Six classes of beings

six classes of beings (Skt. ṣaḍgati; T. 'gro ba rigs drug འགྲོ་བ་རིགས་དྲུག་; C. liuqu 六趣), a.k.a. "six destinies" (gati), are identified within the three realms of cyclic existence (samsara).

The six classes of beings are:

• Gods (deva)
• Jealous gods (asura)
• Humans (manuṣya)
• Animals (tiryak)
• Hungry ghosts (preta)
• Hell beings (nāraka)

Sentient beings (sattva) are born into a particular "class" or "destiny" based on the karma accumulated in previous lives.

The destinies/situations (gati) of these six classes of beings are sometimes referred to as "six domains," "six realms," etc.

Some texts present a system of five classes of beings (pañcagati), in which the jealous gods are included in the class of gods (deva).

External links

• འགྲོ་བ་རིགས་དྲུག་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
• རིགས་དྲུག་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
• Six classes of beings, Rigpa Shedra Wiki