ganges River. Due to this setting, the works is commonly known in Tibet as the Phyag chen gang gā ma (“Ganges Mahāmudrā”) or simply the Gang gā ma. Several versions are preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon and the writings of various Tibetan Buddhist masters.

Mahāmuni. (T. Thub pa chen po; C. Dasheng; J. Daishō; K. Taesŏng 大聖). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “Great Sage”; one of the common epithets of the Buddha, which figures in the Buddha’s name MANTRA: oṃ muni muni Mahāmuni Śākyamuni svāhā. Mahāmuni is also the name of the most famous and venerated image of the Buddha in Burma; see ARAKAN BUDDHA.

Mahānāman. (P. Mahānāma; T. Ming chen; C. Mohenan; J. Makanan; K. Mahanam 摩訶男). The Sanskrit proper name of two significant disciples of the buddha. ¶ Mahānāman was one of the five ascetics (S. PAÑCAVARGIKA; P. pañcavaggiyā; alt. S. bhadravargīya) who was a companion of Prince SIDDHĀRTHA during his practice of austerities and hence one of the first disciples converted by the Buddha at the Deer Park (MṚGADĀVA) in ṚṢIPATANA following his enlightenment. Together with his companions, Mahānāman heard the Buddha’s first sermon, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dharma” (S. DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASŪTRA; P. DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA), and he attained the state of a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA) three days later. He and the others became ARHATs while listening to the buddha preach the ANATTALAKKHAṆASUTTA. Mahānāman later traveled to the town of Macchikāsaṇḍa, and, while he was out on alms rounds, the householder CITTA saw him. Citta was greatly impressed by Mahānāman’s dignified deportment, and invited him to his house for an meal offering. Having served Mahānāman the morning meal and listened to his sermon, Citta was inspired to offer his pleasure garden Ambāṭakavana to Mahānāman as a gift to the SAṂGHA, and built a monastery there. ¶ Another Mahānāman was also an eminent lay disciple, whom the Buddha declared to be foremost among laymen who offer choice alms food. According to the Pāli account, Mahānāman was Anuruddha’s (S. ANIRUDDHA) elder brother and the Buddha’s cousin. It was with Mahānāman’s permission that Anuruddha joined the order with other Sākiyan (S. ŚĀKYA) kinsmen of the Buddha. Mahānāman was very generous in his support of the order. During a period of scarcity when the Buddha was dwelling at Verañja, he supplied the monks with medicines for three periods of four months each. Mahānāman was keenly interested in the Buddha’s doctrine and there are several accounts in the scriptures of his conversations with the Buddha. Once while the Buddha lay ill in the Nigrodhārāma, ĀNANDA took Mahānāman aside to answer his questions on whether concentration (SAMĀDHI) preceded or followed upon knowledge. Mahānāman attained the state of a once-returner (sakadāgāmi; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), but his deception toward Pasenadi (S. PRASENAJIT), the king of Kosala (S. KOŚALA), precipitated the eventual destruction of the Sākiya (S. ŚĀKYA) clan. Pasenadi had asked Mahānāman for the hand of a true Sākiyan daughter in marriage, but the latter, out of pride, instead sent Vāsabhakkhattiyā, a daughter born to him by a slave girl. To conceal the treachery, Mahānāman feigned to eat from the same dish as his daughter, thus convincing Pasenadi of her pure lineage. The ruse was not discovered until years later when Viḍuḍabha, the son of Pasenadi and Vāsabhakkhattiyā, was insulted by his Sākiyan kinsmen who refused to treat him with dignity because of his mother’s status as the offspring of a slave. Viḍuḍabha vowed revenge and later marched against Kapilavatthu (S. KAPILAVASTU) and slaughtered all who claimed Sākiyan descent. ¶ Another Mahānāma was the c. fifth century author of the Pāli MAHĀVAṂSA.

Mahānidānasutta. (C. Dayuan fangbian jing; J. Daien hōbengyō; K. Taeyŏn pangp’yŏn kyŏng 大方便經). In Pāli, the “Great Discourse on Causality”; the fifteenth sutta of the DĪGHANIKĀYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the thirteenth sūtra in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to ĀNANDA in the market town of Kammāsadhamma to dispel his wrong view that the doctrine of dependent origination (P. paṭiccasamuppāda; S. PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA) only appears to be profound. He then gives an exposition of dependent origination as a tenfold causal chain (rather than the typical twelvefold chain, dropping the first two links), explaining that those who do not fathom this truth, even if they be masters of meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA), will still be addicted to the notion of a self (P. atta; S. ĀTMAN) and hence bound to the cycle of rebirth.

Mahāniddesa. In Pāli, “Longer Exposition,” first part of the Niddesa (“Exposition”), an early commentarial work on the SUTTANIPĀTA included in the Pāli SUTTAPIṬAKA as the eleventh book of the KHUDDAKANIKĀYA. The Niddesa is attributed by tradition to the Buddha’s chief disciple, Sāriputta (S. ŚĀRIPUTRA), and is divided into two sections: the Mahāniddesa and the CŪḶANIDDESA (“Shorter Exposition”). The Mahāniddesa comments on the sixteen suttas (S. SŪTRA) of the AṬṬHAKAVAGGA chapter of the Suttanipāta; the Cūḷaniddesa comments on the sixteen suttas of the Parāyaṇavagga chapter and on the Khaggavisānasutta (see KHAḌGAVIṢĀṆA). The Mahāniddesa and Cūḷaniddesa do not comment on any of the remaining contents of the Suttanipāta, a feature that has suggested to historians that at the time of their composition the Aṭṭhakavagga and Parāyaṇavagga were autonomous anthologies not yet incorporated into the Suttanipāta, and that the Khaggavisānasutta likewise circulated independently. The exegesis of the Suttanipāta by the Mahā- and Cūḷaniddesa displays the influence of the Pāli ABHIDHAMMA (S. ABHIDHARMA) and passages from it are frequently quoted in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. Both parts of the Niddesa are formulaic in structure, a feature that appears to have been designed as a pedagogical aid to facilitate memorization. In Western scholarship, there has long been a debate regarding their dates of composition, with some scholars dating them as early as the third century BCE, others to as late as the second century CE. The Mahā- and Cūḷaniddesa are the only commentarial texts besides the SUTTAVIBHAṄGA of the VINAYAPIṬAKA to be included in the Sri Lankan and Thai recensions of the Pāli canon. In contrast, the Burmese canon includes two additional early commentaries, the NETTIPAKARAṆA and PEṬAKOPADESA, as books sixteen and seventeen in its recension of the Khuddakanikāya.

