The Vibhaṅga is a Buddhist scripture , part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism, where it is included in the Abhidhamma Pitaka . One known English translation is contained in The Book of Analysis , first published in 1969.
108-454: The book has eighteen chapters, and each deals with a particular topic: A typical chapter is divided into three parts: This Buddhist text -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Theravada -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Buddhist texts Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and its traditions . There
216-472: A cosmic principle and appears in verses independent of deities . It evolves into a concept, claims Paul Horsch, that has a dynamic functional sense in Atharvaveda for example, where it becomes the cosmic law that links cause and effect through a subject. Dharma, in these ancient texts, also takes a ritual meaning. The ritual is connected to the cosmic, and "dharmani" is equated to ceremonial devotion to
324-527: A Buddha is often seen as "a spiritual king, relating to and caring for the world", rather than simply a teacher who after his death "has completely 'gone beyond' the world and its cares". Buddha Sakyamuni 's life and death on earth is then usually understood as a "mere appearance", his death is an unreal show, in reality he continues to live in a transcendent reality. Thus the Buddha in the Lotus sutra says that he
432-497: A Mystic". Burmese Buddhist literature developed unique poetic forms from the 1450s onwards, a major type of poetry is the pyui' which are long and embellished translations of Pali Buddhist works, mainly jatakas . A famous example of pyui' poetry is the Kui khan pyui' (the pyui' in nine sections, 1523). There is also a genre of Burmese commentaries or nissayas which were used to teach Pali. The nineteenth century saw
540-582: A buddha that its contents are true Dharma. Then these sutras may be properly regarded as buddhavacana . Sometimes texts that are considered commentaries by some are regarded by others as buddhavacana . In Indo-Tibetan Buddhism , what is considered buddhavacana is collected in the Kangyur ('The Translation of the Word'). The East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist Canons always combined buddhavacana with other literature in their standard collected editions. However,
648-654: A distinctly tantric character, like some of the shorter Perfection of Wisdom sutras and the Mahavairocana Sutra . At least some editions of the Kangyur include the Heart Sutra in the tantra division. Such overlap is not confined to "neighbouring" yanas: at least nine "Sravakayana" texts can be found in the tantra divisions of some editions of the Kangyur. One of them, the Atanatiya Sutra ,
756-470: A fisherman must injure a fish, but he must attempt to do this with least trauma to fish and the fisherman must try to injure no other creature as he fishes. The five niyamas (observances) are cleanliness by eating pure food and removing impure thoughts (such as arrogance or jealousy or pride), contentment in one's means, meditation and silent reflection regardless of circumstances one faces, study and pursuit of historic knowledge, and devotion of all actions to
864-462: A flowering of Burmese Buddhist literature in various genres including religious biography, Abhidharma, legal literature and meditation literature. An influential text of Thai literature is the "Three Worlds According to King Ruang" (1345) by Phya Lithai, which is an extensive Cosmological and visionary survey of the Thai Buddhist universe. See Mahāyāna sūtras for historical background and
972-615: A list of some sutras categorised by source. Around the beginning of the common era , a new genre of sutra literature began to be written with a focus on the Bodhisattva ideal, commonly known as Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") or Bodhisattvayāna (" Bodhisattva Vehicle"). The earliest of these sutras do not call themselves 'Mahāyāna,' but use the terms Vaipulya (extensive, expansive) sutras, or Gambhira (deep, profound) sutras. There are various theories of how Mahāyāna emerged. According to David Drewes, it seems to have been "primarily
1080-455: A number of ways. The Western terms "scripture" and "canonical" are applied to Buddhism in inconsistent ways by Western scholars: for example, one authority refers to "scriptures and other canonical texts", while another says that scriptures can be categorized into canonical, commentarial, and pseudo-canonical. Buddhist traditions have generally divided these texts with their own categories and divisions, such as that between buddhavacana "word of
1188-416: A present authenticity exercise and spiritual practice In an effort to preserve these scriptures, Asian Buddhist institutions were at the forefront of the adoption of Chinese technologies related to bookmaking , including paper , and block printing which were often deployed on a large scale. Because of this, the first surviving example of a printed text is a Buddhist charm, the first full printed book
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#17327649629571296-529: A range of subjects. The Theravāda tradition has an extensive commentarial literature , much of which is still untranslated. These are attributed to scholars working in Sri Lanka such as Buddhaghosa (5th century CE) and Dhammapala . There are also sub-commentaries ( ṭīkā ) or commentaries on the commentaries. Buddhaghosa was also the author of the Visuddhimagga , or Path of Purification , which
1404-610: A textual movement, focused on the revelation, preaching, and dissemination of Mahāyāna sutras, that developed within, and never really departed from, traditional Buddhist social and institutional structures." Early dharmabhanakas (preachers, reciters of these sutras) were influential figures, and promoted these new texts throughout the Buddhist communities. Many of these Mahāyāna sūtras were written in Sanskrit (in hybrid forms and in classical Sanskrit) and then later translated into
