Dhritaka
Dhritaka
3rd c. BCE – Unknown
Dhṛtaka, fifth patriarch in the Chan list of twenty-eight Indians, is described in the *Jǐngdé Chuándēng Lù* as the disciple of Upagupta and teacher of Mīcaka. Almost no material independent of the Chan transmission-of-the-lamp literature survives concerning him; he belongs to the legendary stratum of figures whose function in the lineage is structural rather than biographical[1]. The traditional accounts describe him as a brahmin youth from Magadha who recognized in Upagupta his teacher and, after a brief encounter, received the wordless transmission.
Dumoulin observes that the Chan compilers, in extending the lineage backward to the Buddha, drew on a stock of names available in northwestern Buddhist scholastic and devotional literature and arranged them into a numerologically elegant sequence ending with Bodhidharma[2]. Dhṛtaka is one of the names whose role is precisely this—holding a place in the chain rather than carrying an independently attested life-story.
Names
Disciples of Dhritaka
Teachers and lineage of Dhritaka
Teacher / root master:
Teachings
- dialogueThe Mind That Is Like Space
When Upagupta was about to transmit the Dharma, he asked Dhṛtaka: 'My mind is at peace. Is yours?' Dhṛtaka said: 'Your mind is at peace, and so all minds are at peace.' Upagupta said: 'Where does this peace come from?' Dhṛtaka said: 'It comes from nowhere. That is why it is peace.' Keizan's verse: Sky above, sky below— / the mountain sits without moving. / This peace was never disturbed. / Who told you it needed to be found?
Other masters in Indian Patriarchs
Master Record Sources
- datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
trad. 3rd c. BCE
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Dhritaka
- schoolZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Indian Patriarchs
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Upagupta
Dhṛtaka is counted the sixth Indian patriarch in Chan/Zen transmission lineages; the Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia preserves the traditional biographical details drawn from the Māhāsāṃghika records.