THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
[THE MATERIAL SEPTAD]
Another comprehends formations by attributing the three character-
istics to them through the medium of the material septad and the imma-
terial septad.
46. Herein, one who comprehends [them] by attributing [the character-
istics] in the following seven ways is said to comprehend by attributing
through the medium of the material septad, that is to say, (1) as taking up
and putting down, (2) as disappearance of what grows old in each stage,
(3) as arising from nutriment, (4) as arising from temperature, (5) as
kamma-born, (6) as consciousness-originated, and (7) as natural materi-
ality. Hence the Ancients said:
'(1) As taking up and putting down,
(2) As growth and decline in every stage,
(3) As nutriment, (4) as temperature,
(5) As kamma, and (6) as consciousness,
(7) As natural materiality—
He sees with seven detailed insights'.
47. 1. Herein, taking up is rebirth-linking. Putting down is death. So
the meditator allots one hundred years for this 'taking up' and 'putting
down' and he attributes the three characteristics to formations. How? All
formations between these limits are impermanent. Why? Because of the
occurrence of rise and fall, because of change, because of temporariness,
and because of preclusion of permanence. But since arisen formations
have arrived at presence, and when present are afflicted by ageing, and
on arriving at ageing are bound to dissolve, they are therefore painful
because of continual oppression, because of being hard to bear, because
of being the basis of suffering, and because of precluding pleasure. And
since no one has any power over arisen formations in the three instances,
'Let them not reach presence', 'Let those that have reached presence not
age', and 'Let those that have reached ageing not dissolve', and they are
void of the possibility of any power being exercised over them, they are
therefore not-self because void, because ownerless, because unsuscep-
tible to the wielding of power, and because of precluding a self.
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[619]
48. 2. (a) Having attributed the three characteristics to materiality al-
lotted one hundred years for the 'taking up' and 'putting down' thus, he
next attributes them according to disappearance of what grows old in
each stage. Herein, 'disappearance of what grows old in each stage' is a
name for the disappearance of the materiality that has grown old during
a stage [of life]. The meaning is that he attributes the three characteris-
tics by means of that.
49. How? He divides that same hundred years up into three stages, that
is, the first stage, the middle stage, and the last stage. Herein, the first
thirty-three years are called the first stage, the next thirty-four years are
called the middle stage, and the next thirty-three years are called the last
stage. So after dividing it up into these three stages, [he attributes the
three characteristics thus:] The materiality occurring in the first stage
ceased there without reaching the middle stage: therefore it is imperma-
nent; what is impermanent is painful; what is painful is not-self. Also the
materiality occurring in the middle stage ceased there without reaching
the last stage: therefore it is impermanent too and painful and not-self.
Also there is no materiality occurring in the thirty-three years of the last
stage that is capable of out-lasting death: therefore that is impermanent
too and painful and not-self. This is how he attributes the three charac-
teristics.
50. 2. (b) Having attributed the three characteristics according to 'dis-
appearance of what grows old in each stage' thus by means of the first
stage, etc., he again attributes the three characteristics according to 'dis-
appearance of what grows old in each stage' by means of the following
ten decades: the tender decade, the sport decade, the beauty decade, the
strength decade, the understanding decade, the decline decade, the stoop-
ing decade, the bent decade, the dotage decade, and the prone decade.
51. Herein, as to these decades: in the first place, the first ten years of a
person with a hundred years' life are called the tender decade; for then
he is a tender unsteady child. The next ten years are called the sport
decade; for he is very fond of sport then. The next ten years are called
the beauty decade; for his beauty reaches its full extent then. The next
ten years are called the strength decade; for his strength and power reach
their full extent then. The next ten years are called the understanding
decade; for his understanding is well established by then. Even in one
naturally weak in understanding some understanding, it seems, arises at
that time. The next ten years are called the decline decade; for his fond-
ness for sport and his beauty, strength and understanding decline then.
The next ten years are called the stooping decade; for his figure [620]
stoops forward then. The next ten years are called the bent decade; for
his figure becomes bent like the end of a plough then. The next ten years
are called the dotage decade; for he is doting then and forgets what he
does. The next ten years are called the prone decade; for a centenarian
mostly lies prone.
