The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism

Demiéville, Paul. (1894–1979). Distinguished French Buddhologist and Sinologist. He was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, and educated in Bern, Munich, and London. He began his study of Chinese at King’s College, London, in 1915, continuing in Paris, studying Chinese with Edouard Chavannes and Sanskrit with SYLVAIN LÉVI. In 1919, he became a member of the École française d’Extrême-Orient, spending 1920–24 in Hanoi, 1924–26 teaching Sanskrit and philosophy at Amoy University in Xiamen, China, and 1926–30 in Tokyo, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Buddhist dictionary HŌBŌGIRIN, which had been founded by Lévi and TAKAKUSU JUNJIRŌ. Returning to Paris, Demiéville held positions at the École des languages orientales vivantes and the École pratique des hautes études, before being appointed to succeed Henri Maspero in the chair of Chinese language and literature at the Collège de France, where he spent the remainder of his academic career. The majority of his publications, on a remarkable range of Buddhological and Sinological topics, were published as articles (many quite substantial) in journals such as Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient, T’oung Pao (where he served as editor), and in Hōbōgirin. Many of these later writings were gathered into two collections, Choix d’études sinologiques and Choix d’études bouddhiques. Demiéville published a detailed study of the Chinese version of the MILINDAPAÑHA and worked extensively on the DUNHUANG manuscripts. Two of his monographs are particularly well known, Entretiens de Lin-tsi (1972) on the Chan master LINJI and Le Concile de Lhasa (1952), still regarded as the definitive study on the BSAM YAS DEBATE.

Denkōroku. (傳光録). In Japanese, “Record of the Transmission of the Light”; a text also known by its full title, Keizan oshō denkōroku (“A Record of the Transmission of the Light by Master Keizan”). The anthology is attributed by Sōtō tradition to KEIZAN JŌKIN, but was most probably composed posthumously by his disciples. The Denkōroku is a collection of pithy stories and anecdotes concerning fifty-two teachers recognized by the Japanese SŌTŌSHŪ as the patriarchs of the school, accompanied by the author’s own explanatory commentaries and concluding verses. Each chapter includes a short opening case (honsoku), which describes the enlightenment experience of the teacher; a longer section (called a kien) offering a short biography and history of the teacher, including some of his representative teachings and exchanges with students and other teachers; a prose commentary (teishō; C. TICHANG) by the author; and a concluding appreciatory verse (juko). The teachers discussed in the text include twenty-seven Indian patriarchs from MAHĀKĀŚYAPA to Prajñātāra; six Chinese patriarchs from BODHIDHARMA through HUINENG; seventeen Chinese successors of Huineng in the CAODONG ZONG, from QINGYUAN XINGSI to TIANTONG RUJING; and finally the two Japanese patriarchs DŌGEN KIGEN and Koun Ejō (1198–1280). The Denkōroku belongs to a larger genre of texts known as the CHUANDENG LU (“transmission of the lamplight records”), although it is a rigidly sectarian lineage history, discussing only the single successor to each patriarch with no treatment of any collateral lines.

Deshan Xuanjian. (J. Tokusan Senkan; K. Tŏksan Sŏn’gam 德山宣鑑) (780/2–865). Chinese CHAN master of the Tang dynasty; famous for the fearsome “blows” (bang) through which he expressed his understanding of enlightenment, similar to the terrifying shouts (he) of Chan master LINJI YIXUAN (see BANGHE). A native of Jiannan in present-day Sichuan province, Deshan first studied the scriptures and the VINAYA, and became famous as a teacher of the VAJRACCHEDIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA (“Diamond Sūtra”). According to his hagiography, he was determined to defeat the Chan masters of the south with his knowledge of the sūtra, but on his way in Lizhou (present-day Hunan province), Deshan was rendered speechless by the following question from an old woman: “The ‘Diamond Sūtra’ says that neither the past mind, present mind, nor future mind can be grasped; so which mind does the elder desire to refresh?” He later became a student of the Chan master Longtan Chongxin (d.u.) and inherited his lineage. After his thirty-year residence at Lizhou, Deshan was forced by Emperor Wuzong’s (840–846) persecution of Buddhism (see HUICHANG FANAN) to hide on Mt. Dufu. He was later invited by the governor of Wuleng (present-day Hunan province) to reside on Deshan (“Mount Virtue”), whence he acquired his toponym. Deshan’s most famous disciple was XUEFENG YICUN, and their joint lineage leads ultimately to the mature Chan schools of the YUNMEN ZONG and FAYAN ZONG.

Desideri, Ippolito. (1684–1733). Jesuit missionary to Tibet. He was born in the town of Pistoia in Tuscany in 1684 and entered the Jesuit order in 1700, studying at the Collegio Romano. Following two years of instruction in theology, he requested permission to become a missionary, departing for India in 1712 and reaching Goa the following year. Assigned to the Tibet mission, Desideri and another priest, the Portuguese Manoel Freyre, traveled by ship, horseback, and on foot to Leh, the capital of Ladakh, the westernmost Tibetan domain. Setting out for LHA SA, they were able to survive the difficult seven-month journey thanks to the protection of a Mongolian princess who allowed the two priests to join her caravan. They reached the Tibetan capital on March 18, 1716. After just a month in Lha sa, Desideri’s companion decided to return to India. Desideri received permission from the ruler of Tibet, the Mongol warlord Lha bzang Khan, to remain in Tibet. He arranged for Desideri to live at RA MO CHE, and then at SE RA monastery. His notes from his studies indicate that he worked through textbooks on elementary logic through to the masterworks of the DGE LUGS sect, including the LAM RIM CHEN MO of TSONG KHA PA, which Desideri would eventually translate into Italian (the translation is lost). He would go on also to write a number of works in Tibetan, both expositions of Christianity and refutations of Buddhism. The most substantial of these was his unfinished “Inquiry into the Doctrines of Previous Lives and of Emptiness, Offered to the Scholars of Tibet by the White Lama called Ippolito” (Mgo skar [sic] gyi bla ma i po li do zhes bya ba yis phul ba’i bod kyi mkhas pa rnams la skye ba snga ma dang stong pa nyid kyi lta ba’i sgo nas zhu ba). Desideri remained in Tibet until 1721, when Tibet became a mission field of the Capuchins, requiring that the Jesuit abandon his work. After several years in India, he returned to Italy in 1727. Desideri arrived in Rome in the midst of the Rites Controversy, the question of whether non-Christian rituals (such as Chinese ancestor worship) had a place in the methods of the missionaries. As a Jesuit, Desideri was on the losing side of this debate. The last years of his life were consumed with composing long defenses of his work, as well as the remarkable account of his time in Tibet, the Relazione de’ viaggi all’ Indie e al Thibet. He died in Rome on April 13, 1733. Because of the suppression of the Jesuit order, Desideri’s works remained largely unknown, both in Italian and Tibetan, until the twentieth century.

deva. (T. lha; C. tian; J. ten; K. ch’ŏn 天). In Sanskrit and Pāli, lit., “radiant one” or “shining one”; a “divinity,” “heavenly being,” or “god,” as one of the five [alt. six] rebirth destinies (GATI) of SAṂSĀRA. When it is said that Buddhism has “gods” but no “God,” the devas are being referred to. The term deva derives from the Sanskrit root √div and is related etymologically to the English word “divinity.” Rebirth as a deva is considered to be the beneficial result of virtuous actions (KARMAN) performed in a previous lifetime, and all of the many heavenly realms in Buddhist cosmology are therefore salutary levels of existence. However, they are temporary abodes within saṃsāra, rather than eternal heavens. ¶ There are a total of twenty-seven [alt. twenty-six or twenty-eight] different categories of devas, which are subdivided according to where their abode (DEVALOKA) is located within the three realms of existence (TRAIDHĀTUKA, trailokya), viz., the sensuous or desire realm (KĀMADHĀTU), the materiality or form realm (RŪPADHĀTU) and the immaterial or formless realm (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU). ¶ There are six heavens of the sensuous realm (KĀMADHĀTU). The first two are located on Mount SUMERU; the other four are located in the sky above its summit. One is reborn into these heavens as a result of virtuous deeds done in the past, especially deeds of charity (DĀNA). They include six deva abodes:

1. The heaven of the four heavenly kings (CĀTURMAHĀRĀJAKĀYIKA) located on the slopes of Mount Sumeru

2. The heaven of the thirty-three [gods] (TRĀYASTRIṂŚA), located on the summit of Mount Sumeru

3. The heaven of YĀMA, also known as SUYĀMA (“where the seasons are always good”)

4. The heaven of the contented (TUṢITA), where the BODHISATTVA ŚVETAKETU resided before descending to earth to be reborn as prince SIDDHĀRTHA and where the future buddha MAITREYA currently resides

5. The heaven of the enjoyment of creation (NIRMĀṆARATI), where the gods are able to convert their mental and emotional desires into palpable physical pleasures

6. The heaven of the gods who have power over the creations of others, or the gods who partake of the pleasures created in other heavens (PARANIRMITAVAŚAVARTIN)

The four heavenly kings of the first and lowest of the six heavens are DHṚTARĀṢṬRA in the east, VIRŪḌHAKA in the south, VIRŪPĀKṢA in the west, and VAIŚRAVAṆA in the north. There are many devas inhabiting this heaven: GANDHARVAs in the east, KUMBHĀṆḌAs in the south, NĀGAs in the west, and YAKṢAs in the north. As vassals of ŚAKRO DEVĀNĀM INDRAḤ (lit. “Śakra, the lord of the gods”; see INDRA; ŚAKRA; DEVARĀJAN), the four heavenly kings serve as protectors of the dharma (DHARMAPĀLA) and of sentient beings who are devoted to the dharma. They dwell at the four gates in each direction at the midslope of the world’s central axis, Mt. Sumeru. The thirty-three gods of the second heaven are the eight vāsava, two aśvina, eleven rudra, and twelve āditya. They live on the summit of Mt. Sumeru and are arrayed around the city of Sudarśana, the capital of their lord Śakra. Śakra is also known as Indra, the war god of the Āryans, who became a devotee of the Buddha as well as a protector of the dharma. The remaining four heavens are located in the sky above Mt. Sumeru. At the highest level of the sensuous realm, the paranirmitavaśavartin heaven, dwells MĀRA, the Evil One. The four heavenly kings and the thirty-three gods are called the “divinities residing on the ground” (bhūmyavacaradeva) because they dwell on Mt. Sumeru, while the gods from the Yāma heaven up to the gods of the realm of subtle materiality are known as “divinities residing in the air” (antarikṣavāsin, antarīkṣadeva), because they reside in the sky above the mountain. The higher one ascends into the heavens of both the sensuous realm and the subsequent realm of subtle materiality, the larger and more splendid the bodies of those gods become and the longer their life spans. Related to the devas of the sensuous realm are the demigods or titans (S. ASURA), jealous gods whom Indra drove out of the heaven of the thirty-three; they now live in exile in the shadows of Mt. Sumeru. ¶ The heavens of the realm of subtle materiality (rūpadhātu) consist of sixteen (according to the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school), seventeen (the SAUTRĀNTIKA school), or eighteen (the THERAVĀDA/STHAVIRANIKĀYA school) levels of devas. These levels, which are collectively called the BRAHMALOKA (world of the Brahmā gods), are subdivided into the four classes of the dhyāna or “concentration” heavens, and rebirth there is dependent on specific meditative attainments in previous lives. One of the most extensive accounts on these heavens appears in the ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA, which presents seventeen levels of the subtle-materiality devas. Whereas rebirth in the heavens of the sensuous realm are the result of a variety of virtuous deeds done in a previous life, rebirth in the heavens of the realm of subtle materiality or in the immaterial realm is the result of what is called a “nonfluctuating” or “unwavering” action (ANIÑJYAKARMAN). Here, the only cause that will produce rebirth in one of these heavens is the achievement of the level of meditative concentration or absorption of that particular heaven in the immediately preceding lifetime. Such meditation is called a “nonfluctuating deed” because it always produces the effect of that particular type of rebirth. The first set of dhyāna heavens, where those who practiced the first meditative absorption in the previous lifetime are born, is comprised of three levels:

1. The heaven of Brahmā’s retainers (BRAHMAKĀYIKA)

2. The heaven of Brahmā’s ministers (BRAHMAPUROHITA)

3. The heaven of the great Brahmā himself (MAHĀBRAHMĀ)

The inhabitants of these heavens lack olfactory and gustatory sense organs, and thus do not need to consume food, but do possess the other sense organs of sight, hearing, and touch, as well as mentality (MANENDRIYA). According to Buddhist accounts, Mahābrahmā, the inhabitant of the highest of the first dhyāna heavens, presumed himself to be the creator of the world and father of all beings, but after being taught by the Buddha he subsequently realized how arrogant had been his misapprehension; he became the Buddha’s follower and protector of his teachings (dharmapāla), along with the four heavenly kings and Śakra. The second set of dhyāna heavens, where those who practiced the second meditative absorption in their previous lifetime are reborn, is also comprised of three levels:

1. The heaven of lesser radiance (PARĪTTĀBHA)

2. The heaven of immeasurable radiance (APRAMĀṆĀBHA)

3. The heaven of ultimate radiance (ĀBHĀSVARALOKA)

These heavens are said to be equal in size to a small chiliocosm. The third set of dhyāna heavens, where those who practiced the third meditative concentration in the previous lifetime are reborn, is also comprised of three levels:

The heaven of lesser purity (PARĪTTAŚUBHA)

The heaven of immeasurable purity (APRAMĀṆĀŚUBHA)

The heaven of pervasive purity (ŚUBHAKṚTSNA)

These heavens are said to be equal in size to a medium chiliocosm; its inhabitants also possess only the mind organ and experience great joy. The fourth set of dhyāna heavens, where those who practiced the fourth meditative concentration in the previous lifetime are reborn, is comprised of eight levels:

1. The cloudless heaven (ANABHRAKA)

2. The heaven of blessed birth (PUṆYAPRASAVA)

3. The heaven of extensive fruition (BṚHATPHALA)

4. The heaven that is free from afflictions (AVṚHA)

5. The heaven that is not burning, or without torment (ATAPA)

6. The heaven of perfect form (SUDṚŚA)

7. The heaven of perfect vision (SUDARŚANA)

8. The highest heaven (AKANIṢṬHA)

In schemata where there are nine levels of the Brahmā heavens, a ninth nonperceptual heaven [asaṃjñika] is added to the list as an eighteenth heaven of the rūpadhātu. The last five heavens of the fourth dhyāna level (levels thirteen through seventeen) are collectively designated as the five pure abodes (ŚUDDHĀVĀSAKĀYIKA), and the divinities residing there are called the śuddhāvāsakāyika devas. In some interpretations, the śuddhāvāsa are said to be the abode of nonreturners (ANĀGĀMIN), the third of the four types of advanced adepts who are in their final rebirth before achieving arhatship (see ARHAT) and thus need never again be reborn in the sensuous realm. Since nonreturners have removed the first five fetters (SAṂYOJANA) associated with the sensuous realm and weakened the latter five, they are “nonreturners” to the sensuous realm and are instead reborn into the pure abodes, whence they will complete their practice and attain enlightenment, entering NIRVĀṆA from that abode. The pure abodes therefore serve as a kind of way station for advanced spiritual beings (ĀRYA) in their last lives before final liberation. In the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, the explanation of nonreturners differs: before they reach nirvāṇa they never take rebirth in the sensuous realm, but they may pass through each of the heavens, or skip one or more heavens, and enter into nirvāṇa, depending on their aptitude, in any heaven. Furthermore, certain persons with sharp faculties (TĪKṢṆENDRIYA) even enter nirvāṇa in the sensuous realm itself. In certain Mahāyāna interpretations, such as in the ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRA commentarial tradition, especially in Tibet, the pure abodes are adjacent to the fourth dhyāna, and the akaniṣṭha heaven pure abode is considered to be the abode of the enjoyment body (SAṂBHOGAKĀYA) of a buddha. According to some accounts, the pure abodes remain empty for several eons (KALPA) when there are no buddhas. ¶ The heavens of the immaterial realm (ārūpyadhātu) are comprised of four classes of devas whose existence is entirely mental, no longer requiring a body or even a subtle material foundation for their ethereal states of mind. These heavens are:

