trāyastriṃśa
Tibetan: སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ་པ་
Tibetan (Wylie): sum cu rtsa gsum pa
Tibetan (phonetics): sum chu tsa sum pa
English term: Realm of the Thirty-three
English definition: The second (in ascending order) of the six heavens of the Desire Realm, above the Heaven of the Four Great Kings and below Free of Strife. It is inhabited by thirty-three male gods presided by Shakra, the lord of gods. Seven years after his enlightenment, the Buddha traveled to this heaven and stayed there for three mothers in order to teach the Abhidharma to his mother, who had been reborn there after her death soon after giving birth to prince Siddhartha. The Buddha’s return to Earth is celebrated in Chotrul Duchen, the Festivity of Miracles, one of the four major celebrations of the Tibetan Buddhist calendar.