Brahmakayika, Brahmakāyika, Brahma-kayika: 11 definitions
Introduction:
Brahmakayika means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
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In Buddhism
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Brahmakāyika (ब्रह्मकायिक) is part of the group of Gods inhabiting the first dhyāna of the Rūpadhātu (or Brahmaloka): the second of the three worlds, according to the 2nd century Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra chapter 32-34. The gods of the form realm (rūpadhātu), having fallen from the pure abodes (śuddhāvāsa), will again conceive sensual desire and will abide in the impure spheres.
Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.
General definition (in Buddhism)
Brahmakāyika (ब्रह्मकायिक) refers to the “Brahma group” and represents one of the eighteen “gods of the form-realms” (rūpāvacaradeva) as defined in the Dharma-saṃgraha (section 128). The Dharma-samgraha (Dharmasangraha) is an extensive glossary of Buddhist technical terms in Sanskrit (e.g., brahma-kāyika). The work is attributed to Nagarjuna who lived around the 2nd century A.D.
Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
brahmakāyika : (adj.) belonging to the company of Brahmas.
Brahmakāyika refers to: belonging to the company of Brahmā, N of a high order of Devas in the retinue of Br. (cp. Kirfel, Kosmographie pp. 191, 193, 197) D. I, 220; II, 69; A. III, 287, 314; IV, 40, 76, 240, 401; Th. 1, 1082; Vism. 225, 559; KhA 86.
Note: brahmakāyika is a Pali compound consisting of the words brahma and kāyika.
brahmakāyika (ဗြဟ္မကာယိက) [(ti) (တိ)]—
[brahmakāya+ṇika]
[ဗြဟ္မကာယ+ဏိက]
[Pali to Burmese]
brahmakāyika—
(Burmese text): (၁) ဗြဟ္မာအပေါင်း၌ဖြစ်သော၊ ဗြဟ္မာအပေါင်းနှင့်ယှဉ်သော၊ ဗြဟ္မာဗိမာန်၌ဖြစ်သော၊ ဗြဟ္မာပြည်၌ဖြစ်သော၊ သူ။ (၂) ဗြဟ္မာအပေါင်း၏ နေရာဖြစ်သော။ ဗြဟ္မကာယိကဘူမိ-ကြည့်။
(Auto-Translation): (1) He who is in the group of beings, who is compared with the group of beings, who is in the realm of beings, who is in the land of beings. (2) The place of the group of beings. See Brahma-kayika-bhumi.
Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.
Sanskrit dictionary
Brahmakāyika (ब्रह्मकायिक).—(see prec.), adj. or subst. (= Pali id., but not used in the same technical sense), usually with deva, q.v., one (usually the first) of the classes of rūpāvacara gods of the first dhyāna-bhūmi: Saddharmapuṇḍarīka 4.10; 159.10; Lalitavistara 39.13 (here an individual one named Ugratejas, who is present in the Tuṣita heaven); 47.1; 150.4; 266.7; 359.16 and 360.7 (in these two Subrahma(-devaputra) is their leader); 394.3 (here Mahābrahmā is their leader); 396.15; 401.11; Mahāvyutpatti 2290 (here as example of the 2d sattvāvāsa, q.v.); 3085; Dharmasaṃgraha 128; Mahāvastu i.33.3; 40.16; 212.16; 263.21; ii.16.4; 163.15; 314.6; 348.18; 360.11; Divyāvadāna 68.14; 367.11; Avadāna-śataka i.5.2, etc.; brahmakāyikā devani- kāyā (abl.) Mahāvastu i.333.7, the divine dwelling-place of the br°.
Brahmakāyika (ब्रह्मकायिक):—[=brahma-kāyika] [from brahma-kāya > brahma > brahman] mfn. belonging to the Brahma-kāyas, [Lalita-vistara] ([Dharmasaṃgraha 128; Monier-Williams’ Buddhism 210]).
Brahmakāyika (ब्रह्मकायिक):—adj. zur Klasse der Brahmakāya genannten Götter gehörend: devaputra [Rgva tch’er rol pa ed. Calc. 43, 19. 79, 4. 18. 170, 1 v. u. 332, 1 v. u. 460, 11.] [Burnouf 202. 608.] [Lot. de Lassen’s Anthologie b. l. 3.]
Brahmakāyika (ब्रह्मकायिक):—Adj. zu den Brahmakāya gehörig.
Brahmakāyika (in Sanskrit) can be associated with the following Chinese terms:
1) 梵天 [fàn tiān]: “brahma heaven”.
2) 梵衆 [fàn zhòng]: “monks”.
3) 梵身 [fàn shēn]: “pure body”.
4) 梵身天 [fàn shēn tiān]: “retinue of Brahmā”.
5) 梵迦夷 [fàn jiā yí]: “Brahma-devas”.
6) 淸淨天身 [qīng jìng tiān shēn]: “a body (Skt. kāya) (group, mass) of pure and clean gods”.
7) 第七宮 [dì qī gōng]: “palace of the seventh (heaven)”.
Note: brahmakāyika can be alternatively written as: brahma-kāyika.
2) Brahmakāyikā (in Sanskrit) can be associated with the following Chinese terms:
1) 梵衆天 [fàn zhòng tiān]: “heaven of the followers of Brahma”.
Note: brahmakāyikā can be alternatively written as: brahma-kāyikāḥ.
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches (+0): Brahmakaya, Kayika, Nika, Brahma.
Starts with (+0): Brahmakayika Deva, Brahmakayikabhumi, Brahmakayikacakravartin, Brahmakayikadevaputra.
Full-text (+12): Fan jia yi, Brahmakayikadevaputra, Fan tian, Brahma Kayika Deva, Brahmakayika Deva, Fan shen tian, Brahma Loka, Fan shen, Qing jing tian shen, Brahmakayikacakravartin, Fan jia yi tian, Brahmanikaya, Fan zhong tian, Fan zhong chu, Fan Zhong, Fan zhong tian chu, Pham thien tu, Fan tian zi, Di qi gong, Subrahma.
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Search found 19 books and stories containing Brahmakayika, Brahma-kāyika, Brahmakāyika, Brahma-kayika, Brahmā-kāyika, Brahmakaya-nika, Brahmakāya-ṇika, Brahmakāyikā, Brahma-kāyikā, Brahmakayikas; (plurals include: Brahmakayikas, kāyikas, Brahmakāyikas, kayikas, nikas, ṇikas, Brahmakāyikās, kāyikās, Brahmakayikases). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)
Appendix 1 - Distribution of gods in the three worlds < [Chapter XXXII-XXXIV - The eight classes of supplementary dharmas]
4. Sojourn in the Tuṣita heaven. < [Part 4 - The Bodhisattva in the Abhidharma system]
Act 7.2: Description of the Śuddhavāsika and Brahmaloka gods < [Chapter XIV - Emission of rays]
Dhammapada (Illustrated) (by Ven. Weagoda Sarada Maha Thero)
Verse 104-105 - The Story of the Brāhmin Anatthapucchaka < [Chapter 8 - Sahassa Vagga (Thousands)]
The Dawn of the Dhamma (by Sucitto Bhikkhu)
Chapter 21 - Formless Rapture < [The Sutta]
Chapter 22 - The World Of Dhamma < [The Sutta]
Visuddhimagga (the pah of purification) (by Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu)
(6) Recollection of the Deities < [Chapter VII - Six Recollections (Cha-anussati-niddesa)]
The travels of Fa-Hian (400 A.D.) (by Samuel Beal)
Lotus Sutra (Saddharma-Pundarika) (by H. Kern)