Alternative spellings of this word include Chaturmandala.

In Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: MDPI Books: The Ocean of Heroes

Caturmaṇḍala (चतुर्मण्डल) refers to the “four layers”, according to the 10th-century Ḍākārṇava-tantra: one of the last Tibetan Tantric scriptures belonging to the Buddhist Saṃvara tradition consisting of 51 chapters.—Accordingly: [while explaining the body circle (kāyacakra)]: “[...] Sixteen [offerings] are performed by goddesses—[this is] the offering to the four layers (caturmaṇḍala) [...] Outside, there are eight charnel grounds and gatekeepers in order. [...] The color and other [physical features] are as before. [Every goddess is] very violent, with their mouth widely open, and is resplendent with a halo of fire. [...]”.

context information

Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Caturmaṇḍala (चतुर्मण्डल).—a four-fold arrangement (of troops &c.)

Derivable forms: caturmaṇḍalam (चतुर्मण्डलम्).

Caturmaṇḍala is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms catur and maṇḍala (मण्डल).

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Mandala, Catur.

Relevant text

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