Abhidhammattha Sangaha ( A Manual of Abhidhamma )
Translated by Narada Maha Thera
Published By the Buddhist Missionary Society
Notes:—
2.Phassa36 — Derived from
√ phas, to contact.
For any sense-impression to occur, three things are
essential—namely, consciousness, respective sense, and
the object. For instance, one sees an object with the con-
sciousness through the eye as its instrument.
When an object presents itself to the consciousness
through one of the six senses there arises the mental
state—contact. “It should not be understood that mere col-
lision is contact”37 (Na saïgatimatto eva Phasso).
Like a pillar which acts as a strong support to the rest
of the structure, even so is contact to the coexistent mental
concomitants.
“Contact means ‘it touches’ (phusatã’ti). It has touch-
ing (phusana) as its salient characteristic (lakkhana),
impact (saïghattana) as its function (rasa), coinciding (of
the physical basis, object and consciousness) as its mani-
festation (sannipata paccupatthana), and the object which
has entered the avenue (of awareness) as proximate cause
(padatthana).”
36.See The Expositor, Part 1, pp. 142–145.
37.Ibid. p. 145.
Contact is mentioned first because it precedes all
other mental states. “Touching by contact, consciousness
experiences by feeling, perceives by perception, wills by
volition—(Phassena phusitva, vedanaya vediyati, sannaya
sanjanati, cetanaya ceteti).” According to Paticca-
Samuppada, too, Contact conditions Feeling. But strictly
speaking, there is no reason for the sequence because all
these mental states are coexistent. The Atthasalinã states—
“For of states, arisen in one conscious moment, it is not
valid to say that ‘this’ arises first, ‘that’ afterwards. The rea-
son is not because contact is a strong support. Contact is
just mentioned first in the order of teaching, but it was also
permissible to bring it in thus:— There are feeling and con-
tact, perception and contact, volition and contact: there are
consciousness and contact, feeling, perception, volition, ini-
tial application of mind. In the order of teaching, however,
contact is mentioned first. Nor is the sequence of words
among the remaining states of any special significance.”
“Contact is given priority of place, as standing for the
inception of the thought, and as the sine qua non of all the
allied states, conditioning them much as the roof-tree of a
storeyed house supports all the other combinations of
material.”
(Mrs. Rhys Davids — Buddhist Psychology, p. 6.)
3.Vedana—Derived from
√ vid. to experience.
Feeling is a more appropriate rendering for Vedana
than sensation. Like contact, feeling is an essential prop-
erty of every consciousness. It may be pleasurable, painful,
or neutral. Pain and pleasure pertain to body as well. But
physical feeling is not of ethical importance.
According to the commentators feeling is like a mas-
ter who enjoys a dish prepared by a cook. The latter is
compared to the remaining mental states that constitute a
thought-complex. Strictly speaking, it is feeling that expe-
riences an object when it comes in contact with the
senses.
It is this feeling that experiences the desirable or
undesirable fruits of an action done in this or in a previous
birth. Besides this mental state there is no soul or any other
agent to experience the result of the action.
It should be understood here that Nibbanic bliss is
not connected with feeling. Nibbanic bliss is certainly the
highest happiness (Sukha), but it is the happiness of relief
from suffering. It is not the enjoyment of a pleasurable
object.
4.Sanna—Sam +√ na, to know. (Compare
Latin cognoscere, to know.)
The meaning of this term widely varies according to
the context. To avoid unnecessary confusion, it is best to
understand the specific meaning used in this particular
connection as a universal mental state.
The chief characteristic of Sanna is the cognition of
an object by way of a mark as blue etc. It is Sanna that
enables one to recognise an object that has once been per-
ceived by the mind through the senses. “Its procedure is
likened to the carpenter’s recognition of certain kinds of
wood by the mark he had made on each; to the treasurer’s
specifying certain articles of jewelry by the ticket on each;
to the wild animal’s discernment in the scarecrow of the
work of man.”
Sanna, therefore, means simple sense-perception.
“Perception”, according to a modern Dictionary of
Philosophy, “ is the apprehension of ordinary sense-
objects, such as trees, houses, chairs, etc., on the occasion
of sensory stimulation.”
Perception is not used here in the sense employed by
early modern philosophers such as Bacon, Descartes,
Spinoza, and Leibniz.
As one of the five Khandhas (Aggregates) Sanna is
used in the sense of perception.
Could it be that memory is due to this Sanna?
Sanna, Vinnana and Panna should be differentiated
from one another. Sanna is like the mere perception of a
rupee coin by a child. By its whiteness, roundness and size
it merely recognises the coin as a rupee, utterly ignorant of
its monetary value. A man, for instance, discerns its value
and its utility, but is not aware of its chemical composition.
