Khuddaka Nikaya - Nettippakarana - Specification Section Part 3-3

Khuddaka Nikaya - Nettippakarana ( The Guide ) - Specification Section Part 3-3


ACCORDING TO
KACCANA THERA

TRANSLATED FROM THE PALI BY
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
Pali Text Society
Mode 3
[The Ninefold Thread in the Mode of Conveying a Construing]
119. Herein, what is the Mode of Conveying a Construing ? The
Mode of Conveying a Construing is this:
(i.e., whether surd or not)' (quoted in Burmese-script Pali dictionary Sadda-
ttharatandvali).
1V7/2 l
Anusandhi-vacana—statement of sequence [of meaning]' : another
syntactical term. NettiA says 'uttered by a hearer (disciple); for it is so
called since it occurs by following sequentially upon {anusandhetvd) a state-
ment of the Blessed One's' (p. 67). This would apply to the explanatory
discourse by the Elder Maha-Kaccana in, e.g., M. Sutta 18. The meaning
is thus not the same as that of the sandhi at §§198ff.
117/3 'Nltatiha—whose meaning is already guided' and l
neyyattha—whose
meaning needs guiding' occur at A. i, 60; they can be paraphrased by 'with
explicit meaning' and 'with implicit meaning' respectively, though recollecting
that 'meaning' here means 'meaning-as-aim'. The remaining 4 kinds are
from the fourth chapter (§760).
117/4 l
Vdsand—morality': fm. y/vas 'to dwell', see Sn. 1009, Miln. 263,
Vis, 185. Here contexts show the meaning to be cultivation of merit, hence
'morality' ; but cf. Vin. iv, 120, where it is allowed to 'treat ' or 'cure' (vasetum)
clay in order to prevent it from becoming ill-smelling.
117/5 Spelling nibbedha in all eds., which implies \/vidh, ( = Skr.\/vyadh);
yet possibly one might read nibbheda ('breaking out ' fm. \/bhid) in all instances.
See abhinibbhidd and n. 326/1. There seems to be some real fusion of these
two and with \/vid (nibbidd, 'dispassion').

'Looking for right and wrong construing
In the case of all the Conveyings
,
Plane and resort [will] demonstrate
The Mode Conveying a Construing' (§7).
120. What does it construe ? The four Principal Appeals to
Authority (see A. ii, 167). These are the appeal to the Enlightened
One as authority, the appeal to a community as authority, the
appeal to several elders as authority, and the appeal to a single
elder as authority. These are the four Principal Appeals to
Authority.
1
121. [In all such appeals to authority] (These terms and
phrasing must , in the case of the Thread, be
conformable to the ways of entry [to it],
1
and, in
the case of the Out-guiding (Discipline) , be seen
[there] for oneself) (A. ii, 167), and they must , in
the case of the essential natur e of the idea,
2
be
adaptabl e [to it].
122. [22] What is the Thread to whose ways of entry they must be
conformable (see also §§351fT.) ? The four Noble Truths.
123. What is the Outguiding (Discipline) where they must be seen
for oneself ? The outguiding of lust, the outguiding of hate, and
the outguiding of delusion.
124. What is the essential nature of the idea to which they must be
adaptable ? Dependent arising (see §462; S. ii, 25).
125. If, in the case of the Noble Truths, there is a way of entry
[to them],
1
and if, in the case of the Outguiding of defilements, it is
120/1 This passage clearly takes mahapadesa to be made up of mahaJ
r
apadesa, not maha+padesa. Ref. in PED to A. ii, 167 should thus be under
apadesa, not under padesa, and ref. D. ii, 123 should be added there; CPD
does not mention under apadesa. The meaning is thus clearer; for it is not
the authority itself so much as the appeal made to the authority, the correct-
ness of the appeal being recommended to be checked against the Suttas and
the Vinaya.
121/1 For otdrayitabba ('must be conformable to the ways of entry'—i.e. , to
the 4 Truths) see Introduction (sect. 8).
121/2 Dhammata (lit. 'idea-ness'—the particular idea by which the 'thing'
is recognised) combines the notions of 'idea' (dhamma), 'nature' (pakati),
and 'essence' (bhava—in its post-Pitaka use), rather in the sense of the English
expression 'I t is of the essence . . .'. What is referred to here is dependent
arising as the essential conditionedness of all being.
125/1 l
Avatarati—there is a way of entry' : = otarati; not in PED, see CPD;
but the rendering 'to descend' in CPD, while literal, does not suit this context