1. The sphere of infinite space (ĀKĀŚĀNANTYĀYATANA)

2. The sphere of infinite consciousness (VIJÑĀNĀNANTYĀYATANA)

3. The sphere of nothing whatsoever, or absolute nothingness (ĀKIÑCANYĀYATANA)

4. The sphere of neither perception nor nonperception (NAIVASAṂJÑĀNĀSAṂJÑĀYATANA [alt. BHAVĀGRA])

In each case, the name of the realm indicates the object of meditation of the beings reborn there. Hence, in the first, for example, the beings perceive only infinite space. Rebirth in these different spheres is based on mastery of the corresponding four immaterial meditative absorptions (ĀRŪPYĀVACARADHYĀNA; ārūpyasamāpatti) in the previous life. While the devas of the sensuous realm and the realm of subtle materiality come to have larger and ever more splendid bodies at the more advanced levels of their heavens, the devas of the immaterial realm do not have even the subtlest foundation in materiality; their existence is so refined that it is not even possible to posit exactly where they dwell spatially. In some schools, such as the Sarvāstivāda, the immaterial realm does not even exist as a discrete place: rather, when a being who has mastered the immaterial absorptions dies, he is reborn at the very same location where he passed away, except now he is “immaterial” or “formless” and thus invisible to coarser beings. According to the Theravāda, even a mind-made body (MANOMAYAKĀYA) is excluded from this realm, for the devas here possess only the mind base (MANĀYATANA), mental objects (P. dhammāyatana), the elements of mental consciousness (P. manoviññāṇadhātu), and the element of mental objects (P. dhammadhātu), needing only three nutriments (ĀHĀRA) to survive—contact (P. phassa), mental cognition (P. manosañcetana), and consciousness (P. viññāṇa). The Buddha claims to have lived among the devas of the immaterial realm in certain of his previous lives, but without offering any detailed description of those existences. ¶ In all realms, devas are born apparitionally. In the sensuous realm, devas are born in their mother’s lap, appearing as if they are already five to ten years old at birth; by contrast, devas of the subtle-materiality and immaterial realms appear not to need the aid of parents; those in the subtle-materiality realm appear fully grown, while those in the immaterial realm do not appear at all, because they have no form. It is also said that, when devas are reborn, they are aware of their prior existence and of the specific KARMAN that led to their rebirth in the heavenly realms. The different deva realms are also distinguished by differences in nutriment, sexuality, requisites, and life span. The devas of the lower heavens of the sensuous realm consume ordinary food; those in the upper spheres of the sensuous realm and the lower levels of the realm of subtle materiality feed only on sensory contact; the devas of the upper levels of the realm of subtle materiality feed only on contemplation; those in the immaterial realm feed on cognition alone. Sexual differentiation remains only in the sensuous realm: in the heaven of the four heavenly kings and the heaven of the thirty-three, the devas engage in physical copulation, the devas of the yāma heaven engage in sexual union by embracing one another, the devas of the tuṣita heaven by holding hands, those of the nirmāṇarati heaven by smiling at one another, and those of the paranirmitavaśavartin heaven by exchanging a single glance. Clothes are said to be used in all deva worlds except in the immaterial realm. The life spans of devas in the sensuous realm range from five hundred years for the gods of the heaven of the four heavenly kings to one thousand years for the trāyastriṃśa gods, two thousand years for the yāma gods, four thousand years for the tuṣita gods, eight thousand years for the nirmāṇarati gods, and sixteen thousand years for the paranirmitavaśavartin gods. However, there is a range of opinion of what constitutes a year in these heavens. For example, it is said that in the tuṣita heaven, four hundred human years equal one day in the life of a god of that heaven. The life spans of devas in the realm of subtle materiality are measured in eons (KALPA). The life spans of devas in the immaterial realm may appear as essentially infinite, but even those divinities, like all devas, are subject to impermanence (ANITYA) and will eventually die and be subject to further rebirths once the salutary meditative deed that caused them to be reborn there has been exhausted. The sūtras say that for a deva of the sensuous realm, there are five portents of his impending death: the garlands of flowers he wears begin to fade, his clothes become soiled and his palace dusty, he begins to perspire, his body becomes opaque and loses its luster, and his throne becomes uncomfortable. At that point, the deva experiences a vision of his next place of rebirth. This vision is said to be one of the most horrible sufferings in saṃsāra, because of its marked contrast to the magnificence of his current life. There are also said to be four direct reasons why devas die: exhaustion of their life spans, their previous merit, their food, and the arising of anger. ¶ Rebirth as a deva is presumed to be the reward of virtuous karman performed in previous lives and is thus considered a salutary, if provisional, religious goal. In the “graduated discourse” (P. ANUPUBBIKATHĀ; S. ANUPŪRVIKATHĀ) taught by the Buddha, for example, the Buddha uses the prospect of heavenly rebirth (svargakathā), and the pleasures accruing thereto, as a means of attracting laypersons to the religious life. Despite the many appealing attributes of these heavenly beings, such as their physical beauty, comfortable lives, and long life span, even heavenly existence is ultimately unsatisfactory because it does not offer a definitive escape from the continued cycle of birth and death (saṃsāra). Since devas are merely enjoying the rewards of their previous good deeds rather than performing new wholesome karman, they are considered to be stagnating spiritually. This spiritual passivity explains why they must be reborn in lower levels of existence, and especially as human beings, in order to further their cultivation. For these reasons, Buddhist soteriological literature sometimes condemns religious practice performed solely for the goal of achieving rebirth as a deva. It is only certain higher level of devas, such as the devas belonging to the five pure abodes (śuddhāvāsa), that are not subject to further rebirth, because they have already eliminated all the fetters (saṃyojana) associated with that realm and are destined to achieve arhatship. Nevertheless, over the history of Buddhism, rebirth in heaven as a deva has been a more common goal for religious practice, especially among the laity, than the achievement of nirvāṇa. ¶ The sūtras include frequent reference to “gods and men” (S. devamanuṣya; C. tianren) as the objects of the Buddha’s teachings. Despite the fact that this is how most Buddhist traditions have chosen to translate the Sanskrit compound, “gods” here is probably meant to refer to the terrestrial divinities of “princes” or “kings,” rather than heavenly beings; thus, the compound should be more properly (if, perhaps, pedantically) rendered “princes and peoples.” Similarly, as the “divinities” of this world, buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats are also sometimes referred to as devas. See also DEVALOKA; DEVATĀ.

Devadatta. (T. Lhas sbyin; C. Tipodaduo; J. Daibadatta; K. Chebadalta 提婆達多). Sanskrit and Pāli proper name for a cousin and rival of the Buddha; he comes to be viewed within the tradition as the embodiment of evil for trying to kill the Buddha and split the SAṂGHA (SAṂGHABHEDA). Devadatta is said to have been the brother of ĀNANDA, who would later become the Buddha’s attendant. According to Pāli sources, when Gotama (GAUTAMA) Buddha returned to Kapalivatthu (KAPILAVASTU) after his enlightenment to preach to his native clan, the Sākiyans (ŚĀKYA), Devadatta along with ĀNANDA, Bhagu, Kimbila, BHADDIYA-KĀḶIGODHĀPUTTA, Anuruddha (ANIRUDDHA), and UPĀLI were converted and took ordination as monks. Devadatta quickly attained mundane supranormal powers (iddhi; S. ṚDDHI) through his practice of meditation, although he never attained any degree of enlightenment. For a period of time, Devadatta was revered in the order. Sāriputta (ŚĀRIPUTRA) is depicted as praising him, and the Buddha lists him among eleven chief elders. Devadatta, however, always seems to have been of evil disposition and jealous of Gotama; in the final years of the Buddha’s ministry, he sought to increase his influence and even usurp leadership of the saṃgha. He used his supranormal powers to win over the patronage of Prince Ajātasattu (AJĀTAŚATRU), who built for him a monastery at Gayāsīsa (Gayāśīrṣa). Emboldened by this success, he approached the Buddha with the suggestion that the Buddha retire and pass the leadership of the saṃgha to him, whereupon the Buddha severely rebuked him. It was then that Devadatta conceived a plan to kill the Buddha even while he incited Ajātasattu to murder his father BIMBISĀRA, king of MAGADHA, who was the Buddha’s chief patron. At Devadatta’s behest, Ajātasattu dispatched sixteen archers to shoot the Buddha along a road, but the Buddha, using his supranormal powers, instead converted the archers. Later, Devadatta hurled a boulder down the slope of Mt. Gijjhakūṭa (GṚDHRAKŪṬAPARVATA) at the Buddha, which grazed his toe and caused it to bleed. Finally, Devadatta caused the bull elephant NĀLĀGIRI, crazed with toddy, to charge at the Buddha, but the Buddha tamed the elephant with the power of his loving-kindness (P. mettā; S. MAITRĪ). Unsuccessful in his attempts to kill the Buddha, Devadatta then decided to establish a separate order. He approached the Buddha and recommended that five austere practices (DHUTAṄGA) be made mandatory for all members of the saṃgha: forest dwelling, subsistence only on alms food collected by begging, use of rag robes only, dwelling at the foot of a tree, and vegetarianism. When the Buddha rejected his recommendation, Devadatta gathered around him five hundred newly ordained monks from Vesāli (VAIŚĀLĪ) and, performing the fortnightly uposatha (UPOṢADHA) ceremony separately at Gayāsīsa, formally seceded from the Buddha’s saṃgha. When the five hundred Vesāli monks were won back to the fold by Sāriputta (ŚĀRIPUTRA) and Moggallāna (MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA), Devadatta grew sick with rage, coughing up blood, and never recovered. It is said that toward the end of his life, Devadatta felt remorse and decided to journey to see the Buddha to ask him for his forgiveness. However, spilling the blood of a Buddha and causing schism in the saṃgha are two of the five “acts that brings immediate retribution” (P. ānantariyakamma; S. ĀNANTARYAKARMAN), viz., rebirth in hell. In addition, Devadatta is said to have beaten to death the nun UTPALAVARṆĀ when she rebuked him for attempting to assassinate the Buddha. She was an arhat, and killing an arhat is another of the “acts that bring immediate retribution.” When Devadatta was on his way to visit the Buddha (according to some accounts, to repent; according to other accounts, to attempt to kill him one last time by scratching him with poisoned fingernails), the earth opened up and Devadatta fell into AVĪCI hell, where he will remain for one hundred thousand eons. His last utterance was that he had no other refuge than the Buddha, an act that, at the end of his torment in hell, will cause him to be reborn as the paccekabuddha (PRATYEKABUDDHA) Atthissara. In many JĀTAKA stories, the villain or chief antagonist of the BODHISATTVA is often identified as a previous rebirth of Devadatta. In the “Devadatta Chapter” of the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”), the Buddha remarks that in a previous life, he had studied with the sage Asita, who was in fact Devadatta, and that Devadatta would eventually become a buddha himself. This statement was used in the Japanese NICHIREN school as proof that even the most evil of persons (see ICCHANTIKA; SAMUCCHINAKUŚALAMŪLA) still have the capacity to achieve enlightenment. In their accounts of India, both FAXIAN and XUANZANG note the presence of followers of Devadatta who adhered to the austere practices he had recommended to the Buddha.

devaloka. (T. lha’i ’jig rten; C. tianshijie/tianjie/tianshang; J. tensekai/tengai/tenjō; K. ch’ŏnsegye/ch’ŏn’gye/ch’ŏnsang 天世界/天界/天上). In Sanskrit and Pāli, the “heavenly world,” the abodes of the divinities (DEVA); the highest and most salutary of the five or six rebirth destinies (GATI) of SAṂSĀRA. Rebirth as a deva is considered to be the beneficial result of virtuous actions (KARMAN) performed in a previous lifetime, and all the devalokas are thus regarded as salutary levels of existence. There are a total of twenty-seven [alt. twenty-six or twenty-eight] different heavenly worlds (see DEVA), subdivided according to where their abode is located within the three realms of existence (TRAIDHĀTUKA; trailokya), viz., the sensuous or desire realm (KĀMADHĀTU), the realm of subtle materiality or form (RŪPADHĀTU), and the immaterial or formless realm (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU). The devalokas in Buddhist cosmology seem to be an adaptation and enhancement of pre-Buddhistic Indian notions of the cosmos. For instance, the six heavens of the sensuous realm in the Buddhist schema seem to be developed from the “six spaces” (rajāṃsi), the six subdivisions of the two upper strata of the Vedic cosmos. One of the earliest formulations of the Buddhist devalokas appears in the Buddha’s first sermon, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dharma” (P. DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA; S. DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASŪTRA), included in the Pāli MAHĀVAGGA, where the seven heavens are said to be comprised of the six heavens of the sensuous realm and the heaven of the BRAHMĀ gods in the realm of subtle materiality. Even so, it appears that the early Buddhists were aware of the presence of even more devalokas, since the AṄGUTTARANIKĀYA notes that there are still more divinities even beyond those of the Brahmā heavens. A more or less complete roster of all the devalokas appears in the Pāli SĀḶEYYAKASUTTA, which enumerates twenty-five heavens extending throughout all three realms of existence. For an extended discussion of specific heavenly realms, see DEVA.

devamāna. (T. lha’i nga rgyal). In Sanskrit, lit. “divine pride”; a term that appears in tantric literature in connection with the practice of deity yoga (DEVATĀYOGA). In general, pride (MĀNA) is regarded as a negative mental state, one of the root afflictions (MŪLAKLEŚA), and therefore an affliction to be abandoned. However, in one of the inversions typical of the tantric context, although one should abandon ordinary pride, one should cultivate pride in oneself as being a deity, that is, in this case, as being a buddha. It is by imagining oneself to have the mind, body, abode, and resources of a buddha now that one is said to proceed quickly to the state of true buddhahood via the tantric path. Therefore, one should imagine oneself as having already achieved the goal that one is in fact seeking.

Devānaṃpiyatissa. (r. 247–207 BCE). Sinhalese king who, according to the Sri Lankan tradition, was the ruler under whom the island kingdom of Sri Lanka first accepted Buddhism. According to these accounts, Devānaṃpiyatissa was a contemporary of the Indian emperor Asoka (S. AŚOKA), who is said to have encouraged Devānaṃpiyatissa to convert to Buddhism. Asoka dispatched his son, the Buddhist monk MAHINDA (S. Mahendra), as head of a delegation to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in the third century BCE to minister to Devānaṃpiyatissa and the Sinhalese court. Mahinda preached for the king the CŪḶAHATTHIPADOPAMASUTTA (“Shorter Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant’s Footprint”), the twenty-seventh sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA, where the Buddha uses the simile of a woodsman tracking an elephant’s footprints to explain to his audience how to reach complete certainty regarding the truth of the path, which he calls the footprints of the Tathāgata. After hearing the discourse, Devānaṃpiyatissa converted and was accepted as a Buddhist layman (UPĀSAKA). The king offered Mahinda the Mahāmeghavana, a royal pleasure garden on the outskirts of the Sinhalese capital of ANURĀDHAPURA, where he built the MAHĀVIHĀRA, which thenceforth served as the headquarters of the major Theravāda fraternity on the island. It was also at Devānaṃpiyatissa’s behest that Asoka sent his daughter, the Buddhist nun SAṄGHAMITTĀ (S. Saṃghamitrā), to Sri Lanka to establish the order of nuns (P. bhikkhunī; S. BHIKṢUṆĪ) there. Saṅghamittā also brought with her a branch of the BODHI TREE, which Devānaṃpiyatissa planted at Mahāmeghavana, initiating an important site of cultic worship that continued for centuries afterward. The evidence of the Aśokan edicts and Sanskrit AVADĀNA literature suggest that the Pāli MAHĀVAṂSA account of the spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka through the work of Devānaṃpiyatissa, whom Aśoka’s son Mahinda converted to Buddhism, is probably not meant to be a historical account, but was instead intended to lend prestige to the THERAVĀDA tradition.

Devānāṃ Priyaḥ. [alt. Devapriya] (P. Devānaṃpiya; T. Lha rnams kyi dga’ bo; C. Tian’ai; J. Ten’ai; K. Ch’ŏnae 天愛). In Sanskrit, “Beloved of the Gods”; Emperor AŚOKA’s name for himself in a number of his rock edicts (see AŚOKA PILLARS).

devarājan. (T. lha’i rgyal po; C. tianwang; J. tennō; K. ch’ŏnwang 天王). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “king of the divinities (DEVA)”; an epithet of ŚAKRO DEVĀNĀM INDRAḤ, viz., “ŚAKRA, the king of the gods,” who is also known as INDRA (Lord). Śakra resides in his capital city of Sudarśana, which is centered in the heaven of the thirty-three [gods] (TRĀYASTRIṂŚA), the second of the six heavens of the realm of sensuality (KĀMALOKA). Southeast Asian Buddhism also drew on the Hindu cult of the devarājan (divine king), which identified the reigning monarch as an incarnation of the god Śiva. See also BAYON.

devatā. (T. lha; C. tianshen; J. tenjin; K. ch’ŏnsin 天神). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “state of being a divinity,” referring to all classifications of heavenly beings or divinities (DEVA) in the abstract. Deriving from the principle that any being who is worshipped or to whom offerings are made may be called a devatā, the connotation of divinities was broadly expanded to include not only the higher gods of the heavenly realms (DEVALOKA) proper but also religious mendicants; domesticated animals; powerful earthly forces such as fire and wind; lesser gods such as NĀGAs, GANDHARVAs, and YAKṢAs; and local ghosts and spirits, including devatās of homes, trees, and bodies of water. As Buddhism moved into new regions, various indigenous local deities thus came to be assimilated into the Buddhist pantheon by designating them as devatās.

devatāyoga. (T. lha’i rnal ’byor). In Sanskrit, “deity yoga”; tantric practice in which a deity (often a buddha or bodhisattva) is visualized in the presence of the practitioner, the deity is propitiated through offerings, prayers, and the recitation of MANTRA, and is then requested to bestow SIDDHIs. Two types are sometimes enumerated: one in which the deity is visualized in front of the practitioner and another in which the practitioner imagines himself or herself to be the deity. According to TSONG KHA PA, the practice of this latter type of deity yoga is the distinguishing characteristic of the VAJRAYĀNA, differentiating it from the PĀRAMITĀYĀNA. He argues that both forms of deity yoga are to be found in all classes of tantra: KRIYĀ, CARYĀ, YOGA, and ANUTTARAYOGA. Devatāyoga is a central feature of the two stages of anuttarayoga tantra (UTPATTIKRAMA and NIṢPANNAKRAMA); in the former “generation” stage, guided by a SĀDHANA, the tāntrika visualizes a MAṆḌALA, with its central and surrounding deities. Through meditation on ANĀTMAN (nonself) or ŚŪNYATĀ (emptiness), the practitioner imagines himself or herself to be the central deity of the maṇḍala. In certain forms of practice, the practitioner will also imagine the entire maṇḍala and its deities as residing within the practitioner’s body. When the practitioner has developed the ability to visualize the maṇḍala and its deities in minute detail, one moves to the second “completion” stage (niṣpannakrama), in which the complex of NĀḌIs (channels) and CAKRAs (wheels) of the human body are utilized to achieve buddhahood.

devātideva. (T. lha’i yang lha; C. tian zhong tian; J. tenchūten; K. ch’ŏn chung ch’ŏn 天中天). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “god of gods”; an epithet of the Buddha, as someone whose divinity surpasses that of all other divinities and whose superiority is acknowledged by them, as, for example, when the infant prince SIDDHĀRTHA was taken to the temple by his father, King ŚUDDHODANA, and the statues of the deities bowed down to the child; and later when, after his enlightenment, the god BRAHMĀ implored the Buddha to teach the dharma. Thus, although the Buddha was reborn as a human, he is superior to the gods because he discovered and taught the path to NIRVĀṆA, something that gods, despite their great powers, are unable to do.

devāvatāra. (T. lha yul nas babs pa; C. tianxialai/Tianxiachu; J. tengerai/Tengesho; K. ch’ŏnharae/Ch’ŏnhach’ŏ 天下來/天下處). In Sanskrit, “descent from the realm of the divinities (DEVA)”; a term that describes the Buddha’s return to earth after he spent the rain’s-retreat season (VARṢĀ) teaching the ABHIDHARMA to his mother in the heaven of the thirty-three (TRĀYASTRIṂŚA). Because the Buddha’s mother, MAHĀMĀYĀ, had died seven days after his birth, she was not able to benefit from her son’s teaching; she was reborn in the TUṢITA heaven. Therefore, in the seventh year after his enlightenment, the Buddha magically ascended to the trāyastriṃśa, to which his mother descended, where he taught the abhidharma to his mother and the assembled divinities. He would descend briefly each day to collect alms and at that time would repeat to ŚĀRIPTURA what he had taught to the gods. Pining for the Buddha during his long absence from the world, King PRASENAJIT had a sandalwood statue of the Buddha carved; this statue was claimed to have been the first buddha image. The Buddha is said to have descended from the summit of Mount SUMERU to the continent of JAMBUDVĪPA on a stairway of gems that was flanked by stairways of gold and silver. Devāvatāra (Tianxiachu) is also the name of the city or country of SĀṄKĀŚYA (P. Saṅkassa), where this descent from the trayastriṃśa heaven occurred. This scene is commonly depicted in Buddhist iconography and is the subject of an eponymous SŪTRA.

dewachen. A phonetic rendering of the Tibetan bde ba can, the Tibetan translation of SUKHĀVATĪ, the pure land of the buddha AMITĀBHA. The term in this form was popularized by HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY and appears in a variety of European and American books on Buddhism from the nineteenth century.

