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/ |