seen for oneself, and if, in the case of the essential nature of the idea,
there is no running counter [to it], then there is no generation of
taints. Whatever is [so] construable from among the four Principal
Appeals to Authority can be accepted, whatever it is construable by
and however it is construed.
126. When [in the Thread] someone is asked a question, [the
question] should be fathomed and investigated as to the terms thus:
'How many terms are there in the question (see §§63f.) ? If all the
terms are in concord about a single meaning, that is a single question.
If four terms are in concord about a single meaning, that is a single
question. If three terms are in concord about a single meaning,
that is a single question. If two terms are in concord about a single
meaning, that is a single question. If one term is in concord about
a single meaning, that is a single question.'
127. When scrutinizing it, what one needs to recognize is this:
'Now are these ideas different in meaning and different in phrasing,
or have these ideas a single meaning, only1
the phrasing being
different V (cf. M. i, 297).
128. How would that be ? According as the deity asked the
Blessed One the following questions:
((
The world: by what is it struck down ?
And then by what is it beset ?
What barb has it been entered by ?
And by what harassed1
constantly V) (S. i, 40).
129. These four terms asked are three questions: How is that
recognized ? Because the Blessed One answered the deity as
follows:
(6
Mortality strikes down the world.
And then it is beset by ageing.
And craving's barb has entered it.
And wishes harass it constantly
9
) (S. i, 40).
130. Herein, ageing and death are two of the determined charac-
well; it requires the more specific sense of 'to allow or provide a way of entry
into (i.e., the 4 truths)'. What is meant is given in full in the 12th Mode
(§§351ff.).
127/1 ''Eva—only': this very commonly met with meaning not in PED.
128/1 'Dhiipayita—harassed': no meaning that fits given in PED; lit.
'smoked', but here NettiA glosses by santdpita; cf. Psalms of the Brethren 448.
So also dhupayana (§136). Cf. dhupdyati at A. ii, 215.

teristics of the determined; for ageing is alteration of what is
steady) [and] death is (subsidence) (A. i, 152).
1
131. Herein, there is a difference between the meanings of ageing
and of death. For what reason ? [23] Because those who die in
the womb never become aged. And there is death among the gods
though their physical frames do not age.
1
One can get by2
ageing,
but death one cannot get by, except for what is in the province of
those possessing supernormal success (power; see D. ii, 99).
132. Now when it is said 'Craving's barb has entered it', those without
lust are seen to age and die. And if craving were the same as ageing
and death, then that being so, all those who were youthful would be
without craving. And [if], in the way that craving is the origin of
suffering, so too were ageing and death [the origin of suffering], then
that [ageing and death] would actually be the origin of suffering and
craving would not be the origin of suffering; but ageing and death
are not the origin of suffering, and craving is the origin of suffering.
And [if], in the way that craving is exterminable by the path, so
[too ageing and death were the same], then ageing and death would
also be exterminable by the path.
133. By means of this kind of construction it can be examined with
various other
1
reasons whether the construction is seen for oneself
and [whether] otherness of meaning is co-ordinated (cf. §§465ff.);
And it should be examined as to phrasing as well.
134. Now in the case of the two ideas, namely 'barb' and 'harass-
ment' (§128), there is oneness of meaning; for no difference is con-
struable between the meanings of 'wishes' and 'craving' (§129).
When craving's intent is not fulfilled, anger and spite arise with
respect to the nine Grounds for Annoyance (see A. v, 408).
135. By means of this construction there is otherness in the
meanings of ageing, of death, and of craving.
136. However, when the Blessed One calls this by the two names,
'wishes' and 'craving', it is in virtue of the external grounds which
130/1 Read Jar a yam thitassa annaikattam; maranam vayo.
131/1 For the death of gods see Iti. 76f.
131/2 'Patikkamam katum—to get by' : not in PED, lit. 'to make a by-pass' ;
cf. parikkamandya (M. i, 43). Perhaps the reading here should be parikka-
mam.
133/1 This use of annanianna as 'various others' or 'this and other' is
unusual, perhaps peculiar to this work, the normal meaning being 'each other'
or 'mutual'. NettiA says 'anruimannehl ti annehi kdrarm/papattlhi: atthato
ce anriatiam tadannam pi; byanjanato gavesitabban ti attho" (p. 72).