Mahanikai. (P. Mahānikāya). In Thai, “Great Congregation”; the predominant monastic fraternity of Thai Buddhism, to which the vast majority of Thai monasteries belong; sometimes also seen transcribed as Mahanikay, or by its Pāli equivalent, Mahānikāya. The current Mahanikai order traces its lineage back to the fifteenth century, when a group of Siamese monks were sent to Sri Lanka for reordination in order to revitalize and help preserve the Thai monastic tradition. The designation “Mahanikai,” however, represents a synthesis of many Thai traditions that were all placed under this rubric in the nineteenth century by the Thai king Mongkut (RĀMA IV), who was a monk from 1824 to 1851. Mongkut was concerned with lax observance of the vinaya precepts within much of the Thai monastic community and used the term Mahanikai to refer to those monks who did not conform to his new “reform” order, the THAMMAYUT. Thus, any monks who did not reordain into the Thammayut order became by default Mahanikai monks. A similar situation occurred in Cambodia, when the Thammayut fraternity was introduced there later in the nineteenth century. In Mongkut’s time, the two sects came to differ on many points of monastic practice, including the way robes were worn, how often monks could eat, and whether they could handle money. Thammayut monks were also encouraged to preach sermons in Thai vernacular language, while Mahanikai preached sermons grounded in Pāli. Many of these differences, and the tensions that surround them, still exist today. The largest and most important monastery of the Mahanikai order is WAT MAHATHAT, “Temple of the Great Relic,” in Bangkok.

Mahāpadānasuttanta. (C. Daben jing; J. Daihongyō; K. Taebon kyŏng 大本經). In Pāli, the “Discourse on the Great Legend”; the fourteenth sutta of the Pāli DĪGHANIKĀYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension is the first SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA). The scripture was preached by the Buddha to a group of monks dwelling at the city of Sāvatthi (ŚRĀVASTĪ), wherein the Buddha recounts his encounters in his previous lives with the seven buddhas of antiquity (see SAPTABUDDHA). He describes the life of the buddha Vipassī (S.VIPAŚYIN), whose enlightenment story closely resembles his own. Vipassī is described as having attained liberation through insight (P. VIPASSANĀ; S. VIPAŚYANĀ) into dependent origination (P. paṭiccasamuppāda; S. PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). Dependent origination is presented here as a tenfold causal chain rather than the standard twelvefold chain, suggesting that this sutta retains a version of the doctrine that predates its classical formulation. See also MAHĀVADĀNASŪTRA.

mahāpadeśa. (P. mahāpadesa; T. chen po bstan pa; C. dashuo; J. daisetsu; K. taesŏl 大). In Sanskrit, “great authorities”; one of the categories employed in Buddhist hermeneutics to determine textual authority, that is, to judge after the Buddha’s death, when he was no longer available as the final arbiter, whether a specific teaching was the authentic word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA). According to this system of evaluation, someone might claim that a specific teaching is the word of the Buddha because of it having been heard from one of four possible authorities: (1) from the Buddha, (2) from a community (SAṂGHA) of senior monks, (3) from a smaller group of learned elder monks, and (4) from a single learned monk. When someone claims to have heard a teaching directly from one of these four sources, the saṃgha may determine whether it is the word of the Buddha by ascertaining whether it corresponds to the teachings of the SŪTRAs and is in agreement with the VINAYA. If it does, it is to be accepted as the word of the Buddha; if it does not, it is to be rejected. In the Pāli tradition, the four are set forth in the Mahāpadesasutta, which is found in the canon both as an independent text and as incorporated into the MAHĀPARINIBBĀNASUTTA. The Sanskrit versions of the topic, in both mainstream and MAHĀYĀNA materials, add a third criterion to this conformity with the sūtras and with the vinaya: that the words not go against “the way things are” (DHARMATĀ).

Mahāpanthaka. (S). See PANTHAKA; CŪḌAPANTHAKA.

Mahāparākramabāhu-Katikāvata. In Pāli, “The Great Law Code of Parākramabāhu”; a set of monastic regulations promulgated by the Sinhalese king PARĀKRAMABĀHU I (r. 1153–1186) as part of a monastic purification program (sāsanavisodhana) he inaugurated. This policy led to the abolition of the ABHAYAGIRI and JETAVANA fraternities and the ascendancy of the MAHĀVIHĀRA as the only recognized Buddhist fraternity on the island of Sri Lanka. His law code is classified as a sāsana-katikāvata; that is, a set of regulations binding on the entire saṅgha (S. SAṂGHA) of the kingdom, as opposed to a vihāra-katikāvata, or set of regulations binding only on the residents of a single monastery. As a document, the Mahāparākramabāhu-Katikāvata is laid out as a set of specific rules governing the life of the saṅgha, preceded by an historical introduction recounting purifications conducted in the past by notable kings such as Asoka (S. AŚOKA). The text was influential in Southeast Asia as both a blueprint for monastic revitalization movements and saṅgha organization, and as a model for the writing of Buddhist chronicles.

