A Tibetan-English Dictionary: With Sanskrit SynonymsHere the Tibetan words are given in alphabetical order, with their accepted sanskrit equivalents followed by the english meaning. All the technical terms are illustrated from extracts form sanskrit Buddhist and Tibetan works. |
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Common terms and phrases
able according ancient animals applied become bird body born Buddha Buddhist byed-pa called carried cause chief Chinese cloth colloq colour common cover deity desire disease district doctrine epithet evil existence expression five flower four give gods grow hand happiness head heart hold horse India kind king Lama language letter living look manner meaning measure medicinal Mhon mind Mñon monastery monk mountain mystic object offerings one's original pass person piece plant possessed present religion religious residence resp river root round Rtsii sbst Schr sense side signifies sound speak species spirit stone term thing Tibet Tibetan tion tree wish woman
Popular passages
Page viii - ... twofold impulse: for several centuries the wisdom of India and the ingenuity of Tibet laboured in unison and with the greatest industry and enthusiasm at the work of translation. The tribute due to real genius must be awarded to these early pioneers of Tibetan grammar. They had to grapple with the infinite wealth and refinement of Sanskrit, they had to save the independence of their own tongue, while they strove to subject it to the rule of scientific principles, and it is most remarkable, how...
Page 54 - God, yet it will be easily understood, how the innate desire of man to adore and worship something supernatural, together with the hierarchical tendency of the teaching class, have afterwards contributed to convert the acknowledgment of human activity for the benefit of others (for such it was undoubtedly on the part of the founder himself and his earlier followers) into a devout, and by degrees idolatrous adoration of these three agents, especially as Buddha's religious doctrine did not at all satisfy...
Page 54 - dkon-mcog' suggests the idea of some supernatural power, the existence of which he feels in his heart, and the nature and properties of which he attributes more or less to the three agents mentioned above, we are fully entitled to assign to the word dkon-mcog also the signification of God, though the sublime conception which the Bible connects with this word, viz.
Page vii - ... bound not to overlook, of persons whose main purpose is to be taught how to write and speak the modern Tibetan tongue. There are two chief periods of literary activity to be noticed in studying the origin and growth of Tibetan literature and the landmarks in the history of the language. The first is the Period of Translations which, however, might also be entitled the Classical Period, for the sanctity of the religious message conferred a corresponding reputation and tradition of excellence upon...
Page vii - ... conveyed. This period begins in the first half of the seventh century, when Thonmi Sambhota, the minister of king Srongtsangampo, was sent to India to learn Sanskrit. His invention of the Tibetan alphabet gave a twofold impulse: for several centuries the wisdom of India and the ingenuity of Tibet laboured in unison and with the greatest industry and enthusiasm at the work of translation. The tribute due to real genius must be awarded to these early pioneers of Tibetan grammar. They had to grapple...
Page v - In the preface to his dictionary he said, "when there shall be more interest taken for Buddhism (which has much in common with the spirit of true Christianity) and for diffusing Christian and European knowledge throughout the most eastern...
Page 54 - ... the benefit of others (for such it was undoubtedly on the part of the founder himself and his earlier followers) into a devout, and by degrees idolatrous adoration of these three agents, especially as Buddha's religious doctrine did not at all satisfy the deeper wants of the human mind, and as its author himself did not know anything of a God standing apart and above this world. For whatever in Buddhism is found of beings to whom divine attributes are assigned, has either been transferred from...