THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
CHAPTER V
1. Kundika—*a four-footed water pot': not in P.T.S. Diet.
2. English cannot really furnish five words for water.
3. Vanna-dhdtu—* colour element' should perhaps have been rendered simply
by 'paint'. The one Pali word 'riila* has to serve for the English blue, green, and
sometimes black.
4. Pattanga: not in P.T.S. Diet. Asana—'altar': not in this sense in P.T.S. Diet.
5. In the Suttas the first eight kasinas are the same as those given here, and
they are the only ones mentioned in the Dhammasangani (§160-203) and
Patisambhida (Ps.i,6). The Suttas give space and consciousness as ninth and
tenth respectively (M.ii,14-15; D.iii,268; Netti 89, etc.). But these last two ap-
pear to coincide with the first two immaterial states, that is, boundless space and
boundless consciousness. The light kasina given here as ninth does not appear in
the Suttas. It is perhaps a development from the 'perception of light' (dloka-
sanna) (A.ii,45). The limited-space karina given here as tenth has perhaps been
made 'limited' in order to differentiate it from the first immaterial state. The
commentary on the consciousness kasina (MA.iii,261) says nothing on this as-
pect. As to space, Pm. (p. 373) says: 'The attainment of the immaterial states is
not produced by means of the space kasina, and with the words "ending with the
white kasina" (Ch. XXI, §2) the light kasina is included in the white kasina'. For
description of space (dkdsa) see DhsA. 325, Netti 29. Also Pm. (p. 393) defines
space thus: 'Wherever there is no obstruction, that is called space'. Again the
Majjhima-nikaya Tika (commenting on M. Sutta 106) remarks: '[Sense desires]
are not called empty (ritta) in the sense that space, which is entirely devoid of
individual essence, is called empty'.
6. The five kinds of bad kamma with immediate effect on rebirth are, in that
order of priority, matricide, parricide, arahanticide, intentional shedding of a
Buddha's blood, and causing a schism in the Community, all of which cause
rebirth in hell and remaining there for the remainder of the aeon (kappa), what-
ever other kinds of kamma may have been performed (MA.iv,109f.).
7. The no-cause view, moral-inefficacy-of-action view, the nihilistic view that
there is no such thing as giving, and so on (see D. Sutta 2).
CHAPTER VI
1. It is not possible to render such associative and alliterative derivations of
meaning into English. They have nothing to do with the historical development
of words, and their purpose is purely mnemonic.
2. Apavdrita—* opened up': not in P.T.S. Diet.
3. This does not imply what we, now, might suppose. See the description of
'brain' in Ch. VIII, §126 and especially §136. What is meant is perhaps that he
might get a cold or catarrh.
4. Reference back to § 19 requires sabhdvato upalakkhati rather than sabhdvato
vavatthdpeti, but so the readings have it.
5. Vanita—inflated': glossed by Pm. with suna (swollen). Not in P.T.S. Diet,
in this sense.
6. Vipphandana—'wrong kind of excitement': Pm. says here ' Kilesaparipphan-
danass' eva nimittam hoti ti attho (the meaning is, it becomes the sign for inter-
ference by (activity of) defilement' (Pm. 170). Phandati and vipphandati are
both given only such meanings as 'to throb, stir, twitch' and paripphandati is
not in P.T.S. Diet. For the sense of wrong (vi-) excitement (phandana) cf. Ch.
IV, §89, and Ch. XIV, §132 and note. There seems to be an association of
meaning between vipphdra, vydpdra, vipphandana, ihaka, and paripphandana
(perhaps also dbhoga) in the general senses of interestedness, activity, concern,
interference, intervention, etc.
7. The Harvard text has ugghdtita, but Pm. (p. 170) reads 'ugghdnitd (not in
P.T.S. Diet.) pi ti uddhumdtakabhdvappattd pi sabbaso kuthitasarirdpi tiattho\
8. 'Udara-pariyosdnam uparisariram' (Pm. 172). Pariyosdna here means 'in-
tensity' though normally it means 'end'; but see P.T.S. Diet, pariyosita.
9. There is no sense of ajjhottharati given in P.T.S. Diet, that fits here. See
Ch. I, §56.
10. Reading ekarhsena (surely) with Harvard text rather than ekadesena (partly).
11. 'He would come to handle it without disgust as a corpse-burner would'
(Pm. 176.).
12. Reading manussa with Sinhalese ed.
13. Aparisanthita—'turbulent'. Parisanthati (to quiet) is not in P.T.S. Diet.
Aparisanthita is not in T.C.P. Diet.
CHAPTER VII
1. The word dhamma—perhaps the most important and frequently used of Pali
words—has no single equivalent in English because no English word has both a
generalization so wide and loose as the word dhamma in its widest sense (which
includes 'everything' that can be known or thought of in any way) and at the
same time an ability to be, as it were, focussed in a set of well-defined specific
uses. Roughly dhamma = what-can-be-remembered or what-can-be-borne-in-mind
(dharetabba) as kamma = what-can-be-done (katabba). The following two prin-
cipal (and overlapping) senses are involved here: (i) the Law as taught, and (ii)
objects of consciousness, (i) In the first case the word has either been left un-
translated as 'Dhamma' or 'dhamma' or it has been rendered as 'Law' or 'law'.
This ranges from the loose sense of the 'Good Law', 'cosmic law', and 'teach-
ing' to such specific technical senses as the 'discrimination of law', 'causality',
'being subject to or having the nature of. (ii) In the second case the word in its
looser sense of 'something known or thought of has either been left untranslated
as 'dhamma' or rendered by 'state' (more rarely by 'thing' or 'phenomenon'),
while in its technical sense as one of the twelve bases or eighteen elements
'mental object' and 'mental datum' have been used. The sometimes indiscrimi-
nate use of 'dhamma', 'state' and 'law' in both the looser senses is deliberate.
The English words have been reserved as far as possible for rendering dhamma
(except that 'state' has sometimes been used to render bhdva, etc., in the sense of
'-ness'). Other subsidiary meanings of a non-technical nature have occasionally
been otherwise rendered according to context.
In order to avoid muddle it is necessary to distinguish renderings of the
word dhamma and renderings of the words used to define it. The word itself is a
gerundive of the verb dharati (caus. dhdreti—'to bear') and so is the literal
equivalent of '(quality) that is to be borne'. But since the grammatical meanings
of the two words dharati ('to bear') and dahati ('to put or sort out', whence
dhdtu—'element') sometimes coalesce, it often comes very close to dhdtu (but
see Ch.VIII, n.68 and Ch. XI, §104). If it is asked, what bears the qualities to be
borne?, a correct answer here would probably be that it is the event (samaya), as
stated in the Dhammasangani (§1, etc.), in which the various dhammas listed
there arise and are present, variously related to each other. The word dhammin
(thing qualified or 'bearer of what is to be borne') is a late introduction as a
logical term (perhaps first used in Pali by Pm., see p. 534).
As to the definitions of the word, there are several. At DA.i,99 four mean-
ings are given: moral (meritorious) special quality (guna), preaching of the Law
{desana)y scripture (pariyatti), and 'no-living-being-ness' (nissattata). Four mean-
ings are also given at DhsA. 38: scripture (pariyatti), cause (of effect) as law
(hetu)y moral (meritorious) special quality (guna), and 'no-living-being-nes$ and
soullessness' (nissatta-nijjivata). A wider definition is given at MA.i,17, where
the following meanings are distinguished: scriptural mastery (pariyatti—A.iii,86),
truth (sacca—Vin.i,12), concentration {samadhi—D.ii,54), understanding (panna—
Ja.i,280), nature (pakati—M.i,162), individual essence (sabhava—Dhs.l), void-
ness (sunnatd—Dhs. 25), merit (punna—Sn.182), offence (apatti—-Vin.iii,187),
what is knowable (neyya—Ps.ii,194), 'and so on' (see also Ch.VIII n.68).
2. ' "Absolute confidence'* is the confidence afforded by the noble path. De-
velopment of the recollection comes to success in him who has that, not in any
other' (Pm. 181). 'Absolute confidence' is a constituent of the first three 'factors
of stream-entry' (see S.v,196).
3. Cf. derivation of the word ariya ('noble') at MA.i,21.
4. 'Because of the words, "Also all dhammas of the three planes are sense
desires (kama) in the sense of being desirable (kamaniya)" (?), greed for becom-
ing is sense-desire clinging* (Pm. 184). See Ch. XXII, §72. For the 'way to the
Brahma-world' see M.ii,194-96; 207f.).
5. Reading 'tarn hdtatthena nanam? with Pm.
6. See Ch. XVII, §253-54. The word bhava is rendered here both by 'exis-
tence' and by 'becoming'. The former, while less awkward to the ear, is inaccu-
rate if it is allowed a flavour of staticness. 'Becoming' will be more frequently
used as this work proceeds. Loosely the two senses tend to merge. But techni-
cally, 'existence' should perhaps be used only for atthitd, which signifies the mo-
mentary existence of a dhamma 'possessed of the three instants of arising, pres-
ence, and dissolution'. 'Becoming' then signifies the continuous flow or flux of
such triple-instant moments; and it occurs in three main modes: sensual, fine-
material, and immaterial. For remarks on the words 'being' and 'essence' see
Ch. VIII, note 68.
7. 'Is not unobstructed knowledge (andvarana-ndna) different from omnis-
cient knowledge (sabbannuta-ndna)l Otherwise the words "Six kinds of knowl-
edge unshared [by disciples]" (Ps.i,3) would be contradicted? [Note: The six
kinds are: knowledge of what faculties prevail in beings, knowledge of the
inclinations and tendencies of beings, knowledge of the Twin Marvel, knowl-
edge of the attainment of the great compassion, omniscient knowledge, and
unobstructed knowledge (see Ps.i,133).] — There is no contradiction, because
two ways in which a single kind of knowledge's objective field occurs are
described for the purpose of showing by means of this difference how it is not
shared by others. It is only one kind of knowledge; but it is called omniscient
knowledge because its objective field consists of formed, unformed, and conven-
tional (sammuti) [i.e. conceptual] dhammas without remainder, and it is called
unobstructed knowledge because of its unrestricted access to the objective field,
because of absence of obstruction. And it is said accordingly in the Patisambhida:
"It knows all the formed and the unformed without remainder, thus it is omnis-
cient knowledge. It has no obstruction therein, thus it is unobstructed knowl-
edge" (Ps.i,131), and so on. So they are not different kinds of knowledge. And
there must be no reservation, otherwise it would follow that omniscient and un-
obstructed knowledge had obstructions and did not make all dhammas its object.
There is not in fact a minimal obstruction to the Blessed One's knowledge: and if
his unobstructed knowledge did not have all dhammas as its object, there would
be presence of obstruction where it did not occur, and so it would not be unob-
structed.
'Or alternatively, even if we suppose that they are different, still it is omnis-
cient knowledge itself that is intended as "unhindered" since it is that which
occurs unhindered universally. And it is by his attainment of that that the Blessed
One is known as Omniscient, All-seer, Fully Enlightened, not because of aware-
ness (avabodha) of every dhamma at once, simultaneously (see M.ii,127). And it
is said accordingly in the Patisambhida: "This is a name derived from the final
liberation of the Enlightened Ones, the Blessed Ones, together with the acquisi-
tion of omniscient knowledge at the root of the Enlightenment Tree; this name
'Buddha' is a designation based on realization" (Ps.i,174). For the ability in the
Blessed One's continuity to penetrate all dhammas without exception was due to
his having completely attained to knowledge capable of becoming aware of all
dhammas.
'Here it may be asked: But how then? When this knowledge occurs, does it
do so with respect to every field simultaneously, or successively? For firstly, if it
occurs simultaneously with respect to every objective field, then with the simul-
taneous appearance of formed dhammas classed as past, future and present,
internal and external, etc., and of unformed and conventional (conceptual) dham-
mas, there would be no awareness of contrast (patibhdga), as happens in one
who looks at a painted canvas from a distance. That being so, it follows that all
dhammas become the objective field of the Blessed One's knowledge in an
undifferentiated form (anirupita-rupana), as they do through the aspect of not-
self to those who are exercising insight thus "All dhammas are not-self" (Dh. 279;
Thag. 678; M.i,230; ii,64; S.iii,132; A.i,286; iv,14; Ps.ii,48, 62; Vin.i,86. Cf.
also A.iii,444; iv,88, 338; Sn.1076). And those do not escape this difficulty who
say that the Enlightened One's knowledge occurs with the characteristic of pres-
ence of all knowable dhammas as its objective field, devoid of discriminative
thinking (vikappa-rahita), and universal in time (sabba-kdla) and that is why
they are called "All-seeing" and why it is said, "The Naga is concentrated walk-
ing and he is concentrated standing" (?). They do not escape the difficulty since
the Blessed One's knowledge would then have only a partial objective field,
because, by having the characteristic of presence as its object, past, future and
conventional dhammas, which lack that characteristic, would be absent. So it is
wrong to say that it occurs simultaneously with respect to every objective field.
Then secondly, if we say that it occurs successively with respect to every objec-
tive field, that is wrong too. For when the knowable, classed in the many differ-
ent ways according to birth, place, individual essence, etc., and direction, place,
time, etc., is apprehended successively, then penetration without remainder is not
effected since the knowable is infinite. And those are wrong too who say that the
Blessed One is All-seeing owing to his doing his defining by taking one part of
the knowable as that actually experienced (paccakkha) and deciding that the rest
is the same because of the unequivocalness of its meaning, and that such knowl-
edge is not inferential (anumdnika) since it is free from doubt, because it is what
is doubtfully discovered that is meant by inferential knowledge in the world.
And they are wrong because there is no such defining by taking one part of the
knowable as that actually experienced and deciding that the rest is the same
because of the unequivocalness of its meaning, without making all of it actually
experienced. For then that "rest" is not actually experienced; and if it were
actually experienced, it would no longer be "the rest".
* All that is no argument.—Why not?—Because this is not a field for ratioci-
nation; for the Blessed One has said this: "The objective field of Enlightened
Ones is unthinkable, it cannot be thought out; anyone who tried to think it out
would reap madness and frustration" (A.ii,80). The agreed explanation here is
this: Whatever the Blessed One wants to know—either entirely or partially—
there his knowledge occurs as actual experience because it does so without
hindrance. And it has constant concentration because of the absence of distrac-
tion. And it cannot occur in association with wishing of a kind that is due to
absence from the objective field of something that he wants to know. There can
be no exception to this because of the words, "All dhammas are available to the
adverting of the Enlightened One, the Blessed One, are available at his wish, are
available to his attention, are available to his thought" (Ps.ii,195). And the Blessed
One's knowledge that has the past and future as its objective field is entirely
actual experience since it is devoid of assumption based on inference, tradition
or conjecture.
'And yet, even in that case, suppose he wanted to know the whole in its
entirety, then would his knowledge not occur without differentiation in the whole
objective field simultaneously? And so there would still be no getting out of that
difficulty?
