V

Vāgīsa. (S). See VĀṄGĪŚA.

vāgviveka. (T. ngag dben). In Sanskrit, “isolation of speech”; one of the six stages of the completion state (NIṢPANNAKRAMA) in the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA systems. In order to separate the mind from coarse conventional appearances and induce the dawning of the mind of clear light (PRABHĀSVARACITTA), the body, speech, and mind must be isolated from their ordinary forms. In the isolation of speech, the subtle wind (PRĀṆA) that is the root of speech is isolated from the ordinary movement of winds. That subtle wind is then combined with MANTRA.

Vaibhāṣika. (T. Bye brag smra ba; C. Piposha shi; J. Bibashashi; K. Pibasa sa 毘婆沙師). In Sanskrit, “Followers of the Vibhāṣā”; the ĀBHIDHARMIKAs associated with the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school of ABHIDHARMA, especially in KASHMIR-GANDHĀRA in northwestern India but even in BACTRIA. Because these masters considered their teachings to be elaborations of doctrines found in the Sarvāstivāda abhidharma treatise, the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀṢĀ, they typically referred to themselves as the Vaibhāṣika; hence, the Kashmiri strand of Sarvāstivāda may be called either Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika, or, simply, Vaibhāṣika. The root text of the Vaibhāṣika school is the Abhidharmamahāvibhāṣā (a.k.a. Mahāvibhāṣā), a massive encyclopedic compendium of Sarvāstivāda doctrine. The Vaibhāṣikas maintained that the Mahāvibhāṣā was originally spoken by the Buddha himself, and that the various interlocutors—including divinities, ŚĀRIPUTRA, and others—who facilitate the work’s catechistic structure were summoned by the Buddha for the sake of the text’s composition. The Gandhāran response to this and other claims made by the Vaibhāṣikas led to the formation of an offshoot that rejected the authority of this abhidharma literature. This offshoot called itself the SAUTRĀNTIKA, or “Those Who Adhere to the SŪTRAs.” The Vaibhāṣika abhidharma system maintains the existence of seventy-five constituent factors (DHARMA). Seventy-two of these are conditioned (SAṂSKṚTA) and three are unconditioned (ASAṂSKṚTA). Like most other schools of Buddhism, the Vaibhāṣikas affirmed the selflessness (ANĀTMAN) of persons and the momentary (KṢAṆIKA) nature of conditioned dharmas. However, they maintained that these factors have their own real existence that endures in past, present, and future modes. They believed these factors to be both real and eternal—a view for which they generated many elaborate justifications. They also believed external objects to be composed of minute particles, like atoms (PARAMĀṆU). According to the Vaibhāṣikas, consciousness (VIJÑĀNA) or cognition has no form that is independent of its object; the Vaibhāṣika model of the relationship between consciousness and its objects is therefore sometimes referred to as “direct realism” (see ĀKĀRA). VASUBANDHU’s ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA is mainly concerned with abhidharma theory as it was explicated in the Vaibhāṣika school; in comparison to the Mahāvibhāṣā, however, the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya presents a more systematic overview of Sarvāstivāda positions and, at various points in his expositions, Vasubandhu criticizes Sarvāstivāda doctrine from the standpoint of its more progressive Sautrāntika offshoot. This criticism elicited a spirited response from later Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika scholars, such as SAṂGHABHADRA in his *NYĀYĀNUSĀRA. The Vaibhāṣika disappeared as an independent school sometime around the seventh or eighth centuries CE.

vaidalya. (S) (P. vedalla). See VAIPULYA.

Vaidalyaprakaraṇa. (T. Zhib mo rnam par ’thag pa). In Sanskrit, “Extended” or “Woven” “Explanation”; a work now extant only in Tibetan, which is ascribed to NĀGĀRJUNA (although some modern scholarship has questioned the attribution). The treatise, also known as the Vaidalyasūtra, is listed in Tibet as one of Nāgārjuna’s six works in his “logical corpus” (YUKTIKĀYA). The work is devoted to the refutation of sixteen principles (padārtha) set forth in the Nyāyasūtra, which is accomplished in seventy-three aphorisms, or sūtras. An autocommentary is also extant.

*Vaidalyasūtranāma. (S) (T. Zhib mo rnam par ’thag pa zhes bya ba’i mdo). See VAIDALYAPRAKARAṆA.

Vaidehī. (P. Videhī; T. Lus ’phags ma; C. Weitixi; J. Idaike; K. Wijehŭi 韋提希). Sanskrit proper name of the queen of BIMBISĀRA, king of MAGADHA, and mother of AJĀTAŚATRU. According to some traditions, her name derives from the fact that she hailed from VIDEHA. When her son Ajātaśatru usurped the throne and imprisoned his father, no one was allowed to visit him except for Vaidehī. Although she was prohibited from bringing Bimbisāra food, she hid food in her clothes. When this was discovered, she hid food in her hair and then in her shoes. When these were discovered, she smeared her body with the four sweet substances, which the king licked for his sustenance. When this was discovered, the king lived on the energy from walking meditation, until his son had his feet lacerated, after which he died. The incident of Vaidehī’s visit to the cell of Bimbisāra provides the setting for one of the three major sūtras of the East Asian PURE LAND traditions, the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING (sometimes known by the hypothetical reconstructed Sanskrit title *Amitāyurdhyānasūtra, or simply as the “Meditation Sūtra”). According to this sūtra, when Ajātaśatru discovers that his mother has been secretly feeding the king, he incarcerates her as well. Despite her sorrow, Vaidehī does not give up her faith in the Buddha and invokes his aid. The Buddha then appears before her, and she asks that he teach her about a place where there is no sorrow. The Buddha then teaches her how to visualize the SUKHĀVATĪ pure land of the buddha named “Infinite Life” (AMITĀYUS/AMITĀBHA). He next explains to her how one may be reborn in this wonderful paradise, which is a land without suffering, a world of endless bliss. At the end of the sūtra, Vaidehī is mentioned as one of many who were inspired by the Buddha’s preaching.

vaipulya. [alt. vaidalya] (cf. P. vedalla; T. shin tu rgyas pa; C. fangdeng; J. hōdō; K. pangdŭng 方等). In Sanskrit, lit. “vast” or “extended,” viz., “works of great extent”; a term that appears in the title of a number of MAHĀYĀNA sūtras meant to indicate their profundity, comprehensiveness, and stereotypically great length. Such sūtras will typically offer a more comprehensive overview of Buddhist thought and practice than shorter sūtras that may have a single, or more circumscribed, message. The term is used to name one of the nine (NAVAṄGA) (Pāli) or twelve (DVĀDAŚĀṄGA[PRAVACANA]) (Sanskrit) categories (AṄGA) of Buddhist scripture according to their structure or literary style. As one of the nine categories of scriptures organized by type or style, vaipulya corresponds to the Pāli category of vedalla (S. vaidalya), which refers to such catechetical texts as the SAKKAPAÑHASUTTANTA or the SAMMĀDIṬṬHISUTTA. In the twelve types of scripture used in Mahāyāna classifications, the vaipulyasūtras are listed as the eleventh category and especially refer to scriptures of massive size. Mahāyāna sūtras included in the vaipulya category include many of the seminal works of the tradition, including the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ sūtras, the RATNAKŪṬASŪTRA collection, and the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA.

vairāgya. (P. virāga; T. chags bral; C. liran/liyu/wuyu; J. rizen/riyoku/muyoku; K. iyŏm/iyok/muyok 離染/離欲/無欲). In Sanskrit, “dispassion [toward the world]”; an important step in the soteriological process leading to NIRVĀṆA. In the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀṢĀ, vairāgya is said to correspond to “lack of greed” (S. ALOBHA; C. wutan), one of the three wholesome faculties (trīṇi kuśalamūlāni, see KUŚALAMŪLA), along with “lack of anger” (S. apratigha; C. wuchen) and “nondelusion” (S. amoha; C. wuchi). Vairāgya is an essential factor in reaching the state that is uncontaminated (ANĀSRAVA) by the afflictions (KLEŚA), a characteristic of the ARHAT path. Vairāgya is the tenth of the twelve links (NIDĀNA) in what is known in Pāli Buddhist literature as “supramundane dependent origination” (P. lokuttara-paṭiccasamuppāda; S. LOKOTTARA-PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). This supramundane chain leads to liberation (P. vimutti; S. VIMUKTI), rather than continued rebirth in SAṂSĀRA, which is the end result of the more common mundane chain. In this “supramundane” chain, the twelve links are (1) suffering (P. dukkha; S. DUḤKHA), (2) faith (P. saddhā; S. ŚRADDHĀ), (3) delight or satisfaction (P. pāmojja; S. prāmodya), (4) physical rapture or joy (P. pīti; S. PRĪTI), (5) tranquillity or repose (P. passaddhi; S. PRAŚRABDHI), (6) mental ease or bliss (SUKHA), (7) concentration (SAMĀDHI), (8) knowledge and vision that accords with reality (P. yathābhūtañāṇadassana; S. YATHĀBHŪTAJÑĀNADARŚANA), (9) disillusionment (P. nibbidā; S. NIRVEDA), (10) dispassion (P. virāga; S. vairāgya), (11) liberation (P. vimutti; S. VIMUKTI), and (12) knowledge of the destruction of the contaminants (P. āsavakkhāya; S. ĀSRAVAKṢAYA). The *Āryaśāsanaprakaraṇa (C. Xianyang shengjiao lun), a summary exposition of the YOGĀCĀRABHŪMIŚĀSTRA, also mentions vairāgya in a similar list of twelve links, the difference being that the first two links are replaced by “observance of precepts” (P. kusalasīla; S. kuśalaśīla), and “freedom from remorse” (P. avippaṭisāra; S. avipratisāra).

Vairocana. (T. Rnam par snang mdzad; C. Dari rulai/Piluzhena; J. Dainichi nyorai/Birushana; K. Taeil yŏrae/Pirojana 大日如來/盧遮那). In Sanskrit, “Resplendent”; one of the five buddhas (PAÑCATATHĀGATA) and the chief buddha of the TATHĀGATAKULA; he is also one of the major buddhas of East Asian Buddhism, where he is often conflated with MAHĀVAIROCANA. The origin of Vairocana can be traced back to the Hindu tradition, where he appears as a relatively minor deity associated with the Sun. ¶ Although the name Vairocana appears in some mainstream Buddhist and PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ materials, it is not until the emergence of the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA that Vairocana comes to be widely regarded as the buddha who is the personification of the universal truth of the religion. In its “Chapter on Vairocana,” Vairocana is considered to be the main buddha of the sūtra, who is omnipresent as the DHARMAKĀYA. Vairocana is, however, also described in the sūtra as a buddha who mastered the BODHISATTVA path by making vows to attain buddhahood, performing all types of virtuous deeds, hearing the dharma, cultivating meditative practices, and realizing the truth of the dependent origination of the dharma realm (C. FAJIE YUANQI) in which each and every thing in existence is in multivalent interaction with all other things in a state of complete and perfect interfusion. In this case, Vairocana as the reward body (SAṂBHOGAKĀYA) is called ROCANA (C. Lushena) in order to distinguish him from Vairocana (C. Piluzhena) as the dharmakāya buddha. With the growing popularity of the Avataṃsakasūtra, Vairocana becomes one of the principal buddhas of East Asian Buddhism. Many Vairocana images were constructed in China starting in the sixth century, and colossal images of him were erected in the LONGMEN Grottoes near Luoyang in northern China and in TŌDAIJI in Nara, Japan. In Korea, Vairocana (as the dharmakāya buddha) often appeared at the center of a buddha triad, flanked by ŚĀKYAMUNI (as the NIRMĀṆAKĀYA) and ROCANA (as the saṃbhogakāya). Vairocana’s popularity expanded with his appearance in the MAHĀVAIROCANASŪTRA, and, from this point on, Vairocana is generally regarded as the main buddha of the Avataṃsakasūtra and the HUAYAN ZONG, while Mahāvairocana is regarded as the main buddha of the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAṂBODHISŪTRA and the ZHENYAN or SHINGON schools. ¶ Vairocana is also the central deity of the VAJRADHĀTU (J. KONGŌKAI) and the GARBHADHĀTU (J. TAIZŌKAI) MAṆḌALAs of YOGATANTRA associated with the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAṂGRAHA, a highly influential tantric text in India, Tibet, and East Asia. He appears in the central assembly of the vajradhātu maṇḍala, displaying the MUDRĀ of wisdom (dainichi ken-in), surrounded by the four directional buddhas (AKṢOBHYA, RATNASAMBHAVA, AMITĀBHA, and AMOGHASIDDHI), each of whom embodies four aspects of Vairocana’s wisdom. In the garbhadhātu maṇḍala, Vairocana is located at the center of the eight-petaled lotus in the central cloister of the maṇḍala, along with the four buddhas and four bodhisattvas sitting on the eight petals. Vairocana is typically depicted as white in color, holding the wheel of dharma (DHARMACAKRA) in his hands, which are in the gesture of teaching (VITARKAMUDRĀ). Vairocana is closely associated with the bodhisattva SAMANTABHADRA, and his consort is Vajradhātvīśvarī. The commentaries on the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha recount that Prince SIDDHĀRTHA was meditating on the banks of the NAIRAÑJANĀ River when he was roused by Vairocana and the buddhas of the ten directions, who informed him that such meditation would not result in the achievement of buddhahood. He thus left his physical body behind and traveled in a mind-made body (MANOMAYAKĀYA) to the AKANIṢṬHA heaven, where he received various consecrations and achieved buddhahood. He next descended to the summit of Mount SUMERU, where he taught the yogatantras. Finally, he returned to the world, inhabited his physical body, and then displayed to the world the well-known defeat of MĀRA and the achievement of buddhahood. ¶ Vairocana is also the name of one of the chief figures in the earlier dissemination (SNGA DAR) of Buddhism to Tibet, where he is known by his Tibetan pronunciation of Bai ro tsa na. He was one of the first seven Tibetans (SAD MI BDUN) to be ordained as Buddhist monks by the Indian master ŚĀNTARAKṢITA at the first Tibetan monastery, BSAM YAS. According to Tibetan accounts, he was sent by King KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN to India to study Sanskrit and to gather texts and teachings. He is said to have received teachings of the “mind class” (SEMS SDE) and the “expanse class” (KLONG SDE) at BODHGAYĀ, before traveling to OḌḌIYĀNA, where he met the master ŚRĪSIṂHA, who gave him exoteric teachings during the day and instructed him secretly in the great completeness (RDZOGS CHEN) practices at night. Returning to Tibet, he followed the same program, instructing the king secretly in the “mind class” teachings at night. This raised suspicions, which led to his banishment to eastern Tibet. He was later allowed to return, at the request of VIMALAMITRA. He is renowned as one of the three major figures (along with PADMASAMBHAVA and Vimalamitra) in the dissemination of the rdzogs chen teachings in Tibet and translated many texts from Sanskrit into Tibetan; the manuscripts of some of his translations have been discovered at DUNHUANG. See also JÑĀNAMUṢṬI.

Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi. (S). See MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAṂBODHISŪTRA.

Vairocanābhisaṃbodhitantra. (S). See MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAṂBODHISŪTRA.

Vairocanadharma. (T. rnam snang gi chos). In Sanskrit, “features of VAIROCANA”; seven constituents that constitute the ideal posture for meditation: sitting in the adamantine position (VAJRAPARYAṄKA), casting the eyes down toward the tip of the nose, keeping the backbone straight, keeping the shoulders level, tucking in the chin, placing the tongue against the back of the upper teeth, placing the hands in the position of equipoise. The Tibetan translator (LO TSĀ BA) MAR PA, teacher of MI LA RAS PA, was a strong proponent of this meditation posture.

Vaiśālī. (P. Vesāli; T. Yangs pa can; C. Pisheli; J. Bishari; K. Pisari 毘舍離). A town approximately twenty-five miles (forty km.) to the northwest of modern-day Patna, in the state of Bihar, India. During the Buddha’s lifetime, this was the capital of the Licchavis, which was part of the Vṛji republic. The Buddha first visited the city in the fifth year after his enlightenment and spent his last rains retreat (VARṢĀ) in the vicinity of Vaiśālī. The Buddha preached a number of important sūtras and established several rules of discipline in the city. The Buddha accepted the gift of a mango grove (the Āmrapālīvana) from the city’s famous courtesan ĀMRAPĀLĪ. When the Buddha was en route from KAPILAVASTU to Vaiśālī, his stepmother MAHĀPRAJĀPATĪ and five hundred women shaved their heads and followed him. Upon arriving in the city, they requested and eventually received ordination as nuns (BHIKṢUṆĪ). Before departing on the journey that would end at KUŚINAGARĪ with his passage into PARINIRVĀṆA, the Buddha is said to have turned his body like an elephant for one final look at the city. ¶ Vaiśālī was also the location of the second Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI; see COUNCIL, SECOND), held approximately one hundred years after the Buddha’s PARINIRVĀṆA. Some seven hundred monks were said to have attended the council at Vālukārāma monastery, although the number is probably more of a representation of the council’s significance rather than an exact number of monks in attendance. The importance of the second council lies in the sectarian division that occurred within the SAṂGHA either at the time of that council or directly thereafter. According to the traditional account, the monk YAŚAS entered Vaiśalī to visit the monks there and found that they were engaging in what he believed to be ten violations of the VINAYA code of conduct. When Yaśas criticized the Vaiśalī monks for these violations, he was rebuked and expelled from the SAṂGHA. Yaśas later returned with the monk ŚĀṆAKAVĀSIN, at which point the monk REVATA called the council and presided over it. After the senior monks ruled in Yaśas’s favor, the saṃgha split into the two groups, the STHAVIRANIKĀYA (the “Order of the Elders,” which included Revata and Yaśas) and the MAHĀSĀṂGHIKA (the “Members of the Great Assembly,” which included probably the majority of monks, who opposed the ruling). By the beginning of the Common Era, the saṃgha had split into what is commonly called the eighteen MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS, in reference to the multiple traditions that developed following the second council at Vaiśālī.

vaiśāradya. (P. vesārajja; T. mi ’jigs pa; C. wusuowei; J. mushoi; K. musooe 無所畏). In Sanskrit, “self-confidence,” or “fearlessness”; one of the qualities of all buddhas, generally enumerated (with some variants) as four: (1) the confidence that he is fully enlightened with regard to all phenomena, (2) the confidence that he has destroyed all contamination, (3) the confidence that he has correctly identified all obstacles to liberation, and (4) the confidence that all marvelous qualities are achieved through the path.

