THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
69. As regards the livid and the rest: the characterizing already de-
scribed, starting with the going in the way beginning 'One who is learn-
ing the bloated sign of foulness goes alone with no companion, with un-
remitting mindfulness established* (§19), should all be understood with
its exposition and intention, substituting for the word 'bloated' the ap-
propriate word in each case thus: 'One who is learning the livid sign of
foulness ...\ 'One who is learning the festering sign of foulness ...'. But
the differences are as follows.
[THE LIVID]
70. The livid should be brought to mind as 'Repulsiveness of the livid,
repulsiveness of the livid*. Here the learning sign appears blotchy-
coloured; but the counterpart sign's appearance has the colour which is
most prevalent.
[THE FESTERING]
71. The festering should be brought to mind as 'Repulsiveness of the
festering, repulsiveness of the festering'. Here the learning sign appears
as though trickling; but the counterpart sign appears motionless and
quiet.
[THE CUT UP]
72. The cut up is found on a battlefield or in a robbers' forest or on a
enamel ground where kings have robbers cut up or in the jungle in a
place where men are torn up by lions and tigers. So, if when he goes
there, it comes into focus at one adverting although lying in different
places, that is good. If not, then he should not touch it with his own
hand; for by doing so he would become familiar with it.
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He should get
a monastery attendant or one studying to become an ascetic or someone
else to put it together in one place. If he cannot find anyone to do it, he
should put it together with a walking stick or a staff in such a way that
there is only a finger's breadth separating [the parts]. Having put it to-
gether thus, he should bring it to mind as 'Repulsiveness of the cut up,
repulsiveness of the cut up'. Herein, the learning sign appears as though
cut in the middle; but the counterpart sign appears whole. [191]
[THE GNAWED]
73. The gnawed should be brought to mind as 'Repulsiveness of the
gnawed, repulsiveness of the gnawed'. Here the learning sign appears as
though gnawed here and there; but the counterpart sign appears whole.
[THE SCATTERED]
74. After getting the scattered put together or putting it together in the
way described under the cut up so that there is only a finger's breadth
separating [the pieces], it should be brought to mind as 'Repulsiveness
of the scattered, repulsiveness of the scattered*. Here the learning sign
appears with the gaps evident; but the counterpart sign appears whole.
[THE HACKED AND SCATTERED]
75. The hacked and scattered is found in the same places as those de-
scribed under the cut up. Therefore, after going there and getting it put
together or putting it together in the way described under the cut up so
that there is only a finger's breadth separating [the pieces], it should be
brought to mind as 'Repulsiveness of the hacked and scattered, repul-
siveness of the hacked and scattered'. Here, when the learning sign
becomes evident, it does so with the fissures of the wounds; but the
counterpart sign appears whole.
[THE BLEEDING]
76. The bleeding is found at the time when [blood] is trickling from the
openings of wounds received on battlefields, etc., or from the openings
of burst boils and abscesses when the hands and feet have been cut off.
So on seeing that, it should be brought to mind as 'Repulsiveness of the
bleeding, repulsiveness of the bleeding'. Here the learning sign appears
to have the aspect of moving like a red banner struck by wind; but the
counterpart sign appears quiet.
[THE WORM-INFESTED]
77. There is a worm-infested corpse when at the end of two or three
days a mass of maggots oozes out from the corpse's nine orifices, and
the mass lies there like a heap of paddy or boiled rice as big as the body,
whether the body is that of a dog, a jackal, a human being,
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an ox, a
buffalo, an elephant, a horse, a python, or what you will. It can be
brought to mind with respect to any one of these as 'Repulsiveness of
the worm-infested, repulsiveness of the worm-infested'. For the sign
arose for the Elder Cula-Pindapatika-Tissa in the corpse of an elephant's
carcase in the Kaladlghavapi reservoir. Here the learning sign appears as
though moving; but the counterpart sign appears quiet, like a ball of
boiled rice.
[A SKELETON]
78. A skeleton is described in various aspects in the way beginning 'As
though he were looking at a corpse thrown onto a chamel ground, a
skeleton with flesh and blood, held together by sinews' (D.ii,296). [192]
So he should go in the way already described to where it has been put,
and noticing any stones, etc., with their surrounding signs and in relation
to the object, he should characterize it by the fact of its having attained
that particular individual essence thus, 'This is a skeleton', and he should
apprehend the sign in the eleven ways by colour and the rest. But if he
looks at it, [apprehending it only] by its colour as white, it does not
appear to him [with its individual essence as repulsive], but only as a
variant of the white kasina. Consequently he should only look at it as 'a
skeleton' in the repulsive aspect.
79. 'Mark' is a term for the hand, etc., here, so he should define it by its
mark according to hand, foot, head, chest, arm, waist, thigh, and shin.
