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Journal of Indian and , Vol. 51, No. 1, December 2002 (45)

The Meaning of "Dhammakaya" in

Tomomichi NITTA

. Many previous studies argue that the compound dhammakaya Mt. ; dharmakaya)

in early and sectarian Buddhist scriptures was originally a tatpurusa noun, meaning "th collection of the dhamma." In this case, "dhamma" refers to the doctrine or

the discipline taught by the Buddha.1) It is further argued that the concept of the

dhammakaya gradually developed into the doctrine in the in re-

sponse to the deification of Gotama Buddha after his death. Many other studies,

however, interpret the term dhammakaya in the Digha-Nikaya (=DN), which can

be regarded as one of the earliest uses of this term, as a bahuvrihi adjective that

means "having the dhamma as his body." 2) The purpose of this paper is to reconsider

the meaning of dhammakaya in Pali texts.

. A good example of the use of dhammakaya,‡ in the sense of "collection of the

dhamma, is found in the Milindapahho (=Mil). Having been asked by king Milinda

whether the Buddha exists . even after his death, the declares that

the Buddha exists, and continues as follows :

One cannot indicate the Lord who has gone by saying that he is either here or there. But, great

king, one can indicate the Lord by pointing to the collection of teachings (dhammakaya). For,

indeed, great king, the teaching (dhamma) was preached by the Lord.3)

However, as already mentioned, the word dhammakaya in DN is explained by many

scholars as a bahuvrihi adjective. The passage runs as follows

The following terms, Vasettha, are designations of the Tathagata : having the dhamma as his

body (dhammakaya), having Brahman as his body, the dhamma itself, and Brahman itself.4)

According to Harrison [19921, the meaning of dhammkaya in this context reflects

the equation of the Buddha with the dhamma, which is also expressed in the fol-

lowing passage in the Samyutta-Nikaya (=SN): "Whoever sees the dhamma, Vakkali,

sees me. Whoever sees me, sees the dhamma." 5) Harrison argues that dhammakaya

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‡T ( 46 ) The Meaning of "Dhammakaya" in Pali Buddhism (T. NITTA) is virtually synonymous with the subsequent word "the dhamma itself' (dhamma bhuta).6) Furthermore, the Pali commentaries lend support to this interpretation. Buddha- ghosa explains the word dhammakaya in DN as follows : Why is it said that the Tathagatahas the dhammaas his body (dhammakaya)? Becausethe Tatha- gata, after having thought the word of the Buddha, . e. the three Pitakas, in his mind, has expressedit in words. Therefore, becauseit is made of the dhamma, his body is the dhamma.7) By asserting that the Tathagata's body is the dhamma, thus clearly interprets dhammakaya in DN as a bahuvrihi compound meaning "having the dhamma as his body." The same interpretation is found in Buddhaghosa's annotation to the statement "Wh oever sees the dhamma, sees me." According to him, this statement means that the Buddha shows his nature of having the dhamrna as his body (dhamma kayata). 8) In other words, "the nine-fold transcendental dhamma is the body of the Lord." 9) In these examples, the word dhamma in dhammakaya can be understood as "the doctrine" taught by the Buddha. Buddhaghosa, however, gives another meaning to dhammakaya, comparing it with r.upakaya in the (=Vism). He says : The Lord has a materialbody (rupakaya) that is endowedwith the eighty minor attributesand adorned with the thirty-two marks of a great man, and a body of (dhammakaya)that possessesthe perfectionof treasurelikemerits such as the aggregateof disciplines(sila) that is pure in every respect. 10) In this case the dhamma seems to mean "the aggregate of the five " (pailcadhammakkhandha). The term dhammakaya is also found in the Paramatthajotika (=Pj), a work tra- ditionally attributed to Buddhaghosa. We there find expressions such as "to see the dhamma-body of the Lord by the eye of wisdom" 11)and "to see the dhamma-body by the supramundane eye and to see the material body by the mundane eye." 12) also mentions dharnmakava in some parts of his commentary, the Paramatthadipani. Like Buddhaghosa, he interprets the word dhamma in dhammakaya as "the nine-fold transcendental dhamma" 13)and "the aggregate of the five virtues." 14)In addition, he describes dhammakaya as "the inconceivable and immeasurable dhamrna-body endowed with the ten powers, the four confidences, -479- The Meaning of "Dhammakaya" in Pali Buddhism (T. NITTA) (47)

the six kinds of specific knowledge and the eighteen exclusive Buddha qualities ."