52. Herein, in order to attribute the three characteristics according to
disappearance of what grows old in each stage' by means of these dec-
ades, the meditator considers thus: The materiality occurring in the first
decade ceases there without reaching the second decade: therefore it is
impermanent, painful, not-self. The materiality occurring in the second
decade ... the materiality occurring in the ninth decade ceases there
without reaching the tenth decade; the materiality occurring in the tenth
decade ceases there without reaching the next becoming: therefore it is
impermanent, painful, not-self. That is how he attributes the three char-
acteristics.
53. 2. (c) Having attributed the three characteristics according to 'dis-
appearance of what grows old in each stage' thus by means of the dec-
ades, he again attributes the three characteristics according to 'disappear-
ance of what grows old in each stage' by taking that same hundred years
in twenty parts of five years each.
54. How? He considers thus: The materiality occurring in the first five
years ceases there without reaching the second five years: therefore it is
impermanent, painful, not-self. The materiality occurring in the second
five years ... in the third ... in the nineteenth five years ceases there
without reaching the twentieth five years. There is no materiality occur-
ring in the twentieth five years that is capable of outlasting death; there-
fore that is impermanent too, painful, not-self.
55. 2. (d) Having attributed the three characteristics according to 'dis-
appearance of what grows old in each stage' thus by means of the twenty
parts, he again attributes the three characteristics according to 'disap-
pearance of what grows old in each stage' by taking twenty-five parts of
four years each, (e) Next, by taking thirty-three parts of three years each,
(f) by taking fifty parts of two years each, (g) by taking a hundred parts
of one year each.
2. (h) Next he attributes the three characteristics according to 'dis-
appearance of what grows old in each stage' by means of each of the
three seasons, taking each year in three parts.
56. How? The materiality occurring in the four months of the rains
(vassana) ceases there without reaching the winter (hemanta). The materi-
ality occurring in the winter ceases there without reaching the summer
(gimha). The materiality occurring in the summer ceases there without
reaching the rains again: therefore it is impermanent, [621] painful, not-
self.
57. 2. (i) Having attributed them thus, he again takes one year in six
parts and attributes the three characteristics to this materiality according
to 'disappearance of what grows old in each stage' thus: The materiality
occurring in the two months of theTains (vassana) ceases there without
reaching the autumn (sarada). The materiality occurring in the autumn
... in the winter (hemanta) ... in the cool (sisira) ... in the spring
(vasanta) ... the materiality occurring in the summer (gimha) ceases
there without reaching the rains again: therefore it is impermanent too,
painful, not-self.
58. 2. (j) Having attributed them thus, he next attributes the character-
istics by means of the dark and bright halves of the moon thus: The
materiality occurring in the dark half of t|ie moon ceases there without
reaching the bright half; the materiality occurring in the bright half ceases
there without reaching the dark half: therefore it is impermanent, painful,
not-self.
59. 2. (k) Next he attributes the three characteristics by means of night
and day thus: The materiality occurring in the night ceases there without
reaching the day; the materiality occurring in the day ceases there with-
out reaching the night: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self.
60. 2. (1) Next he attributes the three characteristics by taking that same
day in six parts beginning with the morning thus: The materiality occur-
ring in the morning ceased there without reaching the noon; the material-
ity occurring in the noon ... without reaching the evening; the material-
ity occurring in the evening ... the first watch; the materiality occurring
in the first watch ... the middle watch; the materiality occurring in the
middle watch ceased there without reaching the last watch; the material-
ity occurring in the last watch ceased there without reaching the morning
again: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self.
61. 2. (m) Having attributed them thus, he again attributes the three
characteristics to that same materiality by means of moving forward and
moving backward, looking toward and looking away, bending and stretch-
ing, thus: The materiality occurring in the moving forward ceases there
without reaching the moving backward; the materiality occurring in the
moving backward ... the looking toward; the materiality occurring in the
looking toward ... the looking away; the materiality occurring in the
looking away ... the bending; the materiality occurring in the bending
ceases there without reaching the stretching: therefore it is impermanent,
painful, not-self (cf. MA.i,260).
62. 2. (n) Next he divides a single footstep into six parts as 'lifting up',
'shifting forward', 'shifting sideways', 'lowering down', 'placing down',
and 'fixing down'.
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63. Herein, lifting up is raising the foot from the ground. Shifting forward
is shifting it to the front. Shifting sideways is moving the foot to one side
or the pther in seeing a thorn, stump, snake, and so on. Lowering down is
letting the foot down. [622] Placing down is putting the foot on the
ground. Fixing down is pressing the foot on the ground while the other
foot is being lifted up.
