Dhammakāya and Noble Disciples : หน้า 68/141

VI. Reference 3: Dhammakāya and Noble Disciples Besides the term’s relation to the Buddha and Paccekabuddhas, a Pāli canonical reference mentions also the relation of dhammakāya with noble disciples. This is found in the seventeenth story of the Theriyāpadāna which records the autobiography of the great nun Gotamī - the aunt and foster mother of the Buddha. The narrative setting is that the nun considered her day of passing and went to see the Buddha for the last time. On the way to the Buddha’s residence, her declaration to female lay supporters who lamented on her parting indicates that Gotamī was an Arhat, who has completely destroyed all fetters (saṃyojanās), and whose trace of rebirth has been uprooted.101 In the first part of her acknowledgement regarding her intention of passing, in the presence of the Buddha, she makes the comparison of her motherhood to the Buddha’s fatherhood. The relevant lines are as follows: 31. aham sugata te mātaṁ tvām ca dhira pito mama; saddhammasukhado102 nātha, tayā jāṭ’amhī gotama. 32. saṃvaddhito yām sugata rūpakāyo mayā tva; anindiyō103 dhammakāyo104 mama saṃvaddhito tayā. 33. Muhuttam taṁhāsamanam khiram tvam pāvito mayā; tayā’haṁ santam acchantaṁ dhammakhiram hi pāvita. Ap.II.532. 31. I am your mother, O Sugata; and, O the wise, you are my father; O Gotama the refuge who gives happiness of truths, I have been born through you. 32. This physical body of yours, O Sugata, was brought up by me; The blameless (pleasurable) dhamma-body of mine was brought up by you. _________ 101 Ap.II.531. Here, she declares the following points: 1) her realisation of the four noble truths, by three rounds - twelve steps, 2) she has completely finished the course of practice laid down by the Buddha, 3) her release 4) her destruction of all desires 5) her complete attainment of successive fruits of renunciation, and 6) her absence of all fetters (saṃyojanās). 102 Another manuscript gives ~sukhada’ indicating the vocative case. 103 A Sinhalese and a Burmese Mss. gives ‘ānandito.’ SR version: ‘ānandiyo’ 104 Here, the CS and SR versions of the Tipiṭaka record the term as ‘dhammakāyo.’ But the BJ and PTS version writes ‘dhammatanu,’ which has the same meaning as that of dhammakāya. The Pāli term ‘tanu’ usually refers to ‘body’ in the physical sense.