Dewa sanzan. (出羽三山). In Japanese, the “three mountains of Dewa”; referring to Mount Haguro, Mount Gassan, and Mount Yudono in what was once known as Dewa province (in modern-day Yamagata prefecture). The region is particularly important in SHUGENDŌ and has long been a place of pilgrimage; it was visited by BASHŌ.

Dga’ ldan. (Ganden). The Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit TUṢITA, the joyous, or contented, heaven (see DEVA), which is the abode of the future buddha MAITREYA. ¶ The short name for Dga’ ldan rnam rgyal gling (Ganden Namgyal Ling), one of the three chief monasteries (known as the GDAN SA GSUM or “three seats”) of the DGE LUGS sect of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the sect’s principal monasteries, located twenty-eight miles (forty-five kilometers) east of LHA SA. Named after the tuṣita heaven, the monastery was established by the Dge lugs founder TSONG KHA PA in 1409 near a hill originally associated with the consecration rituals performed after the birth of the king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO. A nearby ridge was the favored picnic ground of the king’s royal wives. According to legend, the JO BO statue of Lha sa’s JO KHANG temple miraculously confirmed the location’s significance to Tsong kha pa. The great assembly hall was added in 1417, followed by the two colleges, Byang rtse (Jangtse) and Shar rtse (Shartse). Tsong kha pa died at Dga’ ldan in 1419 and was entombed there in a STŪPA. Following Tsong kha pa’s death, the abbacy passed to two of his foremost disciples, first, RGYAL TSHAB DAR MA RIN CHEN, then twelve years later to MKHAS GRUB DGE LEGS DPAL BZANG. Thus, the tradition of the DGA’ LDAN KHRI PA or Throne Holder of Dga’ ldan was established. Because Dga’ ldan was the seat of Tsong kha pa and his two chief disciples, his followers were initially called Dga’ ldan pa’i lugs, “the system of Dga’ ldan.” This was shortened to Dga’ lugs and eventually to Dge lugs. Dga’ ldan monastery was traditionally said to have 3,300 monks, although over the course of its history it often housed twice that number, forming a vast monastic complex. It was completely destroyed by the Chinese in the 1960s but has since been partially rebuilt. It has also been reestablished in exile in southern India.

Dga’ ldan khri pa. (Ganden Tripa). In Tibetan, lit. “Holder of the Dga’ ldan Throne”; title of the head of the DGE LUGS sect of Tibetan Buddhism, who is regarded as the successor of TSONG KHA PA. The first two Dga’ ldan khri pas were Tsong kha pa’s disciples; the first was RGYAL TSHAB DAR MA RIN CHEN and the second was MKAS GRUB DGE LEGS DPAL BZANG. Together with Tsong kha pa, they are traditionally considered to be the founders of the Dge lugs sect. The fifteenth Dga’ ldan khri pa Pan chen Bsod nams grags pa (Panchen Sönam Drakpa) (1478–1554) is known for his role during the terms of the third and fourth DALAI LAMAs. At present, the Dga’ ldan khri pa is selected by the Dalai Lama from a group of candidates who have already served in a number of specific positions in the major Dge lugs monasteries and tantric colleges; the term of office is generally seven years. It is not the case, as is often imagined, that the Dalai Lama is the head of the Dge lugs sect, or that the Dga’ ldan khri pa is necessarily an incarnate lama (SPRUL SKU). According to the traditional system of selection, the monk who became the Dga’ ldan khri pa had to rise through several ranks of the Dge lugs sect. First, he completed the prescribed course of study in one of the three GDAN SA (the major Dge lug monasteries in the LHA SA area) and achieved the highest degree in the Dge lugs academy, that of DGE BSHES lha ram pa. He then entered one of the two Dge lugs tantric colleges in Lha sa (see RGYUD STOD and RGYUD SMAD) and became a dge bshes sngags ram pa (ngakrampa). Only a dge bshes sngags ram pa could become a dge skos (gekö) (disciplinarian) of a tantric college. Rgyud stod and Rgyud smad chose three disciplinarians each year, and the bla ma dbu mdzad (lama umdze), literally “leader of the chant,” i.e., vice abbot, was chosen from among the former dge skos and served for three years. Following that period, he became the abbot (mkhan po) of his tantric college for three years. The senior-most former abbot (mkhan zur) received the title Byang rtse chos rje, if he attended Rgyud smad, and Shar rtse chos rje if he attended Rgyud stod. (Byang rtse and Shar rtse are two colleges of Dga’ ldan monastery.) Since the time of the eighth Dga’ ldan khri pa these two alternated in the position of Dga’ ldan khri pa. To date there have been 102 Dga’ ldan khri pas.

Dga’ ldan pho brang. (Ganden Podrang). In Tibetan, lit. “Palace of TUṢITA,” the name by which the central government of Tibet was known from the time of fifth DALAI LAMA’s ascension to power in the seventeenth century until 1959. The Dga’ ldan pho brang was originally the residence or estate of Dge ’dun rgya mtsho (retrospectively named the second Dalai Lama) in ’BRAS SPUNGS monastery. He was a learned and diplomatic figure who protected the interests of the fledgling DGE LUGS sect during a difficult period when its original patron, the Sne’u dong royal family, was in decline. The residence, originally called the Rdo khang sngon mo, was given to him by the Sne’u dong princes in 1518, when he was the unquestioned leader of the major emerging Dge lugs monasteries. From this point, the Dga’ ldan pho brang became the seat of the Dalai Lamas. NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO, the fifth Dalai Lama, enlisted the help of the Qoshot Mongols and their leader, Gushri Khan, to decisively crush the KARMA PA and his patron, the King of Gtsang. From this point, the Dga’ ldan pho brang came to designate not the residence of the Dalai Lama but the seat of the Dalai Lama’s rulership of substantial regions of Tibet, from which he collected taxes. By extension, the term Dga’ ldan pho brang has come to mean the government of Tibet during the reign of the Dalai Lamas. To consolidate Dge lugs power and prevent the the large Dge lugs monasteries (GDAN SA GSUM) from usurping his power, the fifth Dalai Lama moved the Dga’ ldan pho brang into the PO TA LA palace, which then became the seat of the government he established.

Dga’ ldan phun tshogs gling. (Ganden Puntsok Ling). A Tibetan monastery located in Gtsang province, founded by TĀRANĀTHA in 1615, who named it Rtag brtan phun tshogs gling. It was also known as JO NANG PHUN TSHOGS GLING. He hired artists from Nepal to decorate it, eventually making it the most lavishly appointed monastery in central Tibet. Under Tāranātha, it became the primary seat of the JO NANG sect. After his death, the monastery was forcibly converted to a DGE LUGS establishment by order of the fifth DALAI LAMA, who opposed the Jo nang and is said to have had a personal animosity against Tāranātha. The monastery was thus renamed Dga’ ldan phun tshogs gling and the printing of the Jo nang texts held there was banned; permission to print them was not granted until the late nineteenth century.

Dga’ rab rdo rje. (Garap Dorje). In Tibetan, the name of a semimythological figure in the early lineage of the RNYING MA sect’s RDZOGS CHEN “great completion” teachings. The transmission of the teaching is said to have passed from the primordial buddha SAMANTABHADRA (T. Kun tu bzang po) to VAJRASATTVA, who transmitted it to the first human lineage holder, Dga’ rab rdo rje; from him, rdzogs chen passed to MAÑJŪŚRĪMITRA and ŚRĪSIṂHA, and to the Tibetan translator Ba gor VAIROCANA (fl. c. 800 CE). See RDZOGS CHEN.

dge bshes. (geshe). A Tibetan abbreviation for dge ba’i bshes gnyen, or “spiritual friend” (S. KALYĀṆAMITRA). In early Tibetan Buddhism, the term was used in this sense, especially in the BKA’ GDAMS tradition, where saintly figures like GLANG RI THANG PA are often called “geshe”; sometimes, however, it can have a slightly pejorative meaning, as in the biography of MI LA RAS PA, where it suggests a learned monk without real spiritual attainment. In the SA SKYA sect, the term came to take on a more formal meaning to refer to a monk who had completed a specific academic curriculum. The term is most famous in this regard among the DGE LUGS, where it refers to a degree and title received after successfully completing a long course of Buddhist study in the tradition of the three great Dge lugs monasteries in LHA SA: ’BRAS SPUNGS, DGA’ LDAN, and SE RA. According to the traditional curriculum, after completing studies in elementary logic and epistemology (BSDUS GRWA), a monk would begin the study of “five texts” (GZHUNG LNGA), five Indian ŚĀSTRAs, in the following order: the ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRA of MAITREYANĀTHA, the MADHYAMAKĀVATĀRA of CANDRAKĪRTI, the ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA of VASUBANDHU, and the VINAYASŪTRA of GUṆAPRABHA. Each year, there would also be a period set aside for the study of the PRAMĀṆAVĀRTTIKA of DHARMAKĪRTI. The curriculum involved the memorization of these and other texts, the study of them based on monastic textbooks (yig cha), and formal debate on their content. Each year, monks in the scholastic curriculum (a small minority of the monastic population) were required to pass two examinations, one in memorization and the other in debate. Based upon the applicant’s final examination, one of four grades of the dge bshes degree was awarded, which, in descending rank, are: (1) lha rams pa, (2) tshogs rams pa, (3) rdo rams pa; (4) gling bsre [alt. gling bseb], a degree awarded by a combination of monasteries; sometimes, the more scholarly or the religiously inclined would choose that degree to remove themselves from consideration for ecclesiastical posts so they could devote themselves to their studies and to meditation practice. The number of years needed to complete the entire curriculum depended on the degree, the status of the person, and the number of candidates for the exam. The coveted lha rams pa degree, the path to important offices within the Dge lugs religious hierarchy, was restricted to sixteen candidates each year. The important incarnations (SPRUL SKU) were first in line, and their studies would be completed within about twelve years; ordinary monks could take up to twenty years to complete their studies and take the examination. Those who went on to complete the course of study at the tantric colleges of RGYUD STOD and RYUD SMAD would be granted the degree of dge bshes sngags ram pa.

Dge ’dun chos ’phel. (Gendun Chopel) (1903–1951). A distinguished essayist, poet, painter, translator, historian, and philosopher; one of the most important Tibetan intellectuals of the first half of the twentieth century. He was born in the Reb kong region of A mdo, the son of a respected SNGAGS PA. At the age of five, he was recognized as the incarnation (SPRUL SKU) of an abbot of the famous RNYING MA monastery, RDO RJE BRAG. Following his father’s untimely death, he entered a local DGE LUGS monastery, eventually moving to BLA BRANG BKRA’ SHIS ’KHYIL. He gained particular notoriety as a debater but apparently criticized the monastery’s textbooks (yig cha). In 1927, he traveled to LHA SA, where he entered Sgo mang College of ’BRAS SPUNGS monastery. In 1934, the Indian scholar and nationalist Rahul Sankrityayan (1893–1963) arrived in Lha sa in search of Sanskrit manuscripts, especially those dealing with Buddhist logic. He enlisted Dge ’dun chos ’phel as his guide, just as he was completing the final examinations at the end of the long curriculum of the DGE BSHES. After visiting many of the monasteries of southern Tibet, Sankrityayan invited Dge ’dun chos ’phel to return with him to India. Over the next decade, he would travel extensively, and often alone, across India and Sri Lanka, learning Sanskrit, Pāli, several Indian vernaculars, and English. He assisted the Russian Tibetologist, GEORGE ROERICH, in the translation of the important fifteenth-century history of Tibetan Buddhism by ’Gos lo tsā ba, DEB THER SNGON PO (“The Blue Annals”). He visited and made studies of many of the important Buddhist archaeological sites in India, writing a guide (lam yig) that is still used by Tibetan pilgrims. He studied Sanskrit erotica and frequented Calcutta brothels, producing his famous sex manual, the ’Dod pa’i bstan bcos (“Treatise on Passion”). During his time abroad, he also spent more than a year in Sri Lanka. In January 1946, after twelve years abroad, Dge ’dun chos ’phel returned to Lha sa. He taught poetry and also gave teachings on MADHYAMAKA philosophy, which would be published posthumously as the controversial Klu sgrub dgongs rgyan (“Adornment for NĀGĀRJUNA’s Thought”). Within a few months of his arrival in Lha sa, Dge ’dun chos ’phel was arrested by the government of the regent of the young fourteenth Dalai Lama on the fabricated charge of counterfeiting foreign currency. Sentenced to three years, he served at least two, working on his unfinished history of early Tibet, Deb ther dkar po (“The White Annals”), and composing poetry. He emerged from prison a broken man and died in October 1951 at the age of forty-eight.

Dge ’dun grub. (Gendün Drup) (1391–1475). A revered scholar of the DGE LUGS sect of Tibetan Buddhism, posthumously recognized as the first DALAI LAMA. He was from the clan of Ngar tso in the region of Ru lug and received his early training at SNAR THANG monastery, where he earned fame for his erudition. In 1415, he traveled to central Tibet, where he became a close disciple of the Dge lugs polymath TSONG KHA PA in the years before the master’s death in 1419. He went on to serve as the abbot of DGA’ LDAN monastery. In 1447, Dge ’dun grub founded BKRA SHIS LHUN PO monastery, later the seat of the PAṆ CHEN LAMAS in the central Tibetan city of Gzhis ka rtse (Shigatse). After the Mongolian ruler Altan Khan bestowed the title Dalai Lama on BSOD NAMS RGYA MTSHO in 1578, Dge ’dun grub was posthumously identified as the lineage’s first incarnation. He was a renowned scholar, writing influential works on both VINAYA and ABHIDHARMA.

Dge lugs. (Geluk). In Tibetan, lit. “System of Virtue”; one of the four major sects of Tibetan Buddhism (see also BKA’ BRYUD, SA SKYA, RNYING MA). Originating among the disciples of TSONG KHA PA, it was originally referred to as the Dga’ ldan pa’i lugs (abbreviated as Dga’ lugs) “the system of those from Dga’ ldan Mountain,” where Tsong kha pa, with the patronage of the powerful Phag mo gru family, founded Ri bo DGA’ LDAN monastery in 1409. (The name Dge lugs may have originally been an abbreviation of Dga’ ldan pa’i lugs.) Within a few years of the founding of Dga’ ldan, two followers of Tsong kha pa, ’JAM DBYANGS CHOS RJE BKRA SHIS DPAL LDAN and Byams chen chos rje Shākya ye shes (1354–1435), founded ’BRAS SPUNGS (1416) and SE RA (1419) monasteries, respectively, apparently at Tsong kha pa’s urging. These three monasteries developed into the institutional center of Dge lugs power and influence; Tsong kha pa with his two most prominent followers, RGYAL TSHAB DARMA RIN CHEN (called Rgyal tshab rje) and MKHAS GRUB DGE LEGS DPAL BZANG PO (called Mkhas grub rje)—both important scholars in their own right—became the cultic center, called rje yab sras gsum (“the lord and his two spiritual sons”). BKRA SHIS LHUN PO monastery, the fourth great Dge lugs monastery, was founded in Gzhis ka rtse (Shigatse) in 1447 by another of Tsong kha pa’s followers, the scholarly and politically astute DGE ’DUN GRUB, providing a basis for Dge lugs power in the west. Dge ’dun grub was posthumously recognized as the first DALAI LAMA. The fifth Dalai Lama NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO and BLO BZANG CHOS KYI RGYAL MTSHAN, with the help of the Mongols, established the Dge lugs as the largest and most powerful Buddhist sect in Tibet. After the founding of the DGA’ LDAN PHO BRANG government in 1642, the Dalai Lama was invested with temporal power, making the Dge lugs the de facto ruling party and bringing an end to the political instability that accompanied the rise of the sect during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan became abbot of Bkra shis lhun po and began the lineage of powerful PAṆ CHEN BLA MAS, after the Dalai Lamas, the second most powerful lineage of Dge lugs incarnate lamas (see SPRUL SKU). The influence of the Dge lugs sect over Tibet was based on an elaborate system of regional monasteries with ties to the four central Dge lugs monasteries; the two largest of the regional monasteries, BLA BRANG BKRA SHIS DKYIL and SKU ’BUM in A mdo, rivaled the central monasteries in size and stature. The sect is known for its scholastic curriculum, and for a rigorous examination system that culminates in the rank of DGE BSHES, providing a steady stream of abbots and incarnate lamas to administer the system in collaboration with the aristocratic elite under the oversight of the Dga’ ldan pho brang government. In its rise to power, the Dge lugs incorporated doctrines and monasteries that were earlier separate and distinct traditions.

