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Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s2.t1: Nikāya Passages Admitting a Non-Realistic Conception

Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relation to Hīnayāna c7.s2.t1

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Nikāya Passages Admitting a Non-Realistic Conception

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In the face of such descriptions of Buddha, it would have been difficult for the later Hinayāna schools to sublimate the human elements in him, had it not been for certain expressions in some of the earlier works of the Piṭaka, which lent themselves to other interpretations. Some of these expressions are:—

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(1) Yo vo Ānanda mayā dhammo ca vinayo ca desito paññatto so vo mam’ accayena satthā.

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(Buddha said to Ānanda just before his parinibbāna ‘the dhamma and vinaya that have been preached by me will be your teacher after my death.’)³

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³ *Dīgha*, II, p. 154; *Mil.*, p. 99.

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The dhamma and vinaya clearly refer to the collection of doctrines and disciplinary rules delivered by Buddha. This is also evident from the conversation of Ānanda with Gopaka-Moggallāna, where the former explains why the monks after Buddha's death should not be regarded as without refuge (appaṭisaraṇa). He says that they have now a refuge in Dhamma (dhammapaṭisaraṇa), which, he points out, are the doctrines and disciplinary rules.¹

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¹ Majjhima, Gopaka-Moggallāna Sutta (No. 108). Cf. Saddhamma Saṅgaha (JPTS., 1890), ch. x, p. 65: Buddha says "84,000 dhammakhandhas have been preached by me in 45 years. I alone only pass away while there are 84,000 dhammakhandhas which like 84,000 Buddhas (buddha-sadisa) will admonish you."

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(2) Bhagavato' mhi putto oraso mukhato jāto dhammajo dhammanimmito dhammadāyādo iti.² Taṃ kissa hetu? Tathāgatassa h' etaṃ adhivacanaṃ. Dhammakāyo iti pi Brahmakāyo iti pi. Dhammabhūto³ iti pī ti.

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² Saṃyutta, II, p. 221; Majjhima, III, p. 29 has the identical passage with the addition "no āmisadāyādo" after "dhammadāyādo." For the interpretation of "dhammadāyādo" see Majjhima, I, pp. 12f.

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³ Majjhima, II, p. 84; Dīgha, III, p. 84; Majjhima, III, pp. 195, 224 has "Bhagavā jānaṃ jānāti passam passati cakkhubhūto ñāṇabhūto dhammabhūto."

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Just as a brāhmaṇa would say that he is born of Brahmā, through his mouth—Brahmuno putto oraso mukhato jāto brahmajo brahmanimmito brahmadāyādo—so a Sākyaputtiya-samaṇa may say that he is born of Bhagavā, through his mouth, born of his doctrine, made of his doctrine, etc. Though in this passage Dhamma is equated with Brahmā, the context shows that there is no metaphysical sense in it; it is only to draw a parallel between a brāhmaṇa and a Sākyaputtiya-samaṇa that Dhammakāya is equated with Brahmakāya.

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(3) Vakkali on his death-bed became very eager to see Buddha in person; so Bhagavā came to him and said, "Alaṃ Vakkali kiṃ te pūtikāyena diṭṭhena. Yo kho Vakkali dhammaṃ passati so maṃ passati. Yo maṃ passati so dhammaṃ passati."

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Just after saying this, Buddha referred to his dhamma of impermanence (anicca). There are in the Nikāyas many passages of this import, which may well be taken as precursors of the later Mahāyānic conceptions and probably formed the basis of their speculations. But the passages when read as they stand do not appear to bear any metaphysical sense. In this passage Buddha refers to his body as *pūti-kāya* (body of impure matter), and to lay stress on his doctrines he says that his dhamma should be looked upon with the same awe and reverence by his disciples as they regard his person.¹

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¹ *Samyutta*, III, p. 120; *Majjhima*, I, pp. 190, 191: Yo paṭiccasamuppādaṃ passati so dhammaṃ passati yo dhammaṃ passati so paṭiccasamuppādaṃ passati. For other references, see Prof. Vallée Poussin's article "Notes sur les Corps du Buddha" in *Le Muséon*, 1913, pp. 259-290. Compare the remarks in the later Pāli works,— *Saddhamma Saṅgaha* (JPTS., 1890), p. 61: Yo me passati saddhammaṃ so maṃ passati Vakkali, Apassamāno saddhammaṃ maṃ passe pi na passati. *Milinda*, p. 71: yo dhammaṃ passati so bhagavantaṃ passati, dhammo hi mahārāja bhagavatā desito ti. *Ibid.*, p. 73: Dhammakāyena pana kho mahārāja sakkā bhagavā nidassetum, dhammo hi mahārāja bhagavatā desito ti.

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(4) The passage in the *Aṅguttara Nikāya*,² where Buddha says that he is neither a god, nor a gandhabba, nor a man, has been taken by Prof. Masson-Oursel³ as showing trace of the Mahāyānic kāya conceptions. It is not impossible to read some metaphysical ideas into the passage, though probably the compiler of the Suttas did not mean to convey them. Doṇa brāhmaṇa, noticing the sign of the wheel in the feet of Buddha, enquired of him whether he was a deva, a gandhabba, a yakkha or a mortal. Buddha replied that he was none of these beings as he had got rid of the āsavas (impurities) by the continuance of which one remains a deva, gandhabba, yakkha or mortal. Just as a lotus is born in water, grows in it but remains above and is apart from it, so also Buddha was born in the world, grew up in it but overcame it (abhibhuyya) and lived unaffected by the same. Therefore, he asked the brāhmaṇa not to regard him as anything but Buddha.

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² *Aṅguttara*, II, p. 38.

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³ Prof. Masson-Oursel in his article "Les trois Corps du Bouddha", *J.A.*, 1913, pp. 581ff.

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There are other passages referring to the miraculous powers of Buddha, viz., his ability to live a kalpa or to assume different forms and perform such other miracles, but it should be noted that these powers were attributed not to Buddha alone but also to his disciples in general, who had been able to attain the higher stages of sanctification.¹

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¹ See Kośa, II, 10 (also for references in the Nikāyas).

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