Mahāparinibbānasuttanta. (S. MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆASŪTRA; C. Youxing jing/Da banniepan jing; J. Yūgyōkyō/Daihatsunehangyō; K. Yuhaeng kyŏng/Tae panyŏlban kyŏng 遊行經/大般涅槃經). In Pāli, the “Discourse on the Great Decease” or the “Great Discourse on the Final Nirvāṇa”; the sixteenth sutta of the Pāli DĪGHANIKĀYA and longest discourse in the Pāli canon. (There were also either Sanskrit or Middle Indic recensions of this mainstream Buddhist version of the scripture, which should be distinguished from the longer MAHĀYĀNA recension of the scripture that bears the same title; see MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆASŪTRA.) There are six different Chinese translations of this mainstream version of the text, including a DHARMAGUPTAKA recension in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA and an independent translation in three rolls by FAXIAN. This scripture recounts in six chapters the last year of Buddha’s life, his passage into PARINIRVĀṆA, and his cremation. In the text, the Buddha and ĀNANDA travel from Rājagaha (S. RĀJAGṚHA) to Kusināra (S. KUŚINAGARĪ) in fourteen stages, meeting with different audiences to whom the Buddha gives a variety of teachings. The narrative contains numerous sermons on such subjects as statecraft, the unity of the SAṂGHA, morality, the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, and the four great authorities (MAHĀPADEŚA) for determining the authenticity of Buddhist doctrines following the Buddha’s demise. The Buddha crosses a river using his magical powers and describes to the distraught where their deceased loved ones have been reborn. Becoming progressively more ill, the Buddha decides to spend his final rains retreat (P. vassa; S. VARṢĀ) with Ānanda meditating in the forest near VEṆUGRĀMAKA, using his powers of deep concentration to hold his disease in check. He is eighty years old and describes his body as being like an old cart held together by straps. When the Buddha expresses his wish to address the saṃgha, Ānanda assumes that there is a teaching that the Buddha has not yet taught. The Buddha replies that he was not one who taught with a “teacher’s fist” (P. ācariyamuṭṭhi) or “closed fist,” holding back some secret teaching, but that he has in fact already revealed everything. The Buddha also says that he is not the head of the saṃgha and that after his death each monk should “be an island unto himself” with the DHARMA as his island (P. dīpa; S. dvīpa) and his refuge. ¶ While meditating at the CĀPĀLACAITYA, the Buddha mentions to Ānanda three times that a TATHĀGATA has the power to live for an eon or until the end of an eon. (The Pāli commentaries take “eon” here to mean “his full allotted lifespan,” not a cosmological period.) Ānanda, however, misses the hint and does not ask him to do so. MĀRA then appears to remind the Buddha of what he told him at the time of his enlightenment: that he would not enter nibbāna (NIRVĀṆA) until he had trained monks and disciples who were able to teach the dhamma (S. DHARMA). Māra tells the Buddha that that task has now been accomplished, and the Buddha eventually agrees, “consciously and deliberately” renouncing his remaining lifespan and informing Māra that he will pass away in three months’ time. The earth then quakes, causing the Buddha to explain to Ānanda the eight reasons for an earthquake, one of which is that a tathāgata has renounced his life force. It is only at that point that Ānanda implores the Buddha to remain until the end of the eon, but the Buddha tells him that the appropriate time for his request has passed, and recalls fifteen occasions on which he had told Ānanda of this remarkable power and how each time Ānanda had failed to ask him to exercise it. The Buddha then explains to a group of monks the four great authorities (MAHĀPADEŚA), the means of determining the authenticity of a particular doctrine after the Buddha has died and is no longer available to arbitrate. He then receives his last meal from the smith CUNDA. The dish that the Buddha requests is called SŪKARAMADDAVA, lit., “pig’s delight.” There has been a great deal of scholarly discussion on the meaning of this term, centering upon whether it is a pork dish, such as mincemeat, or something eaten by pigs, such as truffles or mushrooms. At the meal, the Buddha announces that he alone should be served the dish and what was left over should be buried, for none but a buddha could survive eating it. Shortly after finishing the dish, the Buddha is afflicted with the dysentery from which he would eventually die. The Buddha then converts a layman named Pukkusa, who offers him gold robes. Ānanda notices that the color of the robes pales next to the Buddha’s skin, and the Buddha informs him that the skin of the Buddha is particularly bright on two occasions, the night when he achieves enlightenment and the night that he passes away. Proceeding to the outskirts of the town of Kuśinagarī, the Buddha lies down on his right side between twin sāla (S. ŚĀLA) trees, which immediately bloom out of season. Shortly before dying, the Buddha instructs Ānanda to visit Cunda and reassure him that no blame has accrued to him; rather, he should rejoice at the great merit he has earned for having given the Buddha his last meal. Monks and divinities assemble to pay their last respects to the Buddha. When Ānanda asks how monks can pay respect to the Buddha after he has passed away, the Buddha explains that monks, nuns, and laypeople should visit four major places (MAHĀSTHĀNA) of pilgrimage: the site of his birth at LUMBINĪ, his enlightenment at BODHGAYĀ, his first teaching at ṚṢIPATANA (SĀRNĀTH), and his PARINIRVĀṆA at Kuśinagarī. Anyone who dies while on pilgrimage to one of these four places, the Buddha says, will be reborn in the heavens. Scholars have taken these instructions as a sign of the relatively late date of this sutta (or at least this portion of it), arguing that this admonition by the Buddha is added to promote pilgrimage to four already well-established shrines. The Buddha instructs the monks to cremate his body in the fashion of a CAKRAVARTIN. He says that his remains (ŚARĪRA) should be enshrined in a STŪPA to which the faithful should offer flowers and perfumes in order to gain happiness in the future. The Buddha then comforts Ānanda, telling him that all things must pass away and praising him for his devotion, predicting that he will soon become an ARHAT. When Ānanda laments the fact that the Buddha will pass away at such a “little mud-walled town, a backwoods town, a branch township,” rather than a great city, the Buddha disabuses him of this notion, telling him that Kuśinagarī had previously been the magnificent capital of an earlier cakravartin king named Sudarśana (P. Sudassana). The wanderer SUBHADRA (P. Subhadda) then becomes the last person to be ordained by the Buddha. When Ānanda laments that the monks will soon have no teacher, the Buddha explains that henceforth the dharma and the VINAYA will be their teacher. As his last disciplinary act before he dies, the Buddha orders that the penalty of brahmadaṇḍa (lit. the “holy rod”) be passed on CHANDAKA (P. Channa), his former charioteer, which requires that he be completely shunned by his fellow monks. Then, asking three times whether any of the five hundred monks present has a final question, and hearing none, the Buddha speaks his last words, “All conditioned things are subject to decay. Strive with diligence.” The Buddha’s mind then passed into the first stage of meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA) and then in succession through the other three levels of the subtle-materiality realm (RŪPADHĀTU) and then through the four levels of the immaterial realm (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU). He then passed back down through the same eight levels to the first absorption, then back up to the fourth absorption, and then passed away, at which point the earth quaked. Seven days later, his body was prepared for cremation. However, the funeral pyre could not be ignited until the arrival of MAHĀKĀŚYAPA (P. Mahākassapa), who had been away at the time of the Buddha’s death. After he arrived and paid his respects, the funeral pyre ignited spontaneously. The relics (ŚARĪRA) of the Buddha remaining after the cremation were taken by the Mallas of Kuśinagarī, but seven other groups of the Buddha’s former patrons also came to claim the relics. The brāhmaṇa DROṆA (P. Doṇa) was called upon to decide the proper procedure for apportioning the relics. Droṇa divided the relics into eight parts that the disputing kings could carry back to their home kingdoms for veneration. Droṇa kept for himself the urn he used to apportion the relics; a ninth person was given the ashes from the funeral pyre. These ten (the eight portions of relics, the urn, and the ashes) were each then enshrined in stūpas. At this point the scripture’s narrative ends. A similar account, although with significant variations, appears in Sanskrit recensions of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra.

Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra. (T. Yongs su mya ngan las ’das pa chen po’i mdo; C. Da banniepan jing; J. Daihatsunehangyō; K. Tae panyŏlban kyŏng 大般涅槃經). In Sanskrit, “Discourse on the Great Decease” or the “Great Discourse on the Final Nirvāṇa”; also known in all languages simply as the Nirvāṇa Sūtra. As its title suggests, the SŪTRA describes the events and the Buddha’s final instructions prior to his passage into PARINIRVĀṆA and is thus the Sanskrit retelling of the mainstream version of the text (see MAHĀPARINIBBĀNASUTTA). However, although some of the same events are narrated in both versions, the Sanskrit text is very different in content, providing one of the most influential sources for MAHĀYĀNA views of the true nature of the Buddha and his NIRVĀṆA, and of the buddha-nature (referred to in the sūtra as both BUDDHADHĀTU, or “buddha-element,” and TATHĀGATAGARBHA). There appear to have been a number of Sanskrit versions of the sūtra, the earliest of which was likely compiled in Kashmir (see KASHMIR-GANDHĀRA) in the third century CE. One piece of internal evidence for the date of composition is the presence of prophecies that the dharma would fall into decline seven hundred years after the Buddha’s passage into nirvāṇa. None of the Sanskrit versions is extant (apart from fragments), but several are preserved in Chinese and Tibetan translations. The earliest and shortest of these translations is in six rolls, translated into Chinese by FAXIAN (who brought the Sanskrit text to China from India) and BUDDHABHADRA, and completed in 418 CE. A second version was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan at the end of the eighth century. The longest version, in forty rolls, was translated into Chinese by DHARMAKṢEMA and completed in 423. It is known as the “Northern Text.” This version was later translated into Tibetan from the Chinese as the Yongs su mya ngan las das pa chen po’i mdo. Besides the Tibetan translation of the long Chinese version by Dharmakṣema, there is another version of the sūtra in Tibetan translation, a Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra in 3,900 ślokas, translated by Jinamitra, Dhyānagarbha, and Ban de btsan dra, as well as a few folios of a translation of the sūtra by Kamalagupta and RIN CHEN BZANG PO. The Faxian and Dharmakṣema Chinese versions were subsequently edited into a single work, in thirty-six rolls. Chinese scriptural catalogues (JINGLU) also refer to two other translations of the sūtra, made prior to that of Faxian, but these are no longer extant. There were significant differences between the versions of Faxian and Dharmakṣema (and hence apparently in the Sanskrit recensions that they translated), so much so that scholars speculate that the shorter version was composed in a non-Mahāyāna community, with Mahāyāna elements being added to what evolved into the longer version. The most famous of the differences between the versions occurs on the question of whether all beings, including “incorrigibles” (ICCHANTIKA), possess the buddha-nature; the shorter version says that they do not and they are therefore condemned to eternal damnation; the longer version says that they do and thus even they retain the capacity to achieve enlightenment. The shorter version of the sūtra describes the SAṂGHA as consisting of monks and nuns and preaches about the need to provide donations (DĀNA) to them; the longer version includes the laity among the saṃgha and preaches the need for charity to all persons. The longer version also recommends various forms of punishment, including execution, for those who denigrate the Mahāyāna. The sūtra also makes reference to other famous sūtras, such as the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, and is mentioned in other sūtras, such as the MAHĀMEGHASŪTRA. The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, like other important sūtras extolling tathāgatagarbha thought, such as the ŚRĪMĀLĀDEVĪSIṂHANĀDASŪTRA, plays on the classical doctrine of the four “inverted views” (VIPARYĀSA), according to which sentient beings mistakenly view that which is suffering as being pleasurable, that which is impermanent as permanent, that which is impure as pure, and that which is without self as having self. In this sūtra, by contrast, the four right views of suffering, impermanence, impurity, and no-self are proclaimed to be erroneous when describing the Buddha, his nirvāṇa, and the buddhadhātu; these are instead each said to be in fact blissful, permanent, pure, and endowed with self (see GUṆAPĀRAMITĀ). Thus, the Buddha did not pass into nirvāṇa, for his lifespan is incalculable. The Buddha’s nirvāṇa—which is referred to in the sūtra as “great nirvāṇa” (mahānirvāṇa) or “great final nirvāṇa” (MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆA)—differs from that of the ARHAT. The nirvāṇa of the arhat is said to be merely the state of the absence of the afflictions (KLEŚA) but with no awareness of the buddhadhātu. The nirvāṇa of the buddha is instead eternal, pure, blissful, and endowed with self, a primordially existent reality that is only temporarily obscured by the kleśa; when that nirvāṇa and buddhadhātu are finally “recognized,” buddhahood is then achieved. The Buddha reveals the existence of this nirvāṇa to bodhisattvas. Because the buddhadhātu is present within all sentient beings, these four qualities are therefore found not simply in the Buddha but in all beings. This implies, therefore, that the Buddha and all beings are endowed with self, in direct contradiction to the normative Buddhist doctrine of no-self (ANĀTMAN). Here, in this sūtra, the teaching of no-self is described as a conventional truth (SAṂVṚTISATYA): when the Buddha said that there was no self, what he actually meant was that there is no mundane, conditioned self among the aggregates (SKANDHA). The Buddha’s true teaching, as revealed at the time of his nirvāṇa, is that there is a “great self” or a “true self” (S. mahātman; C. dawo), which is the buddhadhātu, in all beings. To assert that there is no self is to misunderstand the true dharma. The doctrine of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) thus comes to mean the absence of that which is compounded, suffering, and impermanent. These teachings would become influential in Tibet, especially among the proponents of the doctrine of “other emptiness” (GZHAN STONG). See also GUṆAPĀRAMITĀ.

Mahāprajāpatī. (P. Mahāpajāpatī; T. Skye dgu’i bdag mo chen mo; C. Mohebosheboti; J. Makahajahadai; K. Mahabasabaje 摩訶波闍波提). An eminent ARHAT, the Buddha’s stepmother and aunt, and the first woman to be ordained a Buddhist nun (S. BHIKṢUNĪ; P. bhikkhunī). Mahāprajāpatī and the Buddha’s mother, MĀYĀ, were sisters and both married to the bodhisattva’s father, ŚUDDHODANA. When the bodhisattva’s mother died seven days after his birth, Mahāprajāpatī raised him as her own son. According to the Pāli accounts, she became a lay disciple of the Buddha when he returned to the palace of his father and preached the Mahādhammapāla-Jātaka, becoming at that time a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA). Upon the death of her husband, she resolved to renounce the world and follow the Buddha as a nun, but because there was no nuns’ order, she had to request the Buddha to institute it. When, at the city of KAPILAVASTU, five hundred men of the ŚĀKYA clan entered the monastic order, Mahāprajāpatī together with the five hundred former wives of these men approached the Buddha and requested that they also be allowed to ordain and follow the religious life. The Buddha refused, warning that the presence of women in the order would speed the inevitable decline and demise of the dispensation. Despite his refusal, she and the five hundred Śākyan women shaved their heads and donned the yellow robes of Buddhist mendicants and followed the Buddha to the city of VAIŚĀLĪ. Again Mahāprajāpatī requested the Buddha to permit them to enter the order and again he refused. Finally, ĀNANDA, the Buddha’s cousin and chief attendant, interceded on her behalf, asking the Buddha if women were capable of achieving enlightenment. He conceded that they were. Finally, the Buddha, acknowledging the debt he owed to his stepmother, granted ordination to her on the condition that she accept eight “heavy rules” (S. GURUDHARMA; P. garudhamma) that would guarantee the nuns’ order’s dependence on the monks’ order and place it in an inferior rank. Her acceptance of these eight special rules served as her ordination. Mahāprajāpatī soon attained arhatship, as did her five hundred companions when they heard the Nandakovādasutta that the monk NANDAKA preached to them at the Buddha’s request. (On the first hearing, the nuns attained stream-entry; when the Buddha had Nandaka repeat the same sermon the next day, they all achieved arahantship. Other sources say, however, that Mahāprajāpatī and her followers attained arahantship only moments before her death.) As the first bhikṣunī, Mahāprajāpatī is regarded as the mother of the nuns’ order, and she was declared by the Buddha to be foremost among nuns in experience. She lived to be 120 years old, and when she died, her five hundred disciples passed into PARINIRVĀṆA with her. The miracles attending Mahāprajāpatī’s cremation, including the duplication of the physical body (MAHĀPRĀTIHĀRYA) that the Buddha himself had performed, were said to have been second only to those of the Buddha himself.