Vaiśravaṇa. (P. Vessavaṇa; T. Rnam sras/Rnam thos kyi bu; C. Duowen tian/Pishamen tian; J. Tamonten/Bishamonten; K. Tamun ch’ŏn/Pisamun ch’ŏn 多聞天/毘沙門天). One of the four LOKAPĀLA, the kings of the four directions who reside on the four faces of Mount SUMERU. He is king of the north, and the northern continent of UTTARAKURU, and resides on the northern face of the central mountain, where he commands armies of YAKṢAs. He is described in the Pāli canon as a stream-enterer (see SROTAĀPANNA), who was a devotee of the Buddha and a protector of his monks. Despite having a life span of ninety thousand years, Vaiśravaṇa, like all Buddhist divinities (DEVA), will eventually die and be reborn elsewhere, with another being reborn as his successor. Vaiśravaṇa is associated with the Indian gods of wealth KUBERA and Jambhala; the three were once individual deities who came to be identified with each other. Vaiśravaṇa may have originated as a Central Asian deity, perhaps in the kingdom of KHOTAN, where he was believed to have been the progenitor of the royal lineage. He is the main interlocutor in several chapters of the SUVARṆAPRABHĀSOTTAMASŪTRA, which sets forth the duties of the lokapāla to the virtuous king and his state. His cult does not seem to have taken hold in China until the ninth century, which is the date of the earliest Chinese images of the divinity. A legend relates that during an invasion of Tang China from ANXI (viz., PARTHIA), the Chinese emperor enlisted the aid of AMOGHAVAJRA, who called upon Vaiśravaṇa to guard the city wall. By the middle of the Tang, images of the god and the other lokapālas were commonly placed at city gates. The cult of Vaiśravaṇa entered Japan by the Heian period, where, despite his presence in the esoteric tradition there, he took on the appearance of local gods and is regarded as a form of HACHIMAN. In Tibet, the conflation of Vaiśravaṇa, Kubera, Jambhala, and Pañcika is more complete than in East Asia. As a lokapāla, Vaiśravaṇa wears armor, carries a banner of victory, and holds a mongoose that is vomiting jewels (hence his popularity as a god of wealth).

vaiyāpṛtya(kara). [alt. vaiyāpatya(kara)] (P. veyyāvaccakara; T. zhal ta pa; C. zhishi/zhongzhu; J. shitsuji/shushu; K. chipsa/chungju 執事/衆主). In Sanskrit, lit. “one who performs service,” viz., an “agent”; an administrative or supervisory officer who serves as “agent” for the SAṂGHA in accepting donations from the laity and supervising the use of the financial items and valuables received by the monastery; this officer may also serve as a kind of personal assistant to the monks. The term vaiyāpṛtyakara appears in connection with the tenth rule of the “offenses involving forfeiture” (NIḤSARGIKA-PĀTAYANTIKA; P. nissaggiyapācittiya), where the “agent” is solicited to accept robe cloth on behalf of a monk; that agent may be either a Buddhist layman (UPĀSAKA) or an unordained monastic employee (ārāmika). In this role, the vaiyāpṛtyakara is closely related to the KALPIKĀRAKA, a lay “steward” or “surrogate,” who receives donations on behalf of monks and converts them into appropriate requisites. There are also, however, references to ordained agents (vaiyāpṛtyakarabhikṣu), who supervise the storage of offerings as robes and other gifts on behalf of the monks until they are ready to use them. DRAVYA MALLAPUTRA was singled out by the Buddha as preeminent among his monk disciples in providing such service to the community of monks (saṅghasya veyyāvacca), specifically in apportioning lodging and distributing meals.

vaiyavadānika. (T. rnam par byang ba; C. qingjing; J. shōjō; K. ch’ŏngjŏng 清淨). In Sanskrit, an adjective formed from VYAVADĀNA, “purification” or “cleansing,” contrasted with sāṃkleśika (from SAṂKLEŚA), meaning impurity, defilement, stain, or pollution. Dharmas are understood to operate from two distinct and opposite modes of causation that condition one’s future—sāṃkleśika (or SAṂKLIṢṬA) dharmas leading to suffering and vaiyavadānika dharmas leading to the end of suffering. In the perfection of wisdom (PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ) sūtras, 108 types of phenomena are declared to be empty (śūnya); they are divided into two broad categories, purification (vaiyavadānika) and defilement (saṃkliṣṭa), or the pure and the defiled. Fifty-five phenomena of the pure class are enumerated in the MAHĀYĀNA, including, for example, the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ), the eighteen types of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment (BODHIPĀKṢIKADHARMA), and the eighteen unshared qualities of a buddha (ĀVEṆIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA). The defiled class includes, for example, the five aggregates (SKANDHA), the six sense organs (INDRIYA), the six consciousnesses (VIJÑĀNA), and the twelve links of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). See also VYAVADĀNA.

Vajirañāṇavarorasa. (Thai. Wachirayanwarorot) (1860–1921). One of the most influential Thai monks of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries; his name (given in its Pāli form here) is also rendered in the Thai vernacular as Wachirayanwarorot [alt. Wachirayan Warot]. The son of King Mongkut (RĀMA IV), after a youth spent in royal luxury, he was ordained as a monk in 1879. He distinguished himself as a scholar of the Buddhist scriptures and in 1892 became abbot of WAT BOWONNIWET [alt. Wat Bovoranives; P. Pavaranivesa], the leading monastery of the THAMMAYUT (P. Dhammayuttika) order. In 1893, he became patriarch of the order and served as supreme patriarch (saṅgharāja; S. SAṂGHARĀJAN) of the Thai saṅgha (S. SAṂGHA) from 1910 until his death. A distinguished scholar of Pāli, he was the author of many textbooks, including the definitive Thai primer on the Pāli VINAYA tradition, the Vinayamukha (“Gateway to the Discipline”), which he wrote in an (unsuccessful) attempt to bring together the two major sects of Thai Buddhism, the Thammuyut and the MAHANIKAI. Vajirañāṇavarorasa also designed the modern monastic curriculum and reorganized the Thai ecclesiastical hierarchy. As an advisor to King Chulalongkorn (RĀMA V), he also sought to extend modern education into the provinces. Vajirañāṇavarorasa’s autobiography is considered the first work of the genre in Thai vernacular literature.

Vajirapāṇi. (P). In Pāli, the name of a yakkha (S. YAKṢA) who is also sometimes identified with INDRA. See VAJRAPĀṆI.

vajra. (T. rdo rje; C. jingang; J. kongō; K. kŭmgang 金剛). In Sanskrit, “adamant,” “diamond,” or “thunderbolt”; a magical weapon and common symbol of power, indestructibility, and immutability, especially in tantric Buddhism, which is known as the vajra vehicle (VAJRAYĀNA). The term is also employed to describe consummate meditative experiences, such as the VAJROPAMASAMĀDHI, the “SAMĀDHI that is like a vajra.” ¶ Vajra is also the name of the ritual scepter commonly employed in tantric liturgies. When used in conjunction with a bell, the vajra symbolizes UPĀYA and the bell symbolizes PRAJÑĀ, with the vajra held in the right hand and the bell in the left hand. There are several types of vajras used in tantric rituals, varying in both size and the number of “points” or prongs, usually ranging from one to nine on each side. The elements that constitute the vajra are given rich symbolic value. For example, in the case of a five-pointed vajra, when held vertically, the five lower points are said to represent either the five aggregates (SKANDHA) of mind and body or the five afflictions of desire, anger, ignorance, pride, and jealousy. These five are transmuted through tantric practice into the five buddhas (PAÑCATATHĀGATA), represented by the five upper points. These are transmuted through the knowledge of emptiness, symbolized by the sphere that unites the upper and lower parts of the vajra. In some tantric texts, vajra is also a term for phallus.

Vajrabhairava. (T. Rdo rje ’jigs byed; C. Buwei Jingang; J. Fui Kongō; K. P’ooe Kŭmgang 怖畏金剛). In Sanskrit, “Indestructibly Frightening”; a tantric deity associated with YAMĀNTAKA; both deities are considered to be wrathful forms of the bodhisattva MAÑJUŚRĪ. Vajrabhairava likely derives from Śaiva sources; Śiva is also called Bhairava. Vajrabhairava is usually black or blue in color, and can be depicted with one or as many as nine faces, and thirty-two arms. The main Vajrabhairava root tantra, classified as a father tantra (PITṚTANTRA) of the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA class, is the Śrīmadmahāvajrabhairavatantra, also known as the Saptakalpa (“Vajrabhairava Root Tantra in Seven Chapters”); it is three hundred stanzas long and explicitly sets forth legitimate transformations of violence for altruistic purposes. It is said to have been brought from UḌḌIYĀNA by one Lalitavajra. The Tibetan Skyo tradition also asserts that the Gtam rgyud kyi rtog pa (“Legend chapter”) is a root tantra. Besides Lalitavajra, the adept Śrīdhara is closely associated with the practice and dissemination of the tantra. In Tibet there are six lineages originating from Cog gru Shes rab bla ma, RWA LO TSĀ BA RDO RJE GRAGS PA (the most widespread and influential tradition), Skyo ston ’Od ’byung (1126–1200), Gnyos lo tsā ba, Ba ri lo tsā ba, and Mal gyo lo tsā ba Blo gros grags. These are known as the Zhang, Rwa, Skyo, Gnyos, Ba ri, and Mal traditions. The cult of Vajrabhairava is common to the three new translation (GSAR MA) sects of Tibet. The SA SKYA sect considers Vajrabhairava to be one of the four principal tantric deities, alongside HEVAJRA, GUHYASAMĀJA, and CAKRASAṂVARA. He holds a similar position in the DGE LUGS sect, together with Guhyasamāja and Cakrvasaṃvara. The main lineages of his introduction to Tibet are traced to ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA, Mal Lo tsā ba, and RWA LO TSĀ BA. See also YAMĀNTAKA.

Vajrabhairavatantra. (S). See VAJRABHAIRAVA.

Vajrabodhi. (C. Jingangzhi; J. Kongōchi; K. Kŭmgangji 金剛智) (671–741). Indian ĀCĀRYA who played a major role in the introduction and translation in China of seminal Buddhist texts belonging to the esoteric tradition or MIJIAO (see MIKKYŌ and TANTRA); also known as Vajramati. His birthplace and family background are uncertain, although one source says that he was a south Indian native whose brāhmaṇa father served as a teacher of an Indian king. At the age of nine, he is said to have gone to the renowned Indian monastic university of NĀLANDĀ, where he studied various texts of both the ABHIDHARMA and MAHĀYĀNA traditions. Vajrabodhi also learned the different VINAYA recensions of the eighteen MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS. It is said that Vajrabodhi spent the years 701–708 in southern India, where he received tantric initiation at the age of thirty-one from NĀGABODHI (d.u.), a south Indian MAHĀSIDDHA of the VAJRAŚEKHARA (see SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAṂGRAHA) line. He later traveled to Sri Lanka and then to ŚRĪVIJAYA before sailing to China, eventually arriving in the eastern Tang capital of Luoyang in 720. In 721, Vajrabodhi and his famed disciple AMOGHAVAJRA arrived in the western capital of Chang’an. Under the patronage of Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–756), Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra translated the VAJRAŚEKHARASŪTRA and other related texts. Vajrabodhi devoted his energy and time to spreading tantric Buddhism by establishing the ABHIṢEKA or initiation platforms and performing esoteric rituals. In particular, Vajrabodhi was popular as a thaumaturge; his performance of the rituals for rainmaking and curing diseases gained him favor at the imperial court; he even gave tantric initiation to the Tang emperor Xuanzong. During his more than twenty years in China, Vajrabodhi introduced about twenty texts belonging to the Vajraśekhara textual line. Vajrabodhi attracted many disciples; the Silla monk HYECH’O (704–87), known for his travel record WANG O CH’ŎNCH’UK KUK CH’ŎN (“Record of a Journey to the Five Kingdoms of India”), also studied with him. The Japanese SHINGONSHŪ honors Vajrabodhi as the fifth of the eight patriarchs in its lineage, together with Nāgabodhi and Amoghavajra.

vajrācārya. (T. rdo rje slob dpon; C. jingang asheli/jingangshi; J. kongōajari/kongōshi; K. kŭmgang asari/kŭmgangsa 金剛阿闍梨/金剛師). In Sanskrit, “VAJRA master”; referring to a tantric GURU (BLA MA) who has mastered the tantric arts, received the appropriate initiations, and is qualified to confer initiations and dispense tantric teachings. He is traditionally listed as having ten qualities. ¶ The title vajrācārya is also awarded to a person who has received a specific set of initiations (ABHIṢEKA) in the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA systems. Although numerous variations occur, the main sequence of initiations in KRIYĀTANTRA, CARYĀTANTRA, and YOGATANTRA are (1) the water initiation (udakābhiṣeka), (2) the crown initiation (mukuṭābhiṣeka), (3) the VAJRA initiation (vajrābhiṣeka), (4) the bell initiation (ghaṇṭābhiṣeka), and (5) the name initiation (nāmābhiṣeka). One who has received these initiations is regarded as a vajrācārya. In the yogatantras, an additional initiation, called the vajrācārya initiation (vajrācāryābhiṣeka), is bestowed. In the anuttarayoga systems, this set of five or six is often condensed into one, becoming the first of four initiations, called the vajrācārya initiation or the vase initiation (KALAŚĀBHIṢEKA). ¶ In the Newar Buddhism of Nepal, the name vajrācārya is also used by an endogamous caste of lay priests who perform a wide variety of rituals for the Buddhist community, including life-cycle rites, fire rituals, temple rituals, protective rites. They also perform tantric initiation for high-caste members of the Newar community. According to the anuttarayoga systems, one becomes a vajrācārya as a result of a series of initiations; in the Newar community, however, it is a hereditary category.

Vajracchedikāprajñāpāramitāsūtra. (T. Rdo rje gcod pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i mdo; C. Jingang jing; J. Kongōkyō; K. Kŭmgang kyŏng 金剛經). In Sanskrit, the “Diamond-Cutter Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra”; known in English as the “Diamond Sūtra” (deriving from its popular abbreviated Chinese title Jingang jing, as above), one of the most famous, widely read, and commented upon of all MAHĀYĀNA sūtras, together with two others that are also known by their English titles, the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”) and the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASŪTRA (“Heart Sūtra”). The “Diamond Sūtra” was composed in Sanskrit, probably sometime between the second and fourth centuries CE. Despite its fame, much of its meaning remains elusive, beginning with the title. In Sanskrit, it is Vajracchedikāprajñāpāramitā. The Sanskrit term VAJRA refers to a kind of magical weapon, sometimes described as a thunderbolt or a discus, and is said to be hard and unbreakable, like a diamond or adamant. Thus, the title might be rendered into English as “The Perfection of Wisdom That Cuts like a Diamond/Thunderbolt.” The sūtra opens with the Buddha residing in the JETAVANA with 1,250 monks and a large number of bodhisattvas. After returning from his begging round (PIṆḌAPĀTA) and eating his meal, the Buddha is approached by the great ARHAT SUBHŪTI, who asks him about the practice of the BODHISATTVA. The Buddha says that a bodhisattva must vow to lead all beings in the universe into NIRVĀṆA, while fully recognizing that there are in fact no beings to be led into nirvāṇa. “If, Subhūti, a bodhisattva were to have the (mis)perception (SAṂJÑĀ) of a self (ĀTMAN), a being (SATTVA), a living entity (JĪVA), or a person (PUDGALA), he is not to be called ‘a bodhisattva.’” This is one of many famous statements in the sūtra, regarded by commentators as setting forth the doctrine of emptiness (although the technical term ŚŪNYATĀ does not appear in the sūtra), i.e., that all phenomena are falsely imagined to have a self, a soul, and an “own-being,” qualities that they, in fact, lack. Any meritorious deed, from the giving of a gift to the vow to free all beings, is not an authentic bodhisattva deed if it is tainted with the (mis)perception (saṃjñā) of a sign (NIMITTA) of selfhood: thus the perfection of the act of charity (DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ) means that true bodhisattva giving occurs when there is no conception of there being a donor, recipient, or gift—for that kind of giving would produce immeasurable merit. The Buddha asks Subhūti whether the Buddha is to be seen through the possession of the thirty-two physical marks of a superman (MAHĀPURUṢALAKṢAṆA) that adorn his body. Subhūti says that he is not, because what the Buddha has described as the possession of marks (LAKṢAṆA) is in fact the nonpossession of no-marks. This formula of question and response, with the correct answer being, “A is in fact not A, therefore it is called A” is repeated throughout the text. The sūtra is not simply a radical challenge to the ordinary conception of the world, of language, and of thought; it is also a polemical Mahāyāna sūtra, seeking, like other such sūtras, to declare its supremacy and to promise rewards to those who exalt it. It is noteworthy that here, as in many other perfection of wisdom (PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ) sūtras, the Buddha’s interlocutor is not a bodhisattva, but an arhat, the wise Subhūti, suggesting that even those who have completed the path to nirvāṇa still have more to learn. The Buddha predicts that this sūtra will be understood far into the future, even into the final five hundred years that the Buddha’s teaching remains in the world. At that time, anyone who has even a moment of faith in this sūtra will be honored by millions of buddhas. Indeed, even now, long before this point in the distant future, anyone who would teach just four lines of this sūtra to others would earn incalculable merit. In a statement that appears in other perfection of wisdom sūtras, the Buddha declares, “On whatever piece of ground one will proclaim this sūtra, that piece of ground will become an object of worship. That piece of ground will become for the world together with its gods, humans, and demigods a true shrine to be revered and circumambulated.” Scholars have seen in this statement the possibility that the perfection of wisdom sūtras were something of a “cult of the book,” in which the sūtra itself was worshipped, serving as a substitute for more traditional sites of worship, such as reliquaries (STŪPA). The sūtra suggests that such practices were not always condoned by others; the Buddha goes on to say that those who worship the sūtra will be ridiculed for doing so, but by suffering ridicule they will destroy the great stores of negative KARMAN accumulated over many lifetimes. The Buddha’s exhortations seem to have been taken to heart. The recitation and copying of the sūtra was widely practiced across Asia; many copies of the sūtra were discovered at DUNHUANG, and the earliest printed book in the world is a xylographic print of the Chinese translation of the Vajracchedikāprajñāpāramitā dated May 11, 868, that was found in the Dunhuang cache. On a rock cliff on the Chinese sacred mountain of Taishan, there is a massive carving of the Vajracchedikāprajñāpāramitā covering some 2,100 Sinographs in 21,000 square feet (2,000 sq. m.). Miracle tales of the benefits of reciting and copying the sūtra were also told across Asia. The Vajracchedikāprajñāpāramitā also played an important role in the CHAN traditions of East Asia: e.g., it was the scripture that the fifth patriarch HONGREN expounded to HUINENG, bringing him to enlightenment and enabling Huineng to be his successor as the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) of Chan.

Vajraḍākatantra. (T. Rdo rje mkha’ ’gro rgyud). A YOGINĪTANTRA of the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA class, named after the deity Vajraḍāka (“Vajra Hero”), a form of VAJRASATTVA with four faces and four arms. It is counted as one of the five explanatory tantras (S. vyākhyātantra; T. bshad rgyud) of the CAKRASAṂVARATANTRA. The text is employed in Tibet especially for its instructions on the performance of fire (HOMA) rituals.