1512-795: Is "the father of the world", "the self existent ( svayambhu )...protector of all creatures", who has "never ceased to exist" and only "pretends to have passed away." Hundreds of Mahāyāna sūtras have survived in Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan translation. There many different genres or classes of Mahāyāna sutras, such as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtra s, the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras and the Pure Land sūtra s . The different Mahāyāna schools have many varied classification schemas for organizing them and they see different texts as having higher authority than others. Some Mahāyāna sūtras are also thought to display
1620-457: Is a key concept with multiple meanings in the Indian religions , among others. The term dharma is held as an untranslatable into English (or other European languages); it is understood to refer to behaviours which are in harmony with the "order and custom" that sustains life ; "virtue", or "religious and moral duties". The antonym of dharma is adharma . The concept of dharma was in use in
1728-700: Is a manifestation of Ṛta, but suggests Ṛta may have been subsumed into a more complex concept of dharma , as the idea developed in ancient India over time in a nonlinear manner. The following verse from the Rigveda is an example where rta and dharma are linked: O Indra, lead us on the path of Rta, on the right path over all evils... Traditional Dharma is an organising principle in Hinduism that applies to human beings in solitude, in their interaction with human beings and nature, as well as between inanimate objects, to all of cosmos and its parts. It refers to
1836-654: Is a manual of doctrine and practice according to the Mahavihara tradition of Sri Lanka. According to Nanamoli Bhikkhu , this text is regarded as "the principal non-canonical authority of the Theravada." A similar albeit shorter work is the Vimuttimagga . Another highly influential Pali Theravada work is the Abhidhammattha-sangaha (11th or 12th century), a short 50 page introductory summary to
1944-521: Is also included in the Mikkyo (esoteric) division of the standard modern collected edition of Sino-Japanese Buddhist literature. Some Mahāyāna texts also contain dhāraṇī , which are chants that are believed to have magical and spiritual power. The following is a list of some well known Mahāyāna sutras which have been studied by modern scholarship: Dharma (Buddhism) Dharma ( Sanskrit : धर्म , pronounced [dʱɐrmɐ] )
2052-424: Is contrary to reality, laws and rules that establish order, predictability and harmony. Paul Horsch suggests Ṛta and dharma are parallel concepts, the former being a cosmic principle, the latter being of moral social sphere; while Māyā and dharma are also correlative concepts, the former being that which corrupts law and moral life, the later being that which strengthens law and moral life. Day proposes dharma
2160-496: Is dependent on poverty and prosperity in a society, according to Hindu dharma scriptures. For example, according to Adam Bowles, Shatapatha Brahmana 11.1.6.24 links social prosperity and dharma through water. Waters come from rains, it claims; when rains are abundant there is prosperity on the earth, and this prosperity enables people to follow Dharma – moral and lawful life. In times of distress, of drought, of poverty, everything suffers including relations between human beings and
2268-657: Is difficult to provide a single concise definition for dharma , as the word has a long and varied history and straddles a complex set of meanings and interpretations. There is no equivalent single-word synonym for dharma in western languages. There have been numerous, conflicting attempts to translate ancient Sanskrit literature with the word dharma into German , English and French. The concept, claims Paul Horsch, has caused exceptional difficulties for modern commentators and translators. For example, while Grassmann's translation of Rig-Veda identifies seven different meanings of dharma, Karl Friedrich Geldner in his translation of
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#17327649629572376-594: Is extensive discussion of dharma at the individual level in the Epics of Hinduism; for example, on free will versus destiny, when and why human beings believe in either, the strong and prosperous naturally uphold free will, while those facing grief or frustration naturally lean towards destiny. The Epics of Hinduism illustrate various aspects of dharma with metaphors. According to Klaus Klostermaier , 4th-century CE Hindu scholar Vātsyāyana explained dharma by contrasting it with adharma. Vātsyāyana suggested that dharma
2484-456: Is incomplete, while the combination of these translations does not convey the total sense of the word. In common parlance, dharma means "right way of living" and "path of rightness". Dharma also has connotations of order, and when combined with the word sanatana , it can also be described as eternal truth. The meaning of the word dharma depends on the context, and its meaning has evolved as ideas of Hinduism have developed through history. In
2592-908: Is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons : the Pāli Canon of the Theravāda tradition , the Chinese Buddhist Canon used in East Asian Buddhist tradition , and the Tibetan Buddhist Canon used in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism . The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha . The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are
2700-1066: Is not merely in one's actions, but also in words one speaks or writes, and in thought. According to Vātsyāyana: In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali the dharma is real; in the Vedanta it is unreal. Dharma is part of yoga , suggests Patanjali ; the elements of Hindu dharma are the attributes, qualities and aspects of yoga. Patanjali explained dharma in two categories: yamas (restraints) and niyamas (observances). The five yamas, according to Patanjali, are: abstain from injury to all living creatures, abstain from falsehood (satya), abstain from unauthorised appropriation of things-of-value from another (acastrapurvaka), abstain from coveting or sexually cheating on your partner, and abstain from expecting or accepting gifts from others. The five yama apply in action, speech and mind. In explaining yama, Patanjali clarifies that certain professions and situations may require qualification in conduct. For example,
2808-663: Is one example of such a collection, while there is evidence that the Dharmaguptaka school had a similar collection, known as the Kṣudraka Āgam a. Fragments of the Dharmaguptaka minor collection have been found in Gandhari. The Sarvāstivāda school also seems to have had a Kṣudraka collection of texts, but they did not see it as an "Āgama". These "minor" collections seem to have been a category for miscellaneous texts, and
