Dhammakāya and the Previous Buddha : หน้า 75/141

VII. Reference 4: Dhammakāya and Previous Buddha Another Pāli passage that shows the relation of dhammakāya with the Buddha is found in the Atthasandassakathera-apadāna. But here the narrative relates the term with a previous Buddha. The whole story is the autobiography of the elder Atthasandassaka who recounts the meritorious deeds performed at the time of the Padumuttara Buddha.118 The term dhammakāya appears in the expression of his appreciation of the Buddha. The elder, being Narada brahmin at that time, praised the Padumuttara Buddha with the following three stanzas. Satasahassatevijja chaļabhiñña mahiddhika parivārenti sambuddham ko disvā nappasidati? Nāñe upanidhā yassa na vijjati sadeve anantāññaṁ sambuddham ko disvā nappasidati? Dhammakāyāñca dipentaṁ119 kevalaṁ ratanākaram vikopetuṁ120 na sakkonti ko disvā nappasidati? Ap.168. A hundred thousand (monks) possessing the threefold knowledge, the sixfold superknowlege, endowed with great supernatural powers, are surrounding the enlightened one; having seen him, who is not pleased? Among human and gods, nobody is found comparable to him in knowledge; having seen the perfectly enlightened one whose knowledge is endless, who is not pleased? No-one can upset the dhamma-bodied who is illuminating all around, being the mine of jewels; having seen him, who is not pleased? In this praise, the term dhammakāya is found in the last stanza, which is the most ambiguous and difficult to translate. Difficulties involve the manifold meaning of each term, as well as the ambiguous structure of the verse. However, a survey of the popular usage of each term in different instances helps to overcome the difficulties to some extent. 118 Padumuttara Buddha is a previous Buddha of a hundred thousand kalpas ago. 119 CS version: dipentaṁ; BJ version: dipentaṁ; PTS and SR versions: dipenti. 120 CS version and a Sinhalese mss: vikappetuṁ.