Vajradhara. [alt. Vajradhāra] (T. Rdo rje ’chang; C. Jingangchi; J. Kongōji; K. Kŭmgangji 金剛持). “Vajra Holder”; an important buddha of the tantric systems, where he appears in some texts as an ĀDIBUDDHA (primordial buddha). He is closely related to VAJRAPĀṆI; indeed, Vajrapāṇi and Vajradhara may have originally been two names for the same deity (the Chinese translations of the two deities’ names are the same). Vajradhara is the principal deity in many father-class tantras and is the chief buddha for the MAHĀMUDRĀ traditions. Vajradhara is said to have revealed the MAHĀMUDRĀ teachings to TILOPA; they were then transmitted in succession to NĀROPA, then to MAR PA, and then to MI LA RAS PA. Vajradhara is sometimes referred to as the sixth buddha, representing the quintessence of the five buddhas (PAÑCATATHĀGATA) and the five buddha families. In Tibetan Buddhism, he is one of two buddhas considered as both a primordial buddha (ādibuddha) and as a DHARMAKĀYA; the other is the buddha SAMANTABHADRA, the primordial buddha of RNYING MA. Vajradhara is the primordial buddha of the three new, or GSAR MA, sects, SA SKYA, BKA’ BRGYUD, and DGE LUGS. Vajradhara is typically depicted as dark blue, with one head and two arms, dressed as a SAṂBHOGAKĀYA, seated in VAJRAPARYAṄKA, holding a VAJRA in each hand (or a vajra in his right and a bell in his left), which are crossed at his chest in the VAJRAHŪṂKĀRA pose. He is sometimes depicted surrounded by the eighty-four MAHĀSIDDHAs. When he is depicted with a consort, she is usually VAJRAVĀRĀHĪ. See also FEILAIFENG.

vajradhātu. (S). See KONGŌKAI.

vajrahūṃkāra. (T. rdo rje hūṃ mdzad). Sanskrit term for a position found in tantric iconography, sometimes called the “posture of embracing,” in which the hands of the deity (often holding a VAJRA and a bell) are crossed at the chest. If the deity is in sexual embrace with a consort, the hands are crossed behind the consort, embracing her. If there is no consort, the hands are crossed over the chest of the deity.

vajrakaṇā. (T. rdo rje gzegs ma). In Sanskrit, lit. “diamond slivers”; a term used to describe one of the chief reasonings used by NĀGĀRJUNA in the MŪLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ. A critique of production (UTPĀDA), it argues that a given thing does not intrinsically exist because of not being produced (1) from itself, (2) from something that is intrinsically different from itself, (3) from something that is both itself and intrinsically different from itself, or (4) without cause.

Vajrakīlaya. (T. Rdo rje phur pa). In Sanskrit, “Vajra Dagger,” a tantric buddha worshipped primarily by the RNYING MA and BKA’ BRGYUD sects of Tibetan Buddhism. He is the deification of the KĪLA (see PHUR PA), the ritual dagger used in tantric ceremonies. In the rituals involving the use of the kīla, the tantric dagger is typically used to subdue a ritual site, to subjugate the local demon by pinning him or her to the ground; the MAṆḌALA is thus planted and established on top of the offending demon. The dagger may be stabbed into a three-sided box, the triangle representing the violent tantric activity of liberation, or into an effigy. As a deity, Vajrakīlaya originally held the same duties as the ritual dagger: to protect the borders of ritual space and to pin down and destroy enemies, human or otherwise. This tradition may derive in part from the ancient Indian myth of Indrakīla, in which the serpent Vṛtra is pinned and stabilized by a mythic “peg” (kīla). Vajrakīlaya is found in the major early tantra systems as well as the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA and the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAṂGRAHA, which contains his mantra and places him in the center of a MAṆḌALA, although throughout his status is inferior to that of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. It is only in the Vajrakīlaya tantras that the deity attains the status of a buddha. These texts are reputed to be eighth-century translations from Indic languages, transmitted in Tibet by PADMASAMBHAVA. The tantras form a substantial section of the RNYING MA’I RGYUD ’BUM, but BU STON rejected the Indian origin of the tantras and left them out of the BKA’ ’GYUR. Defenders of the tradition cite the fact that ’BROG MI SHĀKYA YE SHES wrote that he saw the eight-syllable Vajrakīla MANTRA at the BODHGAYĀ STŪPA. In addition, SA SKYA PAṆḌITA discovered a Sanskrit fragment of the Vajrakīlamūlatantrakhaṇḍa at BSAM YAS, and ŚĀKYAŚRĪBHADRA confirmed that the cycle had existed in India. Although no East Asian tradition of Vajrakīlaya exists, some scholars have suggested an identification with Vajrakumāra; tantras concerning this deity were brought to China in the eighth century by AMOGHAVAJRA, but this identification is disputed. Vajrakīlaya is wrathful, with three faces with three eyes each, and six or more hands holding various instruments in addition to the kīla. He is said to dispel obstacles to progress on the path to enlightenment and to the swift attainment of both mundane and supramundane goals.

vajrakula. (T. rdo rje rigs; C. jingang bu; J. kongōbu; K. kŭmgang pu 金剛部). In Sanskrit, “VAJRA family” or “vajra lineage”; one of the three or five tantric lineages. In the three-lineage (TRIKULA) system, the lineages are the vajra lineage, the lotus lineage (PADMAKULA), and the buddha lineage (BUDDHAKULA). This system appears in such works as the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAṂBODHISŪTRA and the SUSIDDHIKARASŪTRA. In the five-lineage (PAÑCAKULA) system, found in the GUHYASAMĀJA and other ANUTTARAYOGATANTRAs, the five are the vajra lineage, the lotus lineage, the jewel lineage (RATNAKULA), the action lineage (KARMAKULA), and the tathāgata lineage (TATHĀGATAKULA). The buddha associated with the vajra lineage is AKṢOBHYA or VAJRASATTVA. See also MAÑJUŚRĪKĪRTI; ŚAMBHALA. Each of the five families is associated with one of the five SKANDHAs, five wisdoms (JÑĀNA), five afflictions (KLEŚA), five elements, and five colors. For the vajra family, these are the consciousnss (VIJÑĀNA) skandha, the mirrorlike wisdom (ĀDARŚAJÑĀNA), the affliction of anger, the element water, and the color white.

Vajrapāṇi. (P. Vajirapāṇi; T. Phyag na rdo rje; C. Jingangshou pusa; J. Kongōshu bosatsu; K. Kŭmgangsu posal 金剛手菩薩). In Sanskrit, “Holder of the VAJRA”; an important bodhisattva in the MAHĀYĀNA and VAJRAYĀNA traditions, who appears in both peaceful and wrathful forms. In the Pāli suttas, he is a YAKṢA (P. yakkha) guardian of the Buddha. It is said that whoever refuses three times to respond to a reasonable question from the Buddha would have his head split into pieces on the spot; carrying out this punishment was Vajrapāṇi’s duty. In such circumstances, Vajrapāṇi, holding his cudgel, would be visible only to the Buddha and to the person who was refusing to answer the question; given the frightening vision, the person would inevitably then respond. Vajrapāṇi is sometimes said to be the wrathful form of ŚAKRA, who promised to offer the Buddha protection if the Buddha would teach the dharma; he thus accompanies the Buddha as a kind of bodyguard on his journeys to distant lands. Vajrapāṇi is commonly depicted in GANDHĀRA sculpture, flanking the Buddha and holding a cudgel. In the early Mahāyāna sūtras, Vajrapāṇi is referred to as a yakṣa servant of the bodhisattvas, as in the AṢṬASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ. In the SUVARṆAPRABHĀSOTTAMASŪTRA, he is called the “general of the yakṣas” (yakṣasenādhipati), and is praised as a protector of followers of the Buddha. In the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, AVALOKITEŚVARA explains that one of the forms that he assumes to convert sentient beings is as Vajrapāṇi. In later Mahāyāna and early tantric Buddhism, Vajrapāṇi becomes a primary speaker in important sūtras and tantras, as well as a principal protagonist in them, and comes to be listed as one of the “eight close sons” (*UPAPUTRA), the principal bodhisattvas. In the MAÑJUŚRĪMŪLAKALPA, as leader of the vajra family (VAJRAKULA), he flanks ŚĀKYAMUNI in the MAṆḌALA. In the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAṂGRAHA, his transition from “general of the yakṣas” to “the supreme lord of all tathāgatas” is played out through his subjugation of Maheśvara (Śiva). At the command of the buddha VAIROCANA, Vajrapāṇi suppresses all of the worldly divinities of the universe and brings them to the summit of Mount SUMERU, where they seek refuge in the three jewels (RATNATRAYA). Only Maheśvara refuses to submit to the uddha. Through Vajarpāṇi’s recitation of a MANTRA, Maheśvara loses his life, only to be reincarnated in another world system, where he eventually achieves buddhahood. Vajrapāṇi’s yakṣa origins continue in his wrathful aspects, most common in Tibet, such as the three-eyed Caṇḍa Vajrapāṇi. It is in this form that he is part of a popular triad with Avalokiteśvara and MAÑJUŚRĪ known as the “protectors of the three families” (T. RIGS GSUM MGON PO). These three bodhisattvas are said to be the physical manifestation of the wisdom (Mañjuśrī), compassion (Avalokiteśvara), and power (Vajrapāṇi) of all the buddhas. Vajrapāni is also said to be the bodhisattva emanation of the buddha AKṢOBHYA and the chief bodhisattva of the vajra family. He himself has numerous forms and emanations, including Mahābāla (who may have developed from his early attendant Vajrapuruṣa), Vajrasattva, Vajradhara, Vajrahūṃkāra, Ucchuṣma, Bhūtaḍāmara, and Trailokyavijaya. Vajrapāṇi is closely related especially to VAJRADHARA, and indeed Vajradhara and Vajrapāṇi may have originally been two names for the same deity (the Chinese translations of the two deities’ names are the same). Vajrapāṇi’s MANTRA is oṃ vajrapāṇi hūṃ phaṭ. He is also known as Guhyakādhipati, or “Lord of the Secret.” The secret (guhyaka) originally referred to a class of yakṣas that he commanded, but expanded in meaning to include secret knowledge and mantras. Vajrapāṇi is the protector of mantras and those who recite them, and is sometimes identified as the bodhisattva responsible for the collection, recitation, and protection of the VIDYĀDHARAPIṬAKA.

vajraparyaṅka. (T. rdo rje skyil krung; C. jingang jiafuzuo; J. kongōkafuza; K. kŭmgang kabujwa 金剛跏趺坐). In Sanskrit, “VAJRA posture”; a seated position, often known (mistakenly) as the “lotus posture” in English (see discussion below), in which the left foot rests on the right thigh and the right foot rests on top on the left thigh. The Sanskrit name is said to derive from the stability and indestructibility of the posture, which is like a vajra. ŚĀKYAMUNI is said to have adopted this posture prior to his enlightenment experience under the BODHI TREE, and images of the historical buddha, as well as other enlightened figures, are commonly depicted in this position. Widely adopted as a basis for the practice of seated meditation throughout the Buddhist world, the vajraparyaṅka is occasionally known simply as the “meditation posture.” It is often confused with the PADMĀSANA (lotus posture), where the positions of the left and right feet are reversed; this position is predominantly used in Hindu forms of yoga. See also ĀSANA.

Vajraputra. [alt. Vajrīputra] (T. Rdo rje mo’i bu; C. Fasheluofuduoluo; J. Batsujarahotsutara; K. Pŏlsarabultara 伐闍羅弗多羅). The Sanskrit name of the eighth of the sixteen ARHAT elders (ṢOḌAŚASTHAVIRA), who were charged by the Buddha with protecting his dispensation until the advent of the next buddha, MAITREYA. He resides in Bolanu zhou (the Sanskrit transcription of a region said to translate into Chinese as “reverence”), with 1,100 disciples. In the Chinese tradition, Vajraputra is said to have been a hunter who kept the precept against killing after he was ordained. Once he attained arhatship, two lion cubs came to him in appreciation for his efforts to stop the killing of animals. Vajraputra constantly brought the two cubs with him wherever he went after that, thus earning the nickname “Laughing Lions Arhat.” Not long after the Buddha’s PARINIRVĀṆA, Vajraputra is said to have attended a sermon ĀNANDA was delivering to some local villagers. As he listened to Ānanda speak, Vajraputra realized that Ānanda was not yet enlightened, and encouraged him to continue with his meditation deep in the forest. This goad was said to have been vital to Ānanda’s spiritual growth. In CHANYUE GUANXIU’s standard Chinese depiction, Vajraputra is portrayed with aquiline nose and deep-set eyes, sitting on a rock, his upper body bare, with both arms crossing over his left knee, and palms hanging down. He sits leaning slightly to the right, as if reading a sūtra that sits next to him on the rock.

vajrasamādhi. (S). See VAJROPAMASAMĀDHI.

*Vajrasamādhisūtra. (S). See KŬMGANG SAMMAE KYŎNG.

vajrāsana. (T. rdo rje gdan; C. jingang zuo; J. kongōza; K. kŭmgangjwa 金剛座). In Sanskrit, “diamond seat,” or “vajra throne.” The term vajrāsana has three main denotations: the seat under the BODHI TREE where ŚĀKYAMUNI achieved enlightenment; a synonym for the VAJRAPARYAṄKA posture; and, especially in Tibetan texts, the designation for the site of Śākyamuni’s enlightenment and hence, more generally, BODHGAYĀ. See BODHIMAṆḌA.

Vajrasattva. (T. Rdo rje sems dpa’; C. Jingang saduo; J. Kongōsatta; K. Kŭmgang sal’ta 金剛薩埵). In Sanskrit, lit. “VAJRA Being”; a tantric deity widely worshipped as both an ĀDIBUDDHA and a buddha of purification. Vajrasattva is sometimes identified as a sixth buddha in the PAÑCATATHĀGATA system, such as in the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAṂGRAHA, where he is also identical to VAJRAPĀṆI. Vajrasattva also occasionally replaces AKṢOBHYA in the same system, and so has been considered an emanation of that buddha. As an ādibuddha, he is identical with VAJRADHARA. He is also one of the sixteen bodhisattvas of the vajradhātumaṇḍala. In the trikula system, an early tantric configuration, Vajrasattva is the buddha of the VAJRAKULA, with VAIROCANA the buddha of the TATHĀGATAKULA and Avalokiteśvara the head of the PADMAKULA. East Asian esoteric Buddhism considers Vajrasattva to be the second patriarch of the esoteric teachings; VAIROCANA taught them directly to Vajrasattva, who passed them to NĀGĀRJUNA, who passed them to VAJRABODHI/VAJRAMATI, who taught them to AMOGHAVAJRA, who brought them to China in the eighth century. In Tibet, worship of Vajrasattva is connected to YOGATANTRA and ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, such as the twenty-fifth chapter of the Abhidhanottaratantra, in which he is known as the Heruka Vajrasattva. He is particularly famous in Tibet for his role in a practice of confession and purification in which one repeats a hundred thousand times the hundred-syllable MANTRA of Vajrasattva. These repetitions (with the attendant visualization) are a standard preliminary practice (T. SNGON ’GRO) required prior to receiving tantric instructions. The mantra is: oṃ vajrasattva samayam anupālaya vajrasattva tvenopatiṣṭha dṛḍho me bhava sutoṣyo me bhava supoṣyo me bhava anurakto me bhava sarvasiddhiṃ me prayaccha sarvakarmasu ca me cittaṃ śreyaḥ kuru hūṃ ha ha ha ha hoḥ bhagavan sarvatathāgatavajra mā me muñca vajrī bhava mahāsamayasattva āḥ hūṃ. Unlike many mantras that seem to have no semantic meaning, Vajrasattva’s mantra may be translated as: “Oṃ Vajrasattva, keep your pledge. Vajrasattva, reside in me. Make me firm. Make me satisfied. Fulfill me. Make me compassionate. Grant me all powers. Make my mind virtuous in all deeds. hūṃ ha ha ha ha ho. All the blessed tathāgatas, do not abandon me, make me indivisible. Great pledge being. āḥ hūṃ.”

*Vajraśekharasūtra. (T. Rdo rje rtse mo; C. Jingangding jing; J. Kongōchōkyō; K. Kŭmgangjŏng kyŏng 金剛頂經). In Sanskrit, “Sūtra on Vajra Peak”; also called the Vajraśekharatantra, the reconstructed Sanskrit title derived from the Chinese translations of the first chapter of the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAṂGRAHA made by VAJRABODHI and AMOGHAVAJRA during the Tang dynasty. The full text of the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha was not translated into Chinese until Dānapāla completed his version in 1015 CE. In addition to these translations, a number of associated ritual manuals and commentaries containing the title “Vajraśekhara” are included in the Chinese Buddhist canon. The Vajraśekhara refers to a composite text of eighteen individual scriptures in a hundred thousand stanzas said to have been lost before it reached China. Based in part on a summary of the individual sūtras and tantras comprising the text that Amoghavajra composed, some scholars have speculated that the complete Vajraśekhara, in whatever form it originally took, represented the first esoteric Buddhist canon, beginning with the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha and including the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA, among other works. Other scholars have questioned the claim that the text ever existed at all. The Vajraśekhara is one of two (or three) central texts in the esoteric tradition (MIKKYŌ) of Japan. In Tibet, the title Vajraśekaratantra (Rgyud rdo rje rtse mo) is the name of an explanatory yoga tantra connected to the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha, which is used as a major source in Tibetan delineations of the tantric vows.

Vajravārāhī. (T. Rdo rje phag mo). One of the most common forms of VAJRAYOGINĪ, an important female tantric deity associated especially with the CAKRASAṂVARATANTRA of the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA class, popular in all sects of Tibetan Buddhism, where she is a consort of the central deity. Vārāhī means sow, referring to the goddess’s characteristic porcine head protruding from the right side of her face. She likely derives from the Hindu goddess Vārāhī, depicted with a head of a boar; she is the counterpart of Vārāha, the incarnation of Viṣṇu who took the form of a boar. In the case of Vajravārāhī, she is typically (although not invariably) depicted with a human face but with a boar’s head (sometimes quite small) visible on the right side of her face, contributing in part to her wrathful aspect. She is usually depicted as red in color, naked in a dancing pose, standing on the body of Bhairava. She holds a cleaver in her right hand and skull cup in her left, and is adorned with a garland of fifty severed heads. Beginning perhaps as one of a number of wrathful YOGINĪs situated as protectors on the outer circles of the MAṆḌALA, she moved toward the center as one of the consorts of the central deity in the HEVAJRATANTRA and became the main consort of HERUKA in the Cakrasaṃvara cycle, where she also appears without a consort as the “sole heroine” (ekavirā) in the center of the maṇḍala.

