triyāna

From Buddha-Nature

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Glossarytriyāna

Sanskrit Noun

triyāna

three vehicles
त्रियान
ཐེག་པ་གསུམ་
三乗

Basic Meaning

Commonly seen in a Mahāyāna context, the three vehicles are the Śrāvakayāna, Pratyekabuddhayāna, and Bodhisattvayāna, which reference the three different types of Buddhist practitioners. However, these three vehicles can also reference the three types of Buddhist teachings of the Hīnayāna, Mahāyāna (or Pāramitāyāna), and the Vajrayāna.

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Term Variations
Key Term triyāna
Topic Variation triyāna
Tibetan ཐེག་པ་གསུམ་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration theg pa gsum
Devanagari Sanskrit त्रियान
Chinese 三乗
Chinese Pinyin sānchéng
Japanese Transliteration sanjō
Korean Transliteration samsŭng
Buddha-nature Site Standard English three vehicles
Richard Barron's English Term three spiritual approaches
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term three vehicles
Gyurme Dorje's English Term three vehicles
Term Information
Source Language Sanskrit
Basic Meaning Commonly seen in a Mahāyāna context, the three vehicles are the Śrāvakayāna, Pratyekabuddhayāna, and Bodhisattvayāna, which reference the three different types of Buddhist practitioners. However, these three vehicles can also reference the three types of Buddhist teachings of the Hīnayāna, Mahāyāna (or Pāramitāyāna), and the Vajrayāna.
Did you know? The ultimate goal of the Śrāvakayāna is the state of an arhat, while the ultimate goal of the Bodhisattvayāna is buddhahood.
Related Terms Ekayāna
Term Type Noun
Definitions
Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism See page 926: In Sanskrit, “three vehicles,” three different means taught in Buddhist soteriological literature of conveying sentient beings to liberation.
Tshig mdzod Chen mo nyan thos kyi theg pa/ rang rgyal gyi theg pa/ byang sems kyi theg pa ste gsum/