Vinnana is comparable to the ordinary man’s knowledge of
the rupee. Panna is like the analytical knowledge of a
chemist who knows all its chemical properties in every
detail.
5.Cetana—
Both Cetana and Citta are derived from the same root
√ cit, to think.
In the case of Citta—mind or consciousness—the
root assumes the meaning of discernment (vijanana),
while in Cetana it is used in the sense of co-ordination
(abhisandhana) and accumulation (ayåhana).
According to the Atthasalinã and Vibhavini Tãka
Cetana is that which co-ordinates the mental states associ-
ated with itself on the object of consciousness. (Attana
sampayutta-dhamme arammane abhisandahati). Like a
chief disciple, or like a carpenter who fulfils his duties and
regulates the work of others as well, so does Cetana fulfil
its own function and regulate the function of other con-
comitants associated with itself.
A further explanation has been offered. Cetana is
that which arrives at action in conditioning the condi-
tioned. (Saïkhatabhisaïkharane va byaparam apajjatã’ti
cetana). Cetana is that which plays a predominant part in
all actions, moral and immoral.
Shwe Zan Aung says that according to Ledi Sayadaw,
the Burmese Abhidhamma scholar, “Cetana acts on its con-
comitants, acts in getting the object, and acts on accom-
plishing the task, i.e., determines action”. (Compendium,
p. 236).
The most significant mental state in the Mundane
Consciousness (Lokiya) is this Cetana, while in the Supra-
mundane it is Panna, wisdom or insight. Mundane
thoughts tend to accumulate Kamma. Supramundane
thoughts, on the contrary, tend to eradicate Kamma.
Hence Cetana in the supramundane consciousness does
not constitute Kamma. Cetana in every moral and immoral
type of mundane consciousness, on the other hand, is
regarded as Kamma. Although Cetana is found in Vipaka
types of consciousness too, it is of no moral significance as
it lacks accumulative power.
It is this Cetana that is alluded to as Saïkhara and
(Kamma) Bhava in the Paticca-Samuppada. In the Pancak-
khandha, by Saïkharakkhandha are meant the fifty men-
tal states, excluding Vedana and Sanna, with Cetana as the
foremost.
From a psychological standpoint Cetana determines
the activities of the mental states associated with it. From
an ethical standpoint, it determines its inevitable conse-
quences. Hence where there is no Cetana, there is no
Kamma.
6.Ekaggata—
Eka + agga + ta = One-pointedness, or concentration on
one object, or focussing the mind on one object. It is like a
steady lamp-flame in a windless place. It is like a firmly
fixed pillar that cannot be shaken by the wind. It is like
water that binds together several substances to form one
concrete compound. This mental state prevents its ad-
juncts from dissipation and fixes them on one object.
This one-pointedness is one of the five Jhana factors.
When it is developed and cultivated it is designated Sama-
dhi. “It is the germ of all attentive, selected, focussed, or
concentrated consciousness.” (Compendium. p. 241.)
7.Jãvitindriya—
Jãvita = life; + Indriya = controlling faculty or principle.
It is called Jãvita because it sustains its co-associates.
It is called Indriya because it controls its co-associates.
Although Cetana determines the activities of all mental
states, it is Jãvitindriya that infuses life into Cetana and
other concomitants.
Jãvitindriya is twofold—namely, psychic life (Nama-
Jãvitindriya) and physical life (Råpa-Jãvitindriya). Mental
States are vitalized by psychic life, while material phenom-
ena are vitalized by physical life.
As lotuses are sustained by water, an infant is sus-
tained by a nurse, so are mental states and material phe-
nomena sustained by Jãvitindriya.
One Råpa-Jãvitindriya lasts for seventeen thought-
moments. Seventeen Nama-Jãvitindriyas arise and perish
during the brief life of one Råpa-Jãvitindriya.
There is a certain kind of Råpa-Jãvitindriya in plant
life. But, Råpa-Jãvitindriya in men and animals is differen-
tiated from that which exists in plants because the former
is conditioned by past Kamma.
Both Nama-Jãvitindriya and Råpa-Jãvitindriya arise
at the moment of conception. They simultaneously perish
at the moment of decease. Hence death is regarded as the
destruction of this Jãvitindriya. Immediately after, due to
the power of Kamma, another Nama-Jãvitindriya arises in
the subsequent birth at the moment of conception. Simul-
taneous with the arising of the one Nama-Jãvitindriya
there arise three Råpa-Jãvitindriyas in the case of a human
being.