All these three interpretations are used in contrast with rupakava. Dhammapala 15)

also says, as Pj, that the material body of the Tathagata is seen by the physical

eye, and the dhamma-body is seen by the eye of wisdom.16) ‡V

. Two possible interpretations of the compound dhammakaya are found in Ni-

kayas. That is, dhammakaya either means "having the dhamma as his body," or

it means "collection of the dhamma." Therefore it should not be hastily concluded

that the original meaning of dhammakaya was "collection of the teachings." And

even if there are two possible different interpretations, the equation of the Buddha

with the dhamma17) can be understood when one considers Mil and DN's use of the

word as a whole, as depicted by Harrison [1992].

1) Shinko Mochizuki [1938], "Indo ni okeru Buddakan no Hattatsu," Tetsugaku Zasshi 52

(199-207), 2-7. Gaj in Nagao [1971], "Busshinron wo Megurite," Tetsugaku Kenkyu 45-3 (1-26),

2-3,9-10. N. Dutt [1978], Buddhist Sects in India (2nd ed.), Delhi, 136-147. Yuichi Kajiyama

[1996] , "Buddakan no Hatten," Bukkyo Daigaku Sogo Kenkyakivo 3 (5-46), 29-30. Toshiichi

Endo [1997] Buddha in Buddhism, Dehiwela, 107-110. 2) T. W. Rhys Davids

(ed.) [1921], Dialogues of the Buddha, London, ‡W, 81. L de Vallee Poussin [1929], Vi-

jhaptimatratasiddhi : La de Hiuan-tsang, vol 2, Paris, 765. E. Lamotte [1958], Histoire

du Bouddhisme Indien, Louvain, 689. Paul Harrison [1992], "Is the -kaya the Real "Ph antom Body" of the Buddha?" The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist

Studies 15-1 (44-94), 49-50. Buddhist Hybrid Grammar and Dictionary, s. v. Pali

Tipitaka Concordance, s.v. 3) Mil 73,19-22. 4) DN ‡V, 84,23-25. 5) SN‡V,

120, 28. 6) Harrison [1992], 49-50. 7) Digha-Nikaya- ‡V , 865,15-18.

8) Samyutta-Nikaya-atthakatha (=SA) ‡U, 314,12-14. 9) SA ‡U. 314,15. 10) Vism

234,15-18. 11) Pj ‡U , 41,26. 12) Pj ‡U, 42,16-17. 13) -atthakatha (=

ItA) ‡U , 115,32-116,11: -atthakatha (=ThA) ‡U , 205, 23-24. 14) ThA ‡T ,

115, 7 15) ItA ‡T, 13,1-10. Cf. -atthakatha 87,6-10 : ThA ‡U, 121 : -

atthakatha 213,8-15 : Cariyapitaka-atthakatha 332,18-25. The same interpretation is found in

the A pi-da--da-pi-po-sha-lun ˆ¢”ù’B–•‘å”ù”k•¹˜_. See Taisho 27, 85a, 26-28:131b, 27-29:

624a, 13-15. 16) ItA ‡U , 115, 34-116, 2. 17) As already mentioned, in Pali commen-

taries, some changes can be found in the meaning of dhammakaya. Despite such changes, the

word dhammakaya seems to have consistently been used as a term that expresses the essence of

Buddha.

•q Key Words•r dhammakaya,–@•g,•§•g˜_, atthakatha.

(Graduate Student, The University of Tokyo)

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