Dge lugs pa. (Gelukpa). A person affiliated with the DGE LUGS sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

Dge rgyas. (Gegye). In Tibetan, one of the four “extra taming temples” or “extra pinning temples” (YANG ’DUL GTSUG LAG KHANG) said to have been constructed during the time of the Tibetan king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO to pin down the limbs of the demoness (T. srin mo) who was impeding the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet. The temple is located in Byams sprin (Jamtrin) and pins down her right knee.

dgon pa. (gompa). In Tibetan, literally, “remote place”; the most common term for “monastery.” See ARAṆYA.

dgra lha. (dralha). In Tibetan, literally “enemy god”; a class of Tibetan deities that fights against the enemy of those who propitiate and worship them. Tibetans speak of both a personal dgra lha, which abides on one’s right shoulder to protect one from enemies and promote one’s social status, as well as various groupings of dgra lha invoked in both Buddhist and BON ritual. Dgra lha is also a common epithet of wrathful DHARMAPĀLAs who protect the dharma against its enemies, both internal and external.

Dhammacakkappavattanasutta. (S. Dharmacakrapravartanasūtra; T. Chos ’khor bskor ba’i mdo; C. Zhuan falun jing; J. Tenbōringyō; K. Chŏn pŏmnyun kyŏng 轉法輪經). In Pāli, “Discourse on Turning the Wheel of the DHARMA”; often referred to as GAUTAMA Buddha’s “first sermon,” delivered after his enlightenment to the “group of five” (PAÑCAVARGIKA; bhadravargīya), at the Deer Park (P. Migadāya; S. MṚGADĀVA) in ṚṢIPATANA near SĀRNĀTH. In its Pāli version, the discourse appears in the MAHĀVAGGA section of the VINAYA, which recounts the founding of the dispensation, rather than in the suttapiṭaka (S. SŪTRAPIṬAKA). (A separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears in the Chinese translation of the SAṂYUKTĀGAMA; there is also an early Chinese translation by AN SHIGAO that circulated independently.) Following his enlightenment, the Buddha considered who might be able to comprehend what he had experienced and remembered the “group of five” ascetics, with whom he had previously engaged in self-mortification practices (TAPAS). Although initially reticent to receive Gautama because he had abandoned his asceticism and had become “self-indulgent,” they soon relented and heard Gautama relate his realization of the deathless state. Their minds now pliant, the Buddha then “set rolling the wheel of the dharma” (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA), which is the first enunciation of his liberation. In the sermon, the Buddha advocates a middle way (P. majjhimapaṭipadā; S. MADHYAMAPRATIPAD) between sensual indulgence and self-mortification, and equates the middle way to the noble eightfold path (P. ariyāṭṭhaṅgikamagga; S. ĀRYĀṢṬĀṄGAMĀRGA). He follows with a detailed account of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, the full knowledge and vision (P. ñāṇadassana; S. JÑĀNADARŚANA) of which leads to liberation. While listening to the discourse, ĀJÑĀTAKAUṆḌINYA (P. Aññātakoṇḍañña) understood the principle of causation—that all things produced will also come to an end—and achieved the first level of sanctity, that of stream-enterer (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA). He was the first disciple to take ordination (UPASAṂPADĀ) as a monk (P. BHIKKHU; S. BHIKṢU), following the simple “come, monk” formula (P. ehi bhikkhu; S. EHIBHIKṢUKĀ): “Come, monk, the dharma is well proclaimed; live the holy life for the complete ending of suffering.” Soon afterward, he was followed into the order by the rest of the “group of five” monks. The site where the first sermon was delivered—the Deer Park (Mṛgadāva) in Ṛṣipatana (P. Isipatana), the modern Sārnāth, near Vārāṇasī—subsequently became one of the four major Buddhist pilgrimage sites (MAHĀSTHĀNA) in India.

Dhammacetī. (r. 1472–1492). Mon king of Rāmaññadesa (Lower Burma) whose capital was Pegu (Hanthawaddi). His regnal title, by which he is known in inscriptions, is Rāmādhipatimahārājā. Dhammacetī conducted a purification of the Mon Sāsana of Rāmaññadesa between 1476 and 1479, during which time the entire Mon saṅgha (SAṂGHA) was reordained according to Sihala procedures. The purification is recorded in the KALYĀṆĪ INSCRIPTIONS, erected in 1479 at the site of the Kalyāṇī Sīmā Hall in Pegu. The SĪMĀ hall was named after the Kalyāṇī River in Sri Lanka where, in 1476, a delegation of twenty-two Mon monks dispatched by Dhammacetī took reordination to form the nucleus of the reformed Mon saṅgha.

Dhammadāyādasutta. (C. Qiufa jing; J. Guhōgyō; K. Kupŏp kyŏng 求法經). In Pāli, “Discourse on Heirs of the Dharma”; third sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the eighty-eighth sūtra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA; another recension of uncertain affiliation also appears in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARĀGAMA.) This sutta contains two discourses preached at the JETAVANA Grove in Sāvatthi (ŚRĀVASTĪ), the first by the Buddha and the second by Sāriputta (ŚĀRIPUTRA). The Buddha urges his monks to give priority to the dharma, not to material possessions, and to receive as their true legacy from him the constituents of enlightenment (bodhipakkhiyadhamma; S. BODHIPAKṢIKADHARMA), rather than the four requisites (nissaya; S. NIŚRAYA) of mendicancy. Sāriputta advises the monks to live in solitude for the attainment of meditative absorption (jhāna; S. DHYĀNA) and to abandon greed (LOBHA), hatred (P. dosa; S. DVEṢA), and delusion (MOHA) in order to attain nibbāna (NIRVĀṆA).

Dhammakāya. (Thai, Thammakai). A Buddhist reform movement in Thailand that originated in 1916, when a monk named Luang Phor Sodh is said to have rediscovered a technique of meditation that had been lost since the time of the Buddha. The movement began to gain impetus in 1970, when one of the abbot’s disciples, a nun known as Khun Yay Upāsika, founded Wat Phra Dhammakāya. Dhammakāya meditation practice consists of visualizing a small crystal sphere entering one’s body through the nasal passage; the sphere settles in the solar plexus and eventually becomes transformed into a crystal image of the Buddha. While engaging in this visualization, the meditator is supposed to focus on the MANTRA “samma arahang.” The practice is supposed to culminate in the ability to see a buddha image (the dhammakāya, or “truth body” of the Buddha; see DHARMAKĀYA) inside oneself, an experience compared to tasting NIRVĀṆA in the present life. Meditation is the principal Dhammakāya practice, and the organization encourages its followers to meditate twice a day as a way of improving self-confidence and as a tool for success, well being, and fostering family life. Dhammakāya also offers group training courses for adults in the private and public sectors. Devotees dress in white, and temple buildings are simple in design. Dhammakāya is also known for organizing massive ceremonies involving several thousand monks and tens of thousands of laypeople on Buddhist holy days. Rather than following the traditional lunar calendar and practicing on the days of the waning and waxing moon, Dhammakāya practice is held every Sunday, with meditation in the morning, followed by a sermon on topics relevant to the problems and concerns of everyday life. Its adherents are also encouraged to take part in such activities as retreats, youth camps, and massive ordinations for college students during the summer break. The Dhammakāya movement also differs from mainstream Thai Buddhism in that it requires monks to be ordained for life rather than the temporary ordination that is common among Thai laymen. In addition to its massive WAT outside of Bangkok, it has established branches throughout Thailand and overseas. Many Thais, especially intellectuals who support the forest meditation tradition, criticize Dhammakāya for its “direct marketing” type of organization and its quick-fix solutions to complex problems.

Dhammapada. (S. Dharmapada; T. Chos kyi tshigs su bcad pa; C. Faju jing; J. Hokkugyō; K. Pŏpku kyŏng 法句經). In Pāli, “Verses of Dharma”; the second book of the KHUDDAKANIKĀYA of the Pāli SUTTAPIṬAKA. The Dhammapada is an anthology of verses, arranged topically, many of which are also found in other books of the Pāli canon, although it is unclear whether the Dhammapada was compiled from them. Some of the same verses are also found in JAINA and Hindu sources. The current Pāli text contains 423 verses divided into twenty-six chapters; the verses are broadly associated with the topic of each particular chapter, which have predominantly ethical themes. The verses and chapters are sometimes arranged in pairs, e.g., “The Fool” and “The Sage,” “The World” and “The Buddha,” etc. As possible evidence of the popularity of the collection, there are several extant recensions of Dharmapadas in languages other than Pāli, including a GĀNDHĀRĪ version and several in Chinese translation that derive from Sanskrit or Middle Indic versions of the collection. The chapters and verses of these other recensions often bear little resemblance to the Pāli version, some having alternate arrangements of the chapters and verses, others having many more total verses in their collections. These differences suggest that such anthologies of gnomic verses were being made independently in disparate Buddhist communities throughout India and Central Asia, often borrowing liberally, and haphazardly, from earlier recensions. A version of the UDĀNAVARGA compiled by Dharmatrāta, a larger work containing all the verses from the Dhammapada, became a basic text of the BKA’ GDAMS sect in Tibet; the Pāli version of the Dhammapada was translated into Tibetan by the twentieth-century scholar DGE ’DUN CHOS ’PHEL. The Dhammapada has long been one of the most beloved of Buddhist texts in the West. Since its first translation into a Western language (Latin) in 1855 by the Danish scholar Victor Fausbøll (1821–1908), it has been rendered numerous times into English (well over fifty translations have been made) and other languages.

Dhammapadaṭṭhakathā. In Pāli, “Commentary to the DHAMMAPADA”; attributed to BUDDHAGHOSA. The text is comprised of stories similar to the JĀTAKAs, recounting the occasions on which the verses of the Dhammapada were uttered. Many of the stories are also found in the SUTTA and VINAYA PIṬAKAs, as well as in the jātaka commentary, Jātakatthavaṇṇanā. The Dhammapadaṭṭhakathā appears in the Pali Text Society’s English translation series as Buddhist Legends.

Dhammapāla. (d.u.). A celebrated Pāli commentator and author, Dhammapāla is known to have flourished sometime after the time of BUDDHAGHOSA (fl. fifth century CE), though his precise dates are uncertain. Numerous works are attributed to him, although the accuracy of these attributions is sometimes suspect because of the many Pāli authors who have the same name. The SĀSANAVAṂSA states that Dhammapāla lived at Badaratittha in southern India. In several of his works, Dhammapāla records that he is a native of Kañcipuram and that he studied at the MAHĀVIHĀRA in the Sinhalese capital of ANURĀDHAPURA. THERAVĀDA congregations affiliated with the Mahāvihāra existed among the Tamils in South India, and it appears that he was familiar with their commentarial traditions. According to one legend, Dhammapāla was so renowned for his intelligence that the local king of Kañcipuram offered him his daughter in marriage. Being interested instead in a life of renunciation and scholarship, Dhammapāla prayed for his release before an image of the Buddha, whereupon the gods carried him away to a place where he could be ordained as a Buddhist monk. Seven of Dhammapāla’s commentaries (AṬṬHAKATHĀ) are devoted to the KHUDDAKANIKĀYA division of the SUTTAPIṬAKA; these include the PARAMATTHADĪPANĪ (a commentary on the UDĀNA, ITIVUTTAKA, VIMĀNAVATTHU, PETAVATTHU, THERAGĀTHĀ, and THERĪGĀTHĀ), as well as exegeses of the Vimānavatthu, Petavatthu, Itivuttaka, and CARIYĀPIṬAKA. He also wrote commentaries to the NETTIPPAKARAṆA and the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the latter of which is titled the PARAMATTHAMAÑJŪSĀ. Dhammapāla also wrote several subcommentaries (ṭīkā) on Buddhaghosa’s exegeses of the Pāli canon, including the Līnatthavannanā on the suttapiṭaka, and subcommentaries on the JĀTAKA, the BUDDHAVAṂSA, and the ABHIDHAMMAPIṬAKA.

Dhammaruci Nikāya. The name of a Sri Lankan THERAVĀDA monastic order, which, according to Sinhalese chronicles, is named after a Vajjiputaka (S. VṚJIPUTRAKA) monk named Dhammaruci. Dhammarui is said to have brought his disciples from India to Sri Lanka, where they were welcomed by a group of monks at ABHAYAGIRI who had seceded from the MAHĀVIHĀRA when a monk named Mahātissa was expelled from the Mahāvihāra for inappropriate interaction with the laity. This secession is said to have occurred not long after the founding of Abhayagiri in the late first century BCE. The Dhammaruci Nikāya is considered a heterodox sect of Sri Lankan Theravāda because of disagreements over minor points in the VINAYA. They nonetheless received royal patronage during several periods of Sri Lankan history. The Abhayagiri Nikāya, which maintained close ties with India and adopted some MAHĀYĀNA teachings, is sometimes referred to as the Dhammaruci Nikāya.

Dhammasaṅgaṇi. [alt. Dhammasaṅgaṇī]. In Pāli, lit. “Enumeration (saṅgaṇī) of Factors (dhamma)”; the first of the seven books of the THERAVĀDA ABHIDHAMMAPIṬAKA. The text undertakes a systematic analysis of all the elements of reality, or factors (dhamma; S. DHARMA), discussed in the suttapiṭaka, organizing them into definitive rosters. The elaborate analysis of each and every element of existence provided by the Dhammasaṅgaṇi is considered to be foundational to the full account of the conditional relations pertaining between all those dharmas found in the PAṬṬHĀNA, the last book of the Pāli abhidhamma. ¶ The Dhammasaṅgaṇi consists of an initial “matrix” (mātikā; S. MĀTṚKĀ), followed by four main divisions: (1) mind (CITTA) and mental concomitants (CETASIKA), (2) materiality (RŪPA), (3) analytical summaries (nikkhepa; S. NIKṢEPA), and (4) exegesis (AṬṬHAKATHĀ). In the opening matrix, the complete list of subjects to be treated in both the Dhammasaṅgaṇi, as well as the entire abhidhammapiṭaka, is divided into three groups. (1) The triad matrix (tikamātikā) consists of twenty-two categories of factors (dhamma; S. DHARMA), each of which is treated as triads. For example, in the case of the matrix on wholesomeness (kusala; S. KUŚALA), the relevant factors are divided into wholesome factors (kusaladhamma; S. kuśaladharma), unwholesome factors (akusaladhamma; S. akuśaladharma), and neither wholesome nor unwholesome factors (avyākatadhamma; S. AVYĀKṚTA-DHARMA). (2) The dyad matrix (dukamātikā) consists of one hundred categories of factors, treated as dyads. For example, in the matrix on cause (HETU), factors are divided between factors that are root causes (hetudhamma) and factors that are not root causes (na hetudhamma). (3) The dyad matrix from the sūtras (suttantikadukamātikā) consists of forty-six categories of factors found in the suttapiṭaka that are treated as dyads. According to the AṬṬHASĀLINĪ, the commentary to the Dhammasaṅgaṇi, this section was added by Sāriputta (S. ŚĀRIPUTRA), one of the two main disciples of the Buddha, to facilitate understanding of the suttapiṭaka. Of the four main divisions of the Dhammasaṅgaṇi that follow this initial matrix, the first two, the division on mind and mental concomitants (cittuppādakaṇḍa) and the division on materiality (rūpakaṇḍa), expound upon the first category in the triad matrix, the matrix on wholesomeness, so as to provide a basis for the analysis of other categories of dharmas. The division on mind and mental concomitants contains the analysis of wholesome factors, unwholesome factors, and the first two of the four categories of factors that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome (avyākata; S. AVYĀKṚTA), namely, resultant (VIPĀKA) and noncausative action (kiriya); the division on materiality (rūpakaṇḍa) treats the remaining two categories of abyākatadhammas, namely, materiality (rūpa) and nibbāna (S. NIRVĀṆA), although nibbāna does not receive a detailed explanation. In the first division on wholesomeness in the triad category, each aspect is analyzed in relation to the various realms of existence: wholesome states of mind and mental concomitants: (1) pertaining to the sensuous realm (KĀMĀVACARA) (P. kāmāvacara-aṭṭhamahācitta), (2) pertaining to the realm of subtle materiality (rūpāvacara) (P. rūpāvacarakusala), (3) pertaining to the immaterial realm (arūpāvacara) (P. arūpāvacarakusala), (4) leading to different levels of existence within the three realms, and (5) leading to liberation from the three realms (lokuttaracitta). The third division, the division on analytical summaries (nikkhepakaṇḍa), provides a synopsis of the classifications found in all the triads and dyads, organized in eight categories: roots (mūla), aggregates (khandha; S. SKANDHA), doors (dvāra), field of occurrence (BHŪMI), meaning (attha; S. ARTHA), doctrinal interpretation (dhamma), nomenclature (nāma), and grammatical gender (liṅga). The final division on exegesis (aṭṭhakathākaṇḍa) offers additional detailed enumeration of other triads and dyads.