'That is not so, because of its purifiedness. Because the Enlightened One's
objective field is purified and it is unthinkable. Otherwise there would be no
unthinkableness in the knowledge of the Enlightened One, the Blessed One, if it
occurred in the same way as that of ordinary people. So, although it occurs with
all dhammas as its object, it nevertheless does so making those dhammas quite
clearly defined, as though it had a single dhamma as its object. This is what is
unthinkable here. "There is as much knowledge as there is knowable, there is as
much knowable as there is knowledge; the knowledge is limited by the know-
able, the knowable is limited by the knowledge" (Ps.ii,195). So he is Fully
Enlightened because he has rightly and by himself discovered all dhammas to-
gether and separately, simultaneously and successively, according to his wish'
(Pm. 190-91).
8. A possessor of 'the seven' has faith, conscience, shame, learning, energy,
mindfulness, and understanding (see D.iii,252). P.T.S. Diet, traces saddhamma
(as 'the true dhamma', etc.) to sant + dhamma; but it is as likely traceable to
srad + dhamma = (good ground) for the placing of faith (jsaddha).
9. 'Here the Master's possession of vision shows the greatness of understand-
ing, and his possession of conduct the greatness of his compassion. It was through
understanding that the Blessed One reached the kingdom of the Dhamma, and
through compassion that he became the bestower of the Dhamma. It was through
understanding that he felt revulsion for the round of rebirths, and through com-
passion that he bore it. It was through understanding that he fully understood
others' suffering, and through compassion that he undertook to counteract it. It
was through understanding that he was brought face to face with nibbana, and
through compassion that he attained it. It was through understanding that he
himself crossed over, and through compassion that he brought others across. It
was through understanding that he perfected the Enlightened One's state, and
through compassion that he perfected the Enlightened One's task.
'Or it was through compassion that he faced the round of rebirths as a
Bodhisatta, and through understanding that he took no delight in it. Likewise it
was through compassion that he practised non-cruelty to others, and through
understanding that he was himself fearless of others. It was through compassion
that he protected others to protect himself, and through understanding that he
protected himself to protect others. Likewise it was through compassion that he
did not torment others, and through understanding that he did not torment him-
self; so of the four types of persons beginning with the one who practises for his
own welfare (A.ii,96) he perfected the fourth and best type. Likewise it was
through compassion that he became the world's helper, and through understand-
ing that he became his own helper. It was through compassion that he had
humility [as a Bodhisatta], and through understanding that he had dignity [as a
Buddha]. Likewise it was through compassion that he helped all beings as a
father while owing to the understanding associated with it his mind remained
detached from them all, and it was through understanding that his mind remained
detached from all dhammas while owing to the compassion associated with it
that he was helpful to all beings. For just as the Blessed One's compassion was
devoid of sentimental affection or sorrow, so his understanding was free from
the thoughts of "I" and "mine" ' (Pm. 192-93).
10. The following renderings have been adopted for the most widely-used epi-
thets for the Buddha. Tathdgata (Perfect One—for definitions see MA.i,45f.),
Bhagavant (Blessed One), Sugata (Sublime One). These renderings do not pre-
tend to literalness. Attempts to be literal here are apt to produce a bizarre or
quaint effect, and for that very reason fail to render what is in the Pali.
11. Gadati—'to enunciate': only noun gada in P.T.S. Diet.
12. Bhanti—'they shine': this form is not given in P.T.S. Diet, under bhdti.
13. To take what is not self-evident in this paragraph, three kinds of feeling are
pleasant, painful and neither-painful-nor-pleasant (see M. Sutta 59). Four kinds
of nutriment are physical nutriment, contact, mental volition, and consciousness
(see M.i,48, and MA.i,207f.). The seven stations of consciousness are: (1) sense
sphere, (2) Brahma's Retinue, (3) Abhassara (Brahma-world) Deities, (4)
Subhakinna (Brahma-world) Deities, (5) base consisting of boundless space, (6)
base consisting of boundless consciousness, (7) base consisting of nothingness
(see D.iii,253). The eight worldly states are gain, fame, praise, pleasure, and their
opposites (see D.iii,260). The nine abodes of beings: (l)-(4) as in stations of con-
sciousness, (5) unconscious beings, (6)-(9) the four immaterial states (see
D.iii,263). The ten bases are eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, visible object, sound,
odour, flavour, tangible object.
14. Cakkavdla (world-sphere or universe) is a term for the concept of a single
complete universe as one of an infinite number of such universes. This concept
of the cosmos, in its general form, is not peculiar to Buddhism, but appears to
have been the already generally accepted one. The term loka-dhdtu (world-ele-
ment), in its most restricted sense, is one world-sphere, but it can be extended to
mean any number, for example, the set of world-spheres dominated by a particu-
lar Brahma (see M. Sutta 120).
As thus conceived, a circle of * world-sphere mountains' 'like the rim of a
wheel' (cakka—Pm. 198) encloses the ocean. In the centre of the ocean stands
Mount Sineru (or Meru), surrounded by seven concentric rings of mountains
separated by rings of sea. In the ocean between the outermost of these seven
rings and the enclosing 'world-sphere mountain' ring are the 'four continents'.
'Over forty-two thousand leagues away' (DhsA. 313) the moon and the sun
circulate above them inside the world-sphere mountain ring, and night is the
effect of the sun's going behind Sineru. The orbits of the moon and sun are in the
sense-sphere heaven of the Four Kings (Catumaharaja), the lowest heaven, which
is a layer extending from the world-sphere mountains to the slopes of Sineru.
The stars are on both sides of them (DhsA. 318). Above that come the successive
layers of the other five sense-sphere heavens—the four highest not touching the
earth—and above them the fine-material Brahma-worlds, the higher of which
extend over more than one world-sphere (see A.v,59). The world-sphere rests on
water, which rests on air, which rests on space. World-spheres 'lie adjacent to
each other in contact like bowls, leaving a triangular unlit space between each
three' (Pm.199), called a 'world-interspace' (see too MA.iv,178). Their numbers
extend thus in all four directions to infinity on the supporting water's surface.
The southern continent of Jambudlpa is the known inhabited world (but see
e.g. D. Sutta 26). Various hells (see e.g. M. Sutta 130; A.v,173; Vin.iii,107) are
below the earth's surface. The lowest sensual-sphere heaven is that of the Deities
of the Four Kings (Cdtumahdrdjika). The four are Dhatarattha Gandhabba-raja
(King of the East), Virulha Kumbhanda-raja (King of the South), Virupaka Naga-
raja (King of the West), and Kuvera or Vessavana Yakkha-raja (King of the
North—see D. Sutta 32). Here the moon and sun circulate. The deities of this
heaven are often at war with the Asura demons (see e.g. D.ii,285) for possession
of the lower slopes of Sineru. The next higher is Tavatimsa (the Heaven of the
Thirty-three), governed by Sakka, Ruler of Gods (sakka-devinda). Above this is
the heaven of the Yama Deities (Deities who have Gone to Bliss) ruled by King
Suyama (not to be confused with Yama King of the Underworld—see M.iii,179).
Higher still come the Deities of the Tusita (Contented) Heaven with King San-
tusita. The fifth of these heavens is that of the Nimmanarati Deities (Deities who
Delight in Creating) ruled by King Sunimmita. The last and highest of the sen-
sual-sphere heavens is the Paranimmitavasavatti Heaven (Deities who Wield
Power over Others' Creations). Their king is Vasavatti (see A.i,227; for details
see VbhA. 519f.). Mara (Death) lives in a remote part of this heaven with his
hosts, like a rebel with a band of brigands (MA.i,33f.). For destruction and
renewal of all this at the end of the aeon, see Ch. XIII.
15. 'Sineru is not only 84,000 leagues in height but measures the same in width
and breadth. For this is said: "Bhikkhus, Sineru king of mountains is eighty-four
thousand leagues in width and it is eighty-four thousand leagues in breadth"
(A.iv,100). Each of the seven surrounding mountains is half as high as that last
mentioned, that is, Yugandhara is half as high as Sineru, and so on. The great
ocean gradually slopes from the foot of the world-sphere mountains down as far
as the foot of Sineru, where it measures in depth as much as Sineru's height.
And Yugandhara, which is half that height, rests on the earth as Isadhara and the
rest do; for it is said: "Bhikkhus, the great ocean gradually slopes, gradually
tends, gradually inclines" (Ud. 53). Between Sineru and Yugandhara, and so on,
the oceans are called "bottomless" (sidanta). Their widths correspond respec-
tively to the heights of Sineru and the rest. The mountains stand all round Sineru,
enclosing it, as it were. Yugandhara surrounds Sineru, then Isadhara surrounds
Yugandhara, and likewise with the others' (Pm. 199).
'The moon's disk is below and the sun's disk above. It is because it is
nearer that the moon's disk appears deficient [when new] owing to its own
shadow. They are a league apart and circulate in space at the height of Yugan-
dhara's summit. The asura realm is beneath Sineru. Avici is beneath Jambudlpa.
Jambudipa is the shape of a cart. Aparagoyana is the shape of an adasa [bird].
Pubbavideha is the shape of a half-moon. Uttarakuru is the shape of a chair. And
they say that the faces of the people who inhabit each of these and who inhabit
the small islands belonging to each have respectively those shapes' (Pm. 200).
16. For the commentarial description of Himavant (Himalaya) with its five
peaks and seven great lakes, see MA.iii,54.
17. AA. commenting on A.i,35 ascribes the Simbali Tree to the Supannas or
winged demons. The commentary to Udana v.5, incidentally, gives a further
account of all these things, only a small portion of which are found in the Suttas.
18. See note 14.
19. The rendering of sadevamanussdnarh by 'with its princes and men' is sup-
ported by the commentary. See MA.ii,20 and also MA.i,33 where the use of
sammuti-deva for a royal personage, not an actual god, is explained. Deva is the
normal mode of addressing a king. Besides, the first half of the sentence deals
with deities and it would be out of place to refer to them again in the clause
relating to mankind.
20. The references are these: Apalala (Mahavamsa, p. 242, 'Dwelling in the
Himalayas'—Pm. 202), Cujodara and Mahodara (Mahavamsa, pp. 7-8 ; Dipavarhsa,
pp. 21-23), Aggisikha and Dhumasikha ('Inhabitant of Ceylon'—Pm. 202),
Aravala and Dhanapalaka (Vin.ii, 194-96; Ja.v,333-37), Saccaka (M. Suttas 35
and 36), Ambattha (D. Sutta 3), Pokkharasati (D.i,109), Sonadanda (D. Sutta 4),
Kutadanta* (D. Sutta 5), Alavaka (Sn., p. 31), Suciloma and Kharaloma (Sn., p.
47f.), Sakka (D.i,263f.).
21. For the breaking up of this compound cf. parallel passage at MA.i,10.
22. Avatthika—'denoting a period in life' (from avatthd, see Ch. IV, §167); not
in P.T.S. Diet.; the meaning given in P.T.S. Diet for lingika—'describing a par-
ticular mark', is hardly adequate for this ref.; nemittika—'signifying a particular
acquirement' is not in this sense in P.T.S. Diet. For more on names see DhsA.390.
23. The commentarial name for the Elder Sariputta to whom the authorship of
the Patisambhida is traditionally attributed. The Ps. text has 'Buddha', not
'Bhagava'.
24. 'The Niddesa method is this: "The word Blessed {bhagava) is a term of
respect. Moreover, he has abolished (bhagga) greed, thus he is blessed (bhagavd)\
he has abolished hate, ... delusion, ... views, ... craving, ... defilement, thus he
is blessed.
' "He divided (bhaji), analysed (vibhaji), and classified (pativibhaji) the
Dhamma treasure, thus he is blessed (bhagava). He makes an end of the kinds of
becoming (bhavdnam antakaroti), thus he is blessed (bhagava). He has devel-
oped (bhavita) the body and virtue and the mind and understanding, thus he is
blessed (bhagava).
' "Or the Blessed One is a frequenter (bhaji) of remote jungle-thicket rest-
ing places with little noise, with few voices, with a lonely atmosphere, where one
can lie hidden from people, favourable to retreat, thus he is blessed (bhagavd).
' "Or the Blessed One is a partaker (bhdgi) of robes, alms food, resting
place, and the requisite of medicine as cure for the sick, thus he is blessed
(bhagavd). Or he is a partaker of the taste of meaning, the taste of the Law, the
taste of deliverance, the higher virtue, the higher consciousness, the higher un-
derstanding, thus he is blessed (bhagavd). Or he is a partaker of the four jhanas,
the four measureless states, the four immaterial states, thus he is blessed: Or he is
a partaker of the eight liberations, the eight bases of mastery, the nine successive
attainments, thus he is blessed. Or he is a partaker of the ten developments of
perception, the ten kasina attainments, concentration due to mindfulness of breath-
ing, the attainment due to foulness, thus he is blessed. Or he is a partaker of the
four foundations of mindfulness, the four right endeavours, the four roads to
power, the five spiritual faculties, the five powers, the seven enlightenment
factors, the Noble Eightfold Path, thus he is blessed. Or he is a partaker of the
ten powers of Perfect Ones (see M. Sutta 12), of the four kinds of perfect
confidence (same ref.), of the four discriminations, of the six kinds of direct-
knowledge, of the six Enlightened Ones' states [not shared by disciples (see note
7)], thus he is blessed. Blessed One (bhagavd): this is not a name made by a
mother ... This name, Blessed One, is a designation based on realization" '
(Pm.207).
25. Here are explanations of those things in this list that cannot be discovered
by reference to the index: The pairs, * anger and enmity1
to 'conceit and negli-
gence' (M.i,16). The 'three roots' are greed, hate and delusion (D.iii,214). The
* three kinds of misconduct' are that of body, speech and mind (S.v,75). The
'three defilements' are misconduct, craving and views (Ch. I. §9, 13). The 'three
erroneous perceptions' (visama-sanna) are those connected with greed, hate and
delusion (Vbh. 368). The three 'applied thoughts' are thoughts of sense-desire,
ill will and cruelty (M.i,114). The 'three diversifications' (papanca) are those
due to craving, conceit and [false] views (see Ch. XVI, n.17). 'Four
perversenesses': seeing permanence, pleasure, self, and beauty, where there is
none (Vbh. 376). 'Four cankers', etc. (Ch. XXII, §47ff.). 'Five wildernesses' and
'shackles' (M.i,101). 'Five kinds of delight': delight in the five aggregates (Ch.
XVI, §93). 'Six roots of discord': anger, contempt, envy, fraud, evilness of
wishes and adherence to one's own view (D.iii,246). 'Nine things rooted in
craving' (D.iii,288-89). 'Ten courses of unprofitable action': killing, stealing,
sexual misconduct, lying, slander, harsh speech, gossip, covetousness, ill will,
wrong view (M.i,47, 286f.). 'Sixty-two kinds of view': (D.i,12ff.; M. Sutta 102).
'The hundred and eight ways of behaviour of craving' (Vbh. 400).
26. Abhigamaniya—'fit to be relied on': abhigacchati not in P.T.S. Diet.
27. Pm. says the word 'etc' includes the following six: mahimd, patti, pakamma,
isita, vasita, and yatthakamavasayita. 'Herein, animd means making the body
minute (the size of an atom—anu). Laghima means lightness of body; walking
on air, and so on. Mahima means enlargement producing hugeness of the body.