2916-602: Is one of the Puruṣārtha . In Buddhism , dharma ( Pali : dhamma ) refers to the teachings of the Buddha . In Buddhist philosophy , dhamma/dharma is also the term for " phenomena ". Dharma in Jainism refers to the teachings of Tirthankara (Jina) and the body of doctrine pertaining to the purification and moral transformation of humans. In Sikhism , dharma indicates the path of righteousness, proper religious practices, and performing one's own moral duties. As with
3024-463: Is part of the "sutta" or "sutra" genre. The Sūtras (Sanskrit; Pāli: Sutta ) are mostly discourses attributed to the Buddha or one of his close disciples. They are considered to be buddhavacana by all schools. The Buddha's discourses were perhaps originally organised according to the style in which they were delivered. They were later organized into collections called Nikāyas ('volumes') or Āgamas ('scriptures'), which were further collected into
3132-647: Is related to Sanskrit "dharma". Ideas in parts overlapping to Dharma are found in other ancient cultures: such as Chinese Tao , Egyptian Maat , Sumerian Me . In the mid-20th century, an inscription of the Indian Emperor Asoka from the year 258 BCE was discovered in Afghanistan, the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription . This rock inscription contains Greek and Aramaic text. According to Paul Hacker , on
3240-662: Is the Mahāvastu ("Great Event"), which is a collection of various texts compiled into a biography of the Buddha. Within it can be found quotations and whole sutras, such as the Mahāsāṃghika version of the Dharmacakrapravartana . The other major type of text aside from the sutras are the Vinayas . Vinaya literature is primarily concerned with aspects of the monastic discipline and the rules and procedures that govern
3348-660: Is the Taishō Tripiṭaka , itself based on the Tripiṭaka Koreana . This collection, unlike the Pāli Tripiṭaka , contains Mahāyāna sūtras, Śāstras (scholastic treatises), and Esoteric Buddhist literature . According to Hsuan Hua from the tradition of Chinese Buddhism , there are five types of beings who may speak the sutras of Buddhism: a Buddha, a disciple of a Buddha, a deva, a ṛṣi, or an emanation of one of these beings; however, they must first receive certification from
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3456-630: Is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra (c. 868) and the first hand colored print is an illustration of Guanyin dated to 947. The concept of buddhavacana (word of the Buddha) is important in understanding how Buddhists classify and see their texts. Buddhavacana texts have special status as sacred scripture and are generally seen as in accord with the teachings of the historical Buddha , which is termed "the Dharma ". According to Donald Lopez ,
3564-416: Is the need for, the effect of and essence of service and interconnectedness of all life. This includes duties, rights, laws , conduct, virtues and "right way of living". In its true essence, dharma means for a Hindu to "expand the mind". Furthermore, it represents the direct connection between the individual and the societal phenomena that bind the society together. In the way societal phenomena affect
3672-771: The Vimanavatthu (as well as its Chinese parallel, the Vimānāvadāna ). There are also some unique individual texts like the Milinda pañha (literally The Questions of Milinda ) and its parallel in Chinese, the Nāgasena Bhikśu Sūtra (那先比丘經). These texts depict a dialogue between the monk Nagasena , and the Indo-Greek King Menander (Pali: Milinda). It is a compendium of doctrine, and covers
3780-470: The Buddha ," many of which are known as " sutras ", and other texts, such as " shastras " (treatises) or " Abhidharma ". These religious texts were written in different languages, methods and writing systems . Memorizing, reciting and copying the texts was seen as spiritually valuable. Even after the development and adoption of printing by Buddhist institutions, Buddhists continued to copy them by hand as
3888-552: The Dharmaguptaka , Mahāsāṅghika , Mahīśāsaka , Mūlasarvāstivāda , and others. The most widely studied early Buddhist material are the first four Pāli Nikayas , as well as the corresponding Chinese Āgamas . The modern study of early pre-sectarian Buddhism often relies on comparative scholarship using these various early Buddhist sources. Various scholars of Buddhist studies such as Richard Gombrich , Akira Hirakawa, Alexander Wynne, and A. K. Warder hold that early Buddhist texts contain material that could possibly be traced to
3996-759: The Gandharan Buddhist Texts , dated to the 1st century BCE and constitute the Buddhist textual tradition of Gandharan Buddhism which was an important link between Indian and East Asian Buddhism. Parts of what is likely to be the canon of the Dharmaguptaka can be found among these Gandharan Buddhist Texts . There are different genres of early Buddhist texts, including prose " suttas " ( Sanskrit : sūtra , discourses), disciplinary works ( Vinaya ), various forms of verse compositions (such as gāthā and udāna ), mixed prose and verse works ( geya ), and also lists ( matika ) of monastic rules or doctrinal topics. A large portion of Early Buddhist literature
4104-786: The Gandhāran Buddhist texts , found in Pakistan and written in Gāndhārī , they date from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The first Buddhist texts were initially passed on orally by Buddhist monastics , but were later written down and composed as manuscripts in various Indo-Aryan languages (such as Pāli , Gāndhārī , and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit ). These texts were collected into various collections and translated into other languages such as Buddhist Chinese ( fójiào hànyǔ 佛教漢語) and Classical Tibetan as Buddhism spread outside of India . Buddhist texts can be categorized in
4212-477: The Mahabharata , dharma is central, and it is presented through symbolism and metaphors. Near the end of the epic, Yama referred to as dharma in the text, is portrayed as taking the form of a dog to test the compassion of Yudhishthira , who is told he may not enter paradise with such an animal. Yudhishthira refuses to abandon his companion, for which he is then praised by dharma . The value and appeal of