Dhanapāla. [alt. Nālāgiri] (T. Nor skyong; C. Hucai/Shoucai; J. Gozai/Shuzai; K. Hojae/Sujae 護財/守財). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “Wealth Protector”; alternate name of a ferocious elephant whom the Buddha tamed with his loving-kindness (MAITRĪ) on the streets of RĀJAGṚHA. See NĀLĀGIRI.

dhāraṇī. (T. gzungs; C. tuoluoni/zongchi; J. darani/sōji; K. tarani/ch’ongji 陀羅尼/總持). In Sanskrit, “mnemonic device,” “code.” The term is derived etymologically from the Sanskrit root √dhṛ (“to hold” or “to maintain”), thus suggesting something that supports, holds, or retains; hence, a verbal formula believed to “retain” or “encapsulate” the meaning of lengthier texts and prolix doctrines, thus functioning as a mnemonic device. It is said that those who memorize these formulae (which may or may not have semantic meaning) gain the power to retain the fuller teachings that the dhāraṇī “retain.” Commenting on the BODHISATTVABHŪMISŪTRA, Buddhist exegetes, such as the sixth-century Chinese scholiast JINGYING HUIYUAN, describe dhāraṇī as part of the equipment or accumulation (SAṂBHĀRA) that BODHISATTVAs need to reach full enlightenment, and classify dhāraṇī into four categories, i.e., those associated with (1) teachings (DHARMA), (2) meaning (ARTHA), (3) spells (MANTRA), and (4) acquiescence (KṢĀNTI). The first two types are involved with learning and remembering the teachings and intent of Buddhist doctrine and thus function as “codes.” In the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ literature, for example, a dhāraṇī can be a letter of the alphabet associated with a meaningful term: e.g., the letter “a” serves as code for remembering the term “ādy-anutpannatva” (“unproduced from the very beginning”). The third type (mantradhāraṇī) helps the bodhisattva to overcome adversity, counter baleful influences, and bestow protection (see PARĪTTA). The fourth type assists the bodhisattva in acquiescing to the true nature of dharmas as unproduced (ANUTPATTIKADHARMAKṢĀNTI), giving him the courage to remain in the world for the sake of all sentient beings. Dhāraṇī sometimes occur at the conclusion of a Mahāyāna sūtra as a terse synopsis of the fuller teaching of the sūtra, again drawing on their denotation as codes. The DHARMAGUPTAKA school of mainstream Buddhism, which may date to as early as the third or second century BCE, included a dhāraṇī collection (dhāraṇīpiṭaka) as an addition to the usual tripartite division of the Buddhist canon (TRIPIṬAKA), an indication of how widespread the use of dhāraṇī was across the Buddhist tradition. Dhāraṇī also appear often in Buddhist tantras and one prevailing theory in the scholarship had been that they were the root source from which tantric literature developed. The connection between dhāraṇī and the TANTRAs is tenuous, however, and seems not to be found before eighth-century materials. More likely, then, dhāraṇī should be treated as a pan-Buddhistic, rather than a proto-tantric, phenomenon. Indeed, the DAZHIDU LUN (*Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra), attributed to NĀGĀRJUNA, includes facility in dhāraṇī among the skills that all ordained monks should develop and mastery of ten different types of dhāraṇī as a central part of the training of bodhisattvas. See also MANTRA.

dharma. (P. dhamma; T. chos; C. fa; J. hō; K. pŏp 法). In Sanskrit, “factor,” or “element”; a polysemous term of wide import in Buddhism and therefore notoriously difficult to translate, a problem acknowledged in traditional sources; as many as ten meanings of the term are found in the literature. The term dharma derives from the Sanskrit root √dhṛ, which means “to hold” or “to maintain.” In Vedic literature, dharma is often used to refer to the sacrifice that maintains the order of the cosmos. Indian kings used the term to refer to the policies of their realms. In Hinduism, there is an important genre of literature called the dharmaśāstra, treatises on dharma, which set forth the social order and the respective duties of its members, in relation to caste, gender, and stage of life. Based on this denotation of the term, many early European translators rendered dharma into English as “law,” the same sense conveyed in the Chinese translation of dharma as fa (also “law”). ¶ In Buddhism, dharma has a number of distinct denotations. One of its most significant and common usages is to refer to “teachings” or “doctrines,” whether they be Buddhist or non-Buddhist. Hence, in recounting his search for truth prior to his enlightenment, the Buddha speaks of the dharma he received from his teachers. After his enlightenment, the Buddha’s first sermon was called “turning the wheel of the dharma” (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA). When the Buddha described what he himself taught to his disciples, he called it the DHARMAVINAYA, with the vinaya referring to the rules of monastic discipline and the dharma referring presumably to everything else. This sense of dharma as teaching, and its centrality to the tradition, is evident from the inclusion of the dharma as the second of the three jewels (RATNATRAYA, along with the Buddha and the SAṂGHA, or community) in which all Buddhists seek refuge. Commentators specified that dharma in the refuge formula refers to the third and fourth of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS: the truth of the cessation (NIRODHASATYA) of the causes that lead to suffering and the truth of the path (MĀRGA) to that cessation. Here, the verbal root of dharma as “holding” is evoked etymologically to gloss dharma as meaning something that “holds one back” from falling into states of suffering. A distinction was also drawn between the dharma or teachings as something that is heard or studied, called the scriptural dharma (ĀGAMA-dharma), and the dharma or teachings as something that is made manifest in the consciousness of the practitioner, called the realized dharma (ADHIGAMA-dharma). ¶ A second (and very different) principal denotation of dharma is a physical or mental “factor” or fundamental “constituent element,” or simply “phenomenon.” In this sense, the individual building blocks of our compounded (SAṂSKṚTA) existence are dharmas, dharma here glossed as something that “holds” its own nature. Thus, when Buddhist texts refer to the constituent elements of existence, they will often speak of “all dharmas,” as in “all dharmas are without self.” The term ABHIDHARMA, which is interpreted to mean either “higher dharma” or “pertaining to dharma,” refers to the analysis of these physical and mental factors, especially in the areas of causation and epistemology. The texts that contain such analyses are considered to be one of the three general categories of the Buddhist canon (along with SŪTRA and vinaya), known as the TRIPIṬAKA or “three baskets.” ¶ A third denotation of the term dharma is that of “quality” or “characteristic.” Thus, reference is often made to dharmas of the Buddha, referring in this sense not to his teachings but to his various auspicious qualities, whether they be physical, verbal, or mental. This is the primary meaning of dharma in the term DHARMAKĀYA. Although this term is sometimes rendered into English as “truth body,” dharmakāya seems to have originally been meant to refer to the entire corpus (KĀYA) of the Buddha’s transcendent qualities (dharma). ¶ The term dharma also occurs in a large number of important compound words. SADDHARMA, or “true dharma,” appears early in the tradition as a means of differentiating the teachings of the Buddha from those of other, non-Buddhist, teachers. In the MAHĀYĀNA sūtras, saddharma was used to refer, perhaps defensively, to the Mahāyāna teachings; one of the most famous Mahāyāna sūtras is the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, known in English as the “Lotus Sūtra,” but whose full title is “White Lotus of the True Dharma Sūtra.” In Buddhist theories of history, the period after the death of the Buddha (often said to last five hundred years) is called the time of the true dharma. This period of saddharma is followed, according to some theories, by a period of a “semblance” of the true dharma (SADDHARMAPRATIRŪPAKA) and a period of “decline” (SADDHARMAVIPRALOPA). The term DHARMADHĀTU refers to the ultimate nature of reality, as does DHARMATĀ, “dharma-ness.” It should also be noted that dharma commonly appears in the designations of persons. Hence, a DHARMABHĀṆAKA is a preacher of the dharma, a DHARMAPĀLA is a deity who protects the dharma; in both terms, dharma refers to the Buddhist doctrine. A DHARMARĀJAN is a righteous king (see CAKRAVARTIN), especially one who upholds the teachings of the Buddha. For various rosters of dharmas, see the List of Lists appendix.

dharmabhāṇaka. (P. dhammabhāṇaka; T. chos smra ba; C. shuofashi; J. seppōshi; K. sŏlbŏpsa

法師). In Sanskrit, “reciter of the dharma”; a term used to describe a monastic vocation. Before the Buddhist canon was committed to writing, perhaps four hundred years after the Buddha’s death, the canon was transmitted orally within monastic families of reciters. In the Pāli tradition, “reciters” were typically assigned to memorize one specific subcategory of the canon, i.e., Mahjjhimabhāṇaka (“reciters of the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA”), Jātakabhāṇaka (“reciters of the JĀTAKA”), etc. The term also occurs in the MAHĀYĀNA sūtras to describe a teacher of the Mahāyāna; indeed, such teachers may have played an important role in the dissemination of the Mahāyāna sūtras.

dharmacakra. (P. dhammacakka; T. chos kyi ’khor lo; C. falun; J. hōrin; K. pŏmnyun 法輪). In Sanskrit, “wheel of the DHARMA”; the eight-spoked wheel that symbolizes the teaching of the Buddha (eight representing the eightfold noble path, or ĀRYĀṢṬĀṄGAMĀRGA). Before human images of the Buddha began to be made in India due to Greek or JAINA influence, the Buddha was often represented visually by the dharmacakra, as a symbol of the “turning the wheel of the dharma” (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA), viz., the dispensation that he set in motion at his first sermon in SĀRNĀTH. In Indian mythology, one of the possessions of a “universal emperor,” or CAKRAVARTIN (literally, “wheel turner”), was a magical wheel that rolled around the world, bringing the lands it entered under the king’s domain. At his birth, it was prophesied that Prince SIDDHĀRTHA would become either a cakravartin or a buddha. His dharmacakra is seen as the counterpart of the more worldly wheel of the cakravartin, and the Buddha’s teaching is thus described as his setting that wheel of the dharma in motion.

dharmacakramudrā. (T. chos kyi ’khor lo’i phyag rgya; C. zhuan falun yin; J. tenbōrin’in; K. chŏn bŏmnyun in 轉法輪印). In Sanskrit, “wheel of dharma gesture,” sometimes referred to as the “teaching MUDRĀ,” is commonly found in images of the buddha ŚĀKYAMUNI where it represents his teaching the dharma. Representations of other buddhas, such as AMITĀBHA, VAIROCANA, and MAITREYA, may also exhibit this gesture. The dharmacakramudrā is formed with the left palm turned inward toward the body, in front of the chest, and the right palm turned outward. The index finger and thumb of each hand form circles that lightly touch each other. In an alternate position, the thumb and index fingers of the right hand may touch one of the left fingers. Occasionally, the right hand forms this gesture alone, with the left hand situated in the DHYĀNAMUDRĀ.

dharmacakrapravartana. (P. dhammacakkappavattana; T. chos ’khor bskor ba; C. zhuan falun; J. tenbōrin; K. chŏn pŏmnyun 轉法輪). In Sanskrit, “turning the wheel of the DHARMA”; a term used generally to describe the Buddha’s teaching; specifically, it refers the Buddha’s first sermon, delivered at the Deer Park (S. MṚGADĀVA) in ṚṢIPATANA, the modern SĀRNĀTH, as described in the Pāli DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA (S. Dharmacakrapravartanasūtra), when he first declared the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni) and the noble eightfold path (ĀRYĀṢṬĀṄGAMĀRGA). As Buddhist doctrine expanded exponentially in size and complexity, Buddhists were hard put to explain the apparent divergences in the teachings found in various recensions of the sūtras. In order to account for the critical differences in these sūtra explications of the Buddhist teachings, different traditions began to suggest that the Buddha had actually “turned the wheel of the dharma” more than one time. Certain perfection of wisdom (PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ) sūtras refer to the Buddha’s teaching of the perfection of wisdom as the second turning of the wheel of dharma. The SAṂDHINIRMOCANASŪTRA posits that the Buddha actually turned the wheel of the dharma three separate times, a description that came to figure prominently in MAHĀYĀNA scholastic literature: the first, called CATUḤSATYADHARMACAKRA, when he taught the four noble truths of the HĪNAYĀNA traditions; the second, called the ALAKṢAṆADHARMACAKRA (“dharma-wheel of signlessness”), when he taught the emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) doctrine as understood by the MADHYAMAKA school; and a third, the *SUVIBHAKTADHARMACAKRA (“dharma-wheel possessed of good differentiation”), when he taught the Yogācāra TRISVABHĀVA doctrine. The Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra claims that the teachings of the first two dharma-wheels were provisional (NEYĀRTHA), while the third was definitive (NĪTĀRTHA). This threefold taxonomy of the Buddhist teachings was one of the most influential hermeneutical schema (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI) created in the Mahāyāna and elicited extensive commentary in India, Tibet, and East Asia. Proponents of the Madhyamaka, who identified the second wheel with the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRAs, claimed to the contrary that the second wheel was definitive and the first and third were provisional.

dharmacakṣus. (P. dhammacakkhu; T. chos kyi mig; C. fayan; J. hōgen; K. pŏban 法眼). In Sanskrit, “eye of dharma”; the enlightened capacity to cognize the inherent truth of impermanence (ANITYA). The term also frequently appears in the sūtras in the stock formula of comprehension, where an interlocutor’s “eye of dharma” opens as he or she understands the meaning of the Buddha’s instruction. As one of the PAÑCACAKṢUS (“five eyes”), it sees all that the noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA) see. See also ABHIJÑĀ.

dharmadāna. (P. dhammadāna; T. chos kyi sbyin pa; C. fashi; J. hōse; K. pŏpsi 法施). In Sanskrit, “gift of dharma”; one of the two (or sometimes three) forms of giving (DĀNA) praised in the sūtras, along with the “gift of material goods” (ĀMIṢADĀNA). Occasionally, a third form of giving, the “gift of fearlessness” (ABHAYADĀNA), viz., helping others to become courageous, is added to the list. “The gift of dharma” means to share the Buddhist teachings with others through such means as delivering sermons, copying sūtras, encouraging others to cultivate the path (MĀRGA), and writing dictionaries.

dharmadhātu. (P. dhammadhātu; T. chos kyi dbyings; C. fajie; J. hokkai; K. pŏpkye 法界). In Sanskrit, “dharma realm,” viz., “realm of reality,” or “dharma element”; a term that has two primary denotations. In the ABHIDHARMA tradition, dharmadhātu means an “element of the dharma” or the “reality of dharma.” As one of the twelve ĀYATANA and eighteen DHĀTU, the dharmadhātu encompasses every thing that is or could potentially be an object of cognition and refers to the “substance” or “quality” of a dharma that is perceived by the mind. Dhātu in this context is sometimes read as “the boundary” or “delineation” that separates one distinct dharma from the other. The ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA lists the sensation aggregate (VEDANĀ-SKANDHA), the perception aggregate (SAṂJÑĀ-skandha), the conditioning forces aggregate (SAṂSKĀRA-skandha), unmanifest materiality (AVIJÑAPTIRŪPA), and unconditioned dharmas (viz., NIRVĀṆA) to be the constituents of this category. ¶ In the MAHĀYĀNA, dharmadhātu is used primarily to mean “sphere of dharma,” which denotes the infinite domain in which the activity of all dharmas takes place—i.e., the universe. It also serves as one of several terms for ultimate reality, such as TATHATĀ. In works such as the DHARMADHĀTUSTAVA, the purpose of Buddhist practice is to recognize and partake in this realm of reality. ¶ In East Asian Mahāyāna, there is a list of “ten dharmadhātus,” which are the six traditional levels of nonenlightened existence—hell denizens (NĀRAKA), hungry ghosts (PRETA), animals (TIRYAK), demigods (ASURA), humans (MANUṢYA), and divinities (DEVA)—together with the four categories of enlightened beings, viz., ŚRĀVAKAs, PRATYEKABUDDHAs, BODHISATTVAs, and buddhas. ¶ The Chinese HUAYAN school recognizes a set of four dharmadhātus (SI FAJIE), that is, four successively more profound levels of reality: (1) the dharmadhātu of phenomena (SHI FAJIE); (2) the dharmadhātu of principle (LI FAJIE); (3) the dharmadhātu of the unimpeded interpenetration between phenomena and principle (LISHI WU’AI FAJIE); and (4) the dharmadhātu of unimpeded interpenetration of phenomenon and phenomena (SHISHI WU’AI FAJIE). ¶ In YOGATANTRA, the dharmadhātu consists of the realms of vajradhātu (see KONGŌKAI) and garbhadhātu (see TAIZŌKAI), categories that simultaneously denote the bivalence in cosmological structure, in modes of spiritual practice, and in the powers and qualities of enlightened beings. Dharmadhātu is believed to be the full revelation of the body of the cosmic buddha VAIROCANA.