Patti means arriving where one wants to go. PAkaMMA means producing what
one wants by resolving, and so on. ISITA means self-mastery, lordship. V^ASITA
means mastery of miraculous powers. YATTHAKAMAVASAYITA means attainment of
perfection in all ways in one who goes through the air or does anything else of
the sort' (Pm. 210). Yogabhashya 3.45.
28. The three 'abidings' are these: heavenly abiding = kasina jhana, divine
abiding = lovingkindness jhana, etc., noble abiding = fruition attainment. For the
three kinds of seclusion, see Ch. IV, note 23.
29. Mehana is not in P.T.S. Diet.
30. Pm. adds seven more plays on the word bhagava, which in brief are these:
he is bhagava (a possessor of parts) because he has the Dhamma aggregates of
virtue, etc. (bhaga = part, vant = possesser of). He is bhatavd (possessor of what
is borne) because he has borne (bhata) the perfections to their full development.
He has cultivated the parts (bhage vani), that is, he has developed the various
classes of attainments. He has cultivated the blessings (bhage vani), that is, the
mundane and supramundane blessings. He is bhattavd (possessor of devotees)
because devoted (bhatta) people show devotion (bhatti) to him on account of his
attainments. He has rejected blessings (bhage vami) such as glory, lordship, fame
and so on. He has rejected the parts {bhdge vami) such as the five aggregates of
experience, and so on (Pm. 241-46).
As to the word 'bhattavd': at Vis. Ch. VII, §63, it is explained as 'one who
has frequented (bhaji) attainments'. In this sense the attainments have been
'frequented' (bhatta) by him. Pm. (p. 214-5) uses the same word in another sense
as 'possessor of devotees', expanding it as bhatta dalhabhattikd assa bahu atthi
('he has many devoted firm devotees'—Skr. bhakta). In P.T.S. Diet, under bhat-
tavant (citing also Vis. 212) only the second meaning is given. Bhatta is from the
same root (bhaj) in both cases.
For a short exposition of this recollection see commentary to A., Ekanipata,
XVI, 1.
31. Anusandhi—'sequence of meaning': a technical commentarial term signify-
ing both a particular subject treated in a discourse, and also the way of linking
one subject with another in the same discourse. At MA.i,175 three kinds are
distinguished: sequence of meaning in answer to a question (pucchdnusandhi—
e.g. M.i,36), that to suit a personal idiosyncrasy (ajjhdsaydnusandhi—e.g. M.i,
23), and that due to the natural course of the teaching (yathdnusandhi—e.g. the
whole development of M. Sutta 6).
32. Vyatti (byatti)—'particular distinction' (n. fm. vi + ahj)\ not so spelt in P.T.S.
Diet, but see viyatti. Glossed by Pm. with veyyatti.
33. These 'five aggregates' are those of virtue, concentration, understanding,
deliverance, and knowledge and vision of deliverance.
34. Vatthika—'clothable': not in P.T.S. Diet.
35. Pakattha—-'distant'; not in P.T.S. Diet. (= dura—Pm. 297).
36. This passage is only loosely renderable because the exegesis here is based
almost entirely on the substitution of one Pali grammatical form for another (pada-
siddhi). The reading opaneyyiko (for opanayika) does not appear in any Sinhalese
text (generally the most reliable); consequently the sentence 'opanayiko va opa-
neyyiko' (see Harvard text) is absent in them, being superfluous. Pm.'s explana-
tions are incorporated. This paragraph depends on the double sense of upaneti
(upa + neti, to lead on or induce) and its derivatives as (1) an attractive induce-
ment and (2) a reliable guide, and so the word induce is stretched a bit and
inducive coined on the analogy of conducive. Upanaya (inducement) is not in
P.T.S. Diet., nor is upanayana (inducing) in this sense (see also Ch. XIV §68).
Upanayana means in logic * application', 'subsumption'; and also upanetabba
means 'to be added'; see end of §72. For alliyana ('treating as one's shelter') see
refs. in Glossary.
37. 'In the Sarvastivadin school and so on ' (Pm. 230).
Showing posts with label Visuddhimagga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Visuddhimagga. Show all posts
Friday, July 15, 2011
Visuddhimagga - Notes II
THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
CHAPTER III
1. The answer to question (vii) stretches from Ch. Ill, §27 to Ch. XI, §119.
That to question (viii) from Ch. XI, §120 up to the end of Ch. XIII.
2. 'Cittass' ekaggatd* is rendered here as 'unification of mind' in the sense of
agreement or harmony (cf. samagga) of consciousness and its concomitants
in focussing on a single object (see A.iJO). It is sometimes rendered 'one-
pointedriess' in that sense, or in the sense of the focussing of a searchlight. It
may be concluded that this term is simply a synonym for samddhi and nothing
more, firstly from its use in the suttas, and secondly from the fact that it is given
no separate definition in the description of the formations aggregate in Ch. XIV.
Cf. gloss at MA.i,124.
3. 'The characteristic of non-distraction is the individual essence peculiar to
concentration. Hence no analysis of it is possible, which is why he said: "/f is of
one kind with the characteristic of non-distraction" ' (Pm. 91).
4. 'Applied thought that occurs as though absorbing (appento) associated states
in the object is absorption (appana). Accordingly it is described as "absorption,
absorbing (appana vyappand)" (M.iii,73). Now since that is the most important,
the usage of the Commentaries is to call all exalted and unsurpassed jhana states
"absorption" [as well as the applied thought itself]* and likewise to apply the
term of common usage "access" to the limited [i.e. sense-sphere] jhana that her-
alds the arising of the former, just as the term "village access", etc. is applied to
the neighbourhood of a village' (Pm. 91).
5. 'The round (yatta, see Ch. XVII, §298) [including fine-material and imma-
terial heavens] is called the world (loka) because of its crumbling (lujjana) and
disintegrating (palujjana). "Mundane" (lokiya) means connected with the world
because of being included in it or found there. "Supramundane" (lokuttara) means
beyond the world, excepted from it, because of not being included in it [through
being associated with nibbana]' (Pm. 91). See also 'nine supramundane states',
Ch. VII, § 68, 74f.
6. In loose usage piti (happiness) and sukha (pleasure or bliss) are almost
synonyms. They become differentiated in the jhana formulas (see Ch. IV, §100),
and then technically phi, as the active thrill of rapture, is classed under the for-
mations aggregate and sukha under the feeling aggregate. The valuable word
'happiness' was chosen for piti rather than the possible alternatives of 'joy'
(needed for somanassa), 'interest' (which is too flat), 'rapture' (which is over-
charged), or 'zest'. For sukha, while 'pleasure' seemed to fit admirably where
ordinary pleasant feeling is intended, another, less crass, word seemed necessary
for the refined pleasant feeling of jhana and the 'bliss' of nibbana (which is not
feeling aggregate—see M.i,400). 'Ease' is sometimes used.
'Neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling is intended here by "equanimity"
(upekkhaf lit. onlooking); for it "looks on" (upekkhati) at the occurrence of
[bodily] pleasure and pain by maintaining the neutral (central) mode' (Pm. 92).
7. Samatha—'serenity' is a synonym for absorption concentration, and 'in-
sight' (vipassana) a synonym for understanding. Samatha is sometimes rendered
by 'tranquillity' (reserved here for passaddhi) or 'calm' or 'quiet'.
8. One of the principal monasteries in Anuradhapura.
9. Dve mdtikd—the 'two codes': see Ch. I, n. 11. But Pm. says here: ' ''Ob-
servers of the codes" are observers of the codes (summaries) of the Dhamma and
Vinaya' (Pm. 117).
10. Pavdrand: ceremony held at the end of the rains, during three months of
which season bhikkhus have to undertake to live in one place in order to avoid
travel while crops are growing. It consists in a meeting of the bhikkhus who have
spent the rains together, at which each member present invites (pavdreti) the
Community to point out his faults (breaches of Vinaya rules) committed during
the preceding three months (Vin.i,155).
11. 'Pdcinakhandardjd ti puratthimadisdya pabbatakhanddnam antare vana-
rdjhthdnarh' (Pm. 97.)
12. For the first five years after the admission (upasampada) a bhikkhu is called
a 'new (nava) bhikkhu'; from five to ten years he is called a 'middle (majjhima)
bhikkhu'; with ten or more years' seniority he is called an 'elder (thera) bhikkhu'.
13. The last sentence here might refer to a free mass distribution of gruel
(ydgu), which appears to have been more or less constantly maintained at
Anuradhapura.
14. It is usual to render the set phrase panltam khddanlyam bhojaniyam by
some such phrase as 'sumptuous food both hard and soft', which is literal but un-
familiar-sounding.
15. 'The way of the Rathavinlta (Rathavimta-patipada)': this is a reference to
certain suttas that were adopted by bhikkhus as a 'way' (patipadd) or guide to
practice. The suttas mentioned here are Rathavinita (M.i,145), Nalaka (Sn., p.
131), Tuvataka (Sn., p. 179), Noble One's Heritages (ariyavamsa—A.ii,27).
Others are mentioned at MA.i, 92; iii,6; SA.iii,291. The Ariyavamsa Sutta itself
has a long commentary on practice, and it is mentioned in the Commentaries as a
popular subject for preaching (see e.g. commentary to A. Tikanipata 42)
16. Simd—'boundary': loosely used in this sense, it corresponds vaguely to
what is meant by 'parish'. In the strict sense it is the actual area (usually a
'chapter house') agreed according to the rules laid down in the Vinaya and
marked by boundary stones, within which the Community (sangha) carries out
its formal acts.
17. Atthayitabba—'needed': not in P.T.S. Diet., not in T.C.P. Diet..
18. Mana, usually rendered by 'pride', is rendered here both by 'pride' and
'conceit'. Etymologically it is derived perhaps from mdneti (to honour) or mindti
(to measure). In sense, however, it tends to become associated with mahhatU to
conceive (false notions, see M.i,l), to imagine, to think (as e.g. at Nd.1,80, Vbh.
390 and corny.). As one of the 'defilements' (see M.i,36) it is probably best
rendered by 'pride'. In the expression asmi-mdna (often rendered by 'the pride
that says "I am" ') it more nearly approaches mahhand (false imagining, miscon-
ception, see M.iii,246) and is better rendered by 'the conceit "I am" ', since the
word 'conceit' straddles both the meanings of 'pride' (i.e. haughtiness) and
'conception'.
19. * "Some" is said with reference to the Elder Upatissa. For it is put in this
way by him in the Vimuttimagga. The word "apparently" indicates dissent from
what follows' (Pm. 103). A similar passage to that referred to appears in Ch. 6 of
the Chinese version of the Vimuttimagga, the only one extant.
20. Silaka—'good-tempered'—sukhasila (good-natured—see §83), which =
sakhila (kindly—Pm. 104). Not in P.T.S. Diet.
21. Ukkutika—'springy' is glossed here by asamphutthamajjham ('not touching
in the middle'—Pm. 106). This meaning is not in P.T.S. Diet.
22. Siriga—-'foppery' is not in P.T.S. Diet, in this sense. See Vbh. 351 and com-
mentary.
Cdpalya (ca'palla)—'personal vanity': noun from adj. capala. The word
'capala' comes in an often-repeated passage:
l
sdthd mdydvino ketubhino ud-
dhatd unnald capala mukhard ... ' (M.i,32); cf. S.i,203; A.iii,199, etc.) and also
M.i,470 'uddhato hoti capalo\ with two lines lower 'uddhaccam cdpalyam\
Cdpalya also occurs at Vbh. 351 (and M.ii,167). At MA.i,152 (commenting on
M.i,32) we find: capala ti pattacivaramandanddind cdpallena yuttd ('interested
in personal vanity consisting in adorning bowl and robe and so on'), and at
MA.iii,185 (commenting on M.i,470): Uddhato hoti capalo ti uddhaccapakatiko
e'eva hoti civaramandand pattamandand sendsanamandand imassa vd putikdyassa
keldyanamandand ti evam vuttena tarunaddrakacdpallena samanndgato (' "he is
distracted—or puffed up—and personally vain": he is possessed of the callow
youth's personal vanity described as adorning the robe, adorning the bowl, adorn-
ing the lodging, or prizing and adorning this filthy body'). This meaning is
confirmed in the commentary to Vbh. 251. P.T.S. Diet, does not give this mean-
ing at all but only 'fickle', which is unsupported by the commentary. T.C.P.
Diet, (acapala) also does not give this meaning.
As to the other things listed here in the Vis. text, most will be found at
M.i,36. For 'holding on tenaciously', etc., see M.i,43.
23. Jatukd—'z bat': not in P.T.S. Diet. Also at Ch. XI. §7.
24. Jalapuvasadisa—'like a net cake': 'A cake made like a net' (Pm. 108);
possibly what is now known in Ceylon as a 'string hopper', or something like it.
25. Surabhi—'scented, perfume': not in P.T.S. Diet.; also at Ch. VI, §90; X,
§60 and Pm. 445.
26. ' "Kasina" is in the sense of entirety (sakalatthena)' (MA.iii,260). See Ch. IV,
§119.
27. Here ten kinds of foulness are given. But in the Suttas only either five or six
of this set appear to be mentioned, that is, 'Perception of a skeleton, perception
of the worm-infested, perception of the livid, perception of the cut-up, perception
of the bloated' (see A.i,42 and S.v,131; A.ii,17 adds 'perception of the fester-
ing'). No details are given. All ten appear at Dhs. 263-64 and Ps.i,49. It will be
noted that no order of progress of decay in the kinds of corpse appears here; also
the instructions in Ch. VI are for contemplating actual corpses in these states.
The primary purpose here is to cultivate 'repulsiveness'.
Another set of nine progressive stages in the decay of a corpse, mostly
different from these, is given at M.i,58, 89, etc., beginning with a corpse one day
old and ending with bones turned to dust. From the words Suppose a bhikkhu
saw a corpse thrown on a charnel ground ... he compares this same body of his
with it thus "This body too is of like nature, awaits a like fate, is not exempt
from that" ' (M.i,58), it can be assumed that these nine, which are given in
progressive order of decay in order to demonstrate the body's impermanence, are
not necessarily intended as contemplations of actual corpses so much as mental
images to be created, the primary purpose being to cultivate impermanence. This
may be why these nine are not used here (see Ch. VIII, §43).
The word asubha (foul, foulness) is used both of the contemplations of
corpses as here and of the contemplation of the parts of the body (A.v,109).
28. The full story, which occurs at MA.iii,382-83 and elsewhere, is this: 'It
seems that when the Karavika bird has pecked a sweet-flavoured mango with its
beak and savoured the dripping juice, and flapping its wings, begins to sing, then
quadrupeds caper as if mad. Quadrupeds grazing in their pastures drop the grass
in their mouths and listen to the sound. Beasts of prey hunting small animals
pause with one foot raised. Hunted animals lose their fear of death and halt in
their tracks. Birds flying in the air stay with wings outstretched. Fishes in the
water keep still, not moving their fins. All listen to the sound, so beautiful is the
Karavika's song. Dhammasoka's queen Asandhamitta asked the Community:
"Venerable sirs, is there anything that sounds like the Buddha?"—"The Karavika
birds does."—"Where are those birds, venerable sirs?"—"In the Himalaya." She
told the king: "Sire, I wish to hear a Karavika bird". The king despatched a gold
cage with the order "Let a Karavika bird come and sit in this cage". The cage
travelled and halted in front of a Karavika. Thinking "The cage has come at the
king's command; it is impossible not to go", the bird got in. The cage returned
and stopped before the king. They could not get the Karavika to utter a sound.