38
Just as a boatman depends on the boat and the boat de-
pends on the boatman, even so Jãvitindriya depends on mind
and matter, and mind and matter depend on Jãvitindriya.
8.Manasikara—
The literal meaning of the term is ‘making in the mind’
Turning the mind towards the object is the chief
characteristic of Manasikara. It is like the rudder of a ship,
which is indispensable to take her directly to her destina-
tion. Mind without Manasikara is like a rudderless ship.
Manasikara is also compared to a charioteer that sits
with close attention on two well-trained horses (mind and
object) as regards their rhythmical movements. Mana-
sikara should be distinguished from Vitakka which is to fol-
low. The former directs its concomitants to the object,
while the latter applies or throws (pakkhipanto viya) them
38.They are the Råpa–Jãvitindriyas of the ‘body decad’ (kayadasaka) ‘sex-decad’
(bhavadasaka) and ‘seat-decad’ (vatthudasaka).
See ch. VI.
on the object. Vitakka is like a favourite courtier that intro-
duces a villager (mind) into the presence of a king (object).
Attention is the closest equivalent to Manasikara,
although the Pali term does not fully connote the meaning
attached to the English word from a strictly philosophical
standpoint. As a mental state it is mere spontaneous atten-
tion. In Manasikara, as in attention, there is no peculiar
vividness or clarity. To Sanna may be attributed this vivid-
ness to some extent.
Could Manasikara also be an aid to memory, as it is
common to all types of consciousness, whether mundane
or supramundane? Hence they are designated Sabbacitta-
sadharana.
9.Vitakka—
Vi +
√
takk, to think.
It is difficult to suggest a suitable rendering for this
Pali term which assumes different meanings in the Suttas
and Abhidhamma.
In the Sutta Pitaka it has been employed in the sense
of notions, ideas, thoughts, reasoning etc. In the Abhi-
dhamma it is used in a specific technical sense.
‘Lifting’ of the concomitants to the object (abhini-
ropana) is its chief characteristic. As someone ascends to
the king’s palace depending on a king’s favourite, relative
or friend, likewise consciousness ascends to the object
depending on Vitakka (Atthasalinã, p. 114).
Vitakka may well be defined as the application of the
concomitants on the object. Manasikara, as stated above,
is the directing of the concomitants to the object. The dis-
tinguishing characteristics of these two Cetasikas should
be clearly understood.
Different values are attached to Vitakka when it is
used in different connections.
As an ordinary particular (pakinnaka) mental state it
is simply called Vitakka. When it is developed and culti-
vated it becomes the foremost factor of the First Jhana.
Then it is termed Appana because the mind is steadfastly
fixed on the object. The ordinary Vitakka simply throws
the mind to the surface of the object.
In the subsequent Jhanas Vitakka is, however, inhib-
ited, owing to the habitual association with the object.
A villager, for instance, who visits the king’s palace
for the first time, needs the introduction of a favourite
courtier. For his subsequent visits no such introduction is
necessary as he is acquainted with the place.
It is this developed Appana-Vitakka that is known as
Samadhi or concentration.
When Vitakka is present in the Supramundane Path
Consciousness (Lokuttara Magga Citta) it is termed
Samma Saïkappa (Right Thoughts) because it eliminates
wrong thoughts and applies the mind to Nibbana.
Vitakka is used in entirely a different sense when
used in connection with the temperaments of individuals.
Vitakka Carita means one of a discursive temperament.
(See Ch. 1. note 38.)
10.Vicara—
Vi +
√ car, to wander.
Like Vitakka, Vicara too is employed in a technical
sense in Abhidhamma.
Vicara is the continued exercise of the mind on the
object.
Examination (anumajjana) is its chief characteristic.
So far the renderings for Vitakka and Vicara are ini-
tial and sustained application respectively.
Both terms should be distinguished. Like a bee
alighting on a lotus is Vitakka, like its gyrating around the
lotus is Vicara. Like the flappings of a bird about to fly is
Vitakka, like its planning movements in the sky is Vicara.
Like the beating of a drum or bell is Vitakka, like its rever-
beration is Vicara.
Vicara is also a Jhana factor. It inhibits Vicikiccha
(Doubt or Indecision).
(See Ch. 1. note 39.)
11.Adhimokkha—
Adhi +
√ muc, to release. Literally, the term means
‘release-on-to’.
Adhimokkha releases the mind on to the object. Its
chief characteristic is decision or choosing, and is opposed
to Vicikiccha—doubt or indecision.
It makes the decision—‘Just this one’. (imam’ eva’ti
sannitthanakaranam).
It is compared to a judge that decides a case. It is also
compared to a steady pillar owing to its unwavering state.
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