Dharmadhātustava. [alt. Dharmadhātustotra] (T. Chos dbyings bstod pa; C. Zan fajie song; J. San hokkaiju; K. Ch’an pŏpkye song 讚法界頌). In Sanskrit, “Praise of the DHARMADHĀTU,” a hymn in 101 stanzas attributed to NĀGĀRJUNA. It is cited by BHĀVAVIVEKA as a work by Nāgārjuna, but its authorship has been questioned by scholars because its substantialist elements seem at odds with the doctrine of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), as espoused by Nāgārjuna in works such as the MŪLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ. The text is also not counted among the “four hymns” (CATUḤSTAVA), which can be more confidently ascribed to Nāgārjuna. However, in the Tibetan tradition, it is regarded as his work and is counted among his “devotional corpus” (STAVAKĀYA). Apart from a few stanzas quoted in extant Sanskrit works, the text is lost in the original Sanskrit and is preserved in Tibetan and Chinese (translated by DĀNAPĀLA). The Dharmadhātustava describes the nature of the realm of reality (dharmadhātu) as being pure in its essence but is hidden by the afflictions (KLEŚA); when those taints are removed, the nature of reality is made manifest. Many of the metaphors in the text are similar to those found in the TATHĀGATAGARBHA literature. However, the dharmadhātu is also described in ontological terms as the cause of SAṂSĀRA, uncreated, immovable, certain, pure, the seed, etc., descriptions that seem at odds with Nāgārjuna’s more famous views. In Tibet, this apparent contradiction figured prominently in the so-called RANG STONG GZHAN STONG debates, where the proponents of the rang stong position, especially the DGE LUGS, saw Nāgārjuna’s exposition of emptiness to be his definitive position and explained the dharmadhātu as emptiness. The proponents of the gzhan stong position, most famously the JO NANG, argued for a more substantialist reality that is not empty of its own nature (SVABHĀVA) but is devoid of adventitious defilements. They found support for this position in the Dharmadhātustava.

dharmadhātusvabhāvajñāna. [alt. dharmadhātuprakṛtijñāna] (T. chos dbyings ye shes; C. fajie tixingzhi; J. hokkai taishōchi; K. pŏpkye ch’esŏngji 法界體性智). In Sanskrit, “the wisdom of the essential nature of the reality-realm”; one of five wisdoms of a buddha. The five are the wisdom of the essential nature of the DHARMADHĀTU (dharmadhātuprakṛtijñāna or dharmadhātusvabhāvajñāna), the mirror-like wisdom (ADARŚAJÑĀNA), the wisdom of equality (SAMATĀJÑĀNA), the wisdom of specific knowledge (PRATYAVEKṢAṆAJÑĀNA), and the wisdom of having accomplished what was to be done (KṚTYĀNUṢṬHĀNAJÑĀNA). The five wisdoms are considered to derive from specific transformations of the nine types of consciousness (VIJÑĀNA), which occur when a cultivator consummates one’s practice: dharmadhātuprakṛtijñāna is derived from the transformation of the ninth consciousness, the “immaculate consciousness” (AMALAVIJÑĀNA); adarśajñāna from the eighth, the “storehouse consciousness” (ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA); samatājñāna from the seventh, “defiled mental consciousness” (KLIṢṬAMANAS); the pratyavekṣaṇajñāna from the sixth, “mental consciousness” (MANOVIJÑĀNA); and kṛtyānuṣṭhānajñāna from the five sensory consciousnesses. The YOGĀCĀRA school initially discussed only the latter four types of wisdom, without the dharmadhātuprakṛtijñāna that derived from amalavijñāna. The full list of five wisdoms appears to derive from the “Sūtra of the Buddha Stage” (S. BUDDHABHŪMISŪTRA; C. Fodi jing), which refers to five kinds of dharmas that are incorporated in the stage of great enlightenment, viz., the four earlier types of wisdom listed in Yogācāra materials, plus the pure dharmadhātu, corresponding to dharmadhātuprakṛtijñāna. In esoteric Buddhism, these wisdoms are personified as the five buddhas depicted in the diamond-realm MAṆḌALA (vajradhātumaṇḍala). The five wisdoms of the diamond-realm (S. vajradhātu; see KONGŌKAI) represent the aspect of wisdom of the DHARMAKĀYA buddha, Mahāvairocana (see VAIROCANA). In contrast, the womb-realm (garbhadhātu; see TAIZŌKAI) is interpreted as the store or womb of Mahāvairocana Buddha, that is, the fundamental principle underlying those five types of wisdom. These are represented by Mahāvairocana in the center, AKṢOBHYA in the east, RATNASAMBHĀVA in the south, AMITĀBHA in the west and AMOGHASIDDHI or ŚĀKYAMUNI in the north.

Dharmadinnā. (P. Dhammadinnā; T. Chos kyis sbyin; C. Tanmotina biqiuni/Fale biqiuni; J. Donmadaina bikuni/Hōraku bikuni; K. Tammajena piguni/Pŏmnak piguni 曇摩提那比丘尼/法樂比丘尼). An eminent ARHAT nun, declared by the Buddha to be foremost among his nun disciples in the gift of preaching. According to Pāli sources, she was married to a rich merchant of Rājagaha (S. RĀJAGṚHA) named VISĀKHA. Visākha was a lay disciple of the Buddha, but his behavior toward his wife changed after he became a nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN). When he explained why, Dhammadinnā requested permission to renounce the world and become a Buddhist nun. So highly did Visākha regard his wife’s piety that he informed Bimbisāra, the king of MAGADHA, who arranged for her to be carried to the nuns’ convent on a golden palanquin. Dhammadinnā dwelled in solitude and soon became an arhat of the highest degree, equipped with the four analytical knowledges (paṭisambhidā; S. PRATISAṂVID), which included knowledge of the entire Buddhist canon. When she returned to Rājagaha to venerate the Buddha, her former husband Visākha approached her with questions on doctrine, which she easily answered. Visākha reported this to the Buddha, who praised Dhammadinnā’s proficiency in preaching. Dhammadinnā’s preeminence in preaching was a result of a vow she made during the time of the past buddha Padumuttara, when she witnessed a nun who was praised for her eloquence and vowed to achieve the same.

Dharmagupta. (C. Damojiduo; J. Darumagyūta; K. Talmagŭpta 達摩笈多) (d. 619). A South Indian monktranslator who traveled to China during the Sui dynasty; sometimes known by his abbreviated name Jiduo. Arriving in the Chinese capital of Chang’an in 590, he set to translating several scriptures into Chinese, including sūtras on the buddha BHAIṢAJYAGURU, one of the later recensions of the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, which he cotranslated with JÑĀNAGUPTA, and Vasubandhu’s commentary on the VAJRACCHEDIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA. Some ten different translations are attributed to him. He should be distinguished from the Dharmagupta (c. third century BCE) who was the eponymous founder of the DHARMAGUPTAKA school.

Dharmaguptaka. (T. Chos sbas pa; C. Fazangbu/Tanwudebu; J. Hōzōbu/Donmutokubu; K. Pŏpchangbu/Tammudŏkpu 法蔵部/曇無德部). In Sanskrit, “Adherents of Dharmagupta”; one of the eighteen traditional “mainstream” (that is, non-MAHĀYĀNA) schools of early Indian Buddhism. There are various theories on the origin of the school in Buddhist literature. The SARVĀSTIVĀDA treatise SAMAYABHEDOPARACANACAKRA states that the Dharmaguptaka separated from the MAHĪŚĀSAKA school, one of the collateral branches of the Sarvāstivāda school (probably sometime around the late second or early first centuries BCE), while inscriptional evidence and Tibetan sources instead suggest it was one strand of the VIBHAJYAVĀDA (P. Vibhajjavāda) school, a collateral line of the STHAVIRANIKĀYA that was most active in KASHMIR-GANDHĀRA, and Sri Lanka. There is inscriptional evidence from the northwest of the Indian subcontinent for the continued existence of the school into the seventh century. The school is named after the eponymous teacher Dharmagupta (c. third century BCE), even though the school itself traces its lineage back to MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA (P. Mahāmoggallāna), one of the two main disciples of the Buddha. Unlike the typical tripartite division of the canon (TRIPIṬAKA), viz., SŪTRAPIṬAKA, VINAYAPIṬAKA, and ABHIDHARMAPIṬAKA, the Dharmaguptaka canon is said to have consisted of five divisions, adding to the usual three a collection on BODHISATTVA doctrines and practices (BODHISATTVAPIṬAKA) and a DHĀRAṆĪ collection (dhāraṇīpiṭaka). Some of the distinctive tenets of the school are (1) the Buddha is not included among the members of the SAṂGHA and thus a gift given to him is superior to offerings made to the community as a whole; (2) there are four characteristics (CATURLAKṢAṆA) of compounded things—origination, maturation, decay, and extinction—of which the first three were conditioned (SAṂSKṚTA) and the last unconditioned (ASAṂSKṚTA); (3) the path of the buddhas and bodhisattvas is distinct from that of the ŚRĀVAKAs; (4) non-buddhists (TĪRTHIKA) cannot attain the five kinds of superknowledge (ABHIJÑĀ); (5) the body of an ARHAT is free from the contaminants (ANĀSRAVA). Because of their views about the Buddha’s superiority to the broader saṃgha, the school also emphasized the extraordinary merit accruing from offerings made to a STŪPA, which was considered to be the contemporary representation of the Buddha because of the relics (ŚARĪRA) it enshrined. Due to the convergence of some of the school’s doctrines with those of the MAHĀSĀṂGHIKA, it has been suggested that the school may have had its origins within the Sthaviranikāya but was subsequently influenced by Mahāsāṃghika ideas. One of the enduring influences of the Dharmaguptaka school in Buddhist history comes from its vinaya, which came to be adopted widely throughout East Asia; this so-called “Four-Part Vinaya” (SIFEN LÜ, *Dharmaguptaka vinaya) was translated into Chinese in 405 by BUDDHAYAŚAS (c. fifth century CE) and is still used today in the East Asian Buddhist traditions. The recension of the DĪRGHĀGAMA (C. Chang Ahan jing) that was translated into Chinese in 413 CE by Buddhayaśas and ZHU FONIAN is also attributed to the Dharmaguptaka school.

Dharmākara. (T. Chos kyi ’byung gnas; C. Fazang biqiu; J. Hōzō biku; K. Pŏpchang pigu 法藏比丘). The bodhisattva-monk (BHIKṢU) who became the buddha AMITĀBHA. According to the longer SUKHĀVATĪVYŪHASŪTRA (C. Wuliangshoujing), in the distant past, Dharmākara was a monk under the tutelage of the buddha LOKEŚVARARĀJA. At Dharmākara’s request, Lokeśvararāja described and displayed millions of buddha-fields (BUDDHAKṢETRA) to the monk. Dharmākara then selected the best qualities of each and concentrated them in his conception of a single buddha-field, which he described to Lokeśvararāja in terms of forty-eight vows. The most important of these vows for the PURE LAND tradition is the eighteenth, in which he vows that all beings who call upon him (with the possible exception of those who have committed the five ĀNANTARYAKARMAN, the heinous crimes that bring immediate retribution, or who have slandered the DHARMA) will be reborn in his pure land of SUKHĀVATĪ. Since Dharmākara was eventually successful in his quest and became the buddha Amitābha, his vows have been fulfilled and all sentient beings therefore have access to his buddha land.

dharmakāya. (T. chos sku; C. fashen; J. hosshin; K. pŏpsin 法身). In Sanskrit, often translated as “truth body,” one of the two (along with the RŪPAKĀYA) or three (along with the SAṂBHOGAKĀYA and NIRMĀṆAKĀYA) bodies of a buddha. In early discussions of the true nature of the Buddha, especially regarding the person of the Buddha to whom one goes for refuge (ŚARAṆA), the term dharmakāya seems to have been coined to refer to the corpus or collection (KĀYA) of the auspicious qualities (DHARMA) of the Buddha, including his wisdom, his compassion, his various powers, etc.; it also referred to the entire corpus (kāya) of the Buddha’s teachings (dharma). In the MAHĀYĀNA, the term evolved into a kind of cosmic principle that was regarded as the true nature of the Buddha and the source from which his various other forms derived. In the perfection of wisdom (PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ) commentarial tradition, a dispute arose over the interpretation of the eighth chapter of the ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRA, with VIMUKTISENA arguing that the SVĀBHĀVAKĀYA is the ultimate nature of a buddha and HARIBHADRA arguing that there are two aspects of the dharmakāya: a JÑĀNADHARMAKĀYA (knowledge truth body), i.e., the nondual omniscient knowledge of a buddha, and a svābhāvakāya. Later commentators in India and Tibet explored the ramifications of this distinction at length. See also TRIKĀYA.

Dharmakīrti. (T. Chos kyi grags pa; C. Facheng; J. Hōshō; K. Pŏpch’ing 法稱) (c. 600–670 CE). Indian Buddhist logician, who was one of the most important and influential figures in the history of Buddhist philosophy. Dharmakīrti was the author of a series of seminal works building on his predecessor DIGNĀGA’s PRAMĀṆASAMUCCAYA (“Compendium on Valid Knowledge”), defending it against criticism by Brahmanical writers and explaining how accurate knowledge could be gleaned (see PRAMĀṆA). His “seven treatises on pramāṇa” (T. TSHAD MA SDE ’DUN) are the PRAMĀṆAVĀRTTIKA (“Commentary on Valid Knowledge”) and PRAMĀṆAVINIŚCAYA (“Determination of Valid Knowledge”), as well as the NYĀYABINDU (“Drop of Reasoning”), the Hetubindu (“Drop of Reasons”), the Sambandhaparīkṣā (“Analysis of Relations”), the Saṃtānāntarasiddhi (“Proof of Other Mental Continuums”), and the Vādanyāya (“Reasoning for Debate”). Dharmakīrti proposed a causal efficacy connecting the sense object and sensory perception as the basis of reliable perception (PRATYAKṢA), thereby attempting to remove the potential fallacy in Dignāga’s acceptance of the infallibility of sense data themselves. Dharmakīrti wrote explanations of many of his own works, and DHARMOTTARA, Śākyamati, PRAJÑĀKARAGUPTA, and Manorathanandin, among others, wrote detailed commentaries on his works. He had a profound influence on the exchange between subsequent Indian Buddhist writers, such as ŚĀNTARAKṢITA, KAMALAŚĪLA, and HARIBHADRA, and contemporary Brahmanical Naiyāyika and Mīmāṃsaka thinkers. His work subsequently became the focus of intense study in Tibet, first in GSANG PHU NE’U THOG monastery where RNGOG BLO LDAN SHES RAB and later PHYWA PA CHOS KYI SENG GE established through their commentaries on the PRAMĀṆAVINIŚCAYA an influential tradition of interpretation; it was questioned by SA SKYA PAṆḌITA in his TSHAD MA RIGS GTER, giving rise to a second line of interpretation more in line with Dharmakīrti’s original works. There is a question of Dharmakīrti’s philosophical affiliation, with elements in his works that reflect both SAUTRĀNTIKA and YOGĀCĀRA doctrinal positions.

Dharmakīrtiśrī. (T. Chos kyi grags pa dpal). Buddhist paṇḍita better known by his Tibetan name Gser gling pa (Serlingpa), “The Man from Suvarṇadvīpa”; also known as Kulānta (T. Rigs sbyin). He was a GURU of ATIŚA, who traveled by sea to Suvarṇadvīpa (generally regarded as referring to the region of lower Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra) in order to study with him. Atiśa is said to have praised him as his supreme teacher of BODHICITTA. His doctrinal affiliation was said to be YOGĀCĀRA. He is the author of the Durbodhāloka, a widely cited subcommentary on HARIBHADRA’s ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRAVIVṚTI. The Durbodhāloka is only extant in Tibetan translation and was written later than the PRASPHUṬAPADĀ of Dharmamitra. It is the only extant Buddhist scholastic text from that period by a writer from that region.

dharmakṣānti. (T. chos bzod; C. faren; J. hōnin; K. pŏbin 法忍). In Sanskrit, “acquiescence,” “receptivity,” or “forbearance” (KṢĀNTI) to the “truth” or the “doctrine” (DHARMA); a term that occurs in SARVĀSTIVĀDA descriptions of the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA). In this path schema, the path of vision consists of fifteen thought moments, with a subsequent sixteenth moment marking the beginning of the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA). There are four moments of “acquiescence” to, or realization of, the “dharmas” of each of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni). The first moment is that of acquiescence to the truth of suffering with regard to the sensuous realm (KĀMADHĀTU); in this moment, the afflictions (KLEŚA) of the sensuous realm associated with the truth of suffering are abandoned. This is followed by a moment of doctrinal knowledge (dharmajñāna) of the truth of suffering with regard to the sensuous realm, which is the understanding that the kleśas of that realm associated with the truth of suffering have been abandoned. This is then followed by a moment of subsequent acquiescence (anvayakṣānti) to the truth of suffering in which the kleśas of the upper realms of existence (the RŪPADHĀTU and ĀRŪPYADHĀTU) associated with the truth of suffering are abandoned. This is followed finally by a fourth moment, called subsequent knowledge (anvayajñāna) of the truth of suffering, which is the understanding that the kleśas of the two upper realms associated with the truth of suffering have been abandoned. This same fourfold sequence is repeated for the truth of origin, the truth of cessation, and the truth of the path. The sixteenth moment, that is, the moment of subsequent knowledge (anvayajñāna) of the truth of the path (MĀRGASATYA) is, in effect, the knowledge that all of the kleśas of both the subtle-materiality realm and the upper immaterial realm that are associated with the four truths have been abandoned. This moment marks the beginning of the path of cultivation (bhāvanāmārga). The term is also sometimes an abbreviation for the receptivity to the nonproduction of dharmas (ANUTPATTIKADHARMAKṢĀNTI). For an explanation of dharmakṣānti and the other instants from a Mahāyāna perspective, based on the ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA, see DARŚANAMĀRGA.