4320-522: The Sūtra Piṭaka ("Basket of Discourses") of the canons of the early Buddhist schools. Most of the early sutras that have survived are from Sthavira nikaya schools, no complete collection has survived from the other early branch of Buddhism, the Mahāsāṃghika . However, some individual texts have survived, such as the Śālistamba Sūtra (rice stalk sūtra). This sūtra contains many parallel passages to
4428-842: The Theravāda Abhidhamma and the Sarvastivada Abhidharma , which survives in Chinese translation. However, texts of other tradition have survived, such as the Śāriputrābhidharma of the Dharmaguptaka school, the Tattvasiddhi Śāstra ( Chéngshílun ), and various Abhidharma type works from the Pudgalavada school. Later post-canonical Abhidharma works were written as either large treatises ( śāstra ), as commentaries ( aṭṭhakathā ) or as smaller introductory manuals. They are more developed philosophical works which include many innovations and doctrines not found in
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4536-543: The Upanishads and later ancient scripts of Hinduism. In Upanishads, the concept of dharma continues as universal principle of law, order, harmony, and truth. It acts as the regulatory moral principle of the Universe. It is explained as law of righteousness and equated to satya ( Sanskrit : सत्यं , truth), in hymn 1.4.14 of Brhadaranyaka Upanishad , as follows: Nothing is higher than dharma. The weak overcomes
4644-552: The historical Buddha himself or at least to the early years of pre-sectarian Buddhism . In Mahāyāna Buddhism , these texts are sometimes referred to as " Hinayana " or " Śrāvakayāna ". Although many versions of the texts of the early Buddhist schools exist, the only complete collection of texts to survive in a Middle Indo-Aryan language is the Tipiṭaka (triple basket) of the Theravāda school. The other (parts of) extant versions of
4752-414: The historical Vedic religion (1500–500 BCE), and its meaning and conceptual scope has evolved over several millennia. In Hinduism , dharma denotes behaviours that are considered to be in accord with Ṛta —the "order and custom" that makes life and universe possible. This includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living". Dharma is believed to have a transtemporal validity, and
4860-464: The man-suffix, and is related to Latin firmus (firm, stable). From this, it takes the meaning of "what is established or firm", and hence "law". It is derived from an older Vedic Sanskrit n -stem dharman- , with a literal meaning of "bearer, supporter", in a religious sense conceived as an aspect of Rta . In the Rigveda , the word appears as an n -stem, dhárman- , with a range of meanings encompassing "something established or firm" (in
4968-475: The nagas ) until people were ready to hear them, or by stating that they had been revealed directly through visions and meditative experiences to a select few. According to David McMahan, the literary style of the Mahāyāna sūtras reveals how these texts were mainly composed as written works and how they also needed to legitimate themselves to other Buddhists. They used different literary and narrative ways to defend
5076-412: The śrāvaka texts as well as generating more spiritual merit and benefit. Thus, they are seen as superior and more virtuous to non-Mahāyāna sutras. The Mahāyāna sūtras are traditionally considered by Mahāyāna Buddhists to be the word of the Buddha. Mahāyāna Buddhists explained the emergence of these new texts by arguing that they had been transmitted in secret, via lineages of supernatural beings (such as
5184-851: The " Jatakas ", or birth stories. Various Vinaya collections survive in full, including those of the following schools: Theravāda (in Pali ), Mula-Sarvāstivāda (in Tibetan translation) and the Mahāsānghika , Sarvāstivāda , Mahīshāsika, and Dharmaguptaka (in Chinese translations). In addition, portions survive of a number of Vinayas in various languages. Aside from the Sutras and the Vinayas, some schools also had collections of "minor" or miscellaneous texts. The Theravāda Khuddaka Nikāya ('Minor Collection')
5292-611: The 37 factors leading to Awakening . Scholars like Erich Frauwallner have argued that there is an "ancient core" of early pre-sectarian material in the earliest Abhidharma works, such as in the Theravada Vibhanga , the Dharmaskandha of the Sarvastivada , and the Śāriputrābhidharma of the Dharmaguptaka school. Only two full canonical Abhidharma collections have survived both containing seven texts,
5400-806: The 3rd century BCE the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka translated dharma into Greek and Aramaic and he used the Greek word eusebeia (εὐσέβεια, piety, spiritual maturity, or godliness) in the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription and the Kandahar Greek Edicts . In the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription he used the Aramaic word קשיטא ( qšyṭ’ ; truth, rectitude). Dharma is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and Indian religions . It has multiple meanings in Hinduism , Buddhism , Sikhism and Jainism . It
5508-716: The Abhidhamma, which is widely used to teach Abhidhamma. Buddhaghosa is known to have worked from Buddhist commentaries in the Sri Lankan Sinhala language , which are now lost. Sri Lankan literature in the vernacular contains many Buddhist works, including as classical Sinhala poems such as the Muvadevāvata (The Story of the Bodhisattva's Birth as King Mukhadeva, 12th century) and the Sasadāvata (The Story of
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#17327649629575616-745: The Bodhisattva's Birth as a Hare, 12th century) as well as prose works like the Dhampiyātuvā gätapadaya (Commentary on the Blessed Doctrine), a commentary on words and phrases in the Pāli Dhammapada . The Theravāda textual tradition spread into Burma and Thailand where Pali scholarship continued to flourish with such works as the Aggavamsa of Saddaniti and the Jinakalamali of Ratanapañña. Pali literature continued to be composed into
5724-399: The Buddha, ṛṣis , and devas were considered capable to transmitting buddhavacana. The content of such a discourse was then to be collated with the sūtras , compared with the Vinaya , and evaluated against the nature of the Dharma. These texts may then be certified as true buddhavacana by a buddha, a sangha , a small group of elders, or one knowledgeable elder. In Theravāda Buddhism,