Vajravidāraṇadhāraṇī. (T. Rdo rje rnam par ’joms pa shes bya ba’i gzungs; C. Rangxiang jingang tuoluoni jing; J. Kongō saisai darani/Esō kongō daranikyō; K. Kŭmgang ch’oeswae tarani/Yangsang kŭmgang tarani kyŏng 金剛摧碎陀羅尼/壤相金剛陀羅尼經). Lit., “Dhāraṇī of the Adamantine Pulverizer”; a DHĀRAṆĪ scripture probably composed sometime between the late-seventh and early-eighth centuries, which enjoyed great popularity in India and Tibet. There are two late Chinese translations, one by Maitrībhadra (C. Cixian, fl. tenth century), the other by the central Asian monk Shaluoba (1259–1314). There are a few Tibetan commentaries on the text attributed to such Indian tantric Buddhist masters who went to Tibet as ŚĀNTARAKṢITA (725–788), Buddhaguhya (fl. eighth century), and PADMASAMBHAVA (fl. eighth century). The text states that VAJRAPĀṆI’s wrathful form strikes fear into all sentient beings, which stops them from performing evil actions, destroys their ignorance and defilements, and protects them from any suffering. The text also lists various other practical benefits that accrue from reciting it, such as curing illness, longevity, and good fortune, and recommends reciting it between twenty-one and a hundred times. Due to its popularity, the Vajravidāraṇadhāraṇī itself became deified, and Vajravidāraṇa was worshipped as one of the manifestations of Vajrapāṇi.

vajrayāna. (T. rdo rje theg pa; C. jingang sheng; J. kongōjō; K. kŭmgang sŭng 金剛乘). In Sanskrit, “adamantine vehicle” or “thunderbolt vehicle”; a general term used to refer to tantric Buddhism, especially in distinction to HĪNAYĀNA and MAHĀYĀNA. The vajrayāna, however, is considered by its adherents to be not a separate vehicle but a form of the Mahāyāna; such adherents would speak instead of the three vehicles (TRIYĀNA) of hīnayāna, PĀRAMITĀYĀNA, and vajrayāna, with the latter two referring respectively to an exoteric and an esoteric path by which the bodhisattva achieves buddhahood, with the pāramitāyāna set forth in the Mahāyāna sūtras and the vajrayāna set forth in the tantras. Traditional etymologies of the term typically evoke the VAJRA to refer to the unbreakable and indivisible quality of two factors, typically method (UPĀYA) and wisdom (PRAJÑĀ). See TANTRA.

vajrayoga. (T. rdo rje rnal ’byor). In Sanskrit, “adamantine yoga”; a system of yogic practice associated with the KĀLACAKRATANTRA, as transmitted in Tibet by Gyi jo Lo tsā ba Zla ba’i ’od-zer, the tantra’s earliest translator, during the eleventh century. It is counted as one of the “eight conveyances that are lineages of achievement” (sgrub brgyud shing rta chen po brgyad).

Vajrayoginī. (T. Rdo rje rnal ’byor ma). The most important of the ḌĀKIṆĪ in the VAJRAYĀNA, associated especially with the “mother tantras” (MĀTṚTANTRA) of the ANUTTARAYOGA class. She is also the most important of the female YI DAM. Her visualization is central to many tantric SĀDHANAs, especially in the practice of GURUYOGA, in which the meditator imagines himself or herself in the form of Vajrayoginī in order to receive the blessings of the GURU. She is also visualized in GCOD and GTUM MO practice. Her worship seems to originate with the CAKRASAṂVARATANTRA and is popular in all sects of Tibetan Buddhism. Vajrayoginī plays a special role in the “six yogas of NĀROPA” (NĀ RO CHOS DRUG), where she is known as Nā ro mkha’ spyod ma (Kachöma). She is closely associated with VAJRAVĀRĀHĪ, the consort of CAKRASAṂVARA. In her most common form, she stands in the ĀLĪḌHA posture, holding a KAṬVĀṄGA and a skull cup.

vajropamasamādhi. (T. rdo rje lta bu’i ting nge ’dzin; C. jingang yu ding/jingang sanmei; J. kongōyujō/kongōzanmai/kongōsanmai; K. kŭmgang yu chŏng/kŭmgang sammae 金剛喩定/金剛三昧). In Sanskrit, “adamantine-like concentration,” sometimes called simply the “adamantine concentration” (VAJRASAMĀDHI); a crucial stage in both SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA and MAHĀYĀNA presentations of the path (MĀRGA). The experience of vajropamasamādhi initiates the “path of completion” (NIṢṬHĀMĀRGA) or the “path where no further training is necessary” (AŚAIKṢAMĀRGA), the fifth and final stage of the five-path schema (PAÑCAMĀRGA). The arising of this concentration initiates a process of abandonment (PRAHĀṆA), which ultimately leads to the permanent destruction of even the subtlest and most persistent of the ten fetters (SAṂYOJANA), resulting in the “knowledge of cessation” (KṢAYAJÑĀNA) and, in some presentations, an accompanying “knowledge of nonproduction” (ANUTPĀDAJÑĀNA), viz., the knowledges that the fetters are destroyed and can never again recur. At that point, depending on the path that has been followed, the meditator becomes an ARHAT or a buddha. Because it is able to destroy the very worst of the fetters, this concentration is said to be “like adamant” (vajropama). The vajropamasamādhi thus involves both an “uninterrupted path” (ĀNANTARYAMĀRGA) and a path of liberation (VIMUKTIMĀRGA) and serves as the crucial transition point in completing the path and freeing oneself from SAṂSĀRA. In the MAHĀPARNIRVĀṆASŪTRA, this special type of concentration is closely associated with seeing the buddha-nature (BUDDHADHĀTU; FOXING) and achieving the complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAṂBODHI) of the buddhas.

Vakkali. (S. *Vālkali?; C. Pojiali; J. Bakari; K. Pagari 婆迦梨). Pāli proper name of an eminent ARHAT declared by the Buddha to be foremost among his monk disciples who who aspire through faith (ŚRADDHĀDHIMUKTA, P. saddhādhimutta). According to the Pāli account, he was a learned brāhmaṇa from Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ) who became a devoted follower of the Buddha from the very moment he saw him. Because of his extraordinary faith-cum-affection, Vakkali was so enraptured by the Buddha that he used to follow him around. He took ordination so that he could always remain close to the Buddha; when he was not in the Buddha’s presence, he spent his time thinking about him. The Buddha admonished him not to be infatuated with the corruptible body of the Buddha, stating that he who sees the dharma, sees the Buddha. Vakkali could not be dissuaded, however, and finally the Buddha ordered him out of his presence, in an attempt to shock (saṃvega) Vakkali into awakening. Accounts differ as to what happened next. According to one story, Vakkali was greatly saddened and resolved to hurl himself from the top of Vulture Peak (GṚDHRAKŪṬA). Knowing this, the Buddha appeared to him and recited a stanza. Filled with joy, Vakkali rose into the air and attained arhatship. In another account, Vakkali retired to Vulture Peak to practice meditation but fell ill from his arduous, but ultimately unsuccessful, efforts. The Buddha visited him to encourage him, and Vakkali finally attained arhatship. The best-known account states that Vakkali fell ill on his way to visit the Buddha. The Buddha told Vakkali that he was assured of liberation and that there was therefore nothing for him to regret. The Buddha departed and proceeded to Vulture Peak, while Vakkali made his way to Kālasīla. At Vulture Peak, the divinities informed the Buddha that Vakkali was about to pass away. The Buddha sent a message telling him not to fear. Vakkali responded that he had no desire for the body or the aggregates, and committed suicide with a knife. When the Buddha saw his body, he declared that Vakkali had attained NIRVĀṆA and had escaped MĀRA’s grasp. The commentary to the last account remarks that, at the moment of his suicide, Vakkali was in fact deluded in thinking he was already an ARHAT, hence his evil intention of killing himself. Even so, the pain of the blade so shocked his mind that in the moments just before his death he put forth the effort necessary to attain arhatship. See also ŚRADDHĀ.

vākkarman. (P. vacīkamma; T. ngag gi las; C. yuye; J. gogō; K. ŏŏp 語業). In Sanskrit, lit. “verbal action”; verbal deeds that create wholesome or unwholesome effects in the future. Speech (vāk) is one of the three conduits or “doors” (TRIDVĀRA) through which action (KARMAN) occurs, along with the body (KĀYA) and the mind (CITTA). According to the ABHIDHARMA, physical actions, words, and thoughts are all capable of producing karman that is either virtuous (KUŚALA) or unvirtuous (AKUŚALA). Unvirtuous verbal deeds include lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, and senseless speech. Virtuous verbal deeds include speaking truthfully, speaking harmoniously, speaking kindly, and speaking sensibly.

Vakula. (S). See BAKKULA.

Valabhī. [alt. Vallabhī]. Sanskrit name of a city in western India (in the modern state of Gujarat) that flourished under the Maitraka kings (475–775) and was the site of an important Buddhist monastery. Said to rival NĀLANDĀ in fame, Valabhī was known especially as a center of ŚRĀVAKAYĀNA learning, with each of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS represented. However, the MAHĀYĀNA was also taught there, as were Brahmanical and secular subjects. Two important figures of the YOGĀCĀRA school, GUṆAMATI and STHIRAMATI, were said to have held prominent positions at Valabhī before they proceeded to Nālandā. In the late seventh century, XUANZANG found approximately six thousand monks residing there in about a hundred monastic buildings.

vālavyajana. (P. vījanī; T. rlung yab; C. fuzi; J. hossu; K. pulcha 拂子). In Sanskrit, “fly whisk” or “chowrie”; a yak-tail fan that Buddhist monks used to keep flies and mosquitoes away, also called a cāmara. The chowrie is presumed to have originally been used among adherents of the JAINA tradition to shoo away flies without injuring them, and it came to be used widely throughout India. In the Chinese CHAN tradition, the fly whisk (which in East Asia is usually made from a horse tail) became a symbol of the office or privilege of a Chan master and is one of the accoutrements he traditionally holds in formal portraits. “Taking up the fly whisk” (BINGFU) is, by metonymy, a term used to refer to a formal Chan sermon delivered by a master. See also FUZI.

Vallabhī. See VALABHĪ.

Vallée Poussin, Louis de la. See LA VALLÉE POUSSIN, LOUIS DE.

Vammikasutta. (C. Yiyu jing; J. Giyukyō; K. Ŭiyu kyŏng 蟻喩經). In Pāli, the “Anthill” or “Termite Mound Discourse,” the twenty-third sutta (SŪTRA) contained in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (two separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recensions appear in the Chinese translation of the SAṂYUKTĀGAMA, as well as an unidentified recension in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha at Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ) in connection with a riddle presented to him by the monk Kumāra-Kassapa (S. KUMĀRA-KĀŚYAPA). Kumāra-Kassapa had been approached by a divinity (DEVA), who gave him a riddle comprising fifteen questions that he asked to be delivered to the Buddha for solution. The Buddha solved the riddle, identifying its cryptic elements as symbols and metaphors for points of Buddhist doctrine. The first riddle concerned an anthill that gave off fumes during the night and flames during the day. The anthill represents the body with its apertures. The flames it gives off during the day are bodily actions, while its fumes at night are the thoughts and worries about the day’s activities that disturb one in the evening.

vaṃsa. In Pāli, lit. “lineage,” but generally referring to a semi-historical “chronicle”; an important genre of Pāli literature that typically recounts the life of the Buddha, the establishment of the saṅgha (S. SAṂGHA), and the first Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI; see COUNCIL, FIRST) after the Buddha’s death. Depending upon the particular purpose of the chronicle, the work will then go on to describe such things as the transmission of the dharma to a particular place, the founding of a monastery, the tracing of a monastic lineage back to the first council, the enshrinement of a relic, and/or the patronage of the saṅgha by a pious king. The most famous Sinhalese chronicles include the MAHĀVAṂSA, or “Great Chronicle” (which has been periodically augmented since the fifth century); the DĪPAVAṂSA, or “Chronicle of the Island (of Sri Lanka)”; and the THŪPAVAṂSA, or “Chronicle of the STŪPA.” Other important examples of the genre are the Thai JINAKĀLAMĀLĪ (“Garland of the Epochs of the Conqueror”) and the Burmese SĀSANAVAṂSA (“Chronicle of the Dispensation”).

Vaṃśa. (S). See VATSAGOTRA.

Vanapatthasutta. (C. Lin jing; J. Ringyō; K. Im kyŏng 林經). In Pāli, the “Discourse on Forest Dwelling”; the seventeenth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as SŪTRA nos. 107–108 in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a gathering of monks in the JETAVANA grove in the town of Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ). The Buddha describes the suitable conditions for a monk to practice meditation. Should he find a place suitable for neither material support (e.g., alms food, robes, lodgings) nor meditation practice, he should abandon that place. Should he find a place suitable for material support but not practice, he should abandon that place also. Should he find a place suitable for meditation practice but not for support, he should remain there. Should he find a place suitable for material support and meditation practice, he should take up lifelong residence there.

Vanavāsi. One of nine adjacent lands (paccantadesa) converted to Buddhism by missionaries dispatched by the elder MOGGALIPUTTATISSA at the end of the third Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI; see COUNCIL, THIRD) held in Pāṭaliputta (S. PĀṬALIPUTRA) during the reign of AŚOKA in the third century BCE. Vanavāsi is located in south India and was converted by the elder Rakkhita, who preached the Anamatagga-Saṃyutta while floating in the air. The third Buddhist council at Pāṭaliputta and the nine Buddhist missions are known only in Pāli sources and are first recorded in the c. fourth-century DĪPAVAṂSA.

Vanavāsin. (P. Vanavāsī; T. Nags na gnas; C. Fanaposi zunzhe; J. Batsunabashi sonja; K. Pŏllabasa chonja 伐那婆斯尊者). Sanskrit proper name of the fourteenth of the sixteen ARHAT elders (ṢOḌAŚASTHAVIRA), who were charged by the Buddha with protecting his dispensation until the advent of the next buddha, MAITREYA. He abides on Habitable Mountain (C. Kezhushan) with 1,400 disciples. In the Chinese tradition, he was said to have been born during a heavy downpour, which made a racket as the raindrops hit the plantain leaves. After ordaining, he also often diligently studied under the plantain trees, thus earning him the nickname “Plantain Arhat” (Bajiao Luohan). In CHANYUE GUANXIU’s standard Chinese depiction, Vanavāsin sits in meditation in a cave, with his eyes closed, wearing a robe across his shoulders with both hands hidden in the sleeves. East Asian images also portray him seated next to a vase, his hands together in AÑJALIMUDRĀ. In Tibetan iconography, he holds a chowrie (VĀLAVYAJANA).

Vāṅgīśa. [alt. Vāgīsa] (P. Vaṅgīsa; T. Ngag dbang; C. Poqishe; J. Bagisha; K. Pagisa 婆耆舍). Sanskrit proper name of an eminent ARHAT declared by the Buddha to be foremost among his monk disciples in eloquent expression (PRATIBHĀNA). According to Pāli sources, he was a learned brāhmaṇa proficient in the Vedas who became renowned for his ability to determine the destiny of the deceased by tapping his fingers on their skulls. Vaṅgīsa was much sought after and earned a great deal of money for his prognostications. One day he encountered Sāriputta (S. ŚĀRIPUTRA), who spoke to him of the Buddha’s qualities. Intrigued, Vaṅgīsa resolved to meet the Buddha, much to the consternation of his associates. Knowing of Vaṅgīsa’s fame as a prognosticator, the Buddha gave him the skull of an ARHAT and asked him to determine the dead saint’s rebirth. Vaṅgīsa was unable to determine the deceased’s where-abouts and, determined to discover the secret, joined the order as a monk. His preceptor was Nigrodhakappa. When his preceptor died, Vaṅgīsa asked the Buddha about his destiny, to which the Buddha replied that Nigrodhakappa had entirely passed away. Vaṅgīsa had been filled with doubt, for he knew that his preceptor had died with his hands curled up, which was not characteristic of an arhat; but in the case of Nigrodhakappa, this was due only to force of habit. Vaṅgīsa attained arhatship by contemplating the thirty-two impure parts of the body. Upon attaining his goal, he went to the Buddha and sang his praises in eloquent verse. From that time onward he became known as an exceptionally skilled poet, and for that won preeminence as foremost in eloquent expression (pratibhāna). There are several verses ascribed to him in the Vaṅgīsa-Saṃyutta of the SAṂYUTTANIKĀYA and in the THERAGĀTHĀ (“Verses of the Elders”): the verses describe his inner struggle against such obstacles as sensuality and conceit, as well as his praise of the Buddha and such eminent disciples as Śāriputra and MAHĀMUDGALYAYANA. According to the APADĀNA, a collection of biographical stories in the Pāli canon, he was given the name Vaṅgīsa because he was born in Vaṅga (modern Bengal) and also because he was a master (P. isi; S. ṛṣi) of the word (vacana).