When the king asked "When do they utter a sound?", they replied "On seeing
their kin". Then the king had it surrounded with looking-glasses. Seeing its own
reflection and imagining that its relatives had come, it flapped its wings and
cried out with an exquisite voice as if sounding a crystal trumpet. All the people
in the city rushed about as if mad. Asandhamitta thought: "If the sound of this
creature is so fine, what indeed can the sound of the Blessed One have been like
since he had reached the glory of omniscient knowledge?", and arousing a happi-
ness that she never again relinquished, she became established in the fruition of
stream-entry*.
29. See Dhs. , p. 55; but it comes under the '... pe ...', which mus t be filled in
from pp. 37-38, § 182 and § 184.
30. 'It is because only an abstract (parikappaja) object can be extended, not
any other kind, that he said "/r is not possible to extend a state consisting in an
individual essence" ' (Pm. 110).
31. The word l
nimitta\ in its technical sense is consistently rendered here by the
word 'sign', which corresponds very nearly if not exactly to most uses of it. It is
sometimes rendered by 'mark' (which over-emphasizes the concrete), and by
'image' (which is not always intended). The three kinds, that is, the preliminary-
work sign, learning sign and counterpart sign, do not appear in the Pitakas. There
the use rather suggests association of ideas as, for example, at M.i,180, M.i,l 19,
A.i,4, etc., than the more definitely visualized 'image' in some instances of the
'counterpart sign* described in the following chapters.
32. Na-vattaba—'not so-classifiable* is an Abhidhamma shorthand term for
something that, when considered under one of the triads or dyads of the
Abhidhamma Matika (Dhs., p. If.), cannot be placed under any one of the three,
or two, headings.
33. ' "The festering" is a mobile object because of the oozing of the pus, "the
bleeding" because of the trickling of the blood, "the worm-infested" because of
the wriggling of the worms. The mobile aspect of the sunshine coming in through
a window opening is evident, which explains why an object consisting of a circle
of sunlight is called mobile
1
(Pm. 110).
34. 'In addition to the five things' (not quoted) dealt with earlier in the sutta,
namely, perfection of virtue, good friendship, hearing suitable things, energy,
and understanding.
35. ' "The cryptic books": the meditation-subject books dealing with the truths,
the dependent origination, etc., which are profound and associated with void-
ness* (Pm. 111). Cf. MA.ii,264, AA. commentary to A. Catukka-nipata, 180.
CHAPTER IV
1. 'They say it is the Dakkhinagiri in the Magadha country* (Pm. 116). There
is mention of a Dakkhinagiri-vihara at MA.ii,293 and elsewhere.
2. Read pamukhesu sosayanti. Pamukha not thus in P.T.S. Diet.
3. 'A "water port of entry" is a port of entry on the sea or on an estuary. A
"land port of entry" is one on the edge of a forest and acts as the gateway on the
road of approach to great cities* (Pm. 116).
4. 'Said in the Old Commentary. "One who is learning the earth kasina": one
who is apprehending, grasping, an earth kasina as a "learning sign**. The mean-
ing is, one who is producing an earth kasina that has become the sign of learning;
and here "arousing** should be regarded as the establishing of the sign in that
way. "In earth": in an earth disk of the kind about to be described. "Apprehends
the sign": he apprehends in that, with knowledge connected with meditative de-
velopment, the sign of earth of the kind about to be described, as one does with
the eye the sign of the face in a looking-glass. "Made up": prepared in the
manner about to be described. "Not made up": in a disk of earth consisting of an
ordinary threshing-floor disk, and so on. "Bounded": only in one that has bounds.
As regard the words "the size of a bushel", etc., it would be desirable that a
bushel and a saucer were of equal size, but some say that "the size of a saucer" is
a span and four fingers, and the "the size of a bushel" is larger than that. "He
sees to it that that sign is well apprehended": that meditator makes that disk of
earth a well-apprehended sign. When, after apprehending the sign in it by open-
ing the eyes, and looking and then closing them again, it appears to him as he
adverts to it just as it did at the moment of looking with open eyes, then he has
made it well apprehended. Having thoroughly established his mindfulness there,
observing it again and again with his mind not straying outside, he sees that it is
"well attended to". When it is well attended to thus by adverting and attending
again and again by producing much repetition and development instigated by
that, he sees that it is "well defined". "To that object": to that object called earth
kasina, which has appeared rightly owing to its having been well apprehended.
"He anchors his mind": by bringing his own mind to access jhana he anchors it,
keeps it from other objects' (Pm. 119).
5. 'Gangd (= 'river') is the name for the Ganges in India and for the Mahaveli-
ganga, Ceylon's principal river. However, in the Island of Ceylon there is a river,
it seems, called the Ravana-ganga. The clay in the places where the banks are cut
away by its stream is the colour of dawn' (Pm. 119).
6. ' "Apprehend the sign": apprehend with the mind the sign apprehended by
the eye in the earth kasina. "And develop it": the apprehending of the sign as it
occurs should be continued intensively and constantly practised' (Pm. 120).
7. 'Just as one who sees his reflection (mukha-nimitta—lit. face-sign) on the
surface of a looking-glass does not open his eyes too widely or too little (in order
to get the effect), nor does he review the colour of the looking-glass or give
attention to its characteristic, but rather looks with moderately opened eyes and
sees only the sign of his face, so too this meditator looks with moderately opened
eyes at the earth kasina and is occupied only with the sign' (Pm. 121).
8. 'The dawn colour that is there in the kasina should not be thought about,
though it cannot be denied that it is apprehended by eye-consciousness. That is
why, instead x)f saying here "should not be looked at", he says that it should not
be apprehended by reviewing. Also the earth element's characteristic of hard-
ness, which is there, should not be given attention because the apprehension has
to be done through the channel of seeing. And after saying "while not ignoring
the colour" he said "relegating the colour to the position of a property of the
physical support"^ showing that here the concern is not with the colour, which is
the channel, but rather that this colour should be treated as an accessory of the
physical support; the meaning is that the kasina (disk) should be given attention
with awareness of both the accompanying earth-aspect and its ancillary colour-
aspect, but taking the earth-aspect with its ancillary concomitant colour as both
supported equally by that physical support [the disk], "On the concept as the
mental datum since that is what is outstanding": the term of ordinary usage
"earth" (pathavi) as applied to earth with its accessories, since the prominence of
its individual effect is due to outstandingness of the earth element: "setting the
mind" on that mental datum consisting of a [name-] concept (pannatti-dhamma),
the kasina should be given attention as "earth, earth". —If the mind is to be set
on a mere concept by means of a term of common usage, ought earth to be given
attention by means of different names?—It can be. What is wrong? It is to show
that that is done he said "Mahi, medinV\ and so on' (Pm. 122).
9. ' "Comes into focus": becomes the resort of mind-door impulsion' (Pm.
122).
10. 'Why should he not? If, after the learning sign was produced, he went on
developing it by looking at the disk of the earth, there would be no arising of the
counterpart sign* (Pm. 122).
11. 'Stamped with the three characteristics of the formed beginning with rise
(see A.i,152), or marked with the three characteristics beginning with imperma-
nence' (Pm. 122).
12. 'If "it is not like that"— is not possessed of colour, etc.—then how is it the
object of jhana? It is in order to answer that question that the sentence beginning
"For it is ..." is given. "Born of the perception": produced by the perception
during development, simply born from the perception during development. Since
there is no arising from anywhere of what has no individual essence, he therefore
said "Being the mere mode of appearance" ' (Pm. 122). See Ch. VIII, n.ll.
13. Bhavahga (life-continuum, lit. 'constituent of becoming') and javana (im-
pulsion) are first mentioned in this work at Ch. I, §57 (see n. 16); this is the
second mention. The 'cognitive series' (citta-vithi) so extensively used here is
unknown as such in the Pitakas. Perhaps the seed from which it sprang may exist
in, say, such passages as: 'Due to eye and to visible data eye-consciousness
arises. The coincidence of the three is contact. With contact as condition there is
feeling. What he feels he perceives. What he perceives he thinks about. What he
thinks about he diversifies [by means of craving, pride and false view] ... Due to
mind and to mental data ...' (M.i,l 11). And: 'Is the eye permanent or imperma-
nent? ... Are visible objects permanent or impermanent? ... Is the mind perma-
nent or impermanent? Are mental data ... Is mind-consciousness ... Is mind-
contact ... Is any feeling, any perception, any formation, any consciousness, that
arises with mind-contact as condition permanent or impermanent?' (M.iii,279).
And: 'These five faculties [of eye, etc.] each with its separate objective field and
no one of them experiencing as its objective field the province of any other, have
mind as their refuge, and mind experiences their provinces as its objective field'
(M.i,295). This treatment of consciousness implies, as it were, more than even a
'double thickness' of consciousness. An already-formed nucleus of the cognitive
series, based on such Sutta-Pitaka material, appears in the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
The following two quotations show how the commentary (bracketted italics)
expands the Abhidhamma-Pitaka treatment.
(i) 'Herein, what is eye-consciousnes element? Due to eye and to visible
data (as support condition, and to functional mind element (= 5-door adverting),
as disappearance condition, and to the remaining three immaterial aggregates
as conascence condition) there arises consciousness ... which is eye-conscious-
ness element. [Similarly with the other four sense elements.] Herein, what is
mind element? Eye-consciousness having arisen and ceased, next to that there
arises consciousness ... which is appropriate (profitable or unprofitable) mind
element (in the mode of receiving). [Similarly with the other four sense ele-
ments.] Or else it is the first reaction to any mental datum (To be taken as
functional mind element in the mode of mind-door adverting). Herein, what is
mind-consciousness element? Eye-consciousness having arisen and ceased, next
to that there arises mind element. (Resultant) mind element having arisen and
ceased, also (next to that there arises resultant mind-consciousness element in
the mode of investigating; and that having arisen and ceased, next to that there
arises functional mind-consciousness element in the mode of determining; and
that having arisen and ceased) next to that there arises consciousness ... which
is appropriate mind-consciousness element (in the mode of impulsion). [Similarly
with the other four sense elements.] Due to (life-continuum) mind and to mental
data there arises consciousness ... which is appropriate (impulsion) mind-con-
sciousness element (following on the above-mentioned mind-door adverting)'
(Vbh. 87-90 and VbhA. 81 f.).
(ii) 'Eye-consciousness and its associated states are a condition, as prox-
imity condition, for (resultant) mind element and for its associated states. Mind
element and its associated states are a condition, as proximity condition, for
(root-causeless resultant) mind-consciousness element (in the mode of investi-
gating) and for its associated states. (Next to that, the mind-consciousness ele-
ments severally in the modes of determining, impulsion, registration, and life-
continuum should be mentioned, though they are not, since the teaching is
abbreviated.) [Similarly for the other four senses and mind-consciousness ele-
ment]. Preceding profitable (impulsion) states are a condition, as proximity
condition, for subsequent indeterminate (registration, life-continuum) states ...
[etc.]' (Ptn. 2, and Corny., 33-34).
The form that the two kinds (5-door and mind-door) of the cognitive series
take is shown in Table V. The following are some Pitaka refs. for the individual
modes: bhavahga (life-continuum): Ptn. 1,159,160,169,324; dvajjana (advert-
ing) Ptn. 1,159,160,169,324; sampaticchana (receiving), santlrana (investigating),
votthapana (determining), and taddrammana (registration) appear only in the
Commentaries. Javana (impulsion): Ps.ii,73,76. The following references may
also be noted here: anuloma (conformity), Ptn. 1,325. Cuti-citta (death conscious-
ness), Ptn. 1,324. Patisandhi (rebirth-linking), Ptn. 1,320, etc.; Ps.ii,72, etc.
14. North or south to avoid facing the rising sun in coming or going. Kosa is not
in P.T.S. Diet.; 'one and a half kosas = 3,000 bows' (Pm. 123).
15. Twenty-six kinds of 'aimless' (lit. 'animal') talk are given in the Suttas (e.g.
M.ii,l; iii,l 13), which the commentary increases to thirty-two (MA.iii, 233). The
ten instances of talk are those given in the Suttas (e.g. M.i,145; iii,113). See
Ch.I,n,12.
16. 'One who is occupied with exercising and caring for the body' (Pm. 124).
17. Budha—'possessed of wit': not in P.T.S. Diet.; see MA.i,39.
18. 'It guards the line (gam tdyati), thus it is lineage (gotta). When it occurs
limitedly, it guards the naming (abhidhdna) and the recognition (buddhi) of the
naming as restricted to a definite scope (ekamsa-visayata). For just as recogni-
tion does not take place without a meaning (attha) for its objective support
(drammana), so naming (abhidhdna) does not take place without what is named
(abhidheyya). So it (the gotta) is said to protect and keep these. But the limited
should be regarded as the materiality peculiar to sense-sphere states, which are
the resort of craving for sense desires, and destitute of the exalted (fine-material
and immaterial) or the unsurpassed (supramundane). The exalted lineage is ex-
plainable in the same way' (Pm. 134).
19. See Ch. XVII, § 189 and note.
20. 'The intention is that it is as if the sixth and seventh impulsions had lapsed
since impulsion beyond the fifth is exhausted. The elder's opinion was that just
as the first impulsion, which lacks the quality of repetition, does not arouse
change-of-lineage because of its weakness, while the second or the third, which
have the quality of repetition, can do so because they are strong on that account,
so too the sixth and seventh fix in absorption owing to their strength due to their
quality of repetition. But it is unsupported by a sutta or by any teacher's state-
ment in conformity with a sutta. And the text quoted is not a reason because
strength due to the quality of repetition is not a principle without exceptions
(anekantikatta)\ for the first volition, which is not a repetition, has result experi-
enceable here and now, while the second to the sixth, which are repetitions, have
result experienceable in future becomings' (Pm. 135).
21. ' "Either in the fourth or the fifth", etc., is said for the purpose of conclud-
ing [the discussion] with a paragraph showing the correctness of the meaning al-
ready stated.—Herein, if the sixth and seventh impulsions are said to have lapsed
because impulsion is exhausted, how does seventh-impulsion volition come to
have result experienceable in the next rebirth and to be of immediate effect on
rebirth?—This is not owing to strength got through a repetition condition.—
What then?—It is owing to the difference in the function's position (kiriydvattha).
For the function [of impulsion] has three positions, that is, initial, medial and
final. Herein, experienceability of result in the next rebirth and immediateness of
effect on rebirth are due to the last volition's final position, not to its strength ...
So the fact that the sixth and seventh lapse because impulsion is used up cannot
be objected to' (Pm. 135). See Table V.