5832-477: The Buddhas Amitabha , Akshobhya and Vairocana , and the bodhisattvas Maitreya , Mañjusri , Ksitigarbha , and Avalokiteshvara . An important feature of Mahāyāna is the way that it understands the nature of Buddhahood . Mahāyāna texts see Buddhas (and to a lesser extent, certain bodhisattvas as well) as transcendental or supramundane ( lokuttara ) beings, who live for eons constantly helping others through their activity. According to Paul Williams, in Mahāyāna,
5940-507: The Buddhist monastic community ( sangha ). However, Vinaya as a term is also contrasted with Dharma, where the pair (Dhamma-Vinaya) mean something like 'doctrine and discipline'. The Vinaya literature in fact contains a considerable range of texts. There are, of course, those that discuss the monastic rules, how they came about, how they developed, and how they were applied. But the vinaya also contains some doctrinal expositions, ritual and liturgical texts, biographical stories, and some elements of
6048-475: The Epics and other Sanskrit literature with the help of one's teacher. Second, observing the behaviour and example of good people. The third source applies when neither one's education nor example exemplary conduct is known. In this case, " atmatusti " is the source of dharma in Hinduism, that is the good person reflects and follows what satisfies his heart, his own inner feeling, what he feels driven to. Some texts of Hinduism outline dharma for society and at
6156-456: The Epics; the word dharma also plays a central role in the literature of other Indian religions founded later, such as Buddhism and Jainism. According to Brereton, Dharman occurs 63 times in Rig-veda ; in addition, words related to Dharman also appear in Rig-veda, for example once as dharmakrt, 6 times as satyadharman , and once as dharmavant , 4 times as dharman and twice as dhariman . Indo-European parallels for "dharma" are known, but
6264-505: The Mahabharata, according to Ingalls, is not as much in its complex and rushed presentation of metaphysics in the 12th book. Indian metaphysics, he argues, is more eloquently presented in other Sanskrit scriptures. Instead, the appeal of Mahabharata, like Ramayana , lies in its presentation of a series of moral problems and life situations, where there are usually three answers: one answer is of Bhima , which represents brute force, an individual angle representing materialism, egoism, and self;
6372-401: The Pali suttas. As noted by N. Ross Reat, this text is in general agreement with the basic doctrines of the early sutras of the Sthavira schools such as dependent origination , the " middle way " between eternalism and annihilationism, the " five aggregates ", the " three unwholesome roots ", the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path . Another important source for Mahāsāṃghika sutras
6480-420: The Rig-Veda employs 20 different translations for dharma, including meanings such as " law ", "order", " duty ", "custom", "quality", and "model", among others. However, the word dharma has become a widely accepted loanword in English, and is included in all modern unabridged English dictionaries. The root of the word dharma is √ dhṛ- , which means "to support, hold, or bear". It is the thing that regulates
6588-446: The Sanskrit epics, this concern is omnipresent. In Hindu Epics, the good, morally upright, law-abiding king is referred to as "dharmaraja". Dharma is at the centre of all major events in the life of Dasharatha, Rama , Sita , and Lakshman in Ramayana. In the Ramayana, Dasharatha upholds his dharma by honoring a promise to Kaikeyi, resulting in his beloved son Rama's exile, even though it brings him immense personal suffering. In
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#17327649629576696-574: The Supreme Teacher to achieve perfection of concentration. Dharma is an empirical and experiential inquiry for every man and woman, according to some texts of Hinduism. For example, Apastamba Dharmasutra states: Dharma and Adharma do not go around saying, "That is us." Neither do gods, nor gandharvas, nor ancestors declare what is Dharma and what is Adharma . In other texts, three sources and means to discover dharma in Hinduism are described. These, according to Paul Hacker , are: First, learning historical knowledge such as Vedas, Upanishads,
6804-509: The Theravada Nidānakathā and the Dharmaguptaka Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra . One of the most famous of biographies is the Buddhacarita , an epic poem in Classical Sanskrit by Aśvaghoṣa . Aśvaghoṣa also wrote other poems, as well as Sanskrit dramas . Another Sanskrit Buddhist poet was Mātṛceṭa, who composed various pious hymns in slokas . Buddhist poetry is a broad genre with numerous forms and has been composed in many languages, including Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese. Aside from
6912-446: The Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist canons (the Kangyur and the Taishō Tripiṭaka respectively) which then developed their own textual histories. Sanskrit had been adopted by Buddhists in north India during the Kushan era and Sanskrit Buddhist literature became the dominant tradition in Buddhist India until the decline of Buddhism there . Mahāyāna sūtras are also generally regarded by the Mahāyāna tradition as being more profound than
7020-509: The Tripitakas of early schools include the Chinese Āgamas , which includes collections by the Sarvāstivāda and the Dharmaguptaka . The Chinese Buddhist canon contains a complete collection of early sutras in Chinese translation, their content is very similar to the Pali, differing in detail but not in the core doctrinal content. The Tibetan canon contains some of these early texts as well, but not as complete collections. The earliest known Buddhist manuscripts containing early Buddhist texts are
7128-526: The canonical Abhidharma works are generally claimed by scholars not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of later Buddhists. There are different types and historical layers of Abhidharma literature. The early canonical Abhidharma works (like the Abhidhamma Pitaka ) are not philosophical treatises, but mainly summaries and expositions of early doctrinal lists with their accompanying explanations. These texts developed out of early Buddhist lists or matrices ( mātṛkās ) of key teachings, such as
