Do Devas still come down on earth to listen to the Dhamma? Part I

Rev. S. Barua [Dīpānanda]
E-mail: sajalmegh@hotmail.com

Buddhist cosmology talks about the existence of thirty one planes in which beings appear and disappear in accord with their respective action [kamma] and result [vipāka]. Among these thirty one planes, four are said to be lower than the human world [manussa loka] and the other twenty six are above or higher than the human world. The immediate six realms above the human world are said to be heaven [sagga in Pāli] in which gods [devas] of different status dwell and enjoy their life accordingly. Then there are sixteen fine-material realms [rūpa-brāhma-loka] in which the higher form of deva-s known as brāhmas, who possess fine material body, dwell. And there is still a higher rank than this that is known as immaterial realm of deva [arūpa-brāhma-loka] in which beings with the attainment of trances [jhānas] reborn. There are four realms in this category. It should be mentioned at this point that these beings are said to have a subtle form of consciousness rather than a gross material body. And hence they are called arūpa [without matter or form].

Now for the common people, it is rather paradoxical to ponder how could there be the cyclic existence of beings in the thirty one planets when Buddhism denies the existence of a permanent, everlasting self or soul [atta]. In other word, if a being is a mere combination of five ever changing aggregates [pañcakkhandas], and if there is no everlasting self to guide a being in both good and evil ways, then there is no one to perform any action and with the non-performance of an action, there can not come about any result to be experienced. In fact, Venerable Ācariya Buddhaghosa in his famous ‘Visuddhimagga’ says, there is no one to perform an action neither is there the experiencer of its result [kammassa kārako natthi vipākassa ca vedako]. So, the wandering of a being into the saṃsāric existence is utterly meaningless. The answer is provided by the Buddha himself in his explanation of ‘Paţicca Samuppāda’ in different discourses in the Pāli canon. He said rebirth consciousness [pţisandhi-viññāna] arises in beings due to karma-formation [saņkhāra] and ignorance [avijjā], and beings are born in accordance with becoming [bhava] which is preceded by grasping [upādāna] and which in turn is preceded by craving [taņhā]. So, we see it is mainly because of the misunderstanding of non-self [anattā] as self [attā] or in other word it is due to the view of self [sakkāyadiţţhi] or clinging to the personality-belief [atta-vādupādāna] that a being wanders around the cyclic existence of saṃsāra [in this case, thirty one planes mentioned above]. Otherwise as Venerable Ācariya Buddhaghosa says, there is nothing but empty phenomena rolling on [suddhadhammā pavatta’ti]. Therefore, there is no one to grasp anything because there is ultimately nothing to grasp. In point of fact, as it is spoken by the Buddha himself, the misunderstanding with regard to the existence of self manifests itself into three ways: “this is mine (etaṃ mama), this I am (eso’haṃ asmi), this is myself (eso me atta)”. Anyway, at this moment this is not what we should be focusing on in this paper.

There are ample examples with regard to descending of deva-s on earth for various reasons could be found throughout the life of the Buddha and even before. One of the five māra-s [the personification of Death, the Evil One] in the history of Buddhism is known as Devaputta Māra [māra as the son of god, he is also said to be the leader in the sixth heaven, the Paranimmitavasavati]. He came to prevent the Buddha from his practice for enlightenment, but failed [for further information, please refer to Padhāna sutta of Saṃyutta Nikāya].

 On other occasion, immediately after the Buddha had attained the long-sought enlightenment when he doubted whether or not to preach the dhamma. He opined that Dhamma goes against the stream; it is too abstruse, profound, difficult and subtle for the common people to perceive. Common people are always indulged with the sensual gratification [kāmasu khallikānuyoga]. The Mahā Brāhma Sahampati from his heavenly abode came down on earth and invited the Buddha to preach the dhamma for the benefit and happiness of many. In the life story of the Buddha, this is the first incident with regard to descending of deva on earth. And the Buddha then started his journey of dhamma-propagation as long as he was alive with his physical form. But it did not stop there. With his followers both monastic order [saṅgha] and laity it continued and is still continuing until today. In this regard the great Emperor Asoka, who sent missionaries to different parts of his kingdom and even beyond, is to be highly credited.

To be continued...