22. "The normal extent does not apply" here "in the seven instances" because of
the immeasurability of the conscious moment in some, and the extreme brevity
of the moment in others; for "extent" is inapplicable here in the sense of com-
plete cognitive series, which is why "in fruition next to the path", etc., is said'
(Pm. 136).
23. The five (see e.g. Ps.ii,220; MA.i,85) are suppression (by concentration),
substitution of opposites (by insight), cutting off (by the path), tranquillization
(by fruition), and escape (as nibbana); cf. five kinds of deliverance (e.g. MA.iv,
168). The three (see e.g. Nd.1,26; MA.ii,143) are bodily seclusion (retreat),
mental seclusion (jhana), and seclusion from the substance or circumstances of
becoming (nibbana).
24. Here sahkappa ('thinking') has the meaning of 'hankering'. Chanda, kdma
and rdga and their combinations need sorting out. Chanda (zeal, desire) is much
used, neutral in colour, good or bad according to context and glossed by 'desire
to act'; technically also one of the four roads to power and four predominances.
Kdma (sense desire, sensuality) loosely represents enjoyment of the five sense
pleasures (e.g. sense-desire sphere). More narrowly it refers to sexual enjoyment
(third of the Five Precepts). Distinguished as subjective desire (defilement) and
objective things that arouse it (Nd. 1,1; cf. Ch. XIV, n.36). The figure 'five
cords of sense desire' signifies simply these desires with the five sense objects
that attract them. Rdga (greed) is the general term for desire in its bad sense and
identical with lobha, which latter, however, appears technically as one of the
three root-causes of unprofitable action. Rdga is renderable also by iust ' in its
general sense. Kdmacchanda (lust): a technical term for the first of the five
hindrances. Chanda-rdga (zeal and greed) and kdma-rdga (greed for sense de-
sires) have no technical use.
25. Uhana—* hitting upon': possibly connected with uhanati (to disturb—see
M.i,243; ii,193). Obviously connected here with the meaning of dhanana-
pariydhanana ('striking and threshing') in the next line. For the similes that
follow here see Pe. 142.
26. These two sentences, 'So hi ekaggo hutvd appetV and 'So hi drammanam
anumajjati\ are not in the Burmese and Harvard editions.
27. Puggalddhitthdna —'in terms of a person'; a technical commentarial term
for one of the ways of presenting a subject. They are dhamma-desand (discourse
about principles), and puggala-desand (discourse about persons), both of which
may be treated either as dhammddhitthdna (in terms of principles) or pug-
galddhitthdna (in terms of persons). See MA.i,24.
28. The four assemblies (parisa) are the bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, laymen follow-
ers and Iaywomen followers.
29. For this word play see also Ch. XVII, §48. Khanati is only given in normal
meaning of 'to dig' in P.T.S. £>ict. There seems to be some confusion of meaning
with khayati (to destroy) here, perhaps suggested by khddati (to eat). This sug-
gests a rendering here and in Ch. XVII of 'to consume' which makes sense.
Glossed by avaddriyati, to break or dig: not in P.T.S. Diet. See T.C.P. Diet.
'avaddrana'.
30. Kantdra-khinna —'exhausted in a desert'; khinna is not in P.T.S. Diet.
31. Four unities (ekatta) are given in the preceding paragraph of the same
Patisambhida ref.: 'The unity consisting in the appearance of relinquishment in
the act of giving, which is found in those resolved upon generosity (giving up);
the unity consisting in the appearance of the sign of serenity, which is found in
those who devote themselves to the higher consciousness; the unity consisting in
the appearance of the characteristic of fall, which is found in those with insight;
the unity consisting in the appearance of cessation, which is found in noble
persons' (Ps.i,167). The second is meant here.
32. 'The inmates of the Abhayagiri Monastery in Anuradhapura' (Pm. 144).
33. ' "/Ts": of that jhana consciousness. "AT that moment'-: at the moment of
dissolution; for when the moment of arising is past, repetition occurs starting
with the moment of presence' (Pm. 145). A curious argument; see §182.
34. The quotation is incomplete and the end should read '... ekarasatthena
bhdvandvasena panndvasena pahnindriyam adhimattam hoti\
35. 'In the sense of the jhana's entire object. It is not made its partial object'
(Pm. 147).
36. Kdya-dutthulla—'bodily irritability': explained here as 'bodily disturbance
(daratha), excitement of the body (kdya-sdraddhatd)
y
by Pm. (p. 148); here it
represents the hindrance of ill will; cf. M.iii,151,159, where commented on as
kdydlasiya—'bodily inertia' (MA.iv,202, 208). P.T.S. Diet, only gives meaning
of 'wicked, lewd' for dutthulla, for which meaning see e.g. A.i,88, VinA. 528;
cf. Ch. IX, §69.
37. For pamukha—'verandah' see n.2 above. Parivena—'surrounding space':
this meaning, not given in P.T.S. Diet., is brought out clearly in Ch. XI, §7.
38. Samabbhahata—'stretched flat': not in this sense in P.T.S. Diet. This word
replaces the word suvihata used at M.iii,105 where this clause is borrowed from.
At Ch. XI, §92 the same word (apparently in another sense) is glossed by peliana
= 'pushing' (not in P.T.S. Diet.) at Pm. 362. MA. (iv,153) glosses suvihata with
'pasdretvd sutthu vihata' which suggests 'stretched' rather than 'beaten'; harati
rather than hanati.
39. What the story is intended to illustrate is the rapidity with which the elder
entered the jhana, controlled its duration, and emerged, which is the necessary
preliminary to the working of a marvel (the creation of a rock in this case; Ch.
XII, §57). The last remark seems to indicate that all the others would have been
too slow (see Pm. 150).
40. See Ch. XIV, §192 and note.
41. In the Pali, sampasddanam cetaso ekodibhdvarh, cetaso ('of mind') comes
between sampasddanam ('confidence') and ekodibhdvarh ('singleness') and so
can be construed with either.
42. Appita—'done away with': Appitd ti vindsam gamitd (
l
Appita means made
to go to annihilation') (Pm. 153). This meaning, though not in P.T.S. Diet., is
given in T.C.P. Diet.
43. Sampindana—'conjunction': gram, term for the word ca (and). This mean-
ing not given in P.T.S. Diet. Cf. MA.i,40.
44. The 'eight kinds' are those connected with the eight jhanas, the 'ten kinds'
those connected with the four paths, the four fruitions, the void liberation, and
the signless liberation.
45. Avatthd—'position, occasion'. Not in P.T.S. Diet.; see T.C.P. Diet.
46. Sovatthika-ttaya—'three marks'; cf. Ch. XXI, §49.
47. For consciousness-originated materiality see Ch. XX, §30ff.
48. 'They say that with the words "There could be the arising of the pain
faculty" it is shown that since grief arises even in obtainers of jhana, it is demon-
strated thereby that hate can exist without being a hindrance just as greed can;
for grief does not arise without hate. Nor, they say, is there any conflict with the
Patthana text to be fancied here, since what is shown there is only grief that
occurs making lost jhana its object because the grief that occurs making its
object a jhana that has not been lost is not relevant there. And they say that it
cannot be maintained that grief does not arise at all in those who have obtained
jhana since it did arise in Asita who had the eight attainments (Sn. 691), and he
was not one who had lost jhana. So they say. That is wrong because there is no
hate without the nature of a hindrance. If there were, it would arise in fine-
material and immaterial beings, and it does not. Accordingly when in such pas-
sages as "In the immaterial state, due to the hindrance of lust there is the hin-
drance of stiffness and torpor ... the hindrance of agitation, the hindrance of
ignorance" (Ptn. 2, 291), ill will and worry are not mentioned as hindrances, that
does not imply that they are not hindrances even by supposing that it was be-
cause lust, etc., were not actually hindrances and were called hindrances there
figuratively because of resemblance to hindrances. And it is no reason to argue
"it is because it arose in Asita", since there is falling away from jhana with the
arising of grief. The way to regard that is that when the jhana is lost for some
trivial reason such men reinstate it without difficulty' (Pm. 158-59).
49. Gopa—'cowherd (or guardian)': not in P.T.S. Diet.
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
CHAPTER III
1. The answer to question (vii) stretches from Ch. Ill, §27 to Ch. XI, §119.
That to question (viii) from Ch. XI, §120 up to the end of Ch. XIII.
2. 'Cittass' ekaggatd* is rendered here as 'unification of mind' in the sense of
agreement or harmony (cf. samagga) of consciousness and its concomitants
in focussing on a single object (see A.iJO). It is sometimes rendered 'one-
pointedriess' in that sense, or in the sense of the focussing of a searchlight. It
may be concluded that this term is simply a synonym for samddhi and nothing
more, firstly from its use in the suttas, and secondly from the fact that it is given
no separate definition in the description of the formations aggregate in Ch. XIV.
Cf. gloss at MA.i,124.
3. 'The characteristic of non-distraction is the individual essence peculiar to
concentration. Hence no analysis of it is possible, which is why he said: "/f is of
one kind with the characteristic of non-distraction" ' (Pm. 91).
4. 'Applied thought that occurs as though absorbing (appento) associated states
in the object is absorption (appana). Accordingly it is described as "absorption,
absorbing (appana vyappand)" (M.iii,73). Now since that is the most important,
the usage of the Commentaries is to call all exalted and unsurpassed jhana states
"absorption" [as well as the applied thought itself]* and likewise to apply the
term of common usage "access" to the limited [i.e. sense-sphere] jhana that her-
alds the arising of the former, just as the term "village access", etc. is applied to
the neighbourhood of a village' (Pm. 91).
5. 'The round (yatta, see Ch. XVII, §298) [including fine-material and imma-
terial heavens] is called the world (loka) because of its crumbling (lujjana) and
disintegrating (palujjana). "Mundane" (lokiya) means connected with the world
because of being included in it or found there. "Supramundane" (lokuttara) means
beyond the world, excepted from it, because of not being included in it [through
being associated with nibbana]' (Pm. 91). See also 'nine supramundane states',
Ch. VII, § 68, 74f.
6. In loose usage piti (happiness) and sukha (pleasure or bliss) are almost
synonyms. They become differentiated in the jhana formulas (see Ch. IV, §100),
and then technically phi, as the active thrill of rapture, is classed under the for-
mations aggregate and sukha under the feeling aggregate. The valuable word
'happiness' was chosen for piti rather than the possible alternatives of 'joy'
(needed for somanassa), 'interest' (which is too flat), 'rapture' (which is over-
charged), or 'zest'. For sukha, while 'pleasure' seemed to fit admirably where
ordinary pleasant feeling is intended, another, less crass, word seemed necessary
for the refined pleasant feeling of jhana and the 'bliss' of nibbana (which is not
feeling aggregate—see M.i,400). 'Ease' is sometimes used.
'Neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling is intended here by "equanimity"
(upekkhaf lit. onlooking); for it "looks on" (upekkhati) at the occurrence of
[bodily] pleasure and pain by maintaining the neutral (central) mode' (Pm. 92).
7. Samatha—'serenity' is a synonym for absorption concentration, and 'in-
sight' (vipassana) a synonym for understanding. Samatha is sometimes rendered
by 'tranquillity' (reserved here for passaddhi) or 'calm' or 'quiet'.
8. One of the principal monasteries in Anuradhapura.
9. Dve mdtikd—the 'two codes': see Ch. I, n. 11. But Pm. says here: ' ''Ob-
servers of the codes" are observers of the codes (summaries) of the Dhamma and
Vinaya' (Pm. 117).
10. Pavdrand: ceremony held at the end of the rains, during three months of
which season bhikkhus have to undertake to live in one place in order to avoid
travel while crops are growing. It consists in a meeting of the bhikkhus who have
spent the rains together, at which each member present invites (pavdreti) the
Community to point out his faults (breaches of Vinaya rules) committed during
the preceding three months (Vin.i,155).
11. 'Pdcinakhandardjd ti puratthimadisdya pabbatakhanddnam antare vana-
rdjhthdnarh' (Pm. 97.)
12. For the first five years after the admission (upasampada) a bhikkhu is called
a 'new (nava) bhikkhu'; from five to ten years he is called a 'middle (majjhima)
bhikkhu'; with ten or more years' seniority he is called an 'elder (thera) bhikkhu'.
13. The last sentence here might refer to a free mass distribution of gruel
(ydgu), which appears to have been more or less constantly maintained at
Anuradhapura.
14. It is usual to render the set phrase panltam khddanlyam bhojaniyam by
some such phrase as 'sumptuous food both hard and soft', which is literal but un-
familiar-sounding.
15. 'The way of the Rathavinlta (Rathavimta-patipada)': this is a reference to
certain suttas that were adopted by bhikkhus as a 'way' (patipadd) or guide to
practice. The suttas mentioned here are Rathavinita (M.i,145), Nalaka (Sn., p.
131), Tuvataka (Sn., p. 179), Noble One's Heritages (ariyavamsa—A.ii,27).
Others are mentioned at MA.i, 92; iii,6; SA.iii,291. The Ariyavamsa Sutta itself
has a long commentary on practice, and it is mentioned in the Commentaries as a
popular subject for preaching (see e.g. commentary to A. Tikanipata 42)
16. Simd—'boundary': loosely used in this sense, it corresponds vaguely to
what is meant by 'parish'. In the strict sense it is the actual area (usually a
'chapter house') agreed according to the rules laid down in the Vinaya and
marked by boundary stones, within which the Community (sangha) carries out
its formal acts.
17. Atthayitabba—'needed': not in P.T.S. Diet., not in T.C.P. Diet..
18. Mana, usually rendered by 'pride', is rendered here both by 'pride' and
'conceit'. Etymologically it is derived perhaps from mdneti (to honour) or mindti
(to measure). In sense, however, it tends to become associated with mahhatU to
conceive (false notions, see M.i,l), to imagine, to think (as e.g. at Nd.1,80, Vbh.
390 and corny.). As one of the 'defilements' (see M.i,36) it is probably best
rendered by 'pride'. In the expression asmi-mdna (often rendered by 'the pride
that says "I am" ') it more nearly approaches mahhand (false imagining, miscon-
ception, see M.iii,246) and is better rendered by 'the conceit "I am" ', since the
word 'conceit' straddles both the meanings of 'pride' (i.e. haughtiness) and
'conception'.
19. * "Some" is said with reference to the Elder Upatissa. For it is put in this
way by him in the Vimuttimagga. The word "apparently" indicates dissent from
what follows' (Pm. 103). A similar passage to that referred to appears in Ch. 6 of
the Chinese version of the Vimuttimagga, the only one extant.
20. Silaka—'good-tempered'—sukhasila (good-natured—see §83), which =
sakhila (kindly—Pm. 104). Not in P.T.S. Diet.
21. Ukkutika—'springy' is glossed here by asamphutthamajjham ('not touching
in the middle'—Pm. 106). This meaning is not in P.T.S. Diet.
22. Siriga—-'foppery' is not in P.T.S. Diet, in this sense. See Vbh. 351 and com-
mentary.