7236-440: The canonical Abhidharma. The early Buddhist schools also preserved other types of texts which developed in later periods, which were variously seen as canonical or not, depending on the tradition. One of the largest category of texts that were neither Sutra, Vinaya nor Abhidharma includes various collections of stories such as the Jātaka tales and the Avadānas (Pali: Apadāna ). These are moral fables and legends dealing with
7344-463: The central concern, defining dharma as what connects a person with the highest good, always yet to be realized. While some schools associate dharma with post-mortem existence, Mimamsakas focus on the continual renewal and realization of a ritual world through adherence to Vedic injunctions. They assert that the ultimate good is essentially inaccessible to perception and can only be understood through language, reflecting confidence in Vedic injunctions and
7452-467: The conscience of the individual, similarly may the actions of an individual alter the course of the society, for better or for worse. This has been subtly echoed by the credo धर्मो धारयति प्रजा: meaning dharma is that which holds and provides support to the social construct. In Hinduism, dharma generally includes various aspects: The history section of this article discusses the development of dharma concept in Vedas . This development continued in
7560-403: The conventional language and narrative stories found in the sutras. The prominent modern scholar of Abhidharma, Erich Frauwallner has said that these Buddhist systems are "among the major achievements of the classical period of Indian philosophy ." Modern scholars generally believe that the canonical Abhidharma texts emerged after the time of the Buddha, in around the 3rd century BCE. Therefore,
7668-545: The course of change by not participating in change, but that principle which remains constant. Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary , the widely cited resource for definitions and explanation of Sanskrit words and concepts of Hinduism, offers numerous definitions of the word dharma , such as that which is established or firm, steadfast decree, statute, law, practice, custom, duty, right, justice, virtue, morality, ethics, religion, religious merit, good works, nature, character, quality, property. Yet, each of these definitions
7776-474: The criteria for determining what should be considered buddhavacana were developed at an early stage, and that the early formulations do not suggest that Dharma is limited to what was spoken by the historical Buddha. The Mahāsāṃghika and the Mūlasarvāstivāda considered both the Buddha's discourses and those of his disciples to be buddhavacana . A number of different beings such as Buddhas, disciples of
7884-457: The earliest texts and ancient myths of Hinduism, dharma meant cosmic law, the rules that created the universe from chaos, as well as rituals; in later Vedas , Upanishads , Puranas and the Epics , the meaning became refined, richer, and more complex, and the word was applied to diverse contexts. In certain contexts, dharma designates human behaviours considered necessary for order of things in
7992-538: The early Magadhan language and Pāli through the use of repetition, communal recitation and mnemonic devices. These texts were later compiled into canons and written down in manuscripts. For example, the Pāli Canon was preserved in Sri Lanka where it was first written down in the first century BCE. There are early texts from various Buddhist schools, the largest collections are from the Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda schools, but there are also full texts and fragments from
8100-483: The earth and sun and stars apart, they support (dhar-) the sky away and distinct from earth, and they stabilise (dhar-) the quaking mountains and plains. The Deities , mainly Indra , then deliver and hold order from disorder, harmony from chaos, stability from instability – actions recited in the Veda with the root of word dharma. In hymns composed after the mythological verses, the word dharma takes expanded meaning as
8208-538: The fifth century, with very few manuscripts having been found before then (the exceptions are from Bamiyan ). However, according to Walser, the fifth and sixth centuries saw a great increase in the production of these texts. By this time, Chinese pilgrims, such as Faxian , Yijing , and Xuanzang were traveling to India, and their writings do describe monasteries which they label 'Mahāyāna' as well as monasteries where both Mahāyāna monks and non-Mahāyāna monks lived together. Mahāyāna sūtras contain several elements besides
8316-534: The general view of what is and is not buddhavacana is broadly similar between East Asian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetan Kangyur, which belongs to the various schools of Tibetan Vajrayāna Buddhism , in addition to containing sutras and Vinaya, also contains Buddhist tantras and other related Tantric literature. The earliest Buddhist texts were passed down orally in Middle Indo-Aryan languages called Prakrits , including Gāndhārī language ,
8424-399: The human ability to live according to dharma . In Rajadharmaparvan 91.34-8, the relationship between poverty and dharma reaches a full circle. A land with less moral and lawful life suffers distress, and as distress rises it causes more immoral and unlawful life, which further increases distress. Those in power must follow the raja dharma (that is, dharma of rulers), because this enables
8532-416: The individual level. Of these, the most cited one is Manusmriti , which describes the four Varnas , their rights and duties. Most texts of Hinduism, however, discuss dharma with no mention of Varna ( caste ). Other dharma texts and Smritis differ from Manusmriti on the nature and structure of Varnas. Yet, other texts question the very existence of varna. Bhrigu , in the Epics, for example, presents
8640-553: The legitimacy of these texts as Buddha word. Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Gaṇḍavyūha also often criticize early Buddhist figures, such as Sariputra for lacking knowledge and goodness, and thus, these elders or śrāvaka are seen as not intelligent enough to receive the Mahāyāna teachings, while more the advanced elite, the bodhisattvas, are depicted as those who can see the highest teachings. These sūtras were not recognized as being Buddha word by various early Buddhist schools and there