are its object that it is called by him by the two names, 'wishes'
and 'craving'; for all craving has the single characteristic of cleaving
to. Just as all fire has the single characteristic of heating, though
it has various other names according to its consumption [assumed],
that is to say, 'log-fire' and 'grass-fire' and 'brushwood-fire' and
'cowdung-fire' and 'chaff-fire' and 'rubbish-fire' (cf. M. i, 259), yet
all fire has only the characteristic of heating, so too, all craving has
only one characteristic, namely the characteristic of cleaving to,
[24] though it is called by various other names according to the
fuel-consumption [assumed] that is its object, that is to say, 'wishes'
and 'craving' and 'barb' and' harassment'
1
and 'the Current' and
'attachment' and 'affection (moisture)' and 'torment' and 'the
Creeper' and 'conceiving [in terms of "I " and "mine"]' and 'res-
ponsibility' and 'need' and 'thirst' and 'expectant-relishing'; yet
all craving has only one characteristic, namely the characteristic of
cleaving to, according as it is stated in the [Mode of Conveying]
Synonyms (see §§285ff.):
137. (Need and longing, expectant relishing,
Enticements
1
on the several elements based,
Hankering whose being is rooted in unknowing:
To all that with its root I put an end)
(Pel7;cf . S. i, 181; see §286).
138. That is synonymous with craving, according as the Blessed
One said: ( Tissa, when someone is not without lust, not without will,
not without love, not without thirst, not without fever, for form . . .for
feeling . . . for perception . . . for determinations . . . for conscious-
ness . . . ) all of which argument can be cited in detail (cf. S. iii, 107).
139. This synonym for Craving1
is construable in this way: 'All
access to suffering has for its root determinations [conditioned] by
craving for sensual desires.' I t is not construable in this way: 'AH
136/1 'Saritd—current' might mean 'memory-maker' and refer to the sara-
sankappa of, say, M. iii, 132 or to the samanussarato of M. iii, 217, depending
on the root.
137/1 ''Sard—enticements': the word is not in the Samyutta text , which
differs a good deal from this quotation. NettiA (p. 99) equates with tanhd
but does not explain the word anywhere.
139/1 C, Ba and Bb agree that the words tanhdy* etarh vevamnam evarh
yujjati are one clause. Ba and Bb append it to what goes before, while C
begins the following passage with it, which seems preferable.

access to dispassion has for its root some requisite of craving for
sensual desires.'
2
By means of this construction it can be examined with various
other reasons.
140. For just as
1
the Blessed One teaches ugliness to a person of
lusting temperament, teaches loving kindness to a person of hating
temperament, teaches dependent-arising to a person of deluded
temperament—for if he taught to a person of lusting temperament
the heart-deliverance of loving kindness, or the pleasant way with
sluggish acquaintanceship, or the pleasant way with swift acquain-
tanceship, or the kind of abandoning heralded by insight, the
teaching could not be construed—, so too, whatever conforms with
the abandoning of lust, whatever conforms with the abandoning of
hate, and whatever conforms with the abandoning of delusion, [25]
can all be construed under the Mode of Conveying a Construing,
after investigating it under the Mode of Conveying an Investigation,
so far as the plane of knowledge extends.
141. When someone abides in loving kindness, the teaching is not
construable thus: '111 will keeps gripping his heart,' the teaching is
construable thus: '111 will is abandoned and disappears in him.'
142. When someone abides in compassion, the teaching is not con
struable thus: 'Cruelty keeps gripping his heart,' the teaching is
construable thus: 'Cruelty is abandoned and disappears in him.'
143. When someone abides in gladness, the teaching is not con-
struable thus: 'Boredom keeps gripping his heart,' the teaching is
construable thus: 'Boredom is abandoned and disappears in him.'
144. When someone abides in onlooking-equanimity, the teaching is
not construable thus: 'Lust
1
keeps gripping his heart,' the teaching
is construable thus: 'Lust is abandoned and disappears in him.'
145. When someone abides in the signless, the teaching is not con-
struable thus: 'His cognizance occurs by means of this or that by
following signs,' the teaching is construable thus: 'Any sign is
abandoned and disappears in him.'
146. When the [conceiving 'I] am' is absent, the teaching is not
139/2 l
Kdmatanhdparikkhdramulako—has for its root some requisite of
craving for sensual desires' is explained by NettiA to be objective sensual
desires (desired things) as the basis for subjective sensual desire (craving).
Cf. distinction between vatthu-kdma and kilesa-kdma at Ndl. 1.
140/1 Where PTS has yathd Bhaga-va C has ya(ti aha Bhagavd, Ba and Bb
yaihd hi Bhagavd.
144/1 Cf. M. i, 424, which has putigha here, not ruga.

