Dharma，又作達摩、達麼、馱摩。譯曰法。軌則之義，軌持之義也。義林章六本曰：「達磨，名法。方廣經云：軌則，名法。成唯識云：法謂軌持。能持自相軌生解故。涅槃經說：法，名不覺。 Bodhidharma，具名菩提達磨，譯曰道法。南天竺之剎帝利種也。父王曰香至。磨為其第三子。本名菩提多羅。後遇二十七祖般若多羅，嗣法。改多羅曰達磨。梁普通元年泛海至廣州。帝迎之到建業。問曰：朕即位以來，造寺寫經有何功德？磨曰：無功德。帝曰：云何真功德？磨曰：淨智妙圓，體自空寂，如是功德不可以世求。帝曰：如何是聖諦第一義？磨曰：廓然無聖。帝曰：對朕者誰？磨曰：不識。帝不悟。遂渡江之魏。乃後魏孝明正元元年也。止嵩山少林寺，終日壁觀。號壁觀婆羅門。孝明帝聞之，三召不起。後得慧可，付法並衣。付法偈曰：「吾本來茲土，傳法救迷情。一華開五葉，結果自然成。」又曰：此有楞伽經四卷，為如來極談法要，今並付汝。梁大通二年寂，其年葬熊耳山，梁武帝制碑讚德，唐代宗諡曰圓覺大師。見傳法正宗記五。
dharma; also 達摩; 達麼; 達而麻耶; 曇摩; 馱摩 tr. by 法.dharmais fromdhara, holding, bearing, possessing, etc.; and means 'that which is to be held fast or kept, ordinance, statute, law, usage, practice'; 'anything right.' M.W. It may be variously intp. as (1) characteristic, attribute, predicate; (2) the bearer, the transcendent substratum of single elements of conscious life; (3) element, i.e. a part of conscious life; (4)nirvāṇa, i.e. the Dharma par excellence, the object of Buddhist teaching; (5) the absolute, the real; (6) the teaching or religion of Buddha; (7) thing, object, appearance. Also, Damo, or Bodhidharma, the twenty-eighth Indian and first Chinese patriarch, who arrived in China A.D. 520, the reputed founder of the Chan or Intuitional School in China. He is described as son of a king in southern India; originally called Bodhitara. He arrived at Guangdong, bringing it is said the sacred begging-bowl, and settled in Luoyang, where he engaged in silent meditation for nine years, whence he received the title of wall-gazing Brahman 壁觀婆羅門, though he was akṣatriya. His doctrine and practice were those of the 'inner light', independent of the written word, but to 慧可 Huike, his successor, he commended theLaṅkāvatāra-sūtraas nearest to his views. There are many names with Dharma as initial: Dharmapāla, Dharmagupta, Dharmayaśas, Dharmaruci, Dharmarakṣa, Dharmatrāta, Dharmavardhana, etc.
一達磨 (一)梵語 dharma，巴利語 dhamma 之音譯。又作達摩、馱摩、陀摩、曇摩、曇謨、曇無、曇。意譯法。即保持自性而不改變之意。於佛典中，其語意有多種，或指佛陀所說之教示，或指彙集佛陀之教示而成的聖典，或指道德之法則，或為一切萬法之代稱，如俱舍宗將一切萬法分類為五位七十五法，唯識宗則分為五位百法。要之，其用法極多，不一而足。惟漢文經典一般多用意譯之「法」字，而於人名之翻譯，則較常採用達磨、曇摩等音譯，如 Bodhidharma，譯為菩提達磨（我國禪宗初祖）；Dharmatrāta，譯為達磨多羅（為說一切有部四大論師之一）；Dharmagupta，譯為達摩笈多（為隋代時來華之中印度高僧）。（參閱「法」4220） (二)指禪宗初祖菩提達磨。（參閱「菩提達磨」6546） (三)難陀之弟子。此難陀與其弟跋難陀均為六群比丘之一，而非指佛陀之弟子孫陀羅難陀。據諸部律記載，難陀有一共住弟子，名達磨，常懷慚愧、追悔之心，於諸學處愛樂尊重。彼未知難陀之惡行，與之共住；既知其行蹟，便棄之而與善比丘同住。p7130
１．華譯為法，指佛所覺悟的真理和覺悟的方法。２．菩提達磨的簡稱，印度人，梁武帝時泛海到達中國的廣州，武帝迎至建業，因與帝話不投機，遂渡江入魏，在嵩山少林寺面壁九年，為中國禪宗之始祖，圓寂於東魏天平以前，葬熊耳山。