The Mauryan Polity c11.t2: The dharma of Buddhism
The Mauryan Polity c11.t2
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The dharma of Buddhism
c11.t2.1
Perhaps what the late Professor Rhys Davids meant in speaking for the *dharma* of Buddhism is equally applicable to the Brahmanical notion, and may we add, even Jaina conception. "*Dharma* is not simply law but that which underlies and includes the law, a word often most difficult to translate and best rendered by truth or righteousness."¹ It is a difficult and intricate labour to attempt anything like a distinction as regards the conception of *dharma* according to the Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Jaina literature. In fact there is a significant statement in the *Aṅguttaranikāya*² according to which the *dharma* to the Buddha was the *dharma* formulated by the ancient seers and sages, like Devala and Asita. It is the correct estimate of Prof. Keith who remarks "Nor in choosing the term *dharma* for the system, was Buddhism without *Upaniṣad* precedent; the *Bṛhadāraṇyaka*³ tells that Brahman created the *Dharma* than which nothing is higher, and the *Mahānārāyaṇa*⁴ asserts that the whole universe is encircled by the *dharma* than which there is nothing harder to describe."⁵ The concept of *dharma* can generally be viewed from two standpoints, namely, the standpoint of ethics and that of the doctrine. Examined under these particulars the coincidences are something striking, something phenomenal, that they defy a student of comparative religion to draw any line of demarcation.
c11.t2.2
¹ *Buddhism*, p. 45.
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² II, p. 51.
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³ I, pp. 4-14.
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⁴ Bk. XXI, ch. 6.
c11.t2.6
⁵ *Religion and Philosophy of the Veda*, Vol. II, p. 550.
Linked texts (3)
- Mahānārāyaṇopaniṣad (Taittirīya) — Sanskrit
- Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad — Sanskrit
- Aṅguttaranikāya — Pāli