Vạn Hạnh. (萬行) (d. 1025). An influential monk during the Vietnamese Lý dynasty (1010–1225); his family name was Nguyễn. Vạn Hạnh was a native of Cổ Pháp Village, Thiên Đức Prefecture, in northern Vietnam. The THIỀN UYỂN TẬP ANH reports that at the age of twenty-one, he left home to become a monk and served the monk Thiền Ông of Lục Tổ monastery. After Thiền Ông passed away, Vạn Hạnh devoted himself to the practice of DHĀRAṆĪ (spells or mnemonic codes) and SAMĀDHI. King Lê Đại Hành (r. 980–1005), founder of the Former Lê dynasty (980–1009), greatly revered him and relied on his prophecies in political and diplomatic matters. When Lê Ngọa Triều (r. 1005–1009), the last king of the Lê dynasty, appeared to be a cruel tyrant, Vạn Hạnh masterminded the overthrow of the latter and helped Lý Công Uẩn ascend the throne to establish the Lý dynasty (1010–1225). Vạn Hạnh remains the most beloved eminent monk among modern Vietnamese Buddhists. In his honor, in 1964, the first nonmonastic Buddhist university was established in Saigon and named after him. Vạn Hạnh University was the first Vietnamese university to be established following the model of an American liberal arts college.

varadamudrā. (T. mchog sbyin gyi phyag rgya; C. shiyuan yin; J. segan’in; K. siwŏn in 施願印). In Sanskrit, “gesture of generosity” or “gesture of granting boons”; a MUDRĀ usually formed with the right hand and commonly found in the iconography of peaceful deities. The varadamudrā is formed with the palm held outward with the fingers outstretched and pointing down. Occasionally, the thumb and index finger may touch lightly, forming a circle.

vargacārin. (T. tshogs spyod; C. buxing; J. bugyō; K. puhaeng 部行). In Sanskrit, lit. “congregator”; one of the two types of PRATYEKABUDDHAs, together with KHAḌGAVIṢĀṆAKALPA. Although pratyekabuddhas are renowned for living “solitary like a rhinoceros [horn]” (as indicated by the term khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpa), congregating pratyekabuddhas instead reside together with others in a community. Like all pratyekabuddhas, it is said that this type achieves enlightenment without relying on a teacher in their last lifetime, does not teach the dharma, and appears in the world only during a period when there is no buddha.

varṣā. [alt. varṣa, vārṣika] (P. vassa; T. dbyar gnas; C. anju; J. ango; K. an’gŏ 安居). In Sanskrit, “rains” and, by extension, “rains retreat”; a three-month period generally beginning the day after the full-moon day of the eighth lunar month (usually July) and concluding on the full moon of the eleventh lunar month (usually October), during which time monks are required to remain in residence in one place. According to tradition, the Buddha instructed monks to cease their peregrinations during the torrential monsoon period in order to prevent the killing of insects and worms while walking on muddy roads. However, the practice of observing a rains retreat was likely adopted from other mendicant ŚRAMAṆA sects in ancient India at the time of the Buddha. The residences established for use during the rains retreat are called varṣāvāsa or “rains abode,” and the institution of the rains retreat (and the consequent need for more permanent shelter) probably led to the development of formal monasteries (VIHĀRA). During this three-month period, monks are expected to continue their studies and practice. They are not permitted to leave their monasteries except for essential tasks, and then for no more than seven nights. Occasions that permit the monk to be temporarily absent from his monastery include urgent personal matters, such as illness or death of one’s parents; an invitation to preach the dharma; or the donation of a VIHĀRA or land or other property to the SAṂGHA or an individual monk. If for any reason the residence requirement is not kept, the monk is not eligible to receive a robe donation (KAṬHINA) at the end of the rains retreat. The varṣā is an important chronological marker, with monastic seniority measured by the number of rain retreats one has completed. In Thailand, where it is customary for all males to be ordained as novices for at least a brief period of their lives, the three months of the rains retreat is often chosen as a particularly auspicious time to undertake this commitment. The end of the retreat is marked by the kaṭhina, or “cloth” ceremony, in which laypeople present gifts to the monks, including cloth for new robes.

vāsanā. (T. bag chags; C. xunxi/xiqi; J. kunjū/jikke; K. hunsŭp/sŭpki 薰習/習氣). In Sanskrit, literally, “perfumings,” hence “predispositions,” “habituations,” “latent tendencies,” or “residual impressions” (and sometimes seen translated overliterally from the Chinese as “habit energies”); subtle tendencies created in the mind as a result of repeated exposure to positive or negative objects. Vāsanā are described as subtle forms of the afflictions (KLEŚA), which hinder the attainment of buddhahood. According to the DAZHIDU LUN (*Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra), ARHATs remain subject to the influence of the vāsanā—for example, ŚĀRIPUTRA’s anger and NANDA’s staring at beautiful women—just as the scent of incense remains behind in a censer even after all the incense has burned away. Thus, only the buddhas have removed all such latent tendencies. In the YOGĀCĀRA system, the vāsanā “perfume” the “seeds” (BĪJA) of wholesome and unwholesome actions that are implanted in the storehouse consciousness (ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA). The CHENG WEISHI LUN (*Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi) lists the following three types of vāsanā: (1) linguistic predispositions (C. mingyan xiqi), the impressions created by concepts and expressions through which one evaluates his experience; (2) grasping-at-self predispositions (C. wozhi xiqi), impressions fostered by grasping at false notions of a perduring self (ĀTMAGRĀHA), which create an attachment to I and mine; and (3) cause-of-existence predispositions (C. youzhi xiqi), impressions that engender wholesome and unwholesome karmic retributions, which lead to continued rebirth in SAṂSĀRA.

vaśīkaraṇa. (T. dbang du bya ba/dbang po’i las). In Sanskrit, “controlling”; also called bhāgyacāra, “activities of control”; one of the four types of activities (CATURKARMA) set forth in the Buddhist tantras. The other three are activities of increase (PAUṢṬIKA) to increase prosperity, lengthen life, etc.; pacifying activities (ŚĀNTIKA) that purify the negativity that appears in such forms as hindrances and illness; and violent or drastic measures (ABHICĀRA) such as killing and warfare. Vaśīkaraṇa may be through physical force, but is more often done through MANTRAs or ritual; it brings control and influence over persons and situations.

vaśitā. (T. dbang bo; C. zizai; J. jizai; K. chajae 自在). In Sanskrit, “mastery,” or “autonomy”; a list of ten types of mastery or autonomy developed by a BODHISATTVA, viz., of one’s life span, action (KARMAN), necessities of life, determination, aspiration, magical powers, birth, dharma, mind, and wisdom.

Vāṣpa. (P. Vappa; T. Rlangs pa; C. Pofu; J. Bafu; K. Pabu 婆敷). Sanskrit proper name of one of the monks who belonged to the so-called group of five (PAÑCAVARGIKA; BHADRAVARGĪYA)—viz., KAUṆḌINYA [alt. Ājñāta-Kauṇḍiya], AŚVAJIT, VĀṢPA, MAHĀNĀMAN, and BHADRIKA—who were converted by the Buddha at the Deer Park (MṚGADĀVA) in SĀRNĀTH. When the sage ASITA predicted that the infant bodhisattva, SIDDHĀRTHA GAUTAMA, would one day become a buddha, Vāṣpa and four other brāhmaṇas headed by Kauṇḍinya became ascetics in anticipation of Siddhārtha’s own renunciation. They practiced austerities with him for six years until Siddhārtha renounced asceticism. Dismayed with what they regarded as his backsliding, the five ascetics left him and took up residence in the Deer Park at ṚṢIPATANA. After his enlightenment, the Buddha went there and preached to the five ascetics, and each of them attained enlightenment. The Pāli canon describes their enlightenment as proceeding in two stages: first, when the Buddha preached the DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA (S. DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASŪTRA) (“Discourse Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dharma”), Kauṇḍinya became a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA) and in the subsequent days the other four did as well; and second, when the Buddha preached the (ANATTALAKKHAṆASUTTA; S. *Anātmalakṣaṇasūtra) (“Discourse on the Mark of Nonself”), they all attained complete liberation as ARHATs.

vastujñāna. (T. gzhi shes; C. yiqiexiang zhi; J. issaisōchi; K. ilch’esang chi 一切相智). In Sanskrit, “knowledge of bases” (VASTU), in the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ literature, referring to knowledge that the bases (SKANDHA, ĀYATANA, DHĀTU, etc.) described in main-stream Buddhist sources lack any semblance of a personal self. It is one of the three knowledges (along with SARVĀKĀRAJÑATĀ and MĀRGAJÑATĀ) set forth in the ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRA, a commentary on the PAÑCAVIṂŚATISĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA that describe the MAHĀYĀNA path and result. In the Abhisamayālaṃkāra, the vastujñāna is more commonly called just SARVAJÑATĀ (“all-knowledge”). When it is not informed by skillful means (UPĀYA), that is, great compassion (MAHĀKARUṆĀ), it is understood negatively as the practice of a ŚRĀVAKA or PRATYEKABUDDHA that leads to their inferior goal of NIRVĀṆA and must be forsaken. When it is informed by skillful means, it is an essential component both of the practice of a bodhisattva (mārgajñatā), and of a buddha’s knowledge (sarvākārajñatā). As an authentic knowledge of nonself gained through a direct understanding of the four noble truths, it is possessed by those who have reached the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA).

Vasubandhu. (T. Dbyig gnyen; C. Shiqin; J. Seshin; K. Sech’in 世親) (fl. c. fourth or fifth centuries CE). One of the most influential authors in the history of Buddhism, and the only major figure to make significant contributions to both the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS and MAHĀYĀNA. In Tibetan Buddhism, Vasubandhu is counted as one of the “six ornaments” (T. rgyan drug), along with NĀGĀRJUNA, ĀRYADEVA, ASAṄGA, DIGNĀGA, and DHARMAKĪRTI. There has been considerable speculation about his dates, so much so that ERICH FRAUWALLNER proposed that there were two different Vasubandhus. This theory has been rejected, but there is still no consensus on his dates, with most scholars placing him in the fourth or fifth century CE. Vasubandhu is said to have been born in Puruṣapura in GANDHĀRA (identified with Peshawar in modern Pakistan), as the brother or half brother (with the same mother) of Asaṅga. He was ordained as a monk in a SARVĀSTIVĀDA school and studied VAIBHĀṢIKA ABHIDHARMA philosophy in KASHMIR–GANDHĀRA, as well as the tenets of the rival SAUTRĀNTIKA school. At the conclusion of his studies, he composed his first and what would be his most famous work, the Abhidharmakośa, or “Treasury of the Abhidharma.” In over six hundred stanzas in nine chapters, he set forth the major points of the Vaibhāṣika system. He then composed a prose autocommentary, the ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA, in which he critiqued from a Sautrāntika perspective some of the Vaibhāṣika positions that he had outlined in the verses. These two texts would become two of the most influential texts on the abhidharma in the later history of Buddhism on the subcontinent and beyond, serving, for example, as the root texts for abhidharma studies in Tibet and as the foundational text for the Kusha (Kośa) school of early Japanese Buddhism. At some point after his composition of the Kośa, he encountered his half brother Asaṅga, author of at least some of the texts collected in the YOGĀCĀRABHŪMI, who “converted” him to the Mahāyāna. After his conversion, Vasubandhu became a prolific author on Mahāyāna materials, helping especially to frame the philosophy of the Yogācāra school. Major works attributed to him include the VIṂŚATIKĀ, or “Twenty [Stanzas]” and the TRIṂŚIKĀ, or “Thirty [Stanzas],” two works that set forth succinctly the basic philosophical positions of the Yogācāra. The Triṃśikā was, together with DHARMAPĀLA’s commentary to the text, the basis of XUANZANG’s massive commentary, the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi), which was the foundational text for the FAXIANG ZONG of East Asian Yogācāra. In his TRISVABHĀVANIRDEŚA, Vasubandhu also set forth the central doctrine of the Yogācāra, the “three natures” (TRISVABHĀVA), of imaginary (PARIKALPITA), dependent (PARATANTRA), and consummate (PARINIṢPANNA). His VYĀKHYĀYUKTI set forth principles for the exegesis of passages from the sūtras. He is also credited with commentaries on a number of Mahāyāna sūtras, including the AKṢAYAMATINIRDEŚA, the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, and the DAŚABHŪMIKASŪTRA (with his commentary serving as the basis of the DI LUN ZONG in China), as well as commentaries on three of the five treatises of MAITREYA, the MAHĀYĀNASŪTRĀLAṂKĀRA, the MADHYĀNTAVIBHĀGA, and the DHARMADHARMATĀVIBHĀGA. He also wrote a commentary on Asaṅga’s MAHĀYĀNASAṂGRAHA. His KARMASIDDHIPRAKARAṆA, or “Investigation Establishing [the Correct Understanding] of KARMAN,” examines the theory of action in light of the Yogācāra doctrine of the ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA. The PAÑCASKANDHAPRAKARAṆA, or “Explanation of the Five Aggregates,” presents a somewhat different view of the five aggregates (SKANDHA) than that found in his Abhidharmakośabhāṣya and thus probably dates from his Mahāyāna period; it is a reworking of the presentation of the five aggregates found in Asaṅga’s ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA. In addition to the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya and the Viṃśatikā, a third text of his was highly influential in East Asia. It is a commentary on the larger SUKHĀVATĪVYŪHA, whose Sanskrit title might be reconstructed as the *Sukhāvatīvyūhopadeśa. However, the work is known only in Chinese, as the JINGTU LUN, and its attribution to Vasubandhu has been called into question. Nonetheless, based on this traditional attribution, Vasubandhu is counted as an Indian patriarch of the PURE LAND schools of East Asia. ¶ In Tibet, a bṛhaṭṭīkā commentary on the ŚATASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ and a paddhati on three PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ sūtras (T. Yum gsum gnod ’joms) are attributed to Vasubandhu, although his authorship is disputed.

Vasumitra. (T. Dbyig bshes; C. Shiyou; J. Seu; K. Seu 世友) (d.u.). A prominent scholar of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school in KASHMIR, possibly during the second century CE. His SAMAYABHEDOPARACANACAKRA is an important source of information on the various schools and subschools of mainstream Nikāya Buddhism in India. He is also credited with composing the PRAKARAṆAPĀDA, one of the “six feet” of the ABHIDHARMAPIṬAKA of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA, which first introduces the categorization of dharmas according to the more developed Sarvāstivāda lists of RŪPA, CITTA, CAITTA, CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAṂSKĀRA, and ASAṂSKṚTA dharmas; it also adds a new listing of KUŚALAMAHĀBHŪMIKA, or factors always associated with wholesome states of mind. Vasumitra is frequently cited in the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀṢĀ, the massive abhidharma exegesis of the VAIBHĀṢIKA school of the Sarvāstivāda, but it is unclear whether the scholar mentioned in the Abhidharmamahāvibhāṣā and the author of the texts mentioned earlier are the same figure. Vasumitra is also credited with composing a (now-lost) commentary to the ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA, which, if true, would move his dates forward into the fourth century.

Vatsā. [alt. Vaṃśā] (P. Vaṃsa; T. Gnas ma; C. Bacuo [guo]; J. Bassa[koku]; K. Palch’a [kuk] 跋蹉[國]). One of the sixteen great states (MAHĀJANAPADA) in ancient India, and one of three powerful kingdoms of the Gaṅgā (Ganges) river valley at the time of Buddha, together with MAGADHA and KOŚALA. Vatsā was located south of the Gaṅgā River, in what is today the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and had its capital at Kauśāmbī. During the time of the Buddha, Udayāna was king of Vatsā and a follower of the Buddha. See also UDĀYANA BUDDHA.

Vatsagotra. [alt. Vatsa, Vaṃśa] (P. Vacchagotta; C. Pocha; J. Basa; K. Pach’a 婆差). In Sanskrit, lit. “Calf Ancestry,” an ARHAT and disciple of the Buddha. According to Pāli accounts, where he is known as Vacchagotta, he was a wandering mendicant of great learning who was converted and attained arhatship in a series of encounters with the Buddha. Numerous discourses in the Pāli SUTTAPIṬAKA concern metaphysical questions that Vacchagotta poses to the Buddha; an entire section of the SAṂYUTTANIKĀYA is devoted to these exchanges. In other suttas, he raises similar questions in conversations with such important disciples of the Buddha as Mahāmoggallāna (MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA) and ĀNANDA. Vacchagotta’s gradual conversion is recorded in a series of discourses contained in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA. In the Tevijja-Vacchagottasutta, he rejoices at the words of the Buddha. In the Aggi-Vacchagottasutta, Vacchagotta has a renowned exchange concerning ten “indeterminate questions” (AVYĀKṚTA)—is the world eternal or not eternal, infinite or finite, what is the state of the TATHĀGATA after death, etc. The Buddha refuses to respond to any of the questions, and instead offers the simile of extinguishing fire to describe the state of the tathāgata after death: just as after a fire has been extinguished, it would be inappropriate to say that it has gone anywhere, so too after the tathāgata has extinguished each of the five aggregates (P. khandha; S. SKANDHA), he cannot be said to have gone anywhere. At the conclusion of the discourse, Vacchagotta accepts the Buddha as his teacher. In the Mahāvacchagottasutta, he is ordained by the Buddha and attains in sequence all the knowledges possible for one who is not yet an arhat. The Buddha instructs him in the practice of tranquility (P. samatha; S. ŚAMATHA) and insight (VIPASSANĀ; S. VIPAŚYANĀ) whereby he can cultivate the six superknowledges (P. abhiññā; S. ABHIJÑĀ); Vacchagotta then attains arhatship. ¶ The DAZHIDU LUN (*Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra) identifies the Vacchagotta of the Pāli suttas with Śreṇika Vatsagotra, the namesake of what in MAHĀYĀNA sources is called the ŚREṆIKA HERESY. The locus classicus for this heresy appears in the MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆASŪTRA. There, when Śreṇika raises the question about whether there is a self or not, the Buddha keeps silent, so Śreṇika himself offers the fire simile, but with a very different interpretation than the Buddha’s. He compares the physical body and the eternal self to a house and its owner: even though the house may burn down in a fire, the owner is safe outside the house; thus, the body and its constituents (SKANDHA) may be impermanent and subject to dissolution, but not the self. In other Sanskrit sources, Vatsagotra also seems to refer to the figure most typically known as Vatsa (T. Be’u) or Vaṃśa, a student of the ascetic Kāśyapa.

Vātsīputrīya. (P. Vajjiputtakā/Vajjiputtiyā; T. Gnas ma’i bu pa; C. Duzi bu; J. Tokushibu; K. Tokcha pu 犢子部). One of the traditional eighteen schools of “mainstream” (i.e., non-MAHĀYĀNA) Indian Buddhism, which takes its name from its leader, Vātsīputra. An offshoot of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school, it is remembered primarily as one of the schools labeled by others as PUDGALAVĀDA, or “proponents of the person,” that is, the apparently heretical position that there is a “person” (PUDGALA) with qualities that are “inexpressible” (avācya), which transmigrates from lifetime to lifetime. This position was criticized by exegetes in virtually all rival Buddhist schools, and earned a long critique in the ninth chapter of VASUBANDHU’s ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA, where it was denigrated as the assertion of a permanent self or soul (ĀTMAN). In their defense, the Vātsīputrīyas argued that the pudgala was neither the same as nor different from the five aggregates (SKANDHA)—viz., that the pudgala was in an “indeterminate” relationship vis-à-vis the skandhas—thus conforming to the Buddha’s dictum that there was no self to be discovered among the aggregates. For the Vātsīputrīyas, it was argued that it was necessary to posit the existence of the pudgala in order to account for personal continuity over the course of a single lifetime, karmic continuity over the course of multiple lifetimes, and, ultimately, so that there would be something that would attain NIRVĀṆA upon the cessation of the aggregates. However, recognizing the special nature of their view of the person, the Vātsīputrīya posited it as a fifth category of dharmas in addition to the standard four of the Sarvāstivāda school, viz., (1)–(3) conditioned factors (SAṂSKṚTADHARMA) belonging to the three time periods of past, present, and future; (4) an unconditioned factor (ASAṂSKṚTADHARMA), which for the Vātsīputrīyas, like the STHAVIRANIKĀYA, included only nirvāṇa; and (5) “inexpressible dharmas” (S. *avācyadharma; C. bukeshuo fa), a category exclusive to the Vātsīputrīyas, which included the notion of a pudgala. Despite the apparent heresy of this position, Chinese pilgrims reported the prominence in India of schools that held this view. The Vātsīputrīya spawned four additional mainstream schools: the Dharmottarīya, Bhadrayānīya, SAṂMITĪYA, and Ṣaṇṇagarika.

Vaṭṭagāmaṇi Abhaya. A Sinhalese king (r. 43 and 29–17 BCE) whose reign witnessed, tradition claims, a number of major developments in Sri Lankan Buddhism, including the first attempt to compile the Pāli canon (P. tipiṭaka; S. TRIPIṬAKA), and its Sinhalese commentaries (AṬṬHAKATHĀ) in written form; this event, which is said to have occurred at a cave named Ālokalena, is considered to mark the first written transcription of a complete Buddhist canon. The DĪPAVAṂSA and MAHĀVAṂSA state that a gathering of ARHATs had decided to commit the body of texts to writing out of fear that they could no longer be reliably memorized and passed down from one generation to the next. In the first year of his reign, Vaṭṭagāmaṇi Abhaya was deposed by a coalition of the forces of seven Damiḷa (Tamil) warriors and forced into exile for fourteen years. During that time, he was aided by a monk named Mahātissa. In gratitude for the assistance, when he regained the throne, Vaṭṭagāmaṇi sponsored the construction of the ABHAYAGIRI monastery, which he donated to the monk. But Mahātissa had been expelled from the MAHĀVIHĀRA for misconduct, so the disciples of Mahātissa then dwelling at the Abhayagiri monastery seceded from the Mahāvihāra fraternity and established themselves as a separate fraternity. The Abhayagiri fraternity that arose during the reign of Vaṭṭagāmaṇi flourished as a separate monastic sect in Sri Lanka until the twelfth century CE.