He should define it by its shape, however, according as it is long, short,
square, round, small or large. By its direction and by its location are as
already described (§39-40). Having defined it by its delimitation accord-
ing to the periphery of each bone, he should reach absorption by appre-
hending whichever appears most evident to him. But it can also be
defined by its concavities and by its convexities according to the concave
and convex places in each bone. And it can also be defined by position
thus: 'I am standing in a concave place, the skeleton is in a convex
place; or I am standing in a convex place, the skeleton is in a concave
place'. It should be defined by its joints according as any two bones are
joined together. It should be defined by its openings according to the
gaps separating the bones. It should be defined all round by directing
knowledge to it comprehensively thus: 'In this place there is this skele-
ton'. If the sign does not arise even in this way, then the mind should be
established on the frontal bone. And in this case, just as in the case
of those that precede it beginning with the worm-infested, the appre-
hending of the sign should be observed in this elevenfold manner as
appropriate.
80. This meditation subject is successful with a whole skeleton frame
and even with a single bone as well. So having learnt the sign in any one
of these in the eleven ways, he should bring it to mind as 'Repulsiveness
of a skeleton, repulsiveness of a skeleton'. Here the learning sign and the
counterpart sign are alike, so it is said. That is correct for a single bone.
But when the learning sign becomes manifest in a skeleton frame, what
is correct [to say] is that there are gaps in the learning sign while the
counterpart sign appears whole. [193] And the learning sign even in a
single bone should be dreadful and terrifying but the counterpart sign
produces happiness and joy because it brings access.
81. What is said in the Commentaries in this context allows that deduc-
tion. For there, after saying this, 'There is no counterpart sign in the four
divine abidings and in the ten kinds of foulness; for in the case of the
divine abidings the sign is the breaking down of boundaries itself, and in
the case of the ten kinds of foulness the sign comes into being as soon as
the repulsiveness is seen, without any thinking about it*, it is again said
immediately next: "Here the sign is twofold: the learning sign and the
counterpart sign. The learning sign appears hideous, dreadful and terrify-
ing', and so on. So what we said was well considered. And it is only this
that is correct here. Besides, the appearance of a woman's whole body as
a collection of bones to the Elder Maha-Tissa through his merely looking
at her teeth demonstrates this here (see Ch. I, §55).
[GENERAL]
82. The Divine Ruler with ten hundred eyes
Did him with the Ten Powers eulogize,
Who, fair in fame, made known as cause of jhana
This foulness of ten species in suchwise.
Now knowing their description and the way
To tackle each and how they are developed,
There are some further points that will repay
Study, each with its special part to play.
83. One who has reached jhana in any one of these goes free from
cupidity; he resembles [an Arahant] without greed because his greed
has been well suppressed. At the same time, however, this classification
of foulness should be understood as stated in accordance with the par-
ticular individual essences successively reached by the [dead] body
and also in accordance with the particular subdivisions of the greedy
temperament.
84. When a corpse has entered upon the repulsive state, it may have
reached the individual essence of the bloated or any one of the individual
essences beginning with that of the livid. So the sign should be appre-
hended as 'Repulsiveness of the bloated', 'Repulsiveness of the livid',
according to whichever he has been able to find. This, it should be
understood, is how the classification of foulness comes to be tenfold
with the body's arrival at each particular individual essence.
85. And individually the bloated suits one who is greedy about shape
since it makes evident the disfigurement of the body's shape. The livid
suits one who is greedy about the body's colour since it makes evident
the disfigurement of the skin's colour. The festering [194] suits one who
is greedy about the smell of the body aroused by scents, perfumes, etc.,
since it makes evident the evil smells connected with this sore, the body.
The cut up suits one who is greedy about compactness in the body since
it makes evident the hollowness inside it. The gnawed suits one who is
greedy about accumulation of flesh in such parts of the body as the
breasts since it makes it evident how a fine accumulation of flesh comes
to nothing. The scattered suits one who is greedy about the grace of the
limbs since it makes it evident how limbs can be scattered. The hacked
and scattered suits one who is greedy about a fine body as a whole since
it makes evident the disintegration and alteration of the body as a whole.
The bleeding suits one who is greedy about elegance produced by orna-
ments since it makes evident its repulsiveness when smeared with blood.
The worm-infested suits one who is greedy about ownership of the body
since it makes it evident how the body is shared with many families of
worms. A skeleton suits one who is greedy about fine teeth since it
makes evident the repulsiveness of the bones in the body. This, it should
be understood, is how the classification of foulness comes to be tenfold
according to the subdivisions of the greedy temperament.
86. But as regards the tenfold foulness, just as it is only by virtue of its
rudder that a boat keeps steady in a river with turbulent
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waters and a
rapid current, and it cannot be steadied without a rudder, so too [here],
owing to the weak hold on the object, consciousness when unified only
keeps steady by virtue of applied thought, and it cannot be steadied
without applied thought, which is why there is only the first jhana here,
not the second and the rest.
