The Gospel of Buddha, Compiled from Ancient Records

Devada'tta (etym. god-given) brother of Yasodharā and Buddha's brother-in-law. He tried to found a sect of his own with severer rules than those prescribed by Buddha. He is described undoubtedly with great injustice in the Buddhist canon and treated as a traitor. [About his sect see Rh. Davids's B. p. 181-182.]—86, 88, 110-112, 214.

Dha'rma, skt., Dha'mma, p., originally the natural condition of things or beings, the law of their existence, truth, then religious truth, the law, the ethical code of righteousness, the whole body of religious doctrines as a system, religion.—40, 41, 42, 44, 57, 61, 64, 68, 71, 74, 84, 98-101, 138, 145, 146, 147, 150, 160, 168, 170, 171, 178, 179, 214, 246, 248, 250, 252, 253; let a man take pleasure in the dharma, 171; the goodness of the dharma, 134.

Go'tama, p., Gau'tama, skt., Buddha's family name.—7, 48, 49, 62, 65, 71, 140, 141, 142, 144, 145, 151, 160, 195; Gotama denies the existence of the soul, 151; Gotama is gone, Buddha remains, 247; Buddha not Gotama, 160; Gotama the samana, 146; Gotama Siddhattha, 110, 165, 253.

I'ddhi, p., Ri'ddhi, skt., defined by Eitel as "the dominion of spirit over matter." It is the adjusting power to one's purpose and the adaptation to conditions. In popular belief it implies exemption from the law of gravitation and the power of assuming any shape at will. (See Iddhipāda.)

Iddhipā'da, p., Riddhipā'da, skt., the mode of attaining the power of mind over matter, four steps being needed: (1) the will to acquire it, (2) the necessary exertion, (3) the indispensable preparation of the heart, and (4) a diligent investigation of the truth.—177.

Iś'vara, skt., I'ssara, (lit. independent existence) Lord, Creator, personal God, a title given to Shiva and other great deities. In Buddhistic scriptures as well as in Brahman the skt. Is'vara (not the p. Issara) means always a transcendent or extramundane God, a personal God, a deity distinct from, and independent of nature, who is supposed to have created the world out of nothing.—72, 73.

Jainism, a sect, founded by Vardhamāna, older than Buddhism and still extant in India. It is in many respects similar to Buddhism. Buddha's main objection to the Jains was the habit of their ascetics of going naked. The Jains lay great stress upon ascetic exercises and self-mortification which the Buddhists declare to be injurious.

Jhā'na, p., Dhyā'na, skt., intuition, beatic vision, ecstasy, rapture, the result of samādhi. Buddha did not recommend trances as means of religious devotion, urging that deliverance can be obtained only by the recognition of the four noble truths and walking on the noble eightfold path, but he did not disturb those who took delight in ecstasies and beatific visions. Buddha's interpretation of the Dhyāna is not losing consciousness but a self-possessed and purposive eradication of egotism. There are four Dhyānas, the first being a state of joy and gladness born of seclusion full of investigation and reflexion; the second one, born of deep tranquillity without reflexion or investigation, the third one brings the destruction of passion, while the fourth one consists in pure equanimity, making an end of sorrow. [See Rhys Davids's B. pp. 175-176.] In the Fo-Sho-hing-tsang-king, the Dhyāna is mentioned twice only: first, III, 12, vv. 960-978, where Ārāda sets forth the doctrine of the four Dhyānas which is not approved of by Buddha, and secondly, at Buddha's death; when his mind is said to have passed through all the Dhyānas.—176, 249.

Jī'vaka, p. and skt., physician to king Bimbisāra. According to tradition he was the son of king Bimbisāra and the courtesan Salavatī. We read in Mahāvagga VIII that after his birth he was exposed but saved; then he became a most famous physician and cured Buddha of a troublesome disease contracted by wearing cast off rags. He was an ardent disciple of Buddha and prevailed upon him to allow the Bhikkhus to wear lay robes.—89, 90, 91.

Ka'rma, anglicised form of skt. stem-form ka'rman (nom. s. karma), the p. of which is ka'mmam. Action, work, the law of action, retribution, results of deeds previously done and the destiny resulting therefrom. Eitel defines karma as "that moral kernel [of any being] which alone survives death and continues in transmigration." Karma is a well-defined and scientifically exact term. Professor Huxley says, "In the theory of evolution, the tendency of a germ to develop according to a certain specific type, e.g., of the kidney bean seed to grow into a plant having all the characters of Phaseolus vulgaris is its 'karma.' It is 'the last inheritor and the last result' of all the conditions that have affected a line of ancestry which goes back for many millions of years to the time when life first appeared on earth." We read in the Anguttara Nikāya, Pancaka Nipāta: "My action (karma) is my possession, my action is my inheritance, my action is the womb which bears me, my action is the race to which I am akin [as the kidney-bean to its species], my action is my refuge." [See the article "Karma and Nirvāna" in Buddhism and Its Christian Critics, p. 131 ff.]— 29, 31, 32, 33, 86, 110, 115, 117, 118, 157, 172, 223, 225, 240.