*Māhaprājñāpāramitāśāstra. [alt. *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa]. See DAZHIDU LUN.

*Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra. (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa chen po’i mdo; C. Dabore boluomiduo jing; J. Daihannya haramittakyō; K. Taebanya paramilta kyŏng 大般若波羅蜜多經). In Sanskrit, the “Sūtra on the Great Perfection of Wisdom”; a massive compilation of PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ scriptural literature said to have been preached by the Buddha in four different places to sixteen discrete assemblies. These sixteen assemblies correspond to sixteen separate perfection of wisdom sūtras, including such seminal works as the ŚATASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA (“Prajñāpāramitā in One Hundred Thousand Lines”) and the VAJRACCHEDIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA (“Diamond Sūtra”), which are integrated in this text into a single narrative. This recension of the scripture is only extant in a Chinese translation made in six hundred rolls by XUANZANG and his translation team between the years 660 and 663. Xuanzang’s recension is by far the largest of all the prajñāpāramitā scriptures in the Chinese Buddhist canon (DAZANGJING), constituting about a third of the entire prajñāpāramitā section. The Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra also often holds pride of place as the first sūtra found in many traditional East Asian Buddhist scriptural canons, such as the KORYŎ TAEJANGGYŎNG. (In Tibet, the ŚATASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ in sixteen volumes comes at the start of the prajñāpāramitā section.) There has been speculation that the Chinese version of the well-known PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASŪTRA (“Heart Sūtra”), which was also translated by Xuanzang, may be a redaction of sections of this Chinese recension of the Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra, made as a mneumonic encoding (DHĀRAṆĪ) of the massive perfection of wisdom literature.

mahāprātihārya. (P. mahāpāṭihāriya; T. cho ’phrul chen po; C. shenbianxiang; J. jinpensō; K. sinbyŏnsang 神變相). In Sanskrit, “great miracle.” This and the “dual miracle” (YAMAKAPRĀTIHĀRYA) are two popular miracles that the Buddha performed during his career, frequently narrated in both canonical and commentarial literature and also widely depicted in Buddhist art. Both the mahāprātihārya and the yamakaprātihārya are generally understood to have taken place in the city of ŚRĀVASTĪ. In the mahāprātihārya, the Buddha creates duplicates of himself, his dopplegängers then appearing in various terrestrial and heavenly abodes. In one instance, the Buddha produces a doppelgänger that remains on earth while he then goes to the TUṢITA heaven to preach the dharma to his mother MĀYĀ. In another instance, the Buddha creates several duplicates of himself so that everyone present in his audience can interact with him privately.

Mahāpratisarā. (C. Dasuiqiu; J. Daizuigu; K. Taesugu 大隨求). One of the five female protectors (RAKṢĀ) of VAJRAYĀNA Buddhism, who remains important in the Newar Buddhism of Nepal. In the Pañcarakṣāsūtra, her DHĀRAṆĪ is said to provide protection from a variety of dangers and to bestow rebirth in heaven. In some accounts of the life of the Buddha, his son RĀHULA was conceived on the night that the prince left the palace, but was not born until six years later when his father became the Buddha; during her protracted pregnancy, the Buddha’s wife, YAŚODHARĀ, is said to have been protected by Mahāpratisarā.

Mahāpūrṇa. (S). See PŪRṆA.

mahāpuruṣa. (P. mahāpurisa; T. skyes bu chen po; C. daren; J. dainin; K. taein 大人). In Sanskrit, lit., “great person,” sometimes translated as “superman”; a being whose body is adorned with the “marks of a great person” (MAHĀPURUṢALAKṢAṆA), which include the thirty-two “major marks” (LAKṢAṆA) and the eighty secondary marks (ANUVYAÑJANA). A being with such physical marks is destined to become either a buddha or a CAKRAVARTIN. ¶ The term mahāpuruṣa is also used to indicate the highest rank in a threefold division of humans that occur in certain MAHĀYĀNA texts, notably ATIŚA’s BODHIPATHAPRADĪPA: (a) beings of great capacity, who seek to free all beings from suffering; (b) beings of intermediate capacity, who seek to free themselves from suffering; and (c) beings of lesser capacity, who seek happiness within the cycle of rebirth. The Tibetan translation of this term, skyes bu chen po, is used widely in the LAM RIM literature as a designation for those practicing the Mahāyāna.

mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa. (P. mahāpurisalakkhaṇa; T. skyes bu chen po’i mtshan; C. darenxiang; J. daininsō; K. taeinsang 大人相). In Sanskrit, “the marks of a great man,” sometimes referred to in English as the “major marks”; a list of thirty-two marks (dvātriṃśadvaralakṣaṇa) possessed by both buddhas and “wheel-turning emperors” (CAKRAVARTIN); such beings possess in addition eighty minor marks (ANUVYAÑJANA). These marks are understood to be the karmic result of countless eons of effort on the path to either worldly or spiritual perfection (viz., ANUTTARASAMYAKSAṂBODHI). These are said to be fully present on the body of a buddha, especially in the SAṂBHOGAKĀYA, with similitudes of the marks found on the body of cakravartin. Each of the marks is said to result from the practice of a specific virtue in past lives, and elaborate commentary is provided on some of the marks, especially the UṢṆĪṢA and the ŪRṆĀ. Although the lists vary considerably, they typically include (1) supratiṣṭhitapāda—his feet stand firmly on the ground; (2) adhastāt pādatalayoś cakre jāte—he has thousand-spoked wheels on the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet; (3) āyatapādapārṣṇi—the heels of his feet are broad; (4) dīrghāṅguli—he has long fingers; (5) mṛdutaruṇahastapāda—his hands and feet are smooth; (6) jālahastapāda—his hands and feet are webbed; (7) ucchaṅkhapāda—his legs are long; (8) aiṇeyajaṅgha—he has thighs like an antelope; (9) sthitānavanata-pralambabāhu—his arms extend below the knees; (10) kośopagata-vastiguhya—his penis is retracted; (11) suvarṇavarṇa—his complexion is golden; (12) sūkṣmachavi—his skin is smooth (so that no dust clings to his body); (13) ekaikaroma—he has one hair in each pore of his body; (14) ūrdhvāgraroma—the hairs of his body point upward; (15) bṛhadṛju-gātra—his body is tall and straight; (16) saptotsada—the seven parts of his body are well-proportioned; (17) siṃhapūrvārdhakāya—the upper part of his body is like a lion’s; (18) citāntarāṃsa—he has broad shoulders; (19) nyagrodhaparimaṇḍala—his body and limbs are perfectly proportionate and thus shaped like a fig tree; (20) susaṃvṛttaskandha—he has full, round shoulders; (21) rasarasāgra—he has an excellent sense of taste; (22) siṃhahanu—he has a jaw like a lion’s; (23) catvāriṃśaddanta—he has forty teeth; (24) samadanta—his teeth are even; (25) aviraladanta—his teeth are evenly spaced; (26) suśukladaṃṣṭra—his teeth are white; (27) prabhūtajihva—his tongue is long and broad; (28) brahmasvara—his voice is like that of BRAHMĀ; (29) abhinīlanetra—his eyes are deep blue; (30) gopakṣma—his eyelashes are like those of a bull; (31) ūrṇā or ŪRṆĀKEŚA—he has a white tuft of hair between his eyebrows; and (32) uṣṇīṣaśīrṣa—he has a protrusion on the crown of the head. See also RĀṢṬRAPĀLAPARIPṚCCHĀ.

mahārājan, four. (CATURMAHĀRĀJA) (S). See LOKAPĀLA.

Mahāratnakūṭasūtra. (S). See RATNAKŪṬASŪTRA.

Mahāraṭṭha. (S. Mahārāṣṭra; T. Yul ’khor chen po; C. Mohelatuo guo; J. Makarata koku; K. Maharat’a kuk 摩訶剌佗國). One of nine adjacent lands (paccantadesa) converted to Buddhism by missionaries dispatched by the elder MOGGALIPUTTATISSA at the end of the third Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, THIRD) held in Pātaliputta (S. PĀṬALIPUTRA) during the reign of Asoka (S. AŚOKA) in the third century BCE. Mahāraṭṭha is identified with modern Maharashtra and was converted by Mahādhammarakkhita, who preached the Mahānāradakassapa-Jātaka. The third Buddhist council at Pātaliputta and the nine Buddhist missions are known only in Pāli sources and are first recorded in the fourth-century DĪPAVAṂSA.

mahāraurava. (P. mahāroruva; T. ngu ’bod chen po; C. dajiaohuan [diyu]; J. daikyōkan[jigoku]; K. taegyuhwan [chiok] 大叫喚[地獄]). In Sanskrit, “great screaming”; one of the eight hot hells in traditional Buddhist cosmology, the fifth in ascending order of suffering, so-called because the beings scream terribly there due to the torments they endure, torments greater than the hell above, which is merely called “screaming.” This hell is said to be the destination of those who steal the property of others, especially that of divinities (DEVA), brāhmaṇas, and their teachers.

Mahāriṭṭha. The Pāli proper name of the nephew of the Sinhalese king DEVĀNAṂPIYATISSA. Sent as an emissary to the court of King ASOKA, Mahāriṭṭha invited the arahant nun SAṄGHAMITTĀ to Sri Lanka in order to establish the BHIKKHUNĪ SAṂGHA on the island. Upon his return to the capital Anurādhapura, Mahāriṭṭha along with five hundred companions entered the BHIKKHU SAṂGHA, whereupon all of them attained arahantship. So that the religion would be firmly established on the island, Mahinda convened a SAṂGĪTI or rehearsal of scripture at the Thūpārāma in which he requested Mahāriṭṭa to recite the VINAYA. In the fourteenth-century chronicle, SADDHAMMASAṄGAHA, this recitation of vinaya by Mahāriṭṭha is deemed the fourth Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FOURTH).

Mahāsaccakasutta. In Pāli, the “Great Discourse to Saccaka”; the thirty-sixth sutta contained in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (fragments are extant in Sanskrit, and portions corresponding to a untitled recension of uncertain affiliation are included in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to the JAINA adherent Saccaka (S. MAHĀSATYANIRGRANTHA) in the Mahāvana forest in Vesāli (VAIŚĀlĪ). Saccaka asks about the proper method of cultivating the mind and the body in order to attain liberation. The Buddha explains the various methods of training mind and body he had tried during his own quest for liberation. Beginning with his renunciation of the householder’s life, he tells of his training under two meditation masters, his rejection of meditation in favor of severe austerities, and his rejection of austerities for his own path midway between self-indulgence and extreme asceticism, which finally led to his enlightenment.

Mahāsamayasuttanta. (C. Dahui jing; J. Daiekyō; K. Taehoe kyŏng 大會經). In Pāli, the “Great Discourse to an Assembly [of Divinities]”; the twentieth sutta contained in the DĪGHANIKĀYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the nineteenth SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA). Once while the Buddha was dwelling in the Mahāvana grove with five hundred arahants, an assembly of DEVA and BRAHMĀ gods from ten thousand world systems (P. cakkavāḷa; S. CAKRAVĀḌA) gathered in order to hear verses recited by the Buddha. The Buddha proceeds to recount in verse the names of numerous divinities and concludes with an admonition that MĀRA, the evil one, will shrink back from those who are free from lust and fear.