Cdpalya (ca'palla)—'personal vanity': noun from adj. capala. The word
'capala' comes in an often-repeated passage:
l
sdthd mdydvino ketubhino ud-
dhatd unnald capala mukhard ... ' (M.i,32); cf. S.i,203; A.iii,199, etc.) and also
M.i,470 'uddhato hoti capalo\ with two lines lower 'uddhaccam cdpalyam\
Cdpalya also occurs at Vbh. 351 (and M.ii,167). At MA.i,152 (commenting on
M.i,32) we find: capala ti pattacivaramandanddind cdpallena yuttd ('interested
in personal vanity consisting in adorning bowl and robe and so on'), and at
MA.iii,185 (commenting on M.i,470): Uddhato hoti capalo ti uddhaccapakatiko
e'eva hoti civaramandand pattamandand sendsanamandand imassa vd putikdyassa
keldyanamandand ti evam vuttena tarunaddrakacdpallena samanndgato (' "he is
distracted—or puffed up—and personally vain": he is possessed of the callow
youth's personal vanity described as adorning the robe, adorning the bowl, adorn-
ing the lodging, or prizing and adorning this filthy body'). This meaning is
confirmed in the commentary to Vbh. 251. P.T.S. Diet, does not give this mean-
ing at all but only 'fickle', which is unsupported by the commentary. T.C.P.
Diet, (acapala) also does not give this meaning.
As to the other things listed here in the Vis. text, most will be found at
M.i,36. For 'holding on tenaciously', etc., see M.i,43.
23. Jatukd—'z bat': not in P.T.S. Diet. Also at Ch. XI. §7.
24. Jalapuvasadisa—'like a net cake': 'A cake made like a net' (Pm. 108);
possibly what is now known in Ceylon as a 'string hopper', or something like it.
25. Surabhi—'scented, perfume': not in P.T.S. Diet.; also at Ch. VI, §90; X,
§60 and Pm. 445.
26. ' "Kasina" is in the sense of entirety (sakalatthena)' (MA.iii,260). See Ch. IV,
§119.
27. Here ten kinds of foulness are given. But in the Suttas only either five or six
of this set appear to be mentioned, that is, 'Perception of a skeleton, perception
of the worm-infested, perception of the livid, perception of the cut-up, perception
of the bloated' (see A.i,42 and S.v,131; A.ii,17 adds 'perception of the fester-
ing'). No details are given. All ten appear at Dhs. 263-64 and Ps.i,49. It will be
noted that no order of progress of decay in the kinds of corpse appears here; also
the instructions in Ch. VI are for contemplating actual corpses in these states.
The primary purpose here is to cultivate 'repulsiveness'.
Another set of nine progressive stages in the decay of a corpse, mostly
different from these, is given at M.i,58, 89, etc., beginning with a corpse one day
old and ending with bones turned to dust. From the words Suppose a bhikkhu
saw a corpse thrown on a charnel ground ... he compares this same body of his
with it thus "This body too is of like nature, awaits a like fate, is not exempt
from that" ' (M.i,58), it can be assumed that these nine, which are given in
progressive order of decay in order to demonstrate the body's impermanence, are
not necessarily intended as contemplations of actual corpses so much as mental
images to be created, the primary purpose being to cultivate impermanence. This
may be why these nine are not used here (see Ch. VIII, §43).
The word asubha (foul, foulness) is used both of the contemplations of
corpses as here and of the contemplation of the parts of the body (A.v,109).
28. The full story, which occurs at MA.iii,382-83 and elsewhere, is this: 'It
seems that when the Karavika bird has pecked a sweet-flavoured mango with its
beak and savoured the dripping juice, and flapping its wings, begins to sing, then
quadrupeds caper as if mad. Quadrupeds grazing in their pastures drop the grass
in their mouths and listen to the sound. Beasts of prey hunting small animals
pause with one foot raised. Hunted animals lose their fear of death and halt in
their tracks. Birds flying in the air stay with wings outstretched. Fishes in the
water keep still, not moving their fins. All listen to the sound, so beautiful is the
Karavika's song. Dhammasoka's queen Asandhamitta asked the Community:
"Venerable sirs, is there anything that sounds like the Buddha?"—"The Karavika
birds does."—"Where are those birds, venerable sirs?"—"In the Himalaya." She
told the king: "Sire, I wish to hear a Karavika bird". The king despatched a gold
cage with the order "Let a Karavika bird come and sit in this cage". The cage
travelled and halted in front of a Karavika. Thinking "The cage has come at the
king's command; it is impossible not to go", the bird got in. The cage returned
and stopped before the king. They could not get the Karavika to utter a sound.
When the king asked "When do they utter a sound?", they replied "On seeing
their kin". Then the king had it surrounded with looking-glasses. Seeing its own
reflection and imagining that its relatives had come, it flapped its wings and
cried out with an exquisite voice as if sounding a crystal trumpet. All the people
in the city rushed about as if mad. Asandhamitta thought: "If the sound of this
creature is so fine, what indeed can the sound of the Blessed One have been like
since he had reached the glory of omniscient knowledge?", and arousing a happi-
ness that she never again relinquished, she became established in the fruition of
stream-entry*.
29. See Dhs. , p. 55; but it comes under the '... pe ...', which mus t be filled in
from pp. 37-38, § 182 and § 184.
30. 'It is because only an abstract (parikappaja) object can be extended, not
any other kind, that he said "/r is not possible to extend a state consisting in an
individual essence" ' (Pm. 110).
31. The word l
nimitta\ in its technical sense is consistently rendered here by the
word 'sign', which corresponds very nearly if not exactly to most uses of it. It is
sometimes rendered by 'mark' (which over-emphasizes the concrete), and by
'image' (which is not always intended). The three kinds, that is, the preliminary-
work sign, learning sign and counterpart sign, do not appear in the Pitakas. There
the use rather suggests association of ideas as, for example, at M.i,180, M.i,l 19,
A.i,4, etc., than the more definitely visualized 'image' in some instances of the
'counterpart sign* described in the following chapters.
32. Na-vattaba—'not so-classifiable* is an Abhidhamma shorthand term for
something that, when considered under one of the triads or dyads of the
Abhidhamma Matika (Dhs., p. If.), cannot be placed under any one of the three,
or two, headings.
33. ' "The festering" is a mobile object because of the oozing of the pus, "the
bleeding" because of the trickling of the blood, "the worm-infested" because of
the wriggling of the worms. The mobile aspect of the sunshine coming in through
a window opening is evident, which explains why an object consisting of a circle
of sunlight is called mobile
1
(Pm. 110).
34. 'In addition to the five things' (not quoted) dealt with earlier in the sutta,
namely, perfection of virtue, good friendship, hearing suitable things, energy,
and understanding.
35. ' "The cryptic books": the meditation-subject books dealing with the truths,
the dependent origination, etc., which are profound and associated with void-
ness* (Pm. 111). Cf. MA.ii,264, AA. commentary to A. Catukka-nipata, 180.
CHAPTER IV
1. 'They say it is the Dakkhinagiri in the Magadha country* (Pm. 116). There
is mention of a Dakkhinagiri-vihara at MA.ii,293 and elsewhere.
2. Read pamukhesu sosayanti. Pamukha not thus in P.T.S. Diet.
3. 'A "water port of entry" is a port of entry on the sea or on an estuary. A
"land port of entry" is one on the edge of a forest and acts as the gateway on the
road of approach to great cities* (Pm. 116).
4. 'Said in the Old Commentary. "One who is learning the earth kasina": one
who is apprehending, grasping, an earth kasina as a "learning sign**. The mean-
ing is, one who is producing an earth kasina that has become the sign of learning;
and here "arousing** should be regarded as the establishing of the sign in that
way. "In earth": in an earth disk of the kind about to be described. "Apprehends
the sign": he apprehends in that, with knowledge connected with meditative de-
velopment, the sign of earth of the kind about to be described, as one does with
the eye the sign of the face in a looking-glass. "Made up": prepared in the
manner about to be described. "Not made up": in a disk of earth consisting of an
ordinary threshing-floor disk, and so on. "Bounded": only in one that has bounds.
As regard the words "the size of a bushel", etc., it would be desirable that a
bushel and a saucer were of equal size, but some say that "the size of a saucer" is
a span and four fingers, and the "the size of a bushel" is larger than that. "He
sees to it that that sign is well apprehended": that meditator makes that disk of
earth a well-apprehended sign. When, after apprehending the sign in it by open-
ing the eyes, and looking and then closing them again, it appears to him as he
adverts to it just as it did at the moment of looking with open eyes, then he has
made it well apprehended. Having thoroughly established his mindfulness there,
observing it again and again with his mind not straying outside, he sees that it is
"well attended to". When it is well attended to thus by adverting and attending
again and again by producing much repetition and development instigated by
that, he sees that it is "well defined". "To that object": to that object called earth
kasina, which has appeared rightly owing to its having been well apprehended.
"He anchors his mind": by bringing his own mind to access jhana he anchors it,
keeps it from other objects' (Pm. 119).
5. 'Gangd (= 'river') is the name for the Ganges in India and for the Mahaveli-
ganga, Ceylon's principal river. However, in the Island of Ceylon there is a river,
it seems, called the Ravana-ganga. The clay in the places where the banks are cut
away by its stream is the colour of dawn' (Pm. 119).
6. ' "Apprehend the sign": apprehend with the mind the sign apprehended by
the eye in the earth kasina. "And develop it": the apprehending of the sign as it
occurs should be continued intensively and constantly practised' (Pm. 120).
7. 'Just as one who sees his reflection (mukha-nimitta—lit. face-sign) on the
surface of a looking-glass does not open his eyes too widely or too little (in order
to get the effect), nor does he review the colour of the looking-glass or give
attention to its characteristic, but rather looks with moderately opened eyes and
sees only the sign of his face, so too this meditator looks with moderately opened
eyes at the earth kasina and is occupied only with the sign' (Pm. 121).
8. 'The dawn colour that is there in the kasina should not be thought about,
though it cannot be denied that it is apprehended by eye-consciousness. That is
why, instead x)f saying here "should not be looked at", he says that it should not
be apprehended by reviewing. Also the earth element's characteristic of hard-
ness, which is there, should not be given attention because the apprehension has
to be done through the channel of seeing. And after saying "while not ignoring
the colour" he said "relegating the colour to the position of a property of the
physical support"^ showing that here the concern is not with the colour, which is
the channel, but rather that this colour should be treated as an accessory of the
physical support; the meaning is that the kasina (disk) should be given attention
with awareness of both the accompanying earth-aspect and its ancillary colour-
aspect, but taking the earth-aspect with its ancillary concomitant colour as both
supported equally by that physical support [the disk], "On the concept as the
mental datum since that is what is outstanding": the term of ordinary usage
"earth" (pathavi) as applied to earth with its accessories, since the prominence of
its individual effect is due to outstandingness of the earth element: "setting the
mind" on that mental datum consisting of a [name-] concept (pannatti-dhamma),
the kasina should be given attention as "earth, earth". —If the mind is to be set
on a mere concept by means of a term of common usage, ought earth to be given
attention by means of different names?—It can be. What is wrong? It is to show
that that is done he said "Mahi, medinV\ and so on' (Pm. 122).
9. ' "Comes into focus": becomes the resort of mind-door impulsion' (Pm.
122).
10. 'Why should he not? If, after the learning sign was produced, he went on
developing it by looking at the disk of the earth, there would be no arising of the
counterpart sign* (Pm. 122).
11. 'Stamped with the three characteristics of the formed beginning with rise
(see A.i,152), or marked with the three characteristics beginning with imperma-
nence' (Pm. 122).
12. 'If "it is not like that"— is not possessed of colour, etc.—then how is it the
object of jhana? It is in order to answer that question that the sentence beginning
"For it is ..." is given. "Born of the perception": produced by the perception
during development, simply born from the perception during development. Since
there is no arising from anywhere of what has no individual essence, he therefore
said "Being the mere mode of appearance" ' (Pm. 122). See Ch. VIII, n.ll.
13. Bhavahga (life-continuum, lit. 'constituent of becoming') and javana (im-
pulsion) are first mentioned in this work at Ch. I, §57 (see n. 16); this is the
second mention. The 'cognitive series' (citta-vithi) so extensively used here is
unknown as such in the Pitakas. Perhaps the seed from which it sprang may exist
in, say, such passages as: 'Due to eye and to visible data eye-consciousness
arises. The coincidence of the three is contact. With contact as condition there is
feeling. What he feels he perceives. What he perceives he thinks about. What he
thinks about he diversifies [by means of craving, pride and false view] ... Due to
mind and to mental data ...' (M.i,l 11). And: 'Is the eye permanent or imperma-
nent? ... Are visible objects permanent or impermanent? ... Is the mind perma-
nent or impermanent? Are mental data ... Is mind-consciousness ... Is mind-
contact ... Is any feeling, any perception, any formation, any consciousness, that
arises with mind-contact as condition permanent or impermanent?' (M.iii,279).
And: 'These five faculties [of eye, etc.] each with its separate objective field and
no one of them experiencing as its objective field the province of any other, have
mind as their refuge, and mind experiences their provinces as its objective field'
(M.i,295). This treatment of consciousness implies, as it were, more than even a
'double thickness' of consciousness. An already-formed nucleus of the cognitive
series, based on such Sutta-Pitaka material, appears in the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
The following two quotations show how the commentary (bracketted italics)
expands the Abhidhamma-Pitaka treatment.
(i) 'Herein, what is eye-consciousnes element? Due to eye and to visible
data (as support condition, and to functional mind element (= 5-door adverting),
as disappearance condition, and to the remaining three immaterial aggregates
as conascence condition) there arises consciousness ... which is eye-conscious-
ness element. [Similarly with the other four sense elements.] Herein, what is
mind element? Eye-consciousness having arisen and ceased, next to that there
arises consciousness ... which is appropriate (profitable or unprofitable) mind
element (in the mode of receiving). [Similarly with the other four sense ele-
ments.] Or else it is the first reaction to any mental datum (To be taken as
functional mind element in the mode of mind-door adverting). Herein, what is
mind-consciousness element? Eye-consciousness having arisen and ceased, next
to that there arises mind element. (Resultant) mind element having arisen and
ceased, also (next to that there arises resultant mind-consciousness element in
the mode of investigating; and that having arisen and ceased, next to that there
arises functional mind-consciousness element in the mode of determining; and
that having arisen and ceased) next to that there arises consciousness ... which
is appropriate mind-consciousness element (in the mode of impulsion). [Similarly
with the other four sense elements.] Due to (life-continuum) mind and to mental
data there arises consciousness ... which is appropriate (impulsion) mind-con-
sciousness element (following on the above-mentioned mind-door adverting)'
(Vbh. 87-90 and VbhA. 81 f.).
(ii) 'Eye-consciousness and its associated states are a condition, as prox-
imity condition, for (resultant) mind element and for its associated states. Mind
element and its associated states are a condition, as proximity condition, for
(root-causeless resultant) mind-consciousness element (in the mode of investi-
gating) and for its associated states. (Next to that, the mind-consciousness ele-
ments severally in the modes of determining, impulsion, registration, and life-
continuum should be mentioned, though they are not, since the teaching is
abbreviated.) [Similarly for the other four senses and mind-consciousness ele-
ment]. Preceding profitable (impulsion) states are a condition, as proximity
condition, for subsequent indeterminate (registration, life-continuum) states ...