64. Herein, in the lifting up two elements, the earth element and the
water element, are subordinate
22
and sluggish while the other two are
predominant and strong. Likewise in the shifting forward and shifting
sideways. In the lowering down two elements, the fire element and the
air element, are subordinate and sluggish while the other two are pre-
dominantvand strong. Likewise in the placing down and fixing down.
He attributes the three characteristics to materiality according to
'disappearance of what grows old in each stage' by means of these six
parts into which he has thus divided it.
65. How? He considers thus: The elements and the kinds of derived
materiality occurring in the lifting up all ceased there without reaching
the shifting forward: therefore they are impermanent, painful, not-self.
Likewise those occurring in the shifting forward ... the shifting side-
ways; those occurring in the shifting sideways ... the lowering down;
those occurring in the lowering down ... the placing down; those occur-
ring in the placing down cease there without reaching the fixing down;
thus formations keep breaking up, like crackling sesamum seeds put into
a hot pan; wherever they arise, there they cease stage by stage, section
by section, term by term, each without reaching the next part: therefore
they are impermanent, painful, not-self.
66. When he sees formations stage by stage with insight thus, his com-
prehension of materiality has become subtle. Here is a simile for its
subtlety. A border dweller, it seems, who was familiar with torches of
wood and grass, etc., but had never seen a lamp before, came to a city.
Seeing a lamp burning in the market, he asked a man, 'I say, what is that
lovely thing called?'—'What is lovely about that? It is called a lamp.
Where it goes to when its oil and wick are used up no one knows'.
Another told him, 'That is crudely put; for the flame in each third por-
tion of the wick as it gradually burns up ceases there without reaching
the other parts'. Other told him, 'That is crudely put too; for the flame in
each inch, in each half-inch, in each thread, in each strand, will cease
without reaching the other strands; but the flame cannot appear without
a strand*.
67. [623] Herein, the meditator's attribution of the three characteristics
to materiality delimited by the hundred years as 'taking up' and 'putting
down' is like the man's knowledge stated thus, 'Where it goes when its
oil and wick are used up no one knows'. The meditator's attribution of
the three characteristics according to 'disappearance of what grows old
in each stage' to the materiality delimited by the third part of the hundred
years is like the man's knowledge stated thus, 'The flame in each third
portion of the wick ceases without reaching the other parts'. The medita-
tor's attribution of the three characteristics to materiality delimited by
the periods of ten, five, four, three, two years, one year, is like the man's
knowledge stated thus, 'The flame in each inch will cease without reach-
ing the others'. The meditator's attribution of the three characteristics
to materiality delimited by the four-month and two-month periods by
classing the year as threefold and sixfold respectively according to the
seasons is like the man's knowledge stated thus, 'The flame in each
half-inch will cease without reaching the others'. The meditator's attri-
bution of the three characteristics to materiality delimited by means of
the dark and bright halves of the moon, by means of night and day,
and by means of morning, etc., taking one night and day in six parts, is
like the man's knowledge stated thus, 'The flame in each thread will
cease without reaching the others'. The meditator's attribution of the
three characteristics to materiality delimited by means of each part,
namely, 'moving forward', etc., and 'lifting up', etc., is like the man's
knowledge stated thus, 'The flame in each strand will cease without
reaching the others'.
68. 3-6. Having in various ways thus attributed the three characteris-
tics to materiality according to 'disappearance of what grows old in each
stage', he analyses that same materiality and divides it into four portions
as 'arising from nutriment', etc., and he again attributes the three charac-
teristics to each portion.
3. Herein, materiality arising from nutriment becomes evident to
him through hunger and its satisfaction. For materiality that is originated
when one is hungry is parched and stale, and it is as ugly and disfigured
as a parched stump, as a crow perching in a charcoal pit. That originated
when hunger is satisfied is plump, fresh, tender, smooth and soft to
touch. Discerning that, he attributes the three characteristics to it thus:
The materiality occurring when hunger is satisfied ceases there without
reaching the time when one is hungry; therefore it is impermanent, pain-
ful, not-self.
69. 4. That arising from temperature becomes evident through cool
and heat. For materiality that is originated when it is hot is parched, stale
and ugly. [624] Materiality originated by cool temperature is plump,
fresh, tender, smooth and soft to touch. Discerning that, he attributes the
three characteristics to it thus: The materiality occurring when it is hot
ceases there without reaching the time when it is cool. The materiality
occurring when it is cool ceases there without reaching the time when it
is hot: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self.