Dharmakṣema. (C. Tanwuchen; J. Donmusen; K. Tammuch’am 曇無讖) (385–433 CE). Indian Buddhist monk who was an early translator of Buddhist materials into Chinese. A scion of a brāhmaṇa family from India, Dharmakṣema became at the age of six a disciple of Dharmayaśas (C. Damoyeshe; J. Donmayasha) (d.u.), an ABHIDHARMA specialist who later traveled to China c. 397–401 and translated the Śāriputrābhidharmaśāstra. Possessed of both eloquence and intelligence, Dharmakṣema was broadly learned in both monastic and secular affairs and was well versed in mainstream Buddhist texts. After he met a meditation monk named “White Head” and had a fiery debate with him, Dharmakṣema recognized his superior expertise and ended up studying with him. The monk transmitted to him a text of the MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆASŪTRA written on bark, which prompted Dharmakṣema to embrace the MAHĀYĀNA. Once he reached the age of twenty, Dharmakṣema was able to recite over two million words of Buddhist texts. He was also so skilled in casting spells that he earned the sobriquet “Great Divine Spell Master” (C. Dashenzhou shi). Carrying with him the first part of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra that he received from “White Head,” he left India and arrived in the KUCHA kingdom in Central Asia. As the people of Kucha mostly studied HĪNAYĀNA and did not accept the Mahāyāna teachings, Dharmakṣema then moved to China and lived in the western outpost of DUNHUANG for several years. Juqu Mengxun, the non-Chinese ruler of the Northern Liang dynasty (397–439 CE), eventually brought Dharmakṣema to his capital. After studying the Chinese language for three years and learning how to translate Sanskrit texts orally into Chinese, Dharmakṣema engaged there in a series of translation projects under Juqu Mengxun’s patronage. With the assistance of Chinese monks, such as Daolang and Huigao, Dharmakṣema produced a number of influential Chinese translations, including the Dabanniepan jing (S. Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra; in forty rolls), the longest recension of the sūtra extant in any language; the Jinguangming jing (“Sūtra of Golden Light”; S. SUVARṆAPRABHĀSOTTAMASŪTRA; in four rolls); and the Pusa dichi jing (S. BODHISATTVABHŪMISŪTRA; in ten rolls). He is also said to have made the first Chinese translation of the LAṄKĀVATĀRASŪTRA (C. Ru Lengqie jing), but his rendering had dropped out of circulation at least by 730 CE, when the Tang Buddhist cataloguer ZHISHENG (700–786 CE) compiled the KAIYUAN SHIJIAO LU. The Northern Wei ruler Tuoba Tao, a rival of Juqu Mengxun’s, admired Dharmakṣema’s esoteric expertise and requested that the Northern Liang ruler send the Indian monk to his country. Fearing that his rival might seek to employ Dharmakṣema’s esoteric expertise against him, Juqu Mengxun had the monk assassinated at the age of forty-nine. Dharmakṣema’s translation of Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese had a significant impact on Chinese Buddhism; in particular, the doctrine that all beings have the buddha-nature (FOXING), a teaching appearing in Dharmakṣema’s translation of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, exerted tremendous influence on the development of Chinese Buddhist thought.

dharmameghā. (T. chos kyi sprin; C. fayun di; J. hōunji; K. pŏbun chi 法雲地). In Sanskrit, “cloud of dharma,” the tenth and final “ground” or stage (BHŪMI) of the BODHISATTVA path, just prior to the attainment of buddhahood. On the dharmameghā bhūmi, the bodhisattva is at the point of attaining the dharma-body (DHARMAKĀYA) that is as vast as the sky, becomes autonomous in interacting with all material and mental factors, and gains all-pervasive knowledge, which causes the excellent dharma to fall like rain from a cloud, nurturing the entire world and increasing the harvest of virtue for sentient beings. This stage is also described as being pervaded by meditative absorption (DHYĀNA) and mastery of the use of DHĀRAṆĪ, just as the sky is filled with clouds. According to the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra; chap. 11), each of the ten stages of the bodhisattva path leads to the attainment of one of the ten types of suchness (TATHATĀ); these are accomplished by discarding one of the ten kinds of obstructions (ĀVARAṆA) through practicing one of the ten perfections (PĀRAMITĀ). In the case of the dharmameghā bhūmi, the obstruction of not yet acquiring mastery over all dharmas (fa wei zizai zhang) is removed through the perfection of knowledge (JÑĀNAPĀRAMITĀ), leading to the suchness that serves as the support for mastery over action (ye zizai deng suoyi zhenru; *kriyādivaśitāsaṃniśrayatathatā) and the ability of the bodhisattva to ripen the minds of sentient beings. The tenth stage thus removes any remaining delusions regarding the use of the supernatural knowledges or powers (ABHIJÑĀ) or the subtle mysteries, giving the bodhisattva complete autonomy in manipulating all dharmas. As the culminating stage of the “path of cultivation” (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA), the dharmameghā bhūmi still contains the last and most subtle remnants of the cognitive obstructions (JÑEYĀVARAṆA). These obstructions will be completely eradicated through the adamantine-like concentration (VAJROPAMASAMĀDHI), which marks the transition to the “ultimate path” (NIṢṬHĀMĀRGA), or “path where no further training is necessary” (AŚAIKṢAMĀRGA), i.e., an eleventh stage of the buddhas (TATHĀGATABHŪMI) that is sometimes also known as the “universally luminous” (samantaprabhā).

dharmamudrā. (P. dhammamuddā; T. chos [rtags] kyi phyag rgya; C. fayin; J. hōin; K. pŏbin 法印). In Sanskrit, “the seal” or “distinguishing mark” (MUDRĀ) “of the dharma.” This mark may refer either to the objective qualities of all phenomena or to the doctrinal insights that distinguish either the definitive teachings (NĪTĀRTHA) of Buddhism from the provisional teachings (NEYĀRTHA), or the Buddhist teachings from non-Buddhist (TĪRTHIKA) ones. In the mainstream traditions, there are generally presumed to be three distinguishing marks of all phenomena or three doctrinal features that constitute the genuine Buddhist teachings. In one typology, the “three marks” refer to “all compounded things are characterized by impermanence” (ANITYA) “all existing things are characterized by the lack of a self” (ANĀTMAN) and “nirvāṇa is characterized by uncompounded quiescence”; in an alternate typology, the third mark is replaced by the typical “all experiences are characterized by unsatisfactoriness” (DUḤKHA). In the MAHĀYĀNA, one or four marks are typically listed. In the first case, the “true distinguishing mark corresponding to the true nature of all things” (yi shixiang yin) is taken to be the only true dharmamudrā. In the second case, the dharmamudrā of “all dharmas are empty in their self-nature” (NIḤSVABHĀVA; ŚŪNYATĀ) is added to either group of the three marks of the mainstream tradition listed earlier to make four dharmamudrās. In Tibet, the usual locution is “four seals that mark a doctrine as the word [of the Buddha]” (lta ba bka’ btags kyi phyag rgya bzhi). See CATURMUDRĀ.

dharmanairātmya. (T. chos kyi bdag med; C. fawuwo; J. hōmuga; K. pŏmmua 法無我). In Sanskrit, “insubstantiality of dharmas,” viz., the lack of self in all the phenomena in the universe, a second, and more advanced, level of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) than the insubstantiality of the person (PUDGALANAIRĀTMYA). The doctrine of nonself (ANĀTMAN) is a fundamental tenet of Buddhism and is directed primarily at the denial of any notion of a perduring soul. Sentient beings (SATTVA) are viewed as merely a collection of aggregates (SKANDHA) or elements of reality (DHARMA), which are temporarily concatenated through an impersonal, causal process; thus, the person (PUDGALA) is lacking any eternal self (pudgalanairātmya). The mainstream Buddhist ABHIDHARMA schools began to compile extensive lists of the elements of reality (dharma) from which the compounded things of this world were comprised, and the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school was especially known for propounding the view that all these dharmas were real and existed throughout all the three time periods (TRIKĀLA) of the past, present, and future (the school’s name literally means “those who say that all exists,” S. sarvam asti). This view that dharmas were permanent, while compounded things were not, was strongly critiqued by the MAHĀYĀNA tradition as the unwarranted intrusion into Buddhism of a notion of permanence (NITYA). The MADHYAMAKA school in particular was well known for its thoroughgoing denial of the substantiality not only of the compounded person, but of the constituents of reality as well (dharmanairātmya). The selflessness of dharmas is synonymous with the emptiness (śūnyatā) of dharmas, and the fact that all things in existence are devoid of intrinsic nature (S. NIḤSVABHĀVA). It was furthermore said in the Mahāyāna that in order to achieve buddhahood, the BODHISATTVA had to gain direct realization of both pudgalanairātmya as well as the more subtle dharmanairātmya; there was disagreement over whether the ARHAT had to gain understanding of dharmanairātmya in order to achieve NIRVĀṆA.

dharmānusārin. (P. dhammānusāri; T. chos kyi rjes su ’brang ba; C. suifaxing; J. zuihōgyō; K. subŏphaeng 隨法行). In Sanskrit, “follower of the dharma,” one who arrives at a realization of the dharma or truth through his or her own analysis of the teachings; contrasted with “follower of faith” (ŚRADDHĀNUSĀRIN) whose religious experience is grounded in the faith or confidence in what others tell him about the dharma. The SARVĀSTIVĀDA (e.g., as described in the ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA) and THERAVĀDA (e.g., VISUDDHIMAGGA) schools of mainstream Buddhism both recognize seven types of noble ones (ĀRYA, P. ariya), listed in order of their intellectual superiority: (1) follower of faith (S. śraddhānusārin; P. saddhānusāri); (2) follower of the dharma (S. dharmānusārin; P. dhammānusāri); (3) one who is freed by faith (S. ŚRADDHĀVIMUKTA; P. saddhāvimutta); (4) one who has formed right view (S. DṚṢṬIPRĀPTA; P. diṭṭhippatta), by developing both faith and wisdom; (5) one who has bodily testimony (S. KĀYASĀKṢIN; P. kāyasakkhi), viz., through the temporary suspension of mentality in the absorption of cessation (NIRODHASAMĀPATTI); (6) one who is freed by wisdom (S. PRAJÑĀVIMUKTA; P. paññāvimutta), by freeing oneself through analysis; and (7) one who is freed both ways (S. UBHAYATOBHĀGAVIMUKTA; P. ubhatobhāgavimutta), by freeing oneself through both meditative absorption and wisdom. According to the Sarvāstivāda VAIBHĀṢIKA school of ABHIDHARMA, an ARHAT whose liberation is grounded in faith may be subject to backsliding from that state, whereas those who are dharmānusārin are unshakable (AKOPYA), because they have experienced the knowledge of nonproduction (ANUTPĀDAJÑĀNA), viz., that the afflictions (kleśa) can never occur again, the complement of the knowledge of extinction (KṢAYAJÑĀNA). ¶ The Theravāda school, which does not accept this dynamic interpretation of an arhat’s spiritual experience, develops a rather different interpretation of these types of individuals. BUDDHAGHOSA explains in his VISUDDHIMAGGA that one who develops faith by contemplating the impermanent nature of things is a follower of faith at the moment of becoming a stream-enterer (sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA) and is one who is freed by faith at the subsequent moments of the fruition of the path; one who is tranquil and develops concentration by contemplating the impermanent nature of things is one who has bodily testimony at all moments; one who develops the immaterial meditative absorptions (arūpajhāna; S. ARŪPĀVACARADHYĀNA) is one freed both ways; one who develops wisdom is one who follows the dharma (dhammānusāri) at the moment of entry into the rank of stream-enterer and is one who has formed right view at the subsequent moments of path entry. When one achieves highest spiritual attainment, one is called freed by wisdom. In another classification of six individuals found in the Pāli CŪḶAGOPĀLAKASUTTA, dhammānusāri is given as the fifth type, the other five being the worthy one (arahant; S. ARHAT), nonreturner (anāgāmi; S. ANĀGĀMIN), once-returner (sakadāgāmi; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), stream-enterer (sotāpanna; S. srotaāpanna), and follower of faith (saddhānusāri). The Indriyasaṃyutta in the SAṂYUTTANIKĀYA also mentions these same six individuals and explains their differences in terms of their development of the five spiritual faculties (INDRIYA): faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. An arahant has matured the five faculties; a nonreturner has all five faculties, but they are slightly less developed than in the arahant; a once-returner is slightly less developed than a nonreturner; a stream-enterer slightly less than a once-returner; a dhammānusāri slightly less than a stream-enterer; and a saddhānusāri slightly less than a dhammānusāri. The saddhāvimutta and dhammānusāri are also distinguished depending on when they reach higher spiritual attainment: one who is following faith at the moment of accessing the path (maggakkhana) is called saddhāvimutta, one liberated through faith; the other, who is following wisdom, is called dhammānusāri, one who is liberated by wisdom at the moment of attainment (phalakkhana). ¶ The dharmānusārin is also found in the list of the members of the saṃgha when it is subdivided into twenty (VIṂŚATIPRABHEDASAṂGHA). Among the dharmānusārin there are candidates for the fruit of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNAPRATIPANNAKA), once-returner (SAKṚDĀGĀMIPRATIPANNAKA), and nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIPRATIPANNAKA). The Mahāyāna carries over the division of dharmānusārin and śraddhānusārin into its discussion of the path to enlightenment. The PAÑCAVIṂŚATISĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ takes the seven types of noble ones (ārya) listed in order of intellectual superiority, and the eight noble beings (stream-enterer and so on) as examples for bodhisattvas at different stages of the path; the dharmānusārin more quickly reaches the AVAIVARTIKA (irreversible) stage, the śraddhānusārin more slowly, based on the development of wisdom (PRAJÑĀ) that has forbearance for the absence of any ultimately existing goal to be reached, and skillful means (UPĀYA) that places pride of place on the welfare of others (PARĀRTHA).

dharmapāla. (P. dhammapāla; T. chos skyong; C. fahu; J. hōgo; K. pŏpho 法護). In Sanskrit, “protector of the DHARMA”; in Mahāyāna and tantric texts, dharmapālas are divinities, often depicted in wrathful forms, who defend Buddhism from its enemies and who guard Buddhist practitioners from various forms of external and internal dangers. The histories of many Buddhist nations often involve the conversion of local deities into dharma protectors. In Tibet, for example, the worship of dharmapālas is said to have begun in the early eighth century CE at the instigation of PADMASAMBHAVA (c. eighth century), when he was invited to the country by the Tibetan king KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN. On his arrival, Padmasaṃbhava is said to have used his powers to subdue baleful local deities he encountered along the way and spared only those who promised to become dharmapālas. In Tibetan Buddhism, dharmapālas are divided into two groups, the mundane (’jig rten pa), who are worldly deities who protect the dharma, and the supramundane (’jig rten las ’das pa), enlightened beings who appear in wrathful form to defend the dharma. The eight types of nonhuman beings (AṢṬASENĀ) are also sometimes listed as dharma-protectors, viz., GARUḌA, DEVA, NĀGA, YAKṢA, GANDHARVA, ASURA, KIṂNARA, and MAHORĀGA.

Dharmapāla. (T. Chos skyong; C. Hufa; J. Gohō; K. Hobŏp 護法) (530–561). One of the ten great YOGĀCĀRA philosophers of Indian Buddhism. He was born in southern India in the middle of the sixth century CE, to the family of a high government minister. At around the age of twenty, on the evening that he was to be married, he ran away to a mountain monastery to become a monk. After mastering the teachings of both mainstream and MAHĀYĀNA Buddhism, Dharmapāla traveled extensively, becoming renowned for his debating skills. Later, he studied under the YOGĀCĀRA specialist and logician DIGNĀGA (d.u.) at NĀLANDĀ, where he became chief instructor despite his youth. His teaching focused especially on Yogācāra doctrine, and he produced many excellent disciples. XUANZANG (600/602–664), one of the most important figures in the history of Chinese Buddhist scholasticism, traveled to India in the seventh century, where he studied Dharmapāla’s doctrines at Nālandā under one of his principal disciples, ŚĪLABHADRA (529–645), and brought Dharmapāla’s scholastic lineage back to China. Xuanzang edited and translated some of the materials he had collected in India into the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra; “Demonstration of Consciousness-Only”), a synopsis of ten separate commentaries on VASUBANDHU’s TRIṂŚIKĀ (“Thirty Verses”) but heavily focused on the insights of Dharmapāla, which Xuanzang considered orthodox. Unlike STHIRAMATI, who understood the bifurcation of consciousness into subject and object to be wholly imaginary, Dharmapāla proposed instead that consciousness always appears in both subjective and objective aspects, viz., a “seeing part” (darśanabhāga) and a seen part (nimittabhāga). His interpretations regarding the nature of consciousness became predominant in the Chinese FAXIANG (alt. Weishi) school of Yogācāra, which was developed by Xuanzang and his two main disciples, WŎNCH’ŬK and KUIJI. Dharmapāla retired to Asaṃbodhi monastery at the age of twenty-nine and passed away at the age of thirty-one.

Dharmapāla, Anagārika. (1864–1933). An important figure in the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and the dissemination of Buddhism in the West. Born Don David Hēvāvirtarne in Sri Lanka, at that time the British colony of Ceylon, he was raised in the English-speaking middle class of Colombo and educated in Christian schools run by Anglican missionaries, where he is said to have memorized large portions of the Bible. His family was Buddhist, however, and in 1880, at the age of sixteen, he met HENRY STEEL OLCOTT and MADAME BLAVATSKY, founders of the Theosophical Society, during their visit to Sri Lanka in support of Buddhism. In 1881, he took the Buddhist name Dharmapāla, “Protector of the Dharma,” and in 1884 was initiated into the Theosophical Society by Colonel Olcott, later accompanying Madame Blavatsky to the headquarters of the Society in Adyar, India. Under the initial patronage of Theosophists, he studied Pāli, choosing to adopt the lifestyle of a celibate lay religious. Prior to that time in Sri Lanka, the leadership in Buddhism had been provided exclusively by monks and kings. Dharmapāla established a new role for Buddhist laypeople, creating the category of the anagārika (meaning “homeless wanderer”), a layperson who studied texts and meditated, as did monks, but who remained socially active in the world, as did laypeople. Free from the restrictions incumbent on the Sinhalese monkhood, yet distinct from ordinary laity, he regarded this new lifestyle of the anagārika as the most suitable status for him to work for the restoration and propagation of Buddhism. A social reformer, rationalist, and religious nationalist, he promoted rural education and a reformist style of Buddhism, stripped of what he considered extraneous superstitions, as a means of uplifting Sinhalese society and gaining independence for his country as a Buddhist nation. While he was in India in 1891, he was shocked to see the state of decay of the great pilgrimage sites of India, all then under Hindu control, and most especially of BODHGAYĀ, the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment. In that same year, he joined a group of leading Sri Lankan Buddhists to found the MAHĀBODHI SOCIETY, which called on Buddhists from around the world to work for the return of important Indian Buddhist sites to Buddhist control, and one of whose aims was the restoration of the MAHĀBODHITEMPLE at Bodhgayā. This goal only came to fruition in 1949, well after his death, when the newly independent Indian government granted Buddhists a role in administering the site. His influential Buddhist journal, The Mahā-Bodhi, also established in 1891, continues to be published today. A gifted orator, in 1893 Anagārika Dharmapāla addressed the World’s Parliament of Religions, held in conjunction with the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, drawing much acclaim. Although he was one of several Buddhist speakers, his excellent English and Anglican education made him an effective spokesperson for the dharma, demonstrating both its affinities with, and superiority to, Christianity. In 1925, he founded the British Mahā Bodhi Society in London and a year later established the first THERAVĀDA monastery in the West, the London Buddhist Vihāra. In 1931, he was ordained as a monk (bhikkhu; BHIKṢU), taking the name Devamitta. He died in 1933 at SĀRNĀTH, site of the Buddha’s first sermon.

dharmaparyāya. (P. dhammapariyāya; T. chos kyi rnam grangs; C. famen; J. hōmon; K. pŏmmun 法門). In Sanskrit, lit. “method” or “sequence of the doctrine,” denoting both “ways of teaching the dharma” as well as the “dharma discourse” itself. As implied in the Pāli interpretation of the term as “an explanation of one thing that stands for many,” these dharmaparyāya may entail types of discourse (P. kathā) that are both indirect (P. sapariyāya), and thus not meant to be taken literally, as when the Buddha refers to a person (P. puggala; S. PUDGALA) or a self (P. atta; S. ĀTMAN); and direct (P. nippariyāya), and thus able to be construed literally and without interpretation. Since the term involves ways of framing the instruction to fit the needs of the target audience, dharmaparyāya has close connections to UPĀYAKAUŚALYA, “skill in means,” or “stratagems.” The Chinese translation famen means literally “dharma gate,” implying an “approach to dharma,” a “way of accessing the dharma,” or sometimes simply a “teaching.”

dharmaprīti. (P. dhammapīti; T. chos la dga’ ba; C. faxi; J. hōki; K. pŏphŭi 法喜). In Sanskrit, “joy of the dharma”; the uplifting feelings of joy or enthusiasm that derive from properly observing the precepts (i.e., to be morally “blameless” and thus harboring no regrets or shame) and from hearing, understanding, or practicing the dharma. Depending on its intensity, this joy may manifest itself in several different ways, ranging from a radiant complexion, horripilation (the body hair standing on end), and goose bumps, to ecstatic physical levitation. In the context of meditative training, such joy is said to be conducive to the development of concentration (SAMĀDHI) and serenity (PRAŚRABDHI).

dharmarājan. (P. dhammarājā; T. chos kyi rgyal po; C. fawang; J. hōō; K. pŏbwang 法王). In Sanskrit, “king of dharma”; one of the epithets of the Buddha used generally across traditions. The term dharmarājan is also used to designate a monarch with faith in the BUDDHADHARMA, who rules in accordance with Buddhist, or simply broader religious, principles. Some monarchs have claimed the appellation for themselves, and many have been so designated posthumously, most notably AŚOKA. In certain Mahāyāna contexts, dharmarājan is also a title for King YAMA, so named because he administers punishments to moral transgressors in the netherworld according to the law of karmic retribution. In Tibet, the term is used to refer to the three kings credited with the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet: SRONG BRTSAN SGAM PO, KHRI SRONG LDE BRTSAN, and RAL PA CAN. The term was also used as a reverential title that the Chinese imperial court bestowed on eminent Tibetan lamas (BLA MA), beginning in the Mongol period. In Sikkim, during the Rnam rgyal dynasty (1642–1975), the king was referred to as the chos rgyal, the Tibetan translation of dharmarājan.

Dharmarakṣa. (C. Zhu Fahu; J. Jiku Hōgo; K. Ch’uk Pŏpho 竺法護) (c. 233–310). One of the most prolific translators in early Chinese Buddhism, who played an important role in transmitting the Indian scriptural tradition to China. Presumed to be of Yuezhi heritage, Dharmarakṣa was born in the Chinese outpost of DUNHUANG and grew up speaking multiple languages. He became a monk at the age of eight and in his thirties traveled extensively throughout the oasis kingdoms of Central Asia, collecting manuscripts of MAHĀYĀNA scriptures in a multitude of Indic and Middle Indic languages, which he eventually brought back with him to China. Because of his multilingual ability, Dharmarakṣa was able to supervise a large team in rendering these texts into Chinese; the team included scholars of Indian and Central Asian origin, as well as such Chinese laymen as the father-and-son team Nie Chengyuan and Nie Daozhen. Some 150 translations in over three hundred rolls are attributed to Dharmarakṣa, including the first translation of the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEŚA, the LALITAVISTARA, the BHADRAKALPIKASŪTRA, and some of the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ literature. Although many of Dharmarakṣa’s pioneering renderings were later superseded by the fourth-century retranslations of KUMĀRAJĪVA, Dharmarakṣa is generally considered the most important translator of the early Chinese Buddhist saṃgha.

Dharmaśālā. [alt. Dharmshala, Dharmsala, Dharamsala]. A former British hill station in the foothills of the Himalayas that has become the seat of the Tibetan government in exile; located in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, in the upper reaches of the Kangra Valley, with the Dhauladhar Mountains as its backdrop. The Kangra Valley is rich in Buddhist archaeological sites. In the seventh century, the Chinese monk-pilgrim XUANZANG recorded that there were fifty monasteries in the region with some two thousand monks in residence. Most evidence of Buddhism vanished a century later, however, amid an upsurge of Brahmanical revivalism. Today, Dharmaśālā is renowned as the “LHA SA of India,” because it is the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile and the seat of the fourteenth DALAI LAMA. The town is populated by Tibetan refugees and several institutes have been established to preserve the artistic, cultural, and religious traditions of Tibet, including the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Rnam rgyal (Namgyel) monastery, located in upper Dharmaśālā, is the personal monastery of the Dalai Lama.

Dharmasaṃgīti. (T. Chos yang dag par sdud pa; C. Faji jing; J. Hōjūkyō; K. Pŏpchip kyŏng 法集經). In Sanskrit, “Recitation of Dharma,” a SŪTRA that contains references to doctrines that become emblematic of MAHĀYĀNA and especially YOGĀCĀRA thought, such as the notion of the nominal reality of all dharmas and the eight levels of consciousness (VIJÑĀNA). The sūtra does not survive in Sanskrit, and is extant only in Tibetan and Chinese. The Chinese translation was made by the Indian monk BODHIRUCI (fl. sixth century) in 515 CE, during the Northern Wei dynasty, at its capital Luoyang. The Dharmasaṃgīti, translated in six rolls, is one of over thirty Mahāyāna sūtras and treatises that Bodhiruci translated during his sojourn in China, most of which reflect the latest developments in Indian Mahāyāna. Besides the Dharmasaṃgīti, Bodhiruci’s translations that were related to the developing Yogācāratradition include the LAṄKĀVATĀRASŪTRA, the SAṂDHINIRMOCANASŪTRA, and the SHIDIJING LUN; his translation of the latter treatise led to the development of the Yogācāra-influenced DI LUN ZONG in China.

dharmaśarīra. (T. chos sku’i ring bsrel; C. fa[shen] sheli; J. hosshinshari/hōshari; K. pŏp[sin] sari 法[身]舍利). In Sanskrit, “relics of the dharma [body]”; the Buddha’s incorporeal relics, viz., his scriptures, verses, and doctrines, or the immutable truth “embodied” therein. “Relics” (ŚARĪRA) literally means “body,” but in Buddhist usage comes to refer most often to the sacred physical relics found in the cremated remains of the Buddha or of an eminent monk. In contrast to these physical relics remaining after cremation, “the relics of the dharma [body]” refers to the corpus of Buddhist literature and/or the DHARMAVINAYA embodied therein that were left behind by the Buddha as his incorporeal legacy; therefore they can be worshiped as śarīra. As the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”), for example, notes, “Wherever this sūtra is spoken, read, recited, written out, or stored, one should build a STŪPA of the seven jewels (RATNA), making it high, broad, and adorned. It is not necessary to place śarīra in it. Why is this? Within it already is the complete body of the TATHĀGATA. To this stūpa one should make offerings of all kinds of flowers, incenses, beads, silk canopies, banners, vocal and instrumental music, honoring and praising it.”

Dharmaskandha[pādaśāstra]. (T. Chos kyi phung po; C. Fayun zu lun; J. Hōunsokuron; K. Pŏbon chok non 法蘊足論). In Sanskrit, “Aggregation of Factors,” or “Collection of Factors”; one of the two oldest works in the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA, along with the SAṂGĪTIPARYĀYA, and traditionally placed as the third of the six “feet” (pāda) of the JÑĀNAPRASTHĀNA, the central treatise in the Sarvāstivāda ABHIDHARMAPIṬAKA. The text is attributed to ŚĀRIPUTRA or MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA. It is considered an early work, with some scholars dating it as early as c. 300 BCE. It draws principally from the ĀGAMA scriptures to provide an account of Buddhist soteriological practices, as well as the afflictions that hinder spiritual progress. In coverage, the closest analogues to the Dharmaskandha are the VIBHAṄGA of the Pāli abhidhammapiṭaka and the first half of the Śāriputrābhidharmaśāstra (probably associated with the DHARMAGUPTAKA school), but it appears to be the most primitive of the three in the way it organizes DHARMA classifications, listing them as sense-fields or bases (ĀYATANA), aggregates (SKANDHA), and elements (DHĀTU), rather than the standard Sarvāstivāda listing of aggregates, bases, and elements (as is also found in the Pāli abhidhamma). The exposition of dharmas in the first half of the text follows the primitive arrangement of the thirty-seven factors pertaining to enlightenment (BODHIPĀKṢIKADHARMA), probably the earliest of the MĀTṚKĀ (matrices) listings that were the origin of the abhidharma style of dharma analysis. The Dharmaskandha provides one of the earliest attempts in Sarvāstivāda literature to organize the constituents of the path (MĀRGA) and introduce the crucial innovation of distinguishing between a path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA) and a path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA). This distinction would be of crucial importance in the mature systematizations of the path made by the VAIBHĀṢIKAs and would profoundly influence later MAHĀYĀNA presentations of the path. The second half of the text covers various other classification schema, including the āyatanas and dhātus. The sixteenth chapter synthesizes these two divisions, and focuses especially on the afflictions (KLEŚA) and their removal. Despite being one of the earliest of the Sarvāstivāda abhidharma texts, the mature tradition considers the Dharmaskandha to be one of the “feet” (pāda) of the JÑĀNAPRASTHĀNA, the central treatise in the Sarvāstivāda abhidharmapiṭaka. The Dharmaskandha does not survive in an Indic language and is only extant in a Chinese translation made by XUANZANG’s translation team in 659 CE.

dharmatā. (T. chos nyid; C. faxing; J. hosshō; K. pŏpsŏng 法性). In Sanskrit, “the nature of reality,” or “the nature of things,” interpreted in Chinese as the “dharma-nature”; the intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA) of dharmas, which is constant (NITYA) and transcends all discriminative phenomena. Dharmatā is also sometimes used to mean “the way things are,” and is used interchangeably with other terms that have the connotation of “the real nature of things,” such as “suchness,” or “things as they are” (TATHATĀ), dharma realm (DHARMADHĀTU), emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), the “real end” (BHŪTAKOṬI), ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA), etc., and is sometimes used in compound with those terms. Dharmatā is said to be that which constantly exists in the world (nityasthita), whether or not the TATHĀGATAs appear to rediscover it. The DAZHIDU LUN explains that dharmatā is that unitary characteristic that combines both the generic characteristics (zongxiang) and the distinctive characteristics (biexiang) of objects (see LIUXIANG). In the East Asian Buddhist traditions, the dharma-nature, which is described as constant, equipoised, absolute, and essential reality, is contrasted with phenomenal characteristics, which are changing, discriminative, relative, and mere conventional reality. According to the East Asian YOGĀCĀRA tradition of the FAXIANG ZONG, the dharma-nature refers to reality itself, while phenomenal characteristics refer to the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA) of imaginary (PARIKALPITA), dependent (PARATANTRA), and consummate (PARINIṢPANNA); alternatively, dharma nature means the true suchness (BHŪTATATHATĀ; zhenru) of pariniṣpannasvabhāva, and phenomenal characteristics refer to the dependent nature (paratantrasvabhāva) of all dharmas. Certain strands of Mahāyāna Buddhism also view dharmatā as one aspect of the dharma body (DHARMAKĀYA), bifurcating the dharmakāya between the dharma body as the true nature of things (*dharmatā–dharmakāya; C. faxing fashen) and dharma body as skill in means (*upāya–dharmakāya; C. fangbian fashen). The former refers to the dharma body that is free from appearances, viz., the constant dharma that is neither created nor destroyed; the latter refers to both the enjoyment body (SAṂBHOGAKĀYA) and transformation body (NIRMĀṆAKĀYA), which take on phenomenal appearances in order to guide sentient beings. Because dharmatā was considered to be the ultimate nature of reality, it also came to be viewed as the foundational nature of even deluded sentient beings. This notion that dharmatā was thus in some sense the original nature of sentient beings eventually evolved into the related notions of the embryo or womb of the buddhas (TATHĀGATAGARBHA) or the buddha-nature (BUDDHADHĀTU; FOXING), which posit that enlightenment is somehow innate in the minds of sentient beings. The HUAYAN school eventually comes to distinguish buddha-nature (foxing), which is the innate prospect sentient beings have of achieving buddhahood, from dharmatā, which is considered the principle of true suchness (bhūtatathatā) that underlies even inanimate objects. When dharmatā means “the nature of things,” it is referring to dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA).

dharmātmagraha. (T. chos kyi bdag ’dzin; C. fawozhi; J. hōgashū; K. pŏbajip 法我執). In Sanskrit, the “conception of a self with regard to phenomena”; a term that is used in combination with PUDGALĀTMAGRAHA, the “conception of a self with regard to persons.” In the MAHĀYĀNA philosophical schools, the false notion of self (ĀTMAN) is expanded beyond that of a permanent soul inherent in each person, to that of a broader sense of an independent existence or intrinsic existence (SVABHĀVA) that is falsely imagined to exist in all objects of experience. Sentient beings are thus said to falsely imagine the presence of such a self in two broad categories: persons (PUDGALA) and all other phenomena (DHARMA). Wisdom (PRAJÑĀ) entails understanding the lack of self in both of these categories, referred to as the lack of self of persons (PUDGALANAIRĀTMYA) and the lack of self of phenomena (DHARMANAIRĀTMYA). Among the soteriological theories of YOGĀCĀRA and MADHYAMAKA there are differences of opinion as to whether the false conception of the selfhood of persons is more easily uprooted than the conception of the selfhood of phenomena. In addition, although all Mahāyāna philosophical schools agree that both forms of the conception of self must be uprooted by the BODHISATTVA in order to become a buddha, there are differences of opinion as to whether both must be uprooted by the ŚRĀVAKA and PRATYEKABUDDHA in order to become an ARHAT.

Dharmatrāta. (T. Chos skyob; C. Damoduoluo; J. Darumatara; K. Talmadara 達摩多羅). The proper name of two well-known masters of the ABHIDHARMA. ¶ The first Dharmatrāta (fl. c. 100–150 CE), sometimes known to the tradition as the Bhadanta Dharmatrāta and commonly designated Dharmatrāta I in the scholarship, was a Dārṣṭāntika from northwest India. This Dharmatrāta, along with VASUMITRA, Ghoṣa[ka], and Buddhadeva, was one of the four great ĀBHIDHARMIKAs whom Xuanzang says participated in the Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI) conveyed by the KUSHAN king KANIṢKA (r. c. 144–178 CE), which was headed by PĀRŚVA (see COUNCIL, FOURTH). The views of these four masters are represented in the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀṢĀ, a massive commentary on KĀTYĀYANĪPUTRA’s JÑĀNAPRASTHĀNA, which functions as a virtual encyclopedia of SARVĀSTIVĀDA abhidharma. ¶ A second Dharmatrāta (fl. c. fourth century CE), known as Dharmatrāta II, is also the putative author of the SAṂYUKTĀBHIDHARMAHṚDAYA (C. Za apitan xinlun; “The Heart of Scholasticism with Miscellaneous Additions”), the last of a series of expository treatises that summarized Sarvāstivāda abhidharma philosophy as it was then prevailing in BACTRIA and GANDHĀRA; the text was based on Dharmaśresthin’s ABHIDHARMAHṚDAYA. Dharmatrāta II also composed the Pañcavastuvibhāṣā (C. Wushi piposha lun; “Exposition of the Five-Fold Classification”), a commentary on the first chapter of Vasumitra’s PRAKARAṆAPĀDA, one of the seven major texts of the Sarvāstivāda ABHIDHARMAPIṬAKA, which was also translated by Xuanzang in 663; it involves a discussion of the mature Sarvāstivāda fivefold classification system for dharmas: materiality (RŪPA), mentality (CITTA), mental constituents (CAITTA), forces dissociated from thought (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAṂSKĀRA), and the unconditioned (ASAṂSKṚTA). The DAMODUOLUO CHAN JING, a meditation manual that proved influential in early Chinese Buddhism, is also attributed to him.