[etc.]' (Ptn. 2, and Corny., 33-34).
The form that the two kinds (5-door and mind-door) of the cognitive series
take is shown in Table V. The following are some Pitaka refs. for the individual
modes: bhavahga (life-continuum): Ptn. 1,159,160,169,324; dvajjana (advert-
ing) Ptn. 1,159,160,169,324; sampaticchana (receiving), santlrana (investigating),
votthapana (determining), and taddrammana (registration) appear only in the
Commentaries. Javana (impulsion): Ps.ii,73,76. The following references may
also be noted here: anuloma (conformity), Ptn. 1,325. Cuti-citta (death conscious-
ness), Ptn. 1,324. Patisandhi (rebirth-linking), Ptn. 1,320, etc.; Ps.ii,72, etc.
14. North or south to avoid facing the rising sun in coming or going. Kosa is not
in P.T.S. Diet.; 'one and a half kosas = 3,000 bows' (Pm. 123).
15. Twenty-six kinds of 'aimless' (lit. 'animal') talk are given in the Suttas (e.g.
M.ii,l; iii,l 13), which the commentary increases to thirty-two (MA.iii, 233). The
ten instances of talk are those given in the Suttas (e.g. M.i,145; iii,113). See
Ch.I,n,12.
16. 'One who is occupied with exercising and caring for the body' (Pm. 124).
17. Budha—'possessed of wit': not in P.T.S. Diet.; see MA.i,39.
18. 'It guards the line (gam tdyati), thus it is lineage (gotta). When it occurs
limitedly, it guards the naming (abhidhdna) and the recognition (buddhi) of the
naming as restricted to a definite scope (ekamsa-visayata). For just as recogni-
tion does not take place without a meaning (attha) for its objective support
(drammana), so naming (abhidhdna) does not take place without what is named
(abhidheyya). So it (the gotta) is said to protect and keep these. But the limited
should be regarded as the materiality peculiar to sense-sphere states, which are
the resort of craving for sense desires, and destitute of the exalted (fine-material
and immaterial) or the unsurpassed (supramundane). The exalted lineage is ex-
plainable in the same way' (Pm. 134).
19. See Ch. XVII, § 189 and note.
20. 'The intention is that it is as if the sixth and seventh impulsions had lapsed
since impulsion beyond the fifth is exhausted. The elder's opinion was that just
as the first impulsion, which lacks the quality of repetition, does not arouse
change-of-lineage because of its weakness, while the second or the third, which
have the quality of repetition, can do so because they are strong on that account,
so too the sixth and seventh fix in absorption owing to their strength due to their
quality of repetition. But it is unsupported by a sutta or by any teacher's state-
ment in conformity with a sutta. And the text quoted is not a reason because
strength due to the quality of repetition is not a principle without exceptions
(anekantikatta)\ for the first volition, which is not a repetition, has result experi-
enceable here and now, while the second to the sixth, which are repetitions, have
result experienceable in future becomings' (Pm. 135).
21. ' "Either in the fourth or the fifth", etc., is said for the purpose of conclud-
ing [the discussion] with a paragraph showing the correctness of the meaning al-
ready stated.—Herein, if the sixth and seventh impulsions are said to have lapsed
because impulsion is exhausted, how does seventh-impulsion volition come to
have result experienceable in the next rebirth and to be of immediate effect on
rebirth?—This is not owing to strength got through a repetition condition.—
What then?—It is owing to the difference in the function's position (kiriydvattha).
For the function [of impulsion] has three positions, that is, initial, medial and
final. Herein, experienceability of result in the next rebirth and immediateness of
effect on rebirth are due to the last volition's final position, not to its strength ...
So the fact that the sixth and seventh lapse because impulsion is used up cannot
be objected to' (Pm. 135). See Table V.
22. "The normal extent does not apply" here "in the seven instances" because of
the immeasurability of the conscious moment in some, and the extreme brevity
of the moment in others; for "extent" is inapplicable here in the sense of com-
plete cognitive series, which is why "in fruition next to the path", etc., is said'
(Pm. 136).
23. The five (see e.g. Ps.ii,220; MA.i,85) are suppression (by concentration),
substitution of opposites (by insight), cutting off (by the path), tranquillization
(by fruition), and escape (as nibbana); cf. five kinds of deliverance (e.g. MA.iv,
168). The three (see e.g. Nd.1,26; MA.ii,143) are bodily seclusion (retreat),
mental seclusion (jhana), and seclusion from the substance or circumstances of
becoming (nibbana).
24. Here sahkappa ('thinking') has the meaning of 'hankering'. Chanda, kdma
and rdga and their combinations need sorting out. Chanda (zeal, desire) is much
used, neutral in colour, good or bad according to context and glossed by 'desire
to act'; technically also one of the four roads to power and four predominances.
Kdma (sense desire, sensuality) loosely represents enjoyment of the five sense
pleasures (e.g. sense-desire sphere). More narrowly it refers to sexual enjoyment
(third of the Five Precepts). Distinguished as subjective desire (defilement) and
objective things that arouse it (Nd. 1,1; cf. Ch. XIV, n.36). The figure 'five
cords of sense desire' signifies simply these desires with the five sense objects
that attract them. Rdga (greed) is the general term for desire in its bad sense and
identical with lobha, which latter, however, appears technically as one of the
three root-causes of unprofitable action. Rdga is renderable also by iust ' in its
general sense. Kdmacchanda (lust): a technical term for the first of the five
hindrances. Chanda-rdga (zeal and greed) and kdma-rdga (greed for sense de-
sires) have no technical use.
25. Uhana—* hitting upon': possibly connected with uhanati (to disturb—see
M.i,243; ii,193). Obviously connected here with the meaning of dhanana-
pariydhanana ('striking and threshing') in the next line. For the similes that
follow here see Pe. 142.
26. These two sentences, 'So hi ekaggo hutvd appetV and 'So hi drammanam
anumajjati\ are not in the Burmese and Harvard editions.
27. Puggalddhitthdna —'in terms of a person'; a technical commentarial term
for one of the ways of presenting a subject. They are dhamma-desand (discourse
about principles), and puggala-desand (discourse about persons), both of which
may be treated either as dhammddhitthdna (in terms of principles) or pug-
galddhitthdna (in terms of persons). See MA.i,24.
28. The four assemblies (parisa) are the bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, laymen follow-
ers and Iaywomen followers.
29. For this word play see also Ch. XVII, §48. Khanati is only given in normal
meaning of 'to dig' in P.T.S. £>ict. There seems to be some confusion of meaning
with khayati (to destroy) here, perhaps suggested by khddati (to eat). This sug-
gests a rendering here and in Ch. XVII of 'to consume' which makes sense.
Glossed by avaddriyati, to break or dig: not in P.T.S. Diet. See T.C.P. Diet.
'avaddrana'.
30. Kantdra-khinna —'exhausted in a desert'; khinna is not in P.T.S. Diet.
31. Four unities (ekatta) are given in the preceding paragraph of the same
Patisambhida ref.: 'The unity consisting in the appearance of relinquishment in
the act of giving, which is found in those resolved upon generosity (giving up);
the unity consisting in the appearance of the sign of serenity, which is found in
those who devote themselves to the higher consciousness; the unity consisting in
the appearance of the characteristic of fall, which is found in those with insight;
the unity consisting in the appearance of cessation, which is found in noble
persons' (Ps.i,167). The second is meant here.
32. 'The inmates of the Abhayagiri Monastery in Anuradhapura' (Pm. 144).
33. ' "/Ts": of that jhana consciousness. "AT that moment'-: at the moment of
dissolution; for when the moment of arising is past, repetition occurs starting
with the moment of presence' (Pm. 145). A curious argument; see §182.
34. The quotation is incomplete and the end should read '... ekarasatthena
bhdvandvasena panndvasena pahnindriyam adhimattam hoti\
35. 'In the sense of the jhana's entire object. It is not made its partial object'
(Pm. 147).
36. Kdya-dutthulla—'bodily irritability': explained here as 'bodily disturbance
(daratha), excitement of the body (kdya-sdraddhatd)
y
by Pm. (p. 148); here it
represents the hindrance of ill will; cf. M.iii,151,159, where commented on as
kdydlasiya—'bodily inertia' (MA.iv,202, 208). P.T.S. Diet, only gives meaning
of 'wicked, lewd' for dutthulla, for which meaning see e.g. A.i,88, VinA. 528;
cf. Ch. IX, §69.
37. For pamukha—'verandah' see n.2 above. Parivena—'surrounding space':
this meaning, not given in P.T.S. Diet., is brought out clearly in Ch. XI, §7.
38. Samabbhahata—'stretched flat': not in this sense in P.T.S. Diet. This word
replaces the word suvihata used at M.iii,105 where this clause is borrowed from.
At Ch. XI, §92 the same word (apparently in another sense) is glossed by peliana
= 'pushing' (not in P.T.S. Diet.) at Pm. 362. MA. (iv,153) glosses suvihata with
'pasdretvd sutthu vihata' which suggests 'stretched' rather than 'beaten'; harati
rather than hanati.
39. What the story is intended to illustrate is the rapidity with which the elder
entered the jhana, controlled its duration, and emerged, which is the necessary
preliminary to the working of a marvel (the creation of a rock in this case; Ch.
XII, §57). The last remark seems to indicate that all the others would have been
too slow (see Pm. 150).
40. See Ch. XIV, §192 and note.
41. In the Pali, sampasddanam cetaso ekodibhdvarh, cetaso ('of mind') comes
between sampasddanam ('confidence') and ekodibhdvarh ('singleness') and so
can be construed with either.
42. Appita—'done away with': Appitd ti vindsam gamitd (
l
Appita means made
to go to annihilation') (Pm. 153). This meaning, though not in P.T.S. Diet., is
given in T.C.P. Diet.
43. Sampindana—'conjunction': gram, term for the word ca (and). This mean-
ing not given in P.T.S. Diet. Cf. MA.i,40.
44. The 'eight kinds' are those connected with the eight jhanas, the 'ten kinds'
those connected with the four paths, the four fruitions, the void liberation, and
the signless liberation.
45. Avatthd—'position, occasion'. Not in P.T.S. Diet.; see T.C.P. Diet.
46. Sovatthika-ttaya—'three marks'; cf. Ch. XXI, §49.
47. For consciousness-originated materiality see Ch. XX, §30ff.
48. 'They say that with the words "There could be the arising of the pain
faculty" it is shown that since grief arises even in obtainers of jhana, it is demon-
strated thereby that hate can exist without being a hindrance just as greed can;
for grief does not arise without hate. Nor, they say, is there any conflict with the
Patthana text to be fancied here, since what is shown there is only grief that
occurs making lost jhana its object because the grief that occurs making its
object a jhana that has not been lost is not relevant there. And they say that it
cannot be maintained that grief does not arise at all in those who have obtained
jhana since it did arise in Asita who had the eight attainments (Sn. 691), and he
was not one who had lost jhana. So they say. That is wrong because there is no
hate without the nature of a hindrance. If there were, it would arise in fine-
material and immaterial beings, and it does not. Accordingly when in such pas-
sages as "In the immaterial state, due to the hindrance of lust there is the hin-
drance of stiffness and torpor ... the hindrance of agitation, the hindrance of
ignorance" (Ptn. 2, 291), ill will and worry are not mentioned as hindrances, that
does not imply that they are not hindrances even by supposing that it was be-
cause lust, etc., were not actually hindrances and were called hindrances there
figuratively because of resemblance to hindrances. And it is no reason to argue
"it is because it arose in Asita", since there is falling away from jhana with the
arising of grief. The way to regard that is that when the jhana is lost for some
trivial reason such men reinstate it without difficulty' (Pm. 158-59).
49. Gopa—'cowherd (or guardian)': not in P.T.S. Diet.
Visuddhimagga - Notes I
THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1. Exact dates are not agreed. The Ceylon Chronicles give the lengths of
reigns of kings of Ceylon back to the time of the Buddha and also of kings of
Magadha from Asoka back to the same time. Calculated backwards the list gives
543 B.C. as the year of the Buddha's parinibbdna (see list of kings in Codrington's
Short History of Ceylon, Macmillan 1947, p. xvf.). For adjustments to this calcu-
lation that bring the date of the parinibbdna forward to 483 B.C. (the date most
generally accepted in Europe), see e.g. Geiger Mahdvarhsa translation (introduc-
tion); Epigraphia Zeylanica i, 156; E. J. Thomas, Life of the Buddha, Kegan Paul,
p. 26, n.l. It seems certain, however, that Mahanama was reigning in the year
428 because of a letter sent by him to the Chinese court (Codrington p.29; E.Z.
Ill, 12). If the adjusted date is accepted then 60 extra years have somehow to be
squeezed out without displacing Mahanama's reign. Here the older date has been
used.
2. See also A Record of Buddhist Religion by I-tsing, trsl. J. Takakusu, Claren-
don Press, 1896, p. xxiii, where a geographical distribution of various schools
gives MulasarvAstivada mainly in the north and Ariyasthavira mainly in the
south of India. I-tsing, who did not visit Ceylon, was in India at the end of the
7th cent.; but he does not mention whether the Ariyasthavira (Theravada) Nikaya
in India pursued its studies in the Pali of its Tipitaka or in Sanskrit or in a local
vernacular.
3. In the epilogues and prologues of various works between the 5th and 12th
centuries there is mention of e.g., Padaratittha (VisA. prol.: near Madras),
Kancipura (AA. epil.: = Conjevaram near Madras), and other places where dif-
ferent teachers accepting the Great-Monastery tradition lived and worked. See
also Malalasekera, Pali Literature in Ceylon, p. 13; E.Z., iv, 69-71; Journal of
Oriental Research, Madras, Vol. XIX, pp. 278f.
4. Possibly the Vinaya summaries, Mulasikkhd and Khuddasikkhd (though
Geiger places these much later), as well as some works of Buddhadatta Thera. It
has not been satisfaptorily explained why the Mahdvamsa, composed in the late
4th or early 5th cent., ends abruptly in the middle of Chapter 37 with Mahasena's
reign (the Chronicle being only resumed eight centuries later).
5. The Gandhavamsa also gives the Apadana Commentary as by him.
6. Other readings are: Mayurarupapattana, Mayuradutapattana. Identified with
Mylapore near Madras (J.O.R., Madras, Vol. XIX, p. 281).
7. Identified with Conjevaram near Madras: P.L.C., p. 113. Acariya Ananda,
author of the sub-commentary to the Abhidhamma Pitaka (Mula-Tika), also
lived there, perhaps any time after the middle of the 5th century. The Elder
Dhammapala sometimes refers to the old Sinhalese commentaries as if they were
still available to him.