Vatthūpamasutta. (C. Shuijing fanzhi jing; J. Suijōbonjikyō; K. Sujŏng pŏmji kyŏng 水淨梵志經). In Pāli, the “The Simile of the Cloth Discourse”; the seventh sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the ninety-third SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA, as well as an unidentified recension in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a group of disciples in the JETAVANA grove in the town of Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ). The Buddha describes the difference between a pure mind and a defiled mind by citing the example of cloth: just as only a clean cloth will absorb dye properly, so only a pure mind will be receptive to the dharma. The Buddha then lists a set of seventeen imperfections that defile the mind, which the monk must learn to abandon in order to gain confidence in the three jewels (RATNATRAYA) and ultimately liberation.

vāyu. [alt. vāyudhātu] (P. vāyu/vāyo; T. rlung; C. fengda; J. fūdai; K. p’ungdae 風大). In Sanskrit and Pāli, lit. “wind” or “air,” viz., the property of “motion” or “movement”; one of the four major elements (MAHĀBHŪTA) or “principal elementary qualities” of which the physical world of materiality (RŪPA) is composed, along with earth (viz., solidity, PṚTHIVĪ; P. paṭhavī), water (viz., cohesion, ĀPAS; P. āpo), and fire (viz., temperature, warmth, TEJAS; P. tejo). “Wind” is defined as “that which is light and moving” and thus can refer not only to the wind, air, and breath but also to the general property of motion. Because wind also has the ability to convey things (viz., earth), has relative temperature (viz., fire), and has a certain tangibility (viz., water), the existence of all the other three elements may also be inferred even in that single element. In the physical body, the wind element is associated with the lungs and the intestinal system.

vedalla. (S. vaidalya). In Pāli, “extended” scriptures. See VAIPULYA.

vedanā. (T. tshor ba; C. shou; J. ju; K. su 受). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “sensation” or “sensory feeling”; the physical or mental sensations that accompany all moments of sensory consciousness. Sensations are always understood as being one of three: pleasurable, painful, or neutral (lit. “neither pleasant nor unpleasant”). Sensation is listed as one of the ten “mental factors of wide extent” (MAHĀBHŪMIKA) in the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA, one of the five “omnipresent” (SARVATRAGA) “mental constituents” (CAITTA) in the YOGĀCĀRA system, and one of the seven universal mental factors (lit. mental factors common to all) (sabbacittasādhāraṇa cetasika) in the Pāli ABHIDHAMMA. It is said universally to accompany all moments of sensory consciousness. Sensation is also listed as the second of the five aggregates (SKANDHA) and the seventh constituent in the twelvefold chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). The “contemplation of sensations” (S. vedanānupaśyanā, P. vedanānupassanā) is the second of the four foundations of mindfulness (S. SMṚTYUPASTHĀNA, P. satipaṭṭhāna) and involves being mindful (see S. SMṚTI, P. sati) of physical and mental sensations that are pleasurable, painful, and neutral.

vehicle. See YĀNA.

Veṇugrāmaka. (P. Beluvagāmaka/Veḷugāma; T. ’Od ma can gyi grong; C. Zhulincong; J. Chikurinsō; K. Chungnimch’ong竹林叢). In Sanskrit, “Bamboo Town,” near the city of VAIŚĀLĪ; remembered as the town where the Buddha spent his last rains retreat (VARṢĀ) prior to his passage into PARINIRVĀṆA. Because there was a famine in the region, making it difficult for the local population to support a large group of monks, the Buddha went to Veṇugrāmaka accompanied only by ĀNANDA. During their sojourn there, the Buddha, already eighty, became seriously ill. However, he did not want to die without addressing the SAṂGHA one last time, and, by using his powers of concentration (SAMĀDHI) to reduce the physical discomfort, the disease abated. It was while staying at Veṇugrāmaka that the Buddha made two famous statements to Ānanda. According to the Pāli MAHĀPARINIBBĀNASUTTANTA, when the Buddha expressed his wish to address the saṃgha, Ānanda assumed that the Buddha had a teaching he had not yet delivered to the monks. The Buddha replied 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 had in fact revealed everything. The Buddha also said that he was not the head of saṃgha and that after his death each monk should “be an island unto himself,” with the DHARMA as his island and his refuge.

Veṇuvanavihāra. (P. Veḷuvanavihāra; T. ’Od ma’i tshal; C. Zhulin jingshe; J. Chikurin shōja; K. Chungnim chŏngsa 竹林精舍). In Sanskrit, “Bamboo Grove Monastery”; the name of a monastery in a grove of the kingdom of MAGADHA, to the north of the capital, RĀJAGṚHA, that King BIMBISĀRA offered to the Buddha as a residence for himself and his monks. The Veṇuvana was the first ĀRĀMA or park offered to the Buddha after his enlightenment, and the Buddha subsequently allowed monks to accept an ārāma offered by a layperson. It was during the Buddha’s residence at Veṇuvana that ŚĀRIPUTRA and MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA entered the order. The Buddha is said to have passed his second, third, and fourth rains retreat there, in a VIHĀRA built by Kalandaka and offered to the Buddha. Veṇuvana is often mentioned in the scriptures as the location where the Buddha taught many sūtras, prescribed many rules of the VINAYA, and recounted many JĀTAKA tales. ĀNANDA is said to have lived at the Bamboo Grove after the Buddha’s death.

Verañjakasutta. In Pāli, the “Discourse to the Verañjakas,” the forty-second sutta in the Pāli MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (there is an untitled SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension included in the Chinese translation of the SAṂYUKTĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a group of brāhmaṇa householders from Verañja while he dwelt in the JETAVANA grove in the town of Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ). The Buddha describes for them the ten demeritorious actions that lead to unhappiness and unfortunate rebirths and the ten virtuous actions that lead to happiness and fortunate rebirths. The ten unvirtuous actions are analyzed into three kinds of bodily misdeed: (1) killing and violence, (2) stealing, and (3) sexual misconduct; four kinds of verbal misdeed: (4) falsehood, (5) malicious gossip, (6) harsh speech, and (7) meaningless prattle; and three kinds of mental misdeed: (8) covetousness, (9) ill will, and (10) wrong views. The ten meritorious actions are explained as abstaining from the ten demeritorious actions. The Buddha then describes the fortunate rebirths among humans and the divinities that may be expected by those who live righteously and perform meritorious actions. The sutta is parallel in content to the SĀLEYYAKASUTTA, the forty-first sutta in the Majjhimanikāya.

Vesākha. (P). See WESAK.

Vessantara. (S. Viśvantara/Viśvaṃtara; T. Thams cad sgrol; C. Xudana; J. Shudainu/Shudaina; K. Sudaena 須大拏). Pāli name of a prince who is the subject of the most famous of all JĀTAKA tales; he was the BODHISATTVA’s final existence before he took rebirth in TUṢITA heaven, where he awaited the moment when he would descend into Queen MĀYĀ’s womb to be born as Prince SIDDHĀRTHA and eventually become GAUTAMA Buddha. During his lifetime as Prince Vessantara, the bodhisattva (P. bodhisatta) fulfilled the perfection (P. pāramī; S. PĀRAMITĀ) of generosity (DĀNA; see also DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ). The story is found in Sanskrit in Āryaśura’s JĀTAKAMĀLĀ and Kṣemendra’s Avadānakalpalatā, with the same main features as in the Pāli version. The story enjoys its greatest popularity in Southeast Asia, so the Pāli version is described here. ¶ The bodhisattva was born as the crown prince of Siviraṭṭha, the son of King Sañjaya and Queen Phusatī of the kingdom of Jetuttara. On the day of his birth, a white elephant named Paccaya was also born, who had the power to make rain. When Vessantara was sixteen, he married a maiden named Maddī, with whom he had a son and a daughter, Jāli and Kanhajinā. Once, when Kaliṅga was suffering a severe drought, brāhmaṇas from that kingdom requested that Vessantara give them his white elephant to alleviate their plight. Vessantara complied, handing over to them his elephant along with its accessories. The citizens of Jetuttara were outraged that he should deprive his own kingdom of such a treasure and demanded his banishment to the distant mountain of Vaṅkagiri. His father, King Sañjaya, consented and ordered Vessantara to leave via the road frequented by highwaymen. Before his departure, Vessantara held a great almsgiving, in which he distributed seven hundred of every type of thing. Maddī insisted that she and her children accompany the prince, and they were transported out of the city on a grand carriage pulled by four horses. Four brāhmaṇas begged for his horses, which he gave. Gods then pulled his carriage until a brāhmaṇa begged for his carriage. Thereafter, they traveled on foot. Along the way crowds gathered, some even offering their kingdoms for him to rule, so famous was he for his generosity. At Vaṅkagiri, they lived in two hermitages, one for Vessantara and the other for his wife and children. These had been constructed for them by Vissakamma, architect of the gods. There, they passed four months until one day an old brāhmaṇa named Jūjaka arrived and asked for Jāli and Kanhajinā as slaves. Vessantara expected this to occur, so he sent his wife on an errand so that she would not be distressed at the sight of him giving their children away. Jūjaka was cruel, and the children ran away to their father, only to be returned so that Vessantara’s generosity could be perfected. When Maddī returned, she fainted at the news. Then, Sakka (ŚAKRA), king of the gods, assumed the form of a brāhmaṇa and asked for Maddī; Vessantara gave his wife to the brāhmaṇa. The earth quaked at the gift. Sakka immediately revealed his identity and returned Maddī, granting Vessantara eight boons. In the meantime, Jūjaka, the cruel brāhmaṇa, traveled to Jetuttara, where King Sañjaya bought the children for a great amount of treasure, including a seven-storied palace. Jūjaka, however, died of overeating and left no heirs, so the treasure was returned to the king. Meanwhile, the white elephant was returned because the kingdom of Kaliṅga could not maintain him. A grand entourage was sent to Vaṅkagiri to fetch Vessantara and Maddī, and when they returned amid great celebration they were crowned king and queen of Siviraṭṭha. In order that Vessantara would be able to satisfy all who came for gifts, Sakka rained down jewels waist deep on the palace. When Vessantara died, he was born as a god in tuṣita heaven, where he awaited his last rebirth as Siddhattha Gotama, when he would become a buddha. ¶ As a depiction of the virtue of dāna, the story of Vessantara is one of the most important Buddhist tales in Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia and is depicted on murals throughout the region. Thai retellings of the Vessantara-Jātaka, known also as the Mahāchat, or “Great Jātaka,” are found in the many Thai dialects and consist of thirteen chapters. The story is popular in Thailand’s north and especially in the northeast, where virtually every monastery (excluding forest monasteries) holds a festival known as the Bun Phra Wet, usually in February or March, at which the entire story is recited in one day and one night. Laypeople assist in decorating their local monastery with trunks and branches of banana trees to represent the forest to which Vessantara was banished after giving away his kingdom’s auspicious elephant. They also present offerings of flowers, hanging decorations, balls of glutinous rice, and money. The festival includes, among other things, a procession to the monastery that includes local women carrying long horizontal cloth banners on which the Vessantara story is painted. The merit earned by participating in the festival is linked to two beliefs: (1) that the participant will be reborn at the time of the future buddha, MAITREYA, known in Thai as Phra Si Ariya Mettrai (P. Ariya Metteyya), and (2) that the community, which remains primarily agricultural, will be blessed with sufficient rainfall.

Vessantara-Jātaka. See VESSANTARA.

Vibhajyavāda. (P. Vibhajjavāda; T. Rnam par phye ste smra ba; C. Fenbieshuo bu; J. Funbetsusetsubu; K. Punbyŏlsŏl pu 分別部). In Sanskrit, “Distinctionist”; one of the “mainstream” (i.e., non-Mahāyāna) schools of Indian Buddhism. The Vibhajyavāda was one of the branches of the STHAVIRANIKĀYA, which, according to BUDDHAGHOSA, emerged at the time of the third Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, THIRD), around 240 BCE; the Sthaviranikāya also comprises a number of other schools, including the DHARMAGUPTAKA, whose VINAYA was predominant in East Asia; the THERAVĀDA of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia traces itself to the Sthaviranikāya. Inscriptional evidence indicates that the Vibhajyavāda thrived in KASHMIR, GANDHĀRA, and BACTRIA, where the name may have been used to describe several of the branches of the Sthaviranikāya, including the Dharmaguptaka, MAHĪŚĀSAKA, and KĀŚYAPĪYA. Doctrinally speaking, the Vibhajyavāda’s name derives from the distinction made between phenomena or factors (DHARMA) that exist and do not exist. The Sarvāstivāda (“those who hold that everything exists”) asserted that dharmas exist in all three temporal modes of past, present, and future. In contrast, the Vibhajyavāda (and many other mainstream schools) made a distinction among past, present, and future dharmas, asserting that, while present dharmas obviously exist, no future dharmas exist, and the only past dharmas that exist are past actions that have yet to produce their karmic effects. Thus, the term vibhajyavāda is sometimes used in a more generic sense, referring not to a specific school, but to all mainstream schools that made a distinction among dharmas of the past, present, and future. In addition, the Vibhajyavāda is said to have held that thought is pure in its nature; that form (RŪPA) still occurs in the immaterial realm (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU); that there is no intermediate state (ANTARĀBHAVA) between death and rebirth; that PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA and the path (MĀRGA) are unconditioned (ASAṂSKṚTA); and that an ARHAT cannot retrogress on the path. The Pāli term Vibhajjavāda is sometimes used as a synonym for Theravāda, in the more general sense of those who hold that reality should be understood by discriminating between positive and negative positions. In the KATHĀVATTHU of the Pāli ABHIDHAMMAPIṬAKA, the venerable MOGGALIPUTTATISSA declared that the Buddha was a vibhajjavādī, or “teacher of analysis,” since it is only through critical investigation and reasoning that an adept can begin to develop true insight, discriminating among positions rather than taking a one-sided position.

Vibhaṅga. [alt. Vibhaṅgappakaraṇa]. In Pāli, “Analysis”; the second of the seven books that together constitute the ABHIDHAMMAPIṬAKA of the Pāli canon. Since most of this book concerns subject matter introduced in the abhidhammapiṭaka’s first book, the DHAMMASAṄGAṆĪ, the Vibhaṅga is often spoken of as a supplement to, or a commentary on, the Dhammasaṅgaṇī. The Vibhaṅga, however, applies different methods of analysis and includes a number of additional definitions and terms. The text is comprised of eighteen chapters (vibhaṅga), each of which presents a self-contained discourse on the following topics, in this order: the aggregates (P. khandha; S. SKANDHA), sense bases (ĀYATANA), elements (DHĀTU), truths (P. sacca; S. SATYA), faculties (INDRIYA), conditioned origination (P. paṭiccasamuppāda; S. PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), foundations of mindfulness (P. SATIPAṬṬHĀNA; S. SMṚTYUPASTHĀNA), right effort (P. sammappadhāna; S. SAMYAKPRAHĀṆA), bases of psychic or supernatural powers (P. iddhipāda; S. ṚDDHIPĀDA), factors of enlightenment (P. bojjhaṅga; S. BODHYAṄGA), the eightfold path (P. magga; S. MĀRGA), mental absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA), the boundless states (P. appammaññā; S. APRAMĀṆA), training rules (P. sikkhāpada; S. ŚIKṢĀPADA), analytical knowledges (P. paṭisambhidā; S. PRATISAṂVID), various types of knowledge (P. ñāṇa; JÑĀNA), minor topics (P. khuddhakavatthu), including an inventory of afflictions, and “the heart of the teaching” (P. dhammahadaya). Most, but not all, of these chapters are divided into three parts. First, they analyze the subject using the same method as the SUTTAs, often by simply quoting material directly from the suttas. Next, they analyze the subject using a typical ABHIDHARMA methodology—offering synonyms and numerical lists of categories, classes, and types of the phenomena. Finally, most treatments culminate in a catechistic series of inquiries (pañhāpucchaka). In this series of questions, the subject is analyzed by way of a set of “matrices” or “categories” (P. mātikā; S. MĀTṚKĀ) established in the Dhammasaṅgaṇī. Many commentaries have been written on the Pāli Vibhaṅga, the most popular of which is BUDDHAGHOSA’s SAMMOHAVINODANĪ, which was written in the fifth century.

vicāra. (T. dpyod pa; C. si; J. shi; K. sa 伺). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “sustained thought,” “sustained attention,” “imagination,” or “analysis”; one of the forty-six mental factors (CAITTA) according to the VAIBHĀṢIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA, one of the fifty-one according to the YOGĀCĀRA school, and one of the fifty-two in the Pāli ABHIDHAMMA. Although etymologically the term contains the connotation of “analysis,” vicāra is polysemous in the Buddhist lexicon and refers to a mental activity that can be present both in ordinary states of consciousness and in meditative absorption (DHYĀNA). In ordinary consciousness, vicāra is “sustained thought,” viz., the continued pondering of things. It is listed as an indeterminate mental factor (ANIYATA-CAITTA) because it can be employed toward either virtuous or nonvirtuous ends, depending on one’s intention and the object of one’s attention. Vicāra as a mental activity typically follows VITARKA, wherein vitarka is the “initial application of thought” and vicāra the “sustained thought” that ensues after one’s attention has already adverted toward an object. In the context of meditative absorption, vicāra may be rendered as “sustained attention” or “sustained application of attention.” With vitarka the practitioner directs his focus toward a chosen meditative object. When the attention is properly directed, the practitioner follows by applying and continuously fixing his attention on the same thing, deeply experiencing (or examining) the object. In meditative absorption, vicāra is one of the five factors that make up the first dhyāna (see DHYĀNĀṄGA). According to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, “applied thought” (P. vitakka; S. vitarka) is like a bee flying toward a flower, having oriented itself toward its chosen target, whereas “sustained attention” (vicāra) is like a bee hovering over that flower, fixating on the flower.