70. 5. The kamma-born becomes evident through the sense doors, that
is, the base [of consciousness]. For in the case of the eye door there are
thirty material instances with decads of the eye, the body, and sex; but
with the twenty-four instances originated by temperature, consciousness,
and nutriment, [that is to say, three bare octads,] which are their support,
there are fifty-four. Likewise in the case of the doors of the ear, nose,
and tongue. In the case of the body door there are forty-four with the
decads of body and sex and the instances originated by temperature, and
so on. In the case of the mind door there are fifty-four, too, with the
decads of the heart-basis, the body, and sex, and those instances origi-
nated by the temperature, and so on. Discerning all that materiality, he
attributes the three characteristics to it thus: The materiality occurring in
the eye door ceases there without reaching the ear door; the materiality
occurring in the ear door ... the nose door; the materiality occurring in
the nose door ... the tongue door; the materiality occurring in the tongue
door ... the body door; the materiality occurring in the body door ceases
there without reaching the mind door: therefore it is impermanent, pain-
ful, not-self.
71. 6. The consciousness-originated becomes evident through [the be-
haviour of] one who is joyful or grieved. For the materiality arisen at the
time when he is joyful is smooth, tender, fresh and soft to touch. That
arisen at the time when he is grieved is parched, stale and ugly. Discern-
ing that, he attributes the three characteristics to it thus: The materiality
occurring at the time when one is joyful ceases there without reaching
the time when one is grieved; the materiality occurring at the time when
one is grieved ceases there without reaching the time when one is joyful:
therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self.
72. When he discerns consciousness-originated materiality and attrib-
utes the three characteristics to it in this way, this meaning becomes
evident to him:
'Life, person, pleasure, pain—just these alone
Join in one conscious moment that flicks by.
Gods, though they live for four-and-eighty thousand
Aeons, are not the same for two such moments. [625]
Ceased aggregates of those dead or alive
Are all alike, gone never to return;
And those that break up meanwhile, and in future,
Have traits no different from those ceased before.
No [world is] born if [consciousness is] not
Produced; when that is present, then it lives;
When consciousness dissolves, the world is dead:
The highest sense this concept will allow.
No store of broken states, no future stock;
Those born balance like seeds on needle points.
Breakup of states is foredoomed at their birth;
Those present decay, unmingled with those past.
They come from nowhere, break up, nowhere go;
Flash in and out, as lightning in the sky'.
23
(Nd.l, 42).
73. 7. Having attributed the three characteristics to that arising from
nutriment, etc., he again attributes the three characteristics to natural
materiality. Natural materiality is a name for external materiality that is
not bound up with faculties and arises along with the aeon of world
expansion, for example, iron, copper, tin, lead, gold, silver, pearl, gem,
beryl, conch shell, marble, coral, ruby, opal, soil, stone, rock, grass, tree,
creeper, and so on (see Vbh. 83). That becomes evident to him by means
of an asoka-tree shoot.
74. For that to begin with is pale pink; then in two or three days it
becomes dense red, again in two or three days it becomes dull red, next
[brown,] the colour of a tender [mango] shoot; next, the colour of a
growing shoot; next, the colour of pale leaves; next, the colour of dark
green leaves. After it has become the colour of dark green leaves, as it
follows out the successive stages of such material continuity, it eventu-
ally becomes withered foliage, and at the end of the year it breaks loose
from its stem and falls off.
75. Discerning that, he attributes the three characteristics to it thus: The
materiality occurring when it is pale pink ceases there without reaching
the time when it is dense red; the materiality occurring when it is dense
red ... dull red; the materiality occurring when it is dull red ... the colour
of a tender [mango] shoot; the materiality occurring when it is the colour
of a tender [mango] shoot... the colour of a growing shoot; the material-
ity occurring when it is the colour of a growing shoot ... the colour of
pale green leaves; the materiality occurring when it is the colour of pale
green leaves ... the colour of dark green leaves; the materiality occurring
when it is the colour of dark green leaves ... the time when it is withered
foliage; the materiality occurring when it is withered foliage ceases there
without [626] reaching the time when it breaks loose from its stem and
falls off: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self.
He comprehends all natural materiality in this way.
This is how, firstly, he comprehends formations by attributing the
three characteristics to them by means of the material septad.
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