Note: the following categorizations of holy figures are rudimentary because Buddhism is a complex web of hierarchies that cannot be perfectly modeled. Even in this chapter, there are figures that change names and stature (in this case, we took the highest level reached). However, for the sake of this project, we wanted to obtain a trend of the trajectory of the text.
| Hierarchy Value | Definition |
|---|---|
| 1 | Eminent Buddha |
| 2 | Standard Buddha |
| 3 | Eminent Boddhisattva |
| 4 | Standard Bodhisattva |
| 5 | Eminent Other Holy Figure |
| 6 | Standard Other Holy Figure |
The following table charts all of the named holy figures and their importances in the first chapter to show how the figures lend authority to the text. If you would like to see where in the text these references occur, see the List of References.
| Figure | Hierarchy | Count in Prose | Count in Verse | Total Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anantavikramin | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Anikṣipta dhura | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Aniruddha | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Avalo - kiteśvara | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bakkula | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bhadra pāla | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bhagavat | 1 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Bhaiṣajyarāja | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bodhisattva Mahāsattva | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Brahma | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Brahma Jyotiṣprabha | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Brahma Śikhin | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Buddha | 1 | 16 | 22 | 38 |
| Buddha Candrasūryapradīpa | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Buddha Dīpaṃkara | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Can dra prabha | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Candra | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Candrasūryapradīpa | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Dīpaṃkara | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Gavāṃ pati | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Gayā kāśyapa | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Great Sage | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| jñāta kauṇḍinya | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kapphiṇa | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Maheśvara | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mahā kauṣṭhila | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mahā kātyā - yana | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mahā maudgalyāyana | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mahākāśyapa | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mahāsthāmaprāpta | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mahāvikramin | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Maitreya | 1 | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| Mañjuśrī | 3 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Nadī kāśyapa | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nanda | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Nityodyukta | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Pilinda | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Pradānaśūra | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Pūr ṇa maitrā yaṇī putra | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Pūrṇa candra | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Rat na pāni | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ratnacandra | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ratnaprabha | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ratnākara | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Revata | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Rāhula | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sage Lord (Narendrasiṃhā) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Samantagandha | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Subhūti | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sundarananda | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Susātha vāha | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tathāgata | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| the King of the Dharma | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| The Noble Lord | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| The Noble One | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Trai lokya vikrama | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Uruvilvakāśyapa | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Varaprabha | 3 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| vatsa | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Vimalāṅganetra | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Yaśaskāma | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Yaśodharā | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Īśvara | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Śakra | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Śrīgarbha | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |