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Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: object

Senses:

  • As 'object,' synonymous with (Skt. artha, viśaya, gocara). Material object(s). This world. Paramârtha, in his translation of Dignāgaʼs Ālambana-parīkṣā (T 1619), uses this term exclusively for ālambana (perceptual support). 六塵 and 六境 can be seen as mostly synonymous, but there are cases where the choice of 六塵 is intended to refer to the defiling character of the objects. [Charles Muller, Dan Lusthaus]
  • The original Chinese meaning is that of dust (mote), minute particles 微塵; often rendered into modern English as 'atom,' 'molecule,' etc. [Charles Muller]
  • It also has the senses of stain, blot, dirt, etc. which are used to render Indian Buddhist notions of defilement, pollution (Skt. rajas, pāṃśu); and affliction (Skt. upakleśa)—those things that defile the pure mind. Extending this sense, it is also used to denote worldly, earthly, the world, etc. [Charles Muller; source(s): Nakamura]
  • The Sanskrit guṇa, inter alia means 'a secondary element,' 'a quality,' 'an attribute of the five elements,' e.g. 'ether has śabda or sound for its guṇa and the ear for its organ.' The six sense fields or sensation-data are those of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and thought (Skt. aṇu; viṣaya; kāma, doṣa, dhūli, paramâṇu-rajas, pāṃsu, pāṃsu-rajas, pṛthivī, bhautkia, raja, raṇa, rūpa, reṇu, vastu; Pāli raja). [Charles Muller; source(s): Soothill, Hirakawa]
  • Also refers to 刹塵. [Charles Muller; source(s): Nakamura]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 610

    A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 145

    Zen Dust (Sasaki) 318

    Zengo jiten (Iriya and Koga) 9-P18

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 799a

    Fo Guang Dictionary 5762

    Ding Fubao

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0301

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)3623b,4769c

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 1230-1*1779-3-27

    Sanskrit-Tibetan Index for the Yogâcārabhūmi-śāstra (Yokoyama and Hirosawa)



    Entry created: 1993-09-01

    Updated: 2010-07-13