*vicārabhāvanā. (T. dpyad sgom). In Sanskrit, “analytical meditation”; a general term for those forms of meditation that involve discursive reflection on points of Buddhist doctrine, as opposed to the focus of the mind upon a single object. An example of such analytical meditation would be the investigation of the constituents of mind and body in search of the self or systematic reflection on the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the time of death. The term is often paired with *STHĀPYABHĀVANĀ, “stabilizing meditation” (T. ’jog sgom), the one-pointed concentration on a single object without discursive reflection. In instructions on meditation practice, there is often advice to alternate these two forms of meditation, first arriving at a conclusion or conviction through analytical meditation and then focusing on that conclusion through stabilizing meditation, resulting eventually in VIPAŚYANĀ.

vicikitsā. (P. vicikicchā; T. the tshom; C. yi; J. gi; K. ŭi 疑). In Sanskrit, “doubt” or “skepticism”; classified as one of the six root afflictions (MŪLAKLEŚA) in the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school of ABHIDHARMA and the YOGĀCĀRA school, and one of the fourteen unwholesome mental factors (akusala-cetasika) in the Pāli abhidhamma, where it takes the form of doubt about such matters as the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, the effects of actions (KARMAN), or the efficacy of the path (MĀRGA). Doubt is also classified as the second of ten “fetters” (SAṂYOJANA) that keep beings bound in SAṂSĀRA. It is also classified as one of five “hindrances” (NĪVARAṆA) that prevent the mind from attaining meditative absorption (DHYĀNA); skeptical doubt is the factor that hinders sustained thought (VICĀRA) among the five constituents of meditative absorption (DHYĀNĀṄGA). Doubt is a two-pointedness of mind that renders the mind unable to engage in virtuous action, just as one is unable to sew with a pronged needle. It is characterized by wavering and manifests itself as indecision. The counteragent (PRATIPAKṢA) to vicikitsā is wisdom (PRAJÑĀ), assisted by such specific practices as studying the scriptures. This state of doubt is temporarily allayed with the attainment of the first meditative absorption (dhyāna) and is permanently eliminated upon attaining the stage of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA). Cf. YIJING.

videha. (T. lus ’phags po; C. pitihe; J. bidaika; K. pijeha 毘提訶). The Sanskrit and Pāli proper name of one of the four island continents arrayed according to traditional Buddhist cosmology in the four cardinal directions around Mount SUMERU; also referred to as pūrvavideha. Videha is the eastern continent and is semicircular in shape. Its inhabitants, classified as humans (MANUṢYA) among the six types of beings who inhabit SAṂSĀRA, are said to be twice as tall as the inhabitants of our southern continent of JAMBUDVĪPA and to have a life span of up to 250 years.

vidhi. (T. cho ga; C. yigui; J. giki; K. ŭigwe 儀軌). In Sanskrit, “rite”; a term that is used for Vedic and other rituals. In Buddhism, and in particular tantric Buddhism, vidhi is sometimes used interchangeably with PŪJĀ but can also refer to those elements of a SĀDHANA that are more overtly ceremonial, such as the making of offerings, the drawing of MAṆḌALA, the performance of MUDRĀ or of sacred dances, and the playing of music, as opposed to the more introspective elements of a sādhana, such as the practice of visualization, meditation, or the silent repetition of MANTRA.

vidyā. (P vijjā; T. rig pa/rig ma; C. ming; J. myō; K. myŏng 明). In Sanskrit, lit. “knowledge,” a polysemous term with a wide range of denotations in Buddhist literature. Vidyā appears frequently in the sūtra literature of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS (as in the title of the Pāli TEVIJJĀSUTTA), where it encompasses what might be called conventional knowledge of the world gained through investigation and analysis, as well as the salvific knowledge of the nature of reality gained through the practice of meditation (see TRIVIDYĀ). In Pāli commentarial literature, vidyā carries connotations of investigation, observation, and correct theories; thus, in some contexts, it is translated as “science” and appears in a number of important lists, such as the PAÑCAVIDYĀ. In tantric literature, it takes on a further meaning of esoteric and occult knowledge (and hence is sometimes translated as “spell”), as in the term VIDYĀDHARA. Vidyā is also used in tantric literature to refer to a sexual consort. Its negation, AVIDYĀ, lit., “non-knowledge,” is the most common term for the fundamental ignorance that is the root cause of suffering.

vidyādhara. (P. vijjādhara; T. rig pa ’dzin pa; C. chiming; J. jimyō; K. chimyŏng 持明). In Sanskrit, lit. “keeper of knowledge.” Knowledge (VIDYĀ) in this context has the denotation of knowledge of sacred lore and magic, such that a vidyādhara functions as a kind of sorcerer or thaumaturge. The term is used to refer to tantric deities as well as to human tantric masters, such as the MAHĀSIDDHAs, whose great powers derived from their knowledge of MANTRAs. As the repository of tantric knowledge, the tantric corpus was sometimes called the VIDYĀDHARAPIṬAKA. See also WEIKZA.

vidyādharapiṭaka. (T. rig ’dzin sde snod; C. chiming zang; J. jimyōzō; K. chimyŏng chang 持明藏). In Sanskrit, the “collection of the keepers of knowledge”; a term used to refer collectively to the Buddhist TANTRAs, which were said to have been collected by the tantric thaumaturges (VIDYĀDHARA). The tantras are said to constitute a fourth PIṬAKA—in addition to the SŪTRA, VINAYA, and ABHIDHARMA piṭakas—called the vidyādharapiṭaka.

vidyāsthāna. (P. vijjāṭṭhāna; T. rigs pa’i gnas; C. ming chu; J. myōsho; K. myŏng ch’ŏ 明處). In Sanskrit, lit. “abode of knowledge,” but often translated as “science,” especially in the context of the five traditional sciences of ancient India, which a BODHISATTVA is also expected to master. These five sciences (PAÑCAVIDYĀ) are śabda, which includes grammar and composition; hetu [alt. PRAMĀṆA], or logic; cikitsā, or medicine; śilpakarma, which includes the arts and mathematics; and adhyātmavidyā, the “inner science,” which in the case of Buddhism was said to be knowledge of the TRIPIṬAKA and the twelve categories of scriptures (DVĀDAŚĀṄGA[PRAVACANA]).

Vigrahavyāvartanī. (T. Rtsod pa bzlog pa; C. Huizheng lun; J. Ejōron; K. Hoejaeng non 廻諍論). In Sanskrit, “Refutation of Objections”; one of the major works of NĀGĀRJUNA and considered as part of his philosophical corpus (YUKTIKĀYA). The work, which is preserved in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese, has seventy stanzas; there is also an autocommentary by the author. The work appears to have been composed after the MŪLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ, responding to objections that might be raised to arguments in that text; hence, the title “Refutation of Objections.” As in the case of the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, the opponent is presumably an adherent of the ABHIDHARMA, although it is directed specifically to Naiyāyika-type arguments. Perhaps the most famous objection and response comes at the beginning of the text. In the first stanza of the work, the opponent states that, if it is true, as Nāgārjuna claims, that all things lack intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA), then Nāgārjuna’s own statement must also lack intrinsic nature, in which case the statement cannot deny the intrinsic nature of things. In the famous twenty-ninth stanza, Nāgārjuna responds, “If I had some thesis (PRATIJÑĀ), I would incur that fault; because I have no thesis, I am faultless.” The autocommentary explains that there can be no thesis when all things are empty, utterly quiescent, and naturally pristine. Therefore, because he has no thesis, no mark of a thesis is entailed by his previous statement that all things lack intrinsic nature. The text is widely quoted by later commentators, both in India and in Tibet.

vihāra. (T. gtsug lag khang/dgon pa; C. zhu/jingshe; J. jū/shōja; K. chu/chŏngsa 住/精舎). In Sanskrit and Pāli, lit. “abode”; the term commonly used for a dwelling place for monks and nuns, and thus typically translated as “monastery.” In the story of the life of the Buddha, in the early days of the saṃgha the monks had no fixed abode but wandered throughout the year. Eventually, the Buddha instructed monks to cease their peregrinations during the torrential monsoon period in order to prevent the killing of insects and worms while walking on muddy roads. The residences established for use during the rains retreat (VARṢĀ) are called varṣāvāsa or “rains abode,” and the institution of the rains retreat (and the consequent need for more permanent shelter) probably led to the development of formal monasteries. According to the VINAYA, a vihāra must be donated to the SAṂGHA and, once accepted, it may never be given back, but remains in perpetuity the property of the order. There are various rules and recommendations concerning the layout of a vihāra. According to the Pāli VINAYA, a vihāra may be plastered and decorated, but never using figures of human beings. It may have three kinds of rooms, upper, large, and small. These rooms are typically arrayed around a central courtyard that often enshrined a sapling of a BODHI TREE or a STŪPA. The vihāra should have a refectory and a place for storing water, and it may be surrounded by a wall. It should be neither too near nor too far from a town or village and be suitable for gathering alms but secluded enough to be conducive to study and contemplation. A vihāra may be constructed for the use of the entire congregation of monks or nuns or for personal use. If a proposed vihāra for an individual monk is large or grand, permission for its construction must first be granted by the saṃgha. The Indian state of Bihar takes its name from the many Buddhist vihāras that were once scattered throughout the region. See also entries on specific monasteries.

vihiṃsā. (T. rnam par ’tshe ba; C. hai; J. gai; K. hae 害). In Sanskrit, lit. “harmfulness,” sometimes translated as “injury,” “cruelty,” or “harmful intention”; one of the forty-six mental concomitants (CAITTA) according to the VAIBHĀṢIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA and one of the fifty-one according to the YOGĀCĀRA school. As the opposite of “harmlessness” or “nonviolence” (AHIṂSĀ), vihiṃsā is the ill will that wishes for, or causes, suffering to come to others. Vihiṃsā is listed among the fifth of the six categories of caitta, the secondary afflictions (UPAKLEŚA), which are not compatible with spiritual progress. Vihiṃsā is also considered to be one of the possible derivative emotions of “aversion” (DVEṢA) and cannot exist independently of that latter mental state. The antidote to this volition to bring harm to others is the development of loving-kindness (MAITRĪ).

Vijaya. The first Āryan king of Sri Lanka. According to the MAHĀVAṂSA, Vijaya led a band of seven hundred followers exiled from north India to Sri Lanka in the sixth century BCE. The capital he founded was named Tambapaṇṇi, whence one of the names for the island, Tambapaṇṇi Dīpa. Vijaya and his followers were known as Sīhaḷa, after an epithet of his father, Sīhabāhu or “lion-armed,” who was the offspring of a lion and a human princess. For this reason, the island also came to be known as Sīhaḷa Dīpa or “Lion Island.”

vijñāna. (P. viññāṇa; T. rnam par shes pa; C. shi; J, shiki; K. sik 識). In Sanskrit, “consciousness”; a term that technically refers to the six types of sensory consciousness (VIJÑĀNA): eye, or visual, consciousness (CAKṢURVIJÑĀNA); ear, or auditory, consciousness (ŚROTRAVIJÑĀNA); nose, or olfactory, consciousness (GHRĀṆAVIJÑĀNA); tongue, or gustatory, consciousness (JIHVĀVIJÑĀNA); body, or tactile, consciousness (KĀYAVIJÑĀNA); and mental consciousness (MANOVIJÑĀNA). These are the six major sources of awareness of the phenomena (DHARMA) of our observable universe. Each of these forms of consciousness is produced in dependence upon three conditions (PRATYAYA): the “objective-support condition” (ĀLAMBANAPRATYAYA), the “predominant condition” (ADHIPATIPRATYAYA), and the “immediately preceding condition” (SAMANANTARAPRATYAYA). When used with reference to the six forms of consciousness, the term vijñāna refers only to CITTA, or general mentality, and not to the mental concomitants (CAITTA) that accompany mentality. It is also in this sense that vijñāna constitutes the fifth of the five SKANDHAs, while the mental concomitants are instead placed in the fourth aggregate of conditioning factors (SAṂSKĀRA). The six forms of consciousness figure in two important lists in Buddhist epistemology, the twelve sense fields (ĀYATANA) and the eighteen elements (DHĀTU). With the exception of some strands of the YOGĀCĀRA school, six and only six forms of vijñāna are accepted. The Yogācāra school of ASAṄGA posits instead eight forms of vijñāna, adding to the six sensory consciousnesses a seventh afflicted mentality (KLIṢṬAMANAS), which creates the mistaken conception of a self, and an eighth foundational or storehouse consciousness (ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA).

Vijñānakāya[pādaśāstra]. (T. Rnam shes kyi tshogs; C. Shishen zu lun; J. Shikishinsokuron; K. Siksin chok non 識身足論). In Sanskrit, “Collection on Consciousness”; a book from the middle stratum of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMAPIṬAKA, which is traditionally listed as the second of the six ancillary texts, or “feet” (pāda), of the JÑĀNAPRASTHĀNA, the central treatise or body (śarīra) of the Sarvāstivāda abhidharmapiṭaka. Authorship of the text is attributed to Devaśarman, and it is presumed to have been composed during the latter half of the first century CE. It is extant only in a complete translation into Chinese made by XUANZANG and his translation team at DACI’ENSI in 649. The Vijñānakāya is the only one of the six pādaśāstras that provides an elaborate proof of the veracity of the eponymous Sarvāstivāda position that dharmas exist in the past, present, and future, and its treatments are the foundation for the refinements of this position in later VAIBHĀṢIKA materials. The Vijñānakāya is also the only canonical Sarvāstivāda treatise that critiques the mistaken belief in a person (PUDGALA). The extensive refutation of the PUDGALAVĀDA position found in the appendix (chapter nine) to VASUBANDHU’s ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA relies heavily on the Vijñānakāya’s content and approach. The Vijñānakāya also offers an elaborate analysis of fourteen types of causes (HETU); in addition, it provides the first listing of the four types of conditions (PRATYAYA), especially in connection with the arising of sensory consciousness. By bringing causation theory to the forefront of abhidharma philosophy, the Vijñānakāya occupies a crucial place in the evolution of the Sarvāstivāda abhidharma. The Vijñānakāya’s closest analogue in the Pāli ABHIDHAMMA literature is the DHĀTUKATHĀ.

vijñānānantyāyatana. (P. viññāṇañcāyatana; T. rnam shes mtha’ yas skye mched; C. shi wubian chu; J. shikimuhenjo; K. sik mubyŏn ch’ŏ 識無邊處). In Sanskrit, “sphere of infinite consciousness”; the second (in ascending order) of the four levels of the immaterial realm (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU) and the second of the four immaterial absorptions (ĀRŪPYĀVACARADHYĀNA). It is “above” the first level of the immaterial realm, called infinites space (AKĀŚĀNANTYĀYATANA), and “below” the third and fourth levels, “nothingness” (ĀKIṂCANYĀYATANA) and “neither perception nor nonperception” (NAIVASAṂJÑĀNĀSAṂJÑĀYATANA). It is a realm of rebirth as well as a meditative state that is entirely immaterial (viz., there is no physical, or form [RŪPA], component to existence), in which the mind seems to expand to the point that it is essentially infinite. Beings reborn in this realm are thought to live as long as forty thousand eons (KALPA). However, as a state of being that is still subject to rebirth, even the realm of infinite consciousness remains part of SAṂSĀRA. Like the other levels of the realm of subtle materiality (RŪPADHĀTU) and the immaterial realm, one is reborn in this state by achieving the specific level of meditative absorption of that state in the previous lifetime. One of the most famous and influential expositions on the subject of these immaterial states comes from the VISUDDHIMAGGA of BUDDHAGHOSA, written in the fifth century. Although there are numerous accounts of Buddhist meditators achieving immaterial states of SAMĀDHI, they are also used polemically in Buddhist literature to describe the attainments of non-Buddhist YOGINs, who mistakenly identify these exalted states within saṃsāra as states of permanent liberation from rebirth. See also DHYĀNASAMĀPATTI; DHYĀNOPAPATTI.

vijñānaskandha. (P. viññāṇakhandha; T. rnam shes kyi phung po; C. shiyun/shiyin; J. shikiun/shikion; K. sigon/sigŭm 識蘊/識陰). In Sanskrit, the “consciousness aggregate”; the fifth of the five aggregates of being (SKANDHA). The vijñānaskandha refers to the six types of consciousness (VIJÑĀNA, viz., the visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental consciousnesses) but not to the various mental concomitants (CAITTA) that accompany them, which are placed in the fourth aggregate, SAṂSKĀRA. See VIJÑĀNA.

Vijñānavāda. [alt. Vijñānavādin] (T. Rnam par shes pa smra ba; C. Weishi zong; J. Yuishikishū; K. Yusik chong 唯識宗). In Sanskrit, “Proponent of Consciousness”; an alternative designation for the YOGĀCĀRA school, emphasizing the central role of the exposition of consciousness (VIJÑĀNA) in the tenets of the school. The school’s cardinal doctrine is that the objects of experience are of the nature of representation-alone (VIJÑAPTIMĀTRATĀ), also referred to as “mind only” (CITTAMĀTRA). See YOGĀCĀRA; FAXIANG ZONG.

vijñapti. (T. rnam par rig byed; C. shi; J. shiki; K. sik 識). In Sanskrit, “representation,” “designation,” or “imputation”; a term especially important in the YOGĀCĀRA school, where it indicates the subjective nature of the objects of experience, emphasizing the role of consciousness (VIJÑĀNA) in the identification, naming, and ontological status of the constituents of the external world. The term appears in the title of perhaps the most influential Indian Yogācāra treatise for East Asian Buddhism, the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VIJÑAPTIMĀTRATĀSIDDHI; “Demonstration of Representation-Only”), which presents the philosophical positions of the sixth-century Yogācāra master DHARMAPĀLA (530–561).

vijñaptimātratā. (T. rnam par rig pa tsam nyid; C. weishi; J. yuishiki; K. yusik 唯識). In Sanskrit, “mere-representation” or “mere-designation”; the cardinal doctrine of the YOGĀCĀRA school, viz., that the objects of experience are mere projections of consciousness (VIJÑĀNA). Thus, all objects are mere representations and all categories are mere designations. No object is the natural basis of its name; rather, the mind itself instead designates the object. The term Vijñaptimātra is used as an alternative designation of the Yogācāra school, especially as represented in the works of VASUBANDHU, STHIRAMATI, and DHARMAPĀLA, with particular emphasis on the doctrine of the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA). Indeed, the term appears in the title of perhaps the most influential Indian Yogācāra treatise for East Asian Buddhism, the CHENG WEISHI LUN (S. *Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi; “Demonstration of Representation-Only”) by the sixth-century Yogācāra master DHARMAPĀLA (530–561). It is the Chinese translation of vijñaptimātratā (weishi) thought that became the primary source of Yogācāra philosophy in East Asia.

*Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi. (S). See CHENG WEISHI LUN.

vikalpa. (P. vikappa; T. rnam par rtog pa; C. fenbie; J. funbetsu; K. punbyŏl 分別). In Sanskrit, “[false] discrimination,” “imagining,” or “conception”; the discriminative activities of mind, generally portrayed in the negative sense of fantasy and imagination, and often equivalent to “conceptual proliferation” (PRAPAÑCA). Vikalpa refers to the conceptual activities of the mental consciousness (MANOVIJÑĀNA), a mediated mental activity that operates through the medium of generic images (SĀMĀNYALAKṢAṆA). Vikalpa is often opposed to the immediate knowledge provided by direct perception (PRATYAKṢA). The direct perception of reality is therefore commonly described as NIRVIKALPA, or “free from thought.” ¶ Three types of conceptual discrimination (TRIVIKALPA) are typically described in the literature. (1) Intrinsic discrimination (SVABHĀVAVIKALPA), which refers to the initial advertence of thought (VITARKA) and the subsequent sustained attention (VICĀRA) to a perceived object of the six sensory consciousnesses (VIJÑĀNA), that is, the discrimination of present objects, as when visual consciousness perceives a visual object. (2) Conceptualizing discrimination (ABHINIRŪPAṆĀVIKALPA), which refers to discursive thought on ideas that arise in the sixth mental consciousness when it adverts toward a mental object that is associated with any of the three time periods of past, present, or future. (3) Discrimination involving reflection on past events (ANUSMARAṆAVIKALPA), which refers to discriminative thought involving the memory of past objects. ¶ There is a wide range of opinion as to the value of vikalpa (in the sense of “thought” or “conception”) in the soteriological progress. Some traditions would hold that the structured use of conceptual and logical analysis (and especially the use of inference, or ANUMĀNA) is a necessary prerequisite to reaching a state beyond all thought. Such a position is advocated in the Indian philosophical schools and in those that favor the so-called gradual path to enlightenment. In the stages of the path to enlightenment, all forms of meditation prior to the attainment of the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA) are “conceptual” and thus entail vikalpa. Other schools radically devalue all thought as an obstacle to the understanding of the ultimate and would claim that the nonconceptual, described in some cases as “no-thought” (C. WUNIAN), is accessible at all times. Such an approach, most famously expounded in the CHAN traditions of Asia, is associated with the so-called sudden path to enlightenment (see DUNWU). ¶ In the YOGĀCĀRA school, vikalpa is described specifically as the “discriminative conception of apprehended and apprehender” (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA), referring to the misconception that there is an inherent bifurcation between a perceiving subject (grāhaka) and its perceived objects (grāhya). This bifurcation occurs because of false imagining (ABHŪTAPARIKALPA), the tendency of the relative phenomena (PARATANTRA) to be misperceived as divided into a perceiving self and a perceived object that is external to it. By relying on these false imaginings to construct our sense of what is real, we inevitably subject ourselves to continued suffering (DUḤKHA) within the cycle of birth-and-death (SAṂSĀRA). Overcoming this bifurcation leads to the nondiscriminative wisdom (NIRVIKALPAJÑĀNA), which, in the five-stage path (PAÑCAMĀRGA) system, marks the inception of the path of vision (darśanamārga), where the adept sees reality directly, without the intercession of concepts. The elimination of grāhyagrāhakavikalpa proceeds from the less to the more subtle. It is easier to realize that a projected object is a projection than to realize that a projecting subject is as well; among projected objects, it is easier to realize that afflicted (SAṂKLIṢṬA) dharmas (the SKANDHAs and so on) are projections than to realize that purified (VYAVADĀNA) dharmas (the five paths and so on) are as well; and among subjects it is easier to realize that a material subject (a mental substratum and so on) is a projection than to realize that a nominally existing subject (a nominally existing self and so on) is. This explanation of vikalpa, common in the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ commentarial tradition, influenced the theory of the SAṂPANNAKRAMA (completion stage) in ANUTTARAYOGA (highest yoga) TANTRA, where prior to reaching enlightenment the four sets of vikalpas are dissolved with their associated PRĀṆAs in the central channel (AVADHŪTI).

Vikramaśīla. (T. Rnam gnon ngang tshul). A monastery and monastic university in the northern region of ancient MAGADHA, in the modern Bihar state of India, located along the Ganges River in the Bhagalpur District of Bihar, about 150 miles east of NĀLANDĀ. King Dharmapāla of the Pāla dynasty founded Vikramaśīla between the late eighth and early ninth centuries and appointed his teacher, Buddhajñānapāda, to be abbot of the monastic university. Throughout its existence, leaders of the Pāla dynasty supported the teachers, students, and maintenance of the institution. There were six areas of religious study, supplemented by such secular subjects as grammar, metaphysics, and logic. The two monastic universities of Vikramaśīla and Nālandā had a great deal of scholarly interaction, and, like Nālandā, Vikramaśīla served as a model for Tibetan monasteries. There were more foreign students at Vikramaśīla than at Nālandā, and the monastery is said to have been large enough to accommodate around ten thousand resident students, including specific dormitories for visiting Tibetan students. Vikramaśīla also housed a substantial library, where texts were both stored and recopied by students and teachers. By the tenth century CE, Vikramaśīla had outgrown even Nālandā, reaching its peak in the eleventh century, and offered a famous PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ curriculum. The monastery became the focus of tantric scholarship during this period, and pilgrims came to study from many regions of Asia. During the reign of King Nayapāla, in the eleventh century, ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA was considered the greatest scholar at the monastery. Other famous scholars also taught there, including JITĀRI, JÑĀNAŚRĪMITRA, NĀROPA (briefly), and RATNĀKARAŚĀNTI. Vikramaśīla was attacked by Muslim armies between 1199 and 1203 CE. During the same period, ODANTAPURĪ was also attacked, and the surviving scholars and students were forced to flee. Many scholars escaped to Nepal and Tibet, saving many texts from their libraries. ŚĀKYAŚRĪBHADRA was the last abbot of Vikramaśīla, and also the last to flee to Tibet from the monastery, arriving in 1204.

vikṣepa. (P. vikkhepa; T. rnam par g.yeng ba; C. sanluan; J. sanran; K. sallan 散亂). In Sanskrit, “distraction”; the movement of the mind away from the object of observation or a lack of mental balance that disturbs concentration. It is one of the forty-six mental concomitants (CAITTA) according to the VAIBHĀṢIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA and one of the fifty-one according to the YOGĀCĀRA school, which lists it as one of the twenty secondary afflictions (UPAKLEŚA).

vimalā. (T. dri ma med pa; C. ligou di; J. rikuji; K. igu chi 離垢地). In Sanskrit, “immaculate” or “stainless”; the name of the second of the ten bodhisattva stages, or BHŪMI. On this bhūmi, the bodhisattva engages in the perfection of morality (ŚĪLAPĀRAMITĀ) and is unstained by even subtle types of unwholesome actions performed by body, speech, or mind. It is said that from this bhūmi onward, the bodhisattva is untainted by killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, senseless prattle, covetousness, harmful intent, or wrong views, even during dreams. He performs the ten virtues of protecting life, giving gifts, maintaining sexual ethics, speaking truthfully, speaking harmoniously, speaking kindly, speaking sensibly, nonattachment, helpful intent, and right views without the slightest taint of a conception of self (ĀTMAGRAHA). The bodhisattva remains on this stage until he is able to enter into all worldly forms of SAMĀDHI.

Vimalakīrti. (T. Dri med grags pa; C. Weimojie; J. Yuimakitsu; K. Yumahil 維摩詰). Sanskrit proper name of a mythical Indian Buddhist layman. He is the subject of an eponymous sūtra that describes his victories in debates with elite MAHĀYĀNA BODHISATTVAs. See VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEŚA.

Vimalakīrtinirdeśa. (T. Dri med grags pas bstan pa’i mdo; C. Weimo jing; J. Yuimagyō; K. Yuma kyŏng 維摩經). In Sanskrit, “Vimalakīrti’s Instructions”; one of the most beloved Indian Mahāyāna sūtras, renowned especially for having a layman, the eponymous VIMALAKĪRTI, as its protagonist. The text probably dates from around the second century CE. Among the seven translations of the sūtra into Chinese, the most famous is that made by KUMĀRAJĪVA in 406. His translation seems to have been adapted to appeal to Chinese mores, emphasizing the worldly elements of Vimalakīrti’s teachings and introducing the term “filial piety” into the text. The sūtra was also translated by XUANZANG in 650. The sūtra was translated into Tibetan twice, the more famous being that of Chos nyid tshul khrims in the ninth century. It has also been rendered into Sogdian, Khotanese, and Uighur. The original Sanskrit of the text was lost for over a millennia until a Sanskrit manuscript was discovered in the PO TA LA palace in Tibet in 2001. The narrative of the sūtra begins with the Buddha requesting that his leading ŚRĀVAKA disciples visit his lay disciple Vimalakīrti, who is ill. Each demurs, recounting a previous meeting with Vimalakīrti in which the layman had chastised the monk for his limited understanding of the dharma. The Buddha then instructs his leading bodhisattva disciples to visit Vimalakīrti. Each again demurs until MAÑJUŚRĪ reluctantly agrees. Vimalakīrti explains that his sickness is the sickness of all sentient beings, and goes on to describe how a sick bodhisattva should understand his sickness, emphasizing the necessity of both wisdom (PRAJÑĀ) and method (UPĀYA). A large audience of monks and bodhisattvas then comes to Vimalakīrti’s house, where he delivers a sermon on “inconceivable liberation” (acintyavimokṣa). Among the audience is ŚĀRIPUTRA, the wisest of the Buddha’s śrāvaka disciples. As in other Mahāyāna sūtras, the eminent śrāvaka is made to play the fool, repeatedly failing to understand how all dichotomies are overcome in emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), most famously when a goddess momentarily transforms him into a female. Later, a series of bodhisattvas take turns describing various forms of duality and how they are overcome in nonduality. Vimalakīrti is the last to be invited to speak. He remains silent and is praised for this teaching of the entrance into nonduality. The sūtra is widely quoted in later literature, especially on the topics of emptiness, method, and nonduality. It became particularly famous in East Asia because the protagonist is a layman, who repeatedly demonstrates that his wisdom is superior to that of monks. Scenes from the sūtra are often depicted in East Asian Buddhist art.

Vimalamitra. (T. Dri med bshes gnyen). An Indian master revered in Tibet as one of the chief figures in the transmission of the RDZOGS CHEN teachings of the RNYING MA sect, especially of the “heart drop” (SNYING THIG) tradition. He is said to have received rdzogs chen teachings from both Jñānasūra and ŚRĪSIṂHA. According to legend, Vimalamitra transmitted these teachings to Tibet when he was invited (when he was supposedly already two hundred years old) to come to Tibet by King KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN, arriving either before or after the king’s death in 799. He remained in Tibet for thirteen years, before leaving for China. While in Tibet, he collaborated in the translation of a number of texts from Sanskrit into Tibetan, including the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA, the GUHYAGARBHATANTRA, and the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASŪTRA (“Heart Sūtra”). Vimalamitra is especially renowned for his transmission of the teachings of the “instruction class” (MANG NGAG SDE), which were gathered in a collection named after him, the BI MA SNYING THIG. He is also said to have concealed treasure texts (gter ma) at a hermitage above BSAM YAS monastery. The works attributed to him preserved in the Tibetan canons are all tantric in subject matter, with two exceptions, a commentary on the SAPTASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA (“Perfection of Wisdom in Seven Hundred Lines”) and a commentary on the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtra. Both are straightforward exegetical works, which prompted the Tibetan historian ’Gos lo tsā ba to report in his DEB THER SNGON PO (“Blue Annals”) that these commentaries were not the product of the tantric master revered in Rnying ma, and that in fact there must have been two Vimalamitras.

Vimalaprabhā. (T. Dri med ’od). In Sanskrit, “Stainless Light,” the most important commentary on the KĀLACAKRATANTRA. It is traditionally attributed to Puṇḍarīka, one of the kings of ŚAMBHALA.

Vīmaṃsakasutta. (C. Qiujie jing; J. Gugekyō; K. Kuhae kyŏng 求解經). In Pāli, “Discourse on Investigation”; the forty-seventh sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the 186th SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA); delivered by the Buddha to a gathering of monks in the JETAVANA grove at the town of Sāvatthi (ŚRĀVASTĪ). In this sutta, the Buddha describes specific means by which it may be determined whether or not the TATHĀGATA has in fact attained buddhahood. He directs the inquirer to rely on what he has seen and heard to determine whether the tathāgata possesses any defiled states, mixed states, or impure states; whether he possesses wholesome states; and whether he is free from the dangers of renown and fame, free from fear and sexual passion, and free from contempt for others due to their failings. Finally the Buddha states that the monk gains true confidence in the three jewels (RATNATRAYA) by learning the Buddha’s teachings and confirming their truth through direct experience born of practice.

Vimānavatthu. In Pāli, “Accounts of the Celestial Abodes,” the sixth book of the Pāli KHUDDAKANIKĀYA. The text contains accounts of the heavenly abodes (P. vimāna, lit. “mansion, palace”) of various divinities (DEVA), which they acquired as rewards for meritorious deeds performed in previous lives. Its eighty-three stories were told to Moggallāna (MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA) and other saints during their sojourns in celestial realms, who in turn related them to the Buddha. The Vimānavatthu appears in the Pali Text Society’s English translation series as Stories of the Mansions.

vimokṣa. (P. vimokkha; T. rnam par thar pa; C. jietuo; J. gedatsu; K. haet’al 解). In Sanskrit, “liberation” or “deliverance”; the state of freedom from rebirth, achieved by the ŚRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, or BODHISATTVA paths (MĀRGA). In mainstream Buddhist literature, this liberation is said to be of three types, corresponding to the three “doors to deliverance” (VIMOKṢAMUKHA): (1) emptiness (ŚUNYATĀ), (2) signlessness (ĀNIMITTA), and (3) wishlessness (APRAṆIHITA). Another set of eight grades of liberation (vimokṣa) is associated with the attainment of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA). In Pāli sources, these grades refer to eight levels in the extension of consciousness that accompany the cultivation of increasingly more advanced states of dhyāna (P. JHĀNA). The eight grades are (1) the perception of material form (RŪPA) while remaining in the subtle-materiality realm; (2) the perception of external material forms while not perceiving one’s own form; (3) the development of confidence through contemplating the beautiful; (4) passing beyond the material plane with the idea of “limitless space,” one attains the plane of limitless space (ĀKĀŚĀNANTYĀYATANA), the first level of the immaterial realm; (5) passing beyond the plane of limitless space with the idea of “limitless consciousness,” one attains the plane of limitless consciousness (VIJÑĀNĀNANTYĀYATANA); (6) passing beyond the plane of limitless consciousness with the idea “there is nothing,” one attains the plane of nothingness (ĀKIÑCANYĀYATANA); (7) passing beyond the plane of nothingness one attains the plane of neither perception nor nonperception (NAIVASAṂJÑĀNĀSAṂJÑĀYATANA); and (8) passing beyond the plane of neither perception nor nonperception one attains the cessation of consciousness (viz., NIRODHASAMĀPATTI). In the Mahāyāna ABHIDHARMA, it is said that the first two grades enable bodhisattvas to manifest different forms for the sake of others, the third controls their attitude toward those forms (by seeing that beauty and ugliness are relative), and the remaining five enable them to live at ease in order to help others.

vimokṣamārga. (S). See VIMUKTIMĀRGA.

vimokṣamukha. (P. vimokkhamukha; T. rnam par thar pa’i sgo; C. jietuo men; J. gedatsumon; K. haet’al mun 解門). In Sanskrit, “gates to deliverance,” or “doors of liberation”; three points of transition between the compounded (SAṂSKṚTA) and uncompounded (ASAṂSKṚTA) realms, which, when contemplated, lead to liberation (VIMOKṢA) and NIRVĀṆA: (1) emptiness (ŚUNYATĀ), (2) signlessness (ĀNIMITTA), and (3) wishlessness (APRAṆIHITA). The three are widely interpreted. In mainstream Buddhist materials, emptiness (śunyatā) entails the recognition that all compounded (SAṂSKṚTA) things of this world are devoid of any perduring self (ĀTMAN) and are thus unworthy objects of clinging. By acknowledging emptiness, the meditator is thus able to turn away from this world and instead advert toward nirvāṇa, which is uncompounded (ASAṂSKṚTA). Signlessness (ānimitta) is a crucial stage in the process of sensory restraint (INDRIYASAṂVARA): as the frequent refrain in the SŪTRAs states, “In the seen, there is only the seen,” and not the superimpositions created by the intrusion of ego (ĀTMAN) into the perceptual process. Signlessness is produced through insight into impermanence (ANITYA) and serves as the counteragent (PRATIPAKṢA) to attachments to anything experienced through the senses; once the meditator has abandoned all such attachments to the senses, he is then able to advert toward nirvāṇa, which ipso facto has no sensory signs of its own by which it can be recognized. Wishlessness is produced through insight into suffering (DUḤKHA) and serves as the counteragent (PRATIPAKṢA) to all the intentions (āśaya) and aspirations (PRAṆIDHĀNA) one has toward any compounded dharma. As the Buddha’s famous simile of the raft also suggests, the adept must finally abandon even the attachment to the compounded religious system that is Buddhism in order to experience nirvāṇa, the summum bonum of the religion. Once the meditator has abandoned all such aspirations, he will then be able to advert toward nirvāṇa, which ipso facto has nothing to do with anything that can be desired (VAIRĀGYA). ¶ In the ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA, the three are explained in terms of three types of concentration (SAMĀDHI) on the sixteen aspects of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. The four aspects of the first truth, of suffering (DUḤKHASATYA), are impermanence, misery, emptiness, and selflessness. The four aspects of the second truth, origination (SAMUDAYASATYA), are cause, origination, strong production, and condition. The four aspects of the third truth, cessation (NIRODHASATYA), are cessation, pacification, exaltedness, and emergence. The four aspects of the fourth truth, path (MĀRGASATYA), are path, suitability, achievement, and deliverance. According to the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, the samādhi associated with signlessness observes the four aspects of cessation; the samādhi of emptiness observes emptiness and selflessness, two of the four aspects of suffering; and the samādhi of wishlessness observes the remaining ten aspects. ¶ In YOGĀCĀRA texts, such as the MAHĀYĀNASAṂGRAHA, emptiness, wishlessness, and signlessness are related to the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA) of the imaginary (PARIKALPITA), the dependent (PARATANTRA), and the consummate (PARINIṢPANNA), respectively. In the MAHĀYĀNASŪTRĀLAṂKĀRA, it is said that the samādhi of emptiness understands the selflessness of persons and phenomenal factors (DHARMA), the samādhi of wishlessness views the five aggregates (SKANDHA) as faulty, and the samādhi of signlessness views nirvāṇa as the pacification of the aggregates. Elsewhere in that text, the three are connected to the four seals (CATURMUDRĀ) that certify a doctrine as Buddhist. The statements “all compounded factors are impermanent” and “all contaminated things are suffering” are the cause of the samādhi of wishlessness. “All phenomena are devoid of a perduring self” is the cause of the samādhi of emptiness. “Nirvāṇa is peace” is the cause of the sāmadhi of signlessness. According to another interpretation, emptiness refers to the lack of a truly existent entity in phenomena, signlessness refers to the lack of a truly existent cause, and wishlessness refers to the lack of a truly existent effect.

Viṃśatikā. (T. Nyi shu pa; C. Weishi ershi lun; J. Yuishiki nijūron; K. Yusik isip non 唯識二十). The “Twenty,” also known as Viṃśatikāvijñaptimātratāsiddhikārikā, the “Twenty Stanzas Proving Representation-Only,” one of the most influential independent (i.e., noncommentarial) works of the fourth-or fifth-century Indian master VASUBANDHU. A short work in twenty verses, it outlines the basic position of the YOGĀCĀRA regarding the status of external objects, arguing that such objects do not exist apart from the consciousness that perceives them. He argues, for example, that the fact that objects appear to exist in an external world is not proof of that existence, since an external world also appears to exist in dreams. Therefore, all external phenomena are merely projections of consciousness (VIJÑĀNA) and thus are representation-only (VIJÑAPTIMĀTRATĀ).