Understanding Dhammakāya: The Essence of Transcendental Dhamma : หน้า 60/141

Arhatship (arahattamagga).86 Therefore, the particular path is not a mere ‘collective title’ of the path-constituents but the ‘essential totality’ by which a ‘body’ is defined. The dependence of functions of individual constituents on the ‘totality’ of the particular transcendental path allows its definition as a kind of ‘body.’ The same could be said for transcendental fruits (lokuttara phala) and Nibbāna. Thus, the transcendental dhamma should be defined as a ‘body’ rather than being a mere collection of those functional qualities. From the above conclusion regarding the meanings of both components ‘dhamma’ and ‘kāya,’ we now come to the re-interpretation of ‘dhammakāya’ as a whole. Possible meanings of Dhammakāya in the Aṅgīrna-sutta In the above discussion, the present study tentatively translated the term dhammakāya as an adjective ‘dhamma-bodied’. Based on the above concluded meanings of ‘dhamma’ and ‘kāya,’ the term ‘dhammakāya’ as an adjective conveys the meaning that transcendental dhamma or Nibbāna is the Buddha’s ‘body.’ As ‘dhammakāya’ in this instance designates the Buddha, such a translation as an adjective is naturally reasonable. However, as the context of the passage does not preclude the translation of the term as a substantive,87 it may be interesting to try also the other two grammatical forms that give the translation of the compound as a noun. 86 Ps.I.96. 87 Even though ‘dhammakāya’ here is used to designate the Tathāgata, along with three other designations, two of which are apparently adjectives, it needs not mean that the term dhammakāya must necessarily be an adjective, for they are not synonymous in the sense of English grammar. These designations may well be similar to the Buddha’s epithets that are simply listed together, while some epithets are adjectives (e.g. vijjācaraṇasampanno) and some are substantives (e.g. sattha devamanussānam.).