Mahāsāṃghika. (T. Dge ’dun phal chen pa’i sde; C. Dazhongbu; J. Daishubu; K. Taejungbu 大衆部). In Sanskrit, “Great Congregation”; one of the major “mainstream” (i.e., non-MAHĀYĀNA) schools of Indian Buddhism. The Mahāsāṃghika came into existence in a dispute over monastic practice with the STHAVIRANIKĀYA, which occurred about a century after the Buddha’s death, at the so-called second Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI) held at VAIŚĀLĪ (see COUNCIL, SECOND). The Sthaviranikāya resolved that ten specific rules of the VINAYA must be observed, while another faction, which came to call itself the “Great Congregation” (Mahāsāṃghika), held that these rules could be ignored. The ten violations of monastic practice that the Sthaviranikāya sought to proscribe were (1) carrying salt in an animal horn, (2) eating when the shadow of the sundial is two fingerbreadths past noon, (3) after eating, traveling to another village on the same day to eat another meal, (4) holding several monastic assemblies within the same boundary (SĪMĀ) during the same fortnight, (5) making a monastic decision with an incomplete assembly and subsequently receiving the approval of the absent monks, (6) citing precedent as a justification to violate monastic procedures, (7) drinking whey after mealtime, (8) drinking unfermented wine, (9) using mats with fringe, and (10) accepting gold and silver. A rival group held that these did not constitute violations of the vinaya and, since those who held this view were apparently the larger faction, they then called themselves the “great congregation.” Other sources state that a Mahāsāṃghika monk named MAHĀDEVA claimed that the Sthaviranikāya ARHATs were not free from certain failings, such as nocturnal emissions, although these charges may have been leveled at a subsequent point. Because of a paucity of sources, little is known of the doctrinal positions held by the school, although they seem to have emphasized the career of the bodhisattva and the supramundane nature of the Buddha, with his career as ŚĀKYAMUNI being only a display. They also taught that there was a root consciousness (MŪLAVIJÑĀNA) that serves as the support for the six sensory consciousnesses, just as the root of a tree is the basis of the leaves; this concept may have been the antecedent of the YOGĀCĀRA school’s storehouse consciousness (ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA). The famous biography of the Buddha, the MAHĀVASTU, is a product of the LOKOTTARAVĀDA, one of the three major branches of the Mahāsāṃghika; other major branches included the KUKKUṬĀRĀMA and the CAITYA. The school was found throughout India and present-day Afghanistan, but eventually died out as an ordination lineage.

Mahāsaṃmata. (T. Mang pos bkur pa; C. Dapingdeng wang; J. Daibyōdō ō; K. Taep’yŏngdŭng wang 大平等王). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “Greatly Revered” or “Great Consensus”; proper name of the first king of the current world system. After humans began to be reborn following the formation of this current world, wickedness arose, and it became necessary to select a king in order to bring order to society. One person was chosen to rule and he was called Mahāsaṃmata. In return for serving as king, he was allotted a portion of the harvest. He ruled compassionately without needing to resort to torture, fines, or exile. He is regarded as the progenitor of the KṢATRIYA caste, an ancient ancestor of the ŚĀKYA clan, and as a previous incarnation of the Buddha.

Mahāsaṃnipātasūtra. (T. ’Dus pa chen po’i mdo; C. Dafangdeng daji jing; J. Daihōdō daijukkyō; K. Taebangdŭng taejip kyŏng 大方等大集經). In Sanskrit, the “Great Compilation”; an anthology of texts that, along with the RATNAKŪṬASŪTRA, is one of the two major compendiums of MAHĀYĀNA sūtras. The collection consists of seventeen Mahāyāna sūtras, and was probably first compiled in the third century CE but did not reach its final form until the fifth century or later; the anthology was translated into Chinese by DHARMAKṢEMA c. 414 CE. The entire collection is only extant in Chinese, although individual sūtras in the collection are extant in Sanskrit and Tibetan. It includes such sūtras as the Ākāśagarbhasūtra and the CANDRAGARBHAPARIPṚCCHĀ, an important text on the decline of the dharma.

Mahāsāropamasutta. In Pāli, “Great Discourse on the Simile of the Heartwood”; the twenty-ninth sutta contained in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate recension appears, but without title, in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to an assembly of monks at Vulture Peak (GṚDHRAKŪṬAPARVATA) outside the town of Rājagaha (RĀJAGṚHA) to address DEVADATTA’s secession from the Buddha’s dispensation. Devadatta left because he was infatuated with the personal fame and profit he earned through his mastery of supernormal powers. The Buddha explained that the teachings were not spoken for the purpose of acquiring gain or profit, which were like the twigs and leaves of a tree, nor were they for mere morality (ŚĪLA), meditative concentration (SAMĀDHI), or supranormal powers (ABHIJÑĀ), which are like the inner and outer bark of a tree. Rather, the teachings were elucidated for the attainment of becoming a worthy one (ARHAT), which is like the heartwood of a tree.

Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasuttanta. (P). See SATIPAṬṬHĀNASUTTA.

mahāsattva. (T. sems dpa’ chen po; C. dashi/mohesa; J. daiji/makasatsu; K. taesa/mahasal 大士/摩訶薩). In Sanskrit, “great being”; an epithet of a BODHISATTVA. Some commentators define mahāsattva as a bodhisattva who has attained the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA), in which case the term would be synonymous with ĀRYABODHISATTVA. In the MAHĀYĀNA sūtras, however, the term does not seem always to carry this technical meaning and instead occurs as a standard epithet of an advanced bodhisattva, as in the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASŪTRA, where AVALOKITEŚVARA is referred to as “bodhisattva-mahāsattva.”

Mahāsatyanirgrantha. (P. Saccaka; C. Dasazhenijianzi; J. Daisatsushanikenshi; K. Taesalch’anigŏnja 大薩遮尼犍子). A JAINA adherent and skilled debater, who was defeated in debate by the Buddha and became his disciple. See MAHĀSACCAKASUTTA.

Mahāsena. (C. Mohesina; J. Makashina; K. Mahasana 摩訶斯那) (r. 334–361 CE). A king of Sri Lanka, who, in the earlier part of his reign, looted the MAHĀVIHĀRA monastery and turned the spoils over to the ABHAYAGIRI monastery. On the advice of his advisor, the wicked monk Saṅghamitta, he forbade donations to the Mahāvihāra. He built the JETAVANA monastery within the boundaries of the Mahāvihāra. Later, he recanted and restored the confiscated property belonging to the Mahāvihāra. His is the last reign recorded in the DĪPAVAṂSA and MAHĀVAṂSA.

mahāsiddha. (T. grub thob chen po; C. dasheng; J. daishō; K. taesŏng 大聖). In Sanskrit, “great adept”; an epithet of a tantric YOGIN, used especially to refer to any one of a group of Indian tantric masters (in some renditions, numbering eighty or eighty-four; see “List of Lists”). These yogins, many of whom were historical figures (dating from between the seventh and twelfth centuries CE), were famous in India and Tibet and appear frequently in both hagiography and iconography. The most famous collection of hagiographies is the *CATURAŚĪTISIDDHAPRAVṚTTI by Abhayadatta. Just as the ARHAT is the ideal of mainstream Buddhism and the BODHISATTVA the ideal of the MAHĀYĀNA, the MAHĀSIDDHA is the ideal of Buddhist TANTRA in India. Although many of the hagiographies of the mahāsiddhas tell stories of princes who, like the Buddha, renounced the world, others tell of enlightened masters who are neither virtuous monks nor gentle bodhisattvas but are instead drawn from the most ignoble levels of Indian society: butchers, hunters, fishermen, blacksmiths, leathersmiths, pimps; i.e., those involved in professions that were considered to be sources of pollution. If this were not enough, they also engage in activities that break taboos: they eat meat, they meditate sitting on top of corpses, they copulate with low-caste girls. If the power of the monk derives from the purity he acquires through abstaining from the things that laymen do, the power of the tantric yogin derives from his transgression of purity, engaging in acts that both violate monastic vows as well as the prescriptions regarding purity and pollution of traditional Indian society. The mahāsiddhas also perform prodigious magical feats, such as flying through the air, turning base metals into gold, diving into the earth, and restoring amputated limbs. They are regarded as enlightened beings, using what is prohibited on the path, and transforming acts that would send others to hell into the deeds of a buddha. It is unclear how many of the mahāsiddhas were historical figures, and the accounts of their deeds are obviously rich in mythological detail. Their stories are replete with what we might regard as miracles, the performance of which the Buddha was said to have discouraged. On a philosophical level, such miracles demonstrate that those who have insight into the true nature of reality are not bound by rules, their transgression of the conventions of society signifying their transcendence of the laws of nature. Those who understand the true nature of the world can manipulate it, unbound by the laws of either gravity or KARMAN. The stories of the mahāsiddhas also demonstrate the persistence of the worldly in the history of Buddhism. Tantric practice is said to produce two types of powers, called SIDDHIs. There are mundane (LAUKIKA) siddhis, such as the ability to turn base metals into gold, to find buried treasure, to gain the love of a woman, to curse an enemy, to paralyze an invading army, or to stop the sun from moving across the sky. These contrast with the supramundane (LOKOTTARA) siddhis of buddhahood. Much of the tantric literature that survives is designed to provide mundane siddhis, generally divided into four categories of deeds (CATURKARMAN): pacifying, increasing, controlling, and wrathful.

Mahāsīhanādasutta. (C. Shenmao xishu jing; J. Shinmōkijukyō; K. Sinmo hŭisu kyŏng 身毛喜豎經). In Pāli, the “Great Discourse on the Lion’s Roar”; the twelfth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (Sanskrit fragments of small portions of the scripture are extant; no version is included in the Chinese translations of the ĀGAMAs, but there is an independent translation attributed to Weijing titled the Shenmao xishu jing, or “Horripilation Sūtra”); preached by the Buddha to Sāriputta (ŚĀRIPUTRA) in response to criticisms made by Sunakkhatta, a former disciple who charged that the Buddha was not endowed with supranormal powers. The Buddha states that because of his limited capacities, Sunakkhatta was unable to perceive the Buddha’s ten powers, four kinds of self-confidence, and the nondecline of his omniscience. He then describes the meritorious deeds that give rise to these powers and the wrong views of the naked JAINA ascetics with whom Sunakkhatta had taken up residence. The Buddha declares that those who claim that the Buddha’s insights are simply his own ideas and that he lacks supranormal powers will be reborn in the hells. ¶ A different Mahāsīhanādasutta also appears as the eighth sutta in the Pāli DĪGHANIKĀYA, where it is an alternate title for the KASSAPASĪHANĀDASUTTANTA (“Lion’s Roar of Kassapa/Kaśyapa”); see KASSAPASĪHANĀDASUTTANTA.

Mahasi, Sayadaw. (1904–1982). In Burmese, “Senior Monk from Mahasi,” also known as Sobhana Mahāthera; honorific title of U Thobana (P. Sobhana), a prominent Burmese (Myanmar) scholar-monk and influential promoter of insight meditation (VIPASSANĀ). He was born in Seikkhun village near Shwebo in Upper Burma to a prosperous peasant family. At the age of twelve, he was ordained as a novice (P. sāmaṇera; S. ŚRĀMAṆERA) at Pyinmana monastery in Saikkhun and in 1923 he took higher ordination (UPASAṂPADĀ) as a monk (P. BHIKKHU; S. BHIKṢU). Trained in Pāli and Buddhist scriptures at both Saikkhun and a number of monastic colleges in Mandalay, U Thobana alternated his own studies with teaching duties in Moulmien, Lower Burma, where he also encountered and trained under the meditation master Mingun Jetavan Sayadaw in the neighboring town of Thaton. U Thobana received his Dhammācāriya degree in 1941, just prior to the outbreak of World War II and the Japanese occupation of Burma. During the war, he returned to his native village in Upper Burma and settled in a monastery named Mahasi, whence his toponym. There he devoted himself to the practice and teaching of vipassanā meditation and wrote the Manual of Vipassanā Meditation, the first of his many treatises on the subject. In 1949, the Prime Minister of Burma, U Nu, invited Mahasi Sayadaw to head the newly founded Thathana Yeiktha (meditation hermitage) in Rangoon (Yangon). Since that time, affiliate branches of the Thathana Yeiktha headed by teachers trained in the Mahasi method of vipassanā have been established throughout the country and internationally, particularly in Thailand and Sri Lanka. Mahasi Sayadaw was an erudite scholar and the author of sixty-seven works on Buddhism in Burmese and Pāli. The Burmese government awarded him the title Aggamahāpaṇḍita for his scholarship in 1952. In 1954, he was appointed to the dual position of pucchaka (questioner) and osana (editor) in the sixth Buddhist Council (See COUNCIL, SIXTH) convened in Rangoon in 1954–56. Among other duties during the council, he oversaw the preparation of a new Burmese edition of the Pāli tipiṭaka (S. TRIPIṬAKA), its commentaries, and sub-commentaries for publication. Mahasi Sayadaw headed numerous Buddhist missions to countries in Asia, Europe, and America, and included among his disciples are many contemporary meditation teachers in Myanmar and internationally.

mahāśmaśāna. (S). See ŚMAŚĀNA.

Mahāssapurasutta. (C. Mayi jing; J. Meyūkyō; K. Maŭp kyŏng 馬邑經). In Pāli, the “Greater Discourse at Assapura”; the thirty-ninth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the 182nd sūtra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA, and another recension of unidentified affiliation in the EKOTTARĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a group of monks dwelling in the market town of Assapura in the Aṅga country. The people of Assapura were greatly devoted to the Buddha and were generous in their support of the monks. In recognition of their generosity, the Buddha admonished his disciples to strive ardently in their practice of the path to liberation by delivering a discourse on what makes one a true recluse. He describes the path in stages, beginning with the avoidance of evil deeds through the restraint of bodily and verbal actions, followed by the avoidance of evil thoughts through the mental restraint of meditation. This provides the foundation for the cultivation of four stages of meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA), which, in turn, facilitates the eradication of contaminants (P. āsava; S. ĀSRAVA) through the practice of insight (P. vipassanā; S. VIPAŚYANĀ) and the attainment of final liberation in NIRVĀṆA.