8. Other readings are: Morandakhetaka, Mudantakhedaka, Murandakhetaka,
etc.; not yet identified. Refers more probably to his birth-place than to his place
of pabbajjd. See also J.O.R., Madras, Vol. XIX, p. 282, article Buddhaghosa—
His Place of Birth by R. Subramaniam and S. P. Nainar, where a certain coinci-
dence of names is mentioned that might suggest a possible identification of
Morandakhetaka (moranda being Pali for 'peacock egg* and khedaka Skr. for
* village
1
—see Vis. Harvard ed., p. xv) with adjacent villages, 51 miles from
Nagarjunakonda and 58 m. from Amaravati, called Kotanemalipuri and Gundla-
palli (nemali and gundla being Telegu respectively for 'peacock* and 'egg').
However, more specific information will be needed in support before it can be
accepted as an indication that the Mahdvamsa is wrong about his birth-place.
More information about any connexion between Ceylon and those great South
Indian Buddhist centres is badly needed.
9. A definite statement that the DhA. was written later by someone else can
hardly avoid the inference that the 'postscript' was a fraud, or at least mislead-
ing.
10. Adikaram, Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon, pp. 3 and 86.
11. Paritta or 'protection': a name for certain suttas recited for that purpose.
SeeMA.iv,114.
12. See Vis. epil.
13. For instance, Prof. Kosambi, in his preface to the Vis. Harvard ed., over-
looks these considerations when he says: 'More positive evidence (that he was
not a North-Indian Brahman) is in the passage "Unhassa ti aggisantdpassa.
Tassa vanaddhddisu sambhavo veditabbo" (Ch. I, §86). "Heat: the heat of fire,
such as occurs at the time of forest fires, etc." This is a comment upon protection
against heat given by a civara. His explanation is obviously ridiculous. It is not
known to Indian southerners that a bare skin is sure to be sunburnt in the north-
ern summer' (p. xii). And Professor Kosambi has not only overlooked the fact
that it is almost certainly translated material that he is criticizing as original com-
position, but he appears not to have even read the whole passage. The sutta
sentence (M.i,10) commented on in the Visuddhimagga (Ch. I, §86-87) contains
two words unha and dtapa. If, before condemning the explanation as 'ridiculous,'
he had read on, he would have found, a line or two below, the words Atapo ti
suriydtapo (' " Burning " is burning of the sun'—Ch. I, §87).
14. The allusion is to the author of various Pali works including the Abhi-
dhammdvatdra; see n. 4.
15. Sahghardjd ('Ruler of the Community' —a title existing in Thailand today):
possibly a mistake for Sanghapala here (see Vis. epil.).
16. A learned allusion to Vis. Ch. VIII, §1.
17. Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion, article 'Buddhaghosa' by T. W. Rhys
Davids. Note also that another elder of the same name invited the writing of the
Sammohavinodani. The problem is discussed at some length by Prof. Nihar-
ranjan Ray, Theravada Buddhism in Burma, pp. 24ff.
18. The legitimateness of the mental moment of 'presence' (thiti) as deducible
from A.i,152 is questioned by Acariya Ananda (VbhAA.), who wrote early in the
Middle Period; he cites the Yamaka (refs.: ii,13; ii,14; and i,216-17) against it.
19. The Elder Dhammapala, commenting on Vis. Ch. XXI, §77, takes the reading
phutthantam sacchikato and explains that (cf. Mula Tika Pug AA. p. 32), but the
Elder MahanAma, commenting on the PatisambhidAmagga from which the pas-
sage is quoted, takes the reading phutthattd sacchikato and comments differently
(PsA., p. 396, Hewavitarne ed.). Again, what is referred to as 'said by some
(keciY in the Elder Dhammapala's comment on the Visuddhimagga (see Vis. Ch.
VIII, n.46) is put forward by the Elder Mahanama with no such reservation
(PsA., p.351). It is the usual standard of strict consistency that makes such very
minor divergences noticeable. These two commentators, though, rarely repro-
duce each other verbatim. Contrastingly, where the Paramatthamahjusd and the
Mula Tikd similarly overlap, the sentences are mostly verbatim, but the former,
with extra material, looks like an expanded version of the latter, or the latter a
cut version of the former.
20. See A.ii,56; Ps.ii,92f.
21. In the present work the development of serenity (concentration) is carried to
its limit before insight (understanding) is dealt with. This is for clarity. But in the
commentary to the Satipatthana Sutta (D. Sutta 22, M. Sutta 10) either the two
are developed contemporaneously or insight is allowed to precede jhana concen-
tration. According to the Suttas, concentration of jhana strength is necessary for
the manifestation of the path (see e.g. Vis. Ch. XIV, §127; XV, n.7; D.ii,313 =
M.iii,252; A.ii,156, quoted at Ps.ii,92f.).
22. See Prof. I. A. Richards, Mencius on Mind, Kegan Paul, 1932.
23. Exceptions are certain early works of Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids. See also
discussions in appendixes to the translations of the Kathdvatthu (Points of Con-
troversy, P.T.S.) and the Abhidhammatthasahgaha (Compendium of Philosophy,
P.T.S.).
24. Pronounce letters as follows: a as in countryman, a father, e whey, i chin,
I machine, u full, u rule; c church (always), g give (always); h always sounded
separately, e.g. bh in cab-horse, ch in catch him (not kitchen), ph in upholstery
(not telephone), th in hot-house (not pathos), etc.; j joke; m and n as ng in singer,
n as ni in onion; d,}, n and t are pronounced with tongue-tip on palate; d, i, n and
t with tongue-tip on teeth; double consonants as in Italian, e.g. dd as in mad dog
(not madder), gg as in big gun (not bigger); rest as in English.
25. Of the principal English value words, 'rear, 'truth', 'beauty', 'good', 'abso-
lute', 'being', etc.: 'real' has been used for tatha (Ch. XVI, §24), 'truth' allotted
to sacca (Ch. XVI, §25) and beauty to subha (Ch. IX, §119); 'good' has been
used sometimes for the prefix su~ and also for the adj. kalydna and the subst.
attha. 'Absolute' has not been employed, though it might perhaps be used for the
word advaya, which qualifies the word hasina ('universality', 'totalization') at
M.ii,14, and then: 'One (man) perceives earth as a universality above, below,
around, absolute, measureless' could be an alternative for the rendering given in
Ch. V, §38. 'Being' (as abstract subst.) has sometimes been used for bhava,
which is otherwise rendered by 'becoming.'
CHAPTER I
1. 'From a visible datum sometimes as far down as a mental datum, or vice
versa, following the order of the six kinds of objects of consciousness as given in
the teaching' (Pm. 5, see Ch. XV, §1).
2. The Great Monastery (Mahdvihdra) at Anuradhapura in Ceylon.
3. 'The words "insight alone" are meant to exclude, not virtue, etc., but seren-
ity (i.e. jhana), which is the opposite number in the pair, serenity and insight.
This is for emphasis. But the word "alone" actually excludes only that concentra-
tion with distinction [of jhana]; for concentration is classed as both access and
absorption (see Ch. IV, §32). Taking this stanza as the teaching for one whose
vehicle is insight does not imply that there is no concentration; for no insight
comes about without momentary concentration. And again, insight should be
understood as the three contemplations of impermanence, pain, and not-self; not
contemplation of impermanence alone' (Pm. 9-10).
4. * "Develops" applies to both "consciousness" and "understanding". But are
they mundane or supramundane? They are supramundane, because the sublime
goal is described; for one developing them is said to disentangle the tangle of
craving by cutting it off at the path moment, and that is not mundane. But the
mundane are included here too because they immediately precede, since supra-
mundane (see Ch. Ill, note 5) concentration and insight are impossible without
mundane concentration and insight to precede them; for without the access and
absorption concentration in one whose vehicle is serenity, or without the mo-
mentary concentration in one whose vehicle is insight, and without the gateways
to liberation (see Ch. XXI, §66f.), the supramundane can never in either case be
reached' (Pm. 13). 'With triple root-cause' means with non-greed, non-hate and
non-delusion.
5. One who is virtuous has nothing to be remorseful about.
6. The three kinds of clear-vision are: recollection of past life, knowledge of
the passing away and reappearance of beings (divine eye), and knowledge of de-
struction of cankers (M.i,22-23). The six kinds of direct-knowledge are: knowl-
edge of supernormal power, the divine ear element, penetration of minds, recol-
lection of past life, knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings,
and knowledge of destruction of cankers (M.i,34-35). The four discriminations
are those of meaning, law, language, and intelligence (A.ii,160).
7. 'Consciousness-concomitants' (cetasika) is a collective term for feeling,
perception, and formations, variously subdivided; in other words, aspects of
mentality that arise together with consciousness.
8. Silana, and upadhdrana in this meaning (cf. Ch. I, §141 and sandhdrana,
Ch. XIV, §61), are not in P.T.S. Diet.
9. The three kinds of profitable bodily kamma or action (not killing or stealing
or indulging in sexual misconduct), the four kinds of profitable verbal kamma or
action (refraining from lying, malicious speech, harsh speech, and gossip), and
right livelihood as the eighth.
10. Uposatha (der. from upavasati, to observe or to prepare) is the name for the
day of 'fasting' or 'vigil' observed on the days of the new moon, waxing half
moon, full moon, and waning half moon. On these days it is customary for
laymen to undertake the Eight Precepts {slid) or Five Precepts. On the new-moon
and full-moon days the Patimokkha (see note 11) is recited by bhikkhus. The two
quarter-moon days are called the 'eighth of the half moon'. The full-moon day is
called the 'fifteenth' (i.e. 15 days from the new moon) and is the last day of the
lunar month. That of the new moon is called the 'fourteenth' when it is the
second and fourth new moon of the four-month season (i.e. 14 days from the full
moon), the other two are called the 'fifteenth'. This compensates for the irregu-
larities of the lunar period.
11. The Suttavibhanga, the first book of the Vinaya Pitaka, contains in its two
parts the 227 rules for bhikkhus and the rules for bhikkhunis, who have received
the admission (upasampadd), together with accounts of the incidents that led to
the announcement of the rules, the modifications of the rules and the explana-
tions of them. The bare rules themselves form the Patimokkha for bhikkhus and
that for bhikkhunis. They are also known as the 'two codes' (dve mdtika). The
Patimokkha is recited by bhikkhus on the Uposatha days of the full moon and
new moon.
12. The 'ten instances of talk' (dasa kathdvatthuni) refer to the kinds of talk
given in the Suttas thus: 'Such talk as is concerned with effacement, as favours
the heart's release, as leads to complete dispassion, fading, cessation, peace,
direct knowledge, enlightenment, nibbana, that is to say: talk on wanting little,
contentment, seclusion, aloofness from contact, strenuousness, virtue, concentra-
tion, understanding, deliverance, knowledge and vision of deliverance' (M.i,145;
13. See Ch. IV, note 27.
14. ' "On seeing a visible object with the eye": if the eye were to see the visible
object, then (organs) belonging to other kinds of consciousness would see too;
but that is not so. Why? Because the eye has no thought (acetanatta). And then,
were consciousness itself to see a visible object, it would see it even behind a
wall because of being independent of sense resistance (appatighabhdvato); but
that is not so either because there is no seeing in all kinds of consciousness. And
herein, it is consciousness dependent on the eye that sees, not just any kind. And
that does not arise with respect to what is enclosed by walls, etc., where light is
excluded. But where there is no exclusion of light, as in the case of a crystal or a
mass of cloud, there it does arise even with respect to what is enclosed by them.
So it is as a basis of consciousness that the eye sees.
' "When there is the impingement of door and object": what is intended is:
when a visible datum as object has come into the eye's focus. "One sees": one
looks (oloketi)', for when the consciousness that has eye-sensitivity as its material
support is disclosing (obhdsente) by means of the special quality of its support a
visible datum as object that is assisted by light (dloka), then it is said that a
person possessed of that sees the visible datum. And here the illuminating is the
revealing of the visible datum according to its individual essence, in other words,
the apprehending of it experientially (paccakkhato).
Here it is the "sign of woman" because it is the cause of perceiving as
"woman" all such things as the shape that is grasped under the heading of the
visible data (materiality) invariably found in a female continuity, the un-clear-
cut-ness (avisadata) of the flesh of the breasts, the beardlessness of the face, the
use of cloth to bind the hair, the un-clear-cut stance, walk, and so on. The "sign
of man" is in the opposite sense.
* "The sign of beauty" here is the aspect of woman that is the cause for the
arising of lust. By the word-"etc." the sign of resentment (patigha), etc., are
included, which should be understood as the undesired aspect that is the cause
for the arising of hate. And here admittedly only covetousness and grief are
specified in the text but the sign of equanimity needs to be included too; since
there is non-restraint in the delusion that arises due to overlooking, or since
"forgetfulness or unknowing" is said below (§57). And here the "sign of equa-
nimity" should be understood as an object that is the basis for the kind of equa-
nimity associated with unknowing through overlooking it. So "the sign of beauty,
etc." given in brief thus is actually the cause of greed, hate, and delusion.
* "He stops at what is merely seen": according to the Sutta method "The
seen shall be merely seen" (Ud. 8). As soon as the colour basis has been appre-
hended by the consciousnesses of the cognitive series with eye-consciousness he
stops; he does not fancy any aspect of beauty, etc., beyond that.... In one who
fancies as beautiful, etc., the limbs of the opposite sex, defilements arisen with
respect to them successively become particularized, which is why they are called
"particulars". But these are simply modes of interpreting (sannivesdkdra) the
kinds of materiality derived from the (four) primaries that are interpreted
(sannivittha) in such and such wise; for apart from that there is in the ultimate
sense no such thing as a hand and so on' (Pm. 40-41). See also Ch. Ill, note 31.
15. 'As the elder was going along (occupied) only in keeping his meditation
subject in mind, since noise is a thorn to that in the early stage, he looked up
with the noise of the laughter, (wondering) "What is that?". "Perception of
foulness" is perception of bones; for the elder was then making bones his medita-
tion subject. The elder, it seems, as soon as he saw her teeth-bones while she was
laughing, got the counterpart sign with access jhana because he had developed
the preliminary-work well. While he stood there he reached the first jhana. Then
he made that the basis for insight, which he augmented until he attained the paths
one after the other and reached destruction of cankers' (Pm. 41-42).
16. To expect to find in the Paramatthamanjusa an exposition of the 'cognitive
series' (citta-vithi), and some explanation of the individual members in addition
to what is to be found in the Visuddhimagga itself, is to be disappointed. There
are only fragmentary treatments. All that is said here is this:
'There is no unvirtuousness, in other words, bodily or verbal misconduct, in
the five doors; consequently restraint of unvirtuousness happens through the
mind door, and the remaining restraint happens through the six doors. For the
arising of forgetfulness and the other three would be in the five doors since they
are unprofitable states opposed to mindfulness, etc.; and there is no arising of
unvirtuousness consisting in bodily and verbal transgression there because five-
door impulsions do not give rise to intimation. And the five kinds of non-
restraint beginning with unvirtuousness are stated here as the opposite of the five
kinds of restraint beginning with restraint as virtue' (Pm. 42). See also Ch. IV,
note 13.
17. The formula 'kuhana kuhdyand kuhitattam\ i.e. verbal noun in two forms
and abstract noun from pp., all from the same root, is