Ten principal disciples

Part of a series on
Buddhism
Glossary Index Outline
History Timeline The Buddha Pre-sectarian Buddhism Councils Silk Road transmission of Buddhism Decline in the Indian subcontinent Later Buddhists Buddhist modernism
Dharma Concepts Four Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path Dharma wheel Five Aggregates Impermanence Suffering Not-self Dependent Origination Middle Way Emptiness Morality Karma Rebirth Saṃsāra Cosmology
Buddhist texts Buddhavacana Early Texts Tripiṭaka Mahayana Sutras Pāli Canon Sanskrit literature Tibetan canon Chinese canon Post-canon
Practices Three Jewels Buddhist Paths to liberation Five precepts Perfections Meditation Philosophical reasoning Devotional practices Merit making Recollections Mindfulness Wisdom Sublime abidings Aids to Enlightenment Monasticism Lay life Buddhist chant Pilgrimage Vegetarianism
Nirvāṇa Awakening Four Stages Arhat Pratyekabuddha Bodhisattva Buddha
Traditions Theravāda Pāli Mahāyāna Hinayana Chinese Vajrayāna Tibetan Navayana Newar
Buddhism by country Bhutan Brazil Cambodia China India Indonesia Japan Korea Laos Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar Russia Singapore US Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Tibet Vietnam
Buddhism portal
v t e

The ten principal disciples were the main disciples of Gautama Buddha.^[1] Depending on the scripture, the disciples included in this group vary. In many Mahāyāna discourses, these ten disciples are mentioned, but in differing order.^[2][3][1] The ten disciples can be found as an iconographic group in notable places in the Mogao Caves. They are mentioned in Chinese texts from the fourth century BCE until the twelfth century CE, and are the most honored of the groups of disciples, especially so in China and Central Asia.^[1] The ten disciples are mentioned in the Mahāyāna text Vimalakīrti-nideśa, among others. In this text, they are called the "Ten Wise Ones" (pinyin: shih-che), a term which is normally used for the disciples of Confucius.^[4]