87. And repulsive as this object is, still it arouses joy and happiness in
him by his seeing its advantages thus, 'Surely in this way I shall be
liberated from ageing and death\ and by his abandoning the hindrances'
oppression; just as a garbage heap does in a flower-scavenger by his
seeing the advantages thus, 'Now I shall get a high wage', and as the
workings of purges and emetics do in a man suffering the pains of
sickness.
88. This foulness, while of ten kinds, has only one characteristic. For
though it is of ten kinds, nevertheless its characteristic is only its impure,
stinking, disgusting and repulsive state (essence). And foulness appears
with this characteristic not only in a dead body but also in a living one,
as it did to the Elder Maha-Tissa who lived at Cetiyapabbata (Ch. I,
§55), and to the novice attendant on the Elder Saftgharakkhita while he
was watching the king riding an elephant. For a living body is just as
foul as a dead one, [195] only the characteristic of foulness is not evident
in a living body, being hidden by adventitious embellishments.
89. This is the body's nature: it is a collection of over three hundred
bones, jointed by one hundred and eighty joints, bound together by nine
hundred sinews, plastered over with nine hundred pieces of flesh, envel-
oped in the moist inner skin, enclosed in the outer cuticle, with orifices
here and there, constantly dribbling and trickling like a grease pot, in-
habited by a community of worms, the home of disease, the basis of
painful states, perpetually oozing from the nine orifices like a chronic
open carbuncle, from both of whose eyes eye-filth trickles, from whose
ears comes ear-filth, from whose nostrils snot, from whose mouth food
and bile and phlegm and blood, from whose lower outlets excrement and
urine, and from whose ninety-nine thousand pores the broth of stale
sweat seeps, with bluebottles and their like buzzing round it, which
when untended with tooth sticks and mouth-washing and head-anointing
and bathing and underclothing and dressing would, judged by the univer-
sal repulsiveness of the body, make even a king, if he wandered from
village to village with his hair in its natural wild disorder, no different
from a flower-scavenger or an outcaste or what you will. So there is no
distinction between a king's body and an outcaste's in so far as its
impure stinking nauseating repulsiveness is concerned.
90. But by rubbing out the stains on its teeth with tooth sticks and
mouth-washing and all that, by concealing its private parts under several
cloths, by daubing it with various scents and salves, by pranking it with
nosegays and such things, it is worked up into a state that permits of its
being taken as T and 'mine'. So men delight in women and women in
men without perceiving the true nature of its characteristic foulness, now
masked by this adventitious adornment. But in the ultimate sense there is
no place here even the size of an atom fit to lust after.
91. And then, when any such bits of it as head hairs, body hairs, nails,
teeth, spittle, snot, excrement or urine have dropped off the body, beings
will not touch them; they are ashamed, humiliated and disgusted. But as
long as any one of these things remains in it, though it is just as repul-
sive, they take it as agreeable, desirable, permanent, [196] pleasant, self,
because they are wrapped in the murk of ignorance and dyed with affec-
tion and greed for self. Taking it as they do, they resemble the old jackal
who saw a flower not yet fallen from a kirhsuka tree in a forest and
yearned after it, thinking, This is a piece of meat, it is a piece of meat'.
92. There was a jackal chanced to see
A flowering kirhsuka in a wood;
In haste he went to where it stood:
'I have found a meat-bearing tree!'
He chewed the blooms that fell, but could,
Of course, find nothing fit to eat;
He took it thus: * Unlike the meat
There on the tree, this is no good'.
A wise man will not think to treat
As foul only the part that fell,
But treats as foul the part as well
That in the body has its seat.
Fools cannot in their folly tell;
They take the body to be fair,
And soon get caught in Evil's snare
Nor can escape its painful spell.
But since the wise have thus laid bare
This filthy body's nature, so,
Be it alive or dead, they know
There is no beauty lurking there.
93. For this is said:
This filthy body stinks outright
Like ordure, like a privy's site;
This body men that have insight
Condemn, as object of a fool's delight.
A tumour where nine holes abide
Wrapped in a coat of clammy hide
And trickling filth on every side,
Polluting the air with stenches far and wide.
If it perchance should come about
That what is inside it came out,
Surely a man would need a knout
With which to put the crows and dogs to rout'.
94. So a capable bhikkhu should apprehend the sign wherever the aspect
of foulness is manifest, whether in a living body or in a dead one, and he
should make the meditation subject reach absorption.
The sixth chapter called 'The Description of
Foulness as a Meditation Subject' in the Treatise
on the Development of Concentration in the Path
of Purification composed for the purpose of glad-
dening good people.
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