8748-516: The life of a single individual" and the vanaprastha stage was added before renunciation over time, thus forming life stages. The four stages of life complete the four human strivings in life, according to Hinduism. Dharma enables the individual to satisfy the striving for stability and order, a life that is lawful and harmonious, the striving to do the right thing, be good, be virtuous, earn religious merit, be helpful to others, interact successfully with society. The other three strivings are Artha –
8856-467: The life of preparation as a student, (2) gṛhastha , the life of the householder with family and other social roles, (3) vānprastha or aranyaka, the life of the forest-dweller, transitioning from worldly occupations to reflection and renunciation, and (4) sannyāsa , the life of giving away all property, becoming a recluse and devotion to moksa, spiritual matters. Patrick Olivelle suggests that "ashramas represented life choices rather than sequential steps in
8964-531: The literal sense of prods or poles). Figuratively, it means "sustainer" and "supporter" (of deities ). It is semantically similar to the Greek themis ("fixed decree, statute, law"). In Classical Sanskrit , and in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Atharvaveda , the stem is thematic: dhárma- ( Devanagari : धर्म). In Prakrit and Pali , it is rendered dhamma . In some contemporary Indian languages and dialects it alternatively occurs as dharm . In
9072-631: The modern era, especially in Burma, and writers such as Mahasi Sayadaw translated some of their texts into Pali. There are also numerous Esoteric Theravada texts, mostly from Southeast Asia . This tradition flourished in Cambodia and Thailand before the 19th century reformist movement of Rama IV . One of these texts has been published in English by the Pali Text Society as "Manual of
9180-508: The names of certain Buddhas or bodhisattvas, maintaining Buddhist precepts, and listening to, memorizing, and copying sutras." Some Mahāyāna sūtras claim that these practices lead to rebirth in Pure lands such as Abhirati and Sukhavati , where becoming a Buddha is much easier to achieve. Several Mahāyāna sūtras also depict important Buddhas or Bodhisattvas not found in earlier texts, such as
9288-620: The only Iranian equivalent is Old Persian darmān , meaning "remedy". This meaning is different from the Indo-Aryan dhárman , suggesting that the word "dharma" did not play a major role in the Indo-Iranian period. Instead, it was primarily developed more recently under the Vedic tradition. It is thought that the Daena of Zoroastrianism , also meaning the "eternal Law" or "religion",
9396-448: The order and customs which make life and universe possible, and includes behaviours, rituals, rules that govern society, and ethics. Hindu dharma includes the religious duties, moral rights and duties of each individual, as well as behaviours that enable social order, right conduct, and those that are virtuous. Dharma , according to Van Buitenen, is that which all existing beings must accept and respect to sustain harmony and order in
9504-579: The other components of the Puruṣārtha, the concept of dharma is pan-Indian. The ancient Tamil text Tirukkuṟaḷ , despite being a collection of aphoristic teachings on dharma ( aram ), artha ( porul ), and kama ( inpam ), is completely and exclusively based on aṟam —the Tamil term for dharma . The word dharma has roots in the Sanskrit root √ dhṛ- which means to hold or to support , combined with
9612-488: The previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. The different Buddhist schools had their own collections of these tales and often disagreed on which stories were canonical. Another genre that developed over time in the various early schools were biographies of the Buddha. Buddha biographies include the Mahāvastu of the Lokottaravadin school, the northern tradition's Lalitavistara Sūtra ,
9720-537: The principles that deities used to create order from disorder, the world from chaos. Past the ritual and cosmic sense of dharma that link the current world to mythical universe, the concept extends to an ethical-social sense that links human beings to each other and to other life forms. It is here that dharma as a concept of law emerges in Hinduism. Dharma and related words are found in the oldest Vedic literature of Hinduism , in later Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and
9828-584: The promotion of the bodhisattva ideal, including "expanded cosmologies and mythical histories, ideas of purelands and great, 'celestial' Buddhas and bodhisattvas , descriptions of powerful new religious practices, new ideas on the nature of the Buddha, and a range of new philosophical perspectives." These texts present stories of revelation in which the Buddha teaches Mahāyāna sutras to certain bodhisattvas who vow to teach and spread these sutras. These texts also promoted new religious practices that were supposed to make Buddhahood easy to achieve, such as "hearing
9936-492: The reality of language as a means of knowing. Mimamsa addresses the delayed results of actions (like wealth or heaven) through the concept of apurva or adrsta, an unseen force that preserves the connection between actions and their outcomes. This ensures that Vedic sacrifices, though their results are delayed, are effective and reliable in guiding toward dharma. The Hindu religion and philosophy, claims Daniel Ingalls , places major emphasis on individual practical morality. In
10044-590: The rock appears a Greek rendering for the Sanskrit word dharma: the word eusebeia . Scholars of Hellenistic Greece explain eusebeia as a complex concept. Eusebia means not only to venerate deities , but also spiritual maturity, a reverential attitude toward life, and includes the right conduct toward one's parents, siblings and children, the right conduct between husband and wife, and the conduct between biologically unrelated people. This rock inscription, concludes Paul Hacker, suggests dharma in India, about 2300 years ago,
10152-405: The second answer is of Yudhishthira , which appeals to piety, deities , social virtue, and tradition; the third answer is of introspective Arjuna , which falls between the two extremes, and who, claims Ingalls, symbolically reveals the finest moral qualities of man. The Epics of Hinduism are a symbolic treatise about life, virtues, customs, morals, ethics, law, and other aspects of dharma . There
10260-408: The stage of life one is in. The concept of Dharma is believed to have a transtemporal validity. The antonym of dharma is adharma (Sanskrit: अधर्म), meaning that which is "not dharma". As with dharma , the word adharma includes and implies many ideas; in common parlance, adharma means that which is against nature, immoral, unethical, wrong or unlawful. In Buddhism, dharma incorporates
10368-584: The standard collection of buddhavacana is the Pāli Canon, also known as the Tripiṭaka ("three baskets"). Generally speaking, the Theravāda school rejects the Mahāyāna sūtras as buddhavacana (word of the Buddha), and do not study or see these texts as reliable sources. In East Asian Buddhism , what is considered buddhavacana is collected in the Chinese Buddhist canon ; the most common edition of this
10476-507: The striving for means of life such as food, shelter, power, security, material wealth, and so forth; Kama – the striving for sex, desire, pleasure, love, emotional fulfilment, and so forth; and Moksa – the striving for spiritual meaning, liberation from life-rebirth cycle, self-realisation in this life, and so forth. The four stages are neither independent nor exclusionary in Hindu dharma . Dharma being necessary for individual and society,
10584-573: The stronger by dharma, as over a king. Truly that dharma is the Truth ( Satya ); Therefore, when a man speaks the Truth, they say, "He speaks the Dharma"; and if he speaks Dharma, they say, "He speaks the Truth!" For both are one. Mimamsa , developed through commentaries on its foundational texts, particularly the Mimamsa Sutras attributed to Jaimini , emphasizes "the desire to know dharma" as
10692-491: The teachings and doctrines of the founder of Buddhism, the Buddha . According to Pandurang Vaman Kane , author of History of Dharmaśāstra , the word dharma appears at least fifty-six times in the hymns of the Rigveda , as an adjective or noun. According to Paul Horsch, the word dharma has its origin in Vedic Hinduism. The hymns of the Rigveda claim Brahman created the universe from chaos, they hold (dhar-)
10800-436: The theory that dharma does not require any varnas. In practice, medieval India is widely believed to be a socially stratified society, with each social strata inheriting a profession and being endogamous. Varna was not absolute in Hindu dharma; individuals had the right to renounce and leave their Varna, as well as their asramas of life, in search of moksa. While neither Manusmriti nor succeeding Smritis of Hinduism ever use
10908-432: The universe, principles that prevent chaos, behaviours and action necessary to all life in nature, society, family as well as at the individual level. Dharma encompasses ideas such as duty, rights, character, vocation, religion, customs and all behaviour considered appropriate, correct or morally upright. For further context, the word varnasramdharma is often used in its place, defined as dharma specifically related to
11016-530: The word varnadharma (that is, the dharma of varnas), or varnasramadharma (that is, the dharma of varnas and asramas), the scholarly commentary on Manusmriti use these words, and thus associate dharma with varna system of India. In 6th century India, even Buddhist kings called themselves "protectors of varnasramadharma" – that is, dharma of varna and asramas of life. At the individual level, some texts of Hinduism outline four āśramas , or stages of life as individual's dharma . These are: (1) brahmacārya ,
11124-588: The work of Aśvaghoṣa, another important Sanskrit poet was Mātr̥ceṭa, known for his One Hundred and Fifty Verses. Buddhist poetry was also written in popular Indian languages, such as Tamil and Apabhramsa . One well known poem is the Tamil epic Manimekalai , which is one of the Five Great Epics of Tamil literature . Other later hagiographical texts include the Buddhavaṃsa , the Cariyāpiṭaka and
11232-490: The world. It is neither the act nor the result, but the natural laws that guide the act and create the result to prevent chaos in the world. It is innate characteristic, that makes the being what it is. It is, claims Van Buitenen, the pursuit and execution of one's nature and true calling, thus playing one's role in cosmic concert. In Hinduism, it is the dharma of the bee to make honey, of cow to give milk, of sun to radiate sunshine, of river to flow. In terms of humanity, dharma
11340-606: Was a central concept and meant not only religious ideas, but ideas of right, of good, of one's duty toward the human community. The evolving literature of Hinduism linked dharma to two other important concepts: Ṛta and Māyā . Ṛta in Vedas is the truth and cosmic principle which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. Māyā in Rig-veda and later literature means illusion, fraud, deception, magic that misleads and creates disorder, thus
11448-402: Was lively debate over their authenticity throughout the Buddhist world. Various Mahāyāna sūtras warn against the charge that they are not word of the Buddha, showing that they are aware of this claim. Buddhist communities such as the Mahāsāṃghika school were divided along these doctrinal lines into sub-schools which accepted or did not accept these texts. The Theravāda school of Sri Lanka also
11556-475: Was perhaps never definitively established among many early Buddhist schools. Early Buddhist texts which appear in such "minor" collections include: Abhidharma (in Pāli , Abhidhamma ) texts which contain "an abstract and highly technical systematization" of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist sutras. It is an attempt to best express the Buddhist view of "ultimate reality" ( paramartha-satya ) without using
11664-444: Was split on the issue during the medieval period. The Mahavihara sub-sect rejected these texts and the (now extinct) Abhayagiri sect accepted them. Theravāda commentaries mention these texts (which they call Vedalla/Vetulla ) as not being the Buddha word and being counterfeit scriptures. Modern Theravāda generally does not accept these texts as buddhavacana (word of the Buddha). The Mahāyāna movement remained quite small until
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