construable thus * "I do not see thus 'I am this', yet the barb of
uncertainty and wondering 'What am I ?, How am I V1
keeps
gripping my cognizance,''' the teaching is construable thus ' "The
barb of uncertainty and wondering is abandoned and disappears
[in me]." '
147. [Again,] when1
someone has entered upon the first meditation,
the teaching is not construable thus 'Lust for sensual desires and
ill will occur
2
in his distinction,' the teaching is construable thus
'They occur in his inferior state,' or alternatively, the teaching is
not construable thus 'Perception and attention accompanied by
what is without thinking occur in his inferior state,' the teaching
is construable thus 'They occur in his distinction.'
148. When someone has entered upon the second meditation, the
teaching is not construable thus 'Perception and attention accom-
panied by what has thinking and explorating occur in his dis-
tinction,' the teaching is construable thus 'They occur in his inferior
state;' or alternatively, the teaching is not construable thus
'Perception and attention accompanied by what has pleasure due to
onlooking-equanimity occur in his inferior state,' the teaching is
construable thus 'They occur in his distinction.'
149. [26] When someone has entered upon the third meditation, the
teaching is not construable thus 'Perception and attention accom-
panied by what has pleasure due to happiness occur in his distinc-
tion,' the teaching is construable thus 'They occur in his inferior
state;' or alternatively, the teaching is not construable thus
'Perception and attention accompanied by mindfulness whose
purity is due to onlooking-equanimity occur in his inferior state,'
the teaching is construable thus 'They occur in his distinction.'
150. When someone has entered upon the fourth meditation, the
teaching is not construable thus 'Perception and attention accom-
panied by what has [pleasure due to] onlooking-equanimity1
occur
146/1 Where PTS has kisminci katasmin ti, Ba has kinci gatasmin ti and
Bb and C kisinl ti kathasml ti, NettiA ignores. Since the allusion is certainty
to M. i, 8, Bb and C are right and the resolution is as follows kim asml? ti,
katham asml? ti.
147/1 The words yatha vd pana at PTS p. 25, line 23 ( = beginning of §147)
must relate forward to the evam at PTS p. 26, line 38 ('so too' in §156).
Consequently §§147-56 are one sentence in the Pali, regardable as beginning
with the 'just as .. . ' which is followed in due course by the ' .. . so too . . .'
147/2 'Sarhvattanti—occur': this meaning, not infrequent, not given in
PED; cf. nibbattati and pavattati.
150/1 Read upekkhdsukhasahagatd.

in his distinction,' the teaching is construable thus 'They occur in
his inferior state;' or alternatively, the teaching is not construable
thus 'Perception and attention accompanied by the base consisting
of infiniteness of space
2
occur in his inferior state,' the teaching is
construable thus 'They occur in his distinction.'
151. When someone has entered upon the base consisting of
infiniteness of space, the teaching is not construable thus 'Perception
and attention accompanied by form occur in his distinction,' the
teaching is,construable thus 'They occur in his inferior state;' or
alternatively, the teaching is not construable thus 'Perception and
attention accompanied by the base consisting of infiniteness of
consciousness occur in his inferior state,' the teaching is construable
thus 'They occur in his distinction.'
152. When someone has entered upon the base consisting of
infiniteness of consciousness, the teaching is not construable thus
'Perception and attention accompanied by the base consisting of
infiniteness of space occur in his distinction,' the teaching is con-
struable thus 'They occur in his inferior state;' or alternatively, the
teaching is not construable thus 'Perception and attention accom-
panied by the base consisting of no-owning1
occur in his inferior
state,' the teaching is construable thus 'They occur in his dis-
tinction.'
153. When someone has entered upon the base consisting of no-
150/2 'Akasa—space': PED derives from prefix d-f (Skr.)\/kds 'to shine
forth' (though it is a mystery how space, which is devoid oirupa, can do that) .
The old Pali definitions are all negative and imply the prefix a- to be a
strengthened negative (as in dkincanna) + either\/kds (Skr.^/kds) 'to display',
'to shine' or else -\/kas (Skr. (\/krs) 'to draw a line', 'to plough a furrow';
akasa is then either 'that which does not shine forth' or 'that on which no
line can be drawn' (cf. Simile at M. i, 127: impossibility of drawing a picture
on space (akasa)). See negative definition in Vibhdviru Tikd ad Abhidhamma-
tthasangaha: 'Na kassatl ti dkaso, na kdso va dkdso\ The very late and
Sanskritized Abhidhdnappadipikd Tikd admits a positive definition, however:
l
Bhusam kasante dippante padatthd etend ti dkdso; na kassati na vilekhiyati
ti va akaso\
152/1 l
dkincanndyatana—base consisting of no-owning': PED derives
dkincanna from neg. prefix a-+pron. kim -\ suffix -carta; but the word seems
rather to be a negative derivative of ^/kic ('to press', 'to obstruct'); see M. i,
298 'rdgo kincano ('lust is an owning'), etc., explained at MA. ii, 354 by kincati
— maddati. Cf. also kincanatd (so read) at M. ii, 263 and MA. iv, 64 = Vis. 654.
The words
l
n'atthi kinci* (M. i, 41) in the description of the dkincahridyatana
are then a play on the two different words kind (pron.) and kirfcawi (subst.
fm. \/kic). Otherwise well rendered by 'base consisting of nothingness'.

owning, the teaching is not construable thus Terception and
attention accompanied by the base consisting of infiniteness of
consciousness occur in his distinction,' the teaching is construable
thus 'They occur in his inferior state;' or alternatively, the teaching
is not construable thus Terception and attention accompanied by
the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception occur in
his inferior state,' the teaching is construable thus 'They occur in
his distinction.'
154. When someone has entered upon the base consisting of neither
perception nor non-perception, the teaching is not construable thus
'The accesses to perception occur in his distinction,' the teaching is
construable thus 'They occur in his inferior state;' or alternatively,
the teaching is not construable thus Terception and attention
accompanied by cessation of perception and feeling1
occur in his
inferior state,' the teaching is construable thus 'They occur in his
distinction.'
155. The teaching is not construable thus 'Cognizance is healthy
when it does not submit to directive management,'
1
the teaching is
construable thus 'Cognizance is healthy when it submits to directive
management.'
156. That is how all the ninefold Thread should, after being in all
ways (§62) investigated in accordance with the Mode of Conveying
an Investigation, be construed in accordance with the Mode of
Conveying a Construing, doing so according to the True Idea,
according to the Outguiding (Discipline), [27] and according to the
Master's Dispensation.
157. That is why the venerable Maha-Kaccana said:
'Looking for right and wrong construing
In the case of all the Conveyings'
Plane and resort [will] demonstrate
The Mode Conveying a Construing' (§7).
The Mode of Conveying a Construing is ended.
154/1 NettiA points out that such perception and attention in this case
accompany the preparatory work done by one who has decided to enter
upon the attainment of cessation of perception and feeling (p. 76).
155/1 i
Abhinihdra—directive management': what is meant is, making and
keeping a resolution, but the word also has a technical reference to the develop-
ment of the 5 supernormal abhinfia belonging to worlds (see, e.g., D. i, 76).