B.C.
and the second century
A.D.
Licchavis
The dominant clan in the city of Vai
ś
ā
l
ī
līlā
Game
liṇga
Sign, token, phallus
Lucke
John Locke, 1632–1704
Loug
Dighanikāyu
, “group of long [discourses]”: name of one of the five sections into which the
Suttapitaka
, one of the Three Baskets of the Buddha’s discourses, is divided
Long Discourses
The doctrine of the Buddha expounded in long treatises
Lop
ā
mudr
ā
Wife of Agastya
Lord of the Animals
Ś
iva
Lord of the Creatures
Praj
ā
pati
Lord of the Herds
Pa
ś
upati
Lord of the Mountain
Parvata, Himavat
Lord of the Ornament
Ś
ubháspá
ū
s
Lord of the Residues
Vastupa; epithet of
Ś
iva
Lumbin
ī
The place M
ā
y
ā
gave birth to the Buddha, a small wood on the road between Devadaha and Kapilavastu: identified with a village in Ter
ā
i (Nepal) not far from Gorakhpur (India), now known as Ruminindei
Mada
Intoxication; a demon
madhu
Honey
madhura
Sweet
Madhurasvar
ā
Name of an Apsaras
mādhurya
Sweetness
madhuvidyā
Doctrine of the honey
M
ā
dr
ī
Second wife of P
ā
ṇ
ḍ
u, who, by her union with the A
ś
vins, gives birth to Nakula and Sahadeva
Magadha
Ancient name for the present southern Bihar
Mahābhārata
Epic poem attributed to Vy
ā
sa, said to have been written down sometime between the third century
B.C.
and the third century
A.D.
Mah
ā
deva
Great God; one of the names of Rudra
mahaduktha
Great recital; chants intoned by the
hotṛ
on the day of the
mahāerata
, during the midday squeezing of the
soma
Mah
ā
k
ā
ś
yapa
Great Turtle; one of the first sixteen
arhats
, led the Buddhist community after the death of the Buddha
Mah
ā
ko
ś
ī
A river that rises in the Him
ā
laya
mahāvira
A clay pot made during the
pravargya
rite, used for heating milk
mahāvrata
Great vow; a ceremony that forms part of a
sattra
lasting a year; at its center is the
mahaduktha
mahiṣī
Consecrated One; the first in rank of the king’s wives; she who married him first
Main
Name of the region around Frankfurt, where the Main flows
Maitrey
ī
Wife of Y
ā
jñnavalkya
Maitri Upaniṣad
An Upani
ṣ
ad in which the sage Maitri appears
Mallas
At the time of the Buddha, the dominant clan in the north of Bihar
manas
Mind; Latin:
mens
mānasaputras
Sons born of the mind
maṇḍala
Circle; the books that make up the
Ṛ
g Veda are known as
maṇḍalas
Mandara
A mountain used by the Devas and Asuras for the churning of the ocean
Man-Lion
Narasimha, fourth
avatāra
of Vi
ṣ
ṇ
u
mantra
Incantatory formula, metric unit; the hymns of the
Ṛ
g Veda are composed of
mantras
Manu
Son of Vivasvui and Sa
ṃ
j
ñ
a. progenitor of men, who are thus known as
mānaras.
Or the son of Brahm
ā
and
Ś
atar
ū
p
ā
M
ā
ra
Killer; prince of demons, enemy of the Buddha
Marcel
Name of the narrator in Proust’s
Recherche
M
ā
rga
ś
ī
r
ṣ
a
Head of the Antelope: the month corresponding to November-December
Mar
ī
ci
A
ṛṣi
of the second list
M
ā
rt
ā
ṇ
ḍ
a
Dead Egg; the name of the Sun, shapeless son of Aditi
Maruts
Darting Ones; Rudra’s children, born “from the laugh of the lightning” (
Ṛg Veda
, 1.23. 12)
Maskarin Go
ś
ā
l
ī
putra
Philosopher at the time of the Buddha
M
ā
tali
Charioteer and messenger of Indra
Mathur
ā
A city of Uttar Pradesh, on the Yamun
ā
River; birthplace of K
ṛ
ṣ
ṇ
a
Maudgaly
ā
yana
A disciple of the Buddha
māyā
Enchantment; also illusion, deception, magic; from the root the
mā
-, “to measure”
M
ā
y
ā
Mother of the Buddha
Memory
Smara
Men
ā
Wife of Himayat, mother of P
ā
rvat
ī
and Gañg
ā
Menak
ā
Name of an Apsaras
Meru
The mountain that is also the axis of the world
meru
Spine
Middle-length
Majjhimanikāya
, “group of middle-length”; the name of one of the five sections into which the
Suttapiṭaka
, one of the Three Baskets of the Buddha’s discourses, was subdivided
Middle Way
Madhyamā pratipad;
term used to define the teaching of the Buddha and the Eight-fold Path he preached
Milky Way
Flow of celestial wuters: the whitish band that crosses the celestial vault, including about 100 billion stars; identified with Ga
ṅ
g
ā
Mi
ś
rake
ś
ī
Name of un Apsaras
Mitra
Friend; one of the
Ā
dityas: a divinity who has a dual relationship with Varu
ṇ
a
Mixed
Saṃyuttanikāya
, “mixed group”; the name of one of the five sections into which the