dharma-kāya (7711)

dharma-kāya
Entry 7711, Page 277, Col. 1

(DarmakAya, Darma-kAya)
dharma-kāya¦, m. (in Pali recorded only as Bhvr. adj. in quite different sense, having a body that is, or is characterized by, the Doctrine, DN iii.84.24, said of the Buddha; see below for similar use in BHS); (1) the mass of conditions of existence, see s.v. kāya (2); (2) perhaps to be rendered spiritual body (?), contrasted with rūpa- kāya, q.v.: (dṛṣṭo mayopādhyāyānubhāvena) sa bhagavān dharmakāyena (in his spiritual form, or the like; he had not seen him physically) no tu rūpakāyena (but not in his physical form) Divy 19.11; similarly 360.19 (…na dṛṣṭo rūpakāyo me 20--21); na rūpakāyatas tathāgataḥ prajñā- tavyaḥ…dharmakāyaprabhāvitāś ca buddhā bhagavanto na rūpakāya-prabhāvitāḥ Samādh 22.7 (Régamey, Absolute Body, Material Body; R. does not understand prabhāvita quite rightly; it means recognized, see BR s.v. bhū with pra, caus., 3); similarly 22.9 and esp. 34, with the explana- tion, dharmeṇa kāyu nirjito, (His) body is born (? see nirjita) by dharma; see Régamey p. 23; elsewhere, with the same contrast, the word dharma-k° is used as a Bhvr. adj. (cf. the Pali usage above, with which this usage may be directly connected), na hi tathāgato rūpakāyato draṣṭavyaḥ, dharmakāyās tathāgatāḥ AsP 513.15; instead of rūpakāya, simply kāya may be used in contrast, dharma- kāyā buddhā bhagavantaḥ, mā khalu punar imaṃ bhik- ṣavaḥ satkāyaṃ kāyaṃ manyadhvaṃ, dharmakāya- pariniṣpattito māṃ bhikṣavo drakṣyanty AsP 94.11--13; (3) perhaps to be rendered in the same way as (2), but considered the highest of three bodies of a Buddha, the [Page277-b+ 71] others being saṃbhoga- and nirmāṇa-k°; this is a late formula (Régamey, l.c. above) and I have noted the triad only in Mvy 116--118 among texts included in this work (see under the others); (4) without specific contrast with other kāyas but most likely belonging to (2) rather than (3): sa dharmakāya-prabhāvito (see Samādh 22.7 above) darśanenāpi sattvānām arthaṃ karoti Śikṣ. 159.7; manomaya-dharmakāyasya tathāgatasya Laṅk 192.1 (AbhidhK. knows a manomaya-kāya, app. not identified with dharma-k°, see LaV-P. Index; acc. to ii.209 it pertains to the rūpa-dhātu); prob., na rājan kṛpaṇo loke dharma- kāyena saṃspṛśet Divy 560.2 (vs). [In LV 401.21 all mss. and Calc. read Dharmakāya as n. of one of the four devatās of the bodhi-tree; Lefm. Dharmakāma, with Tib. chos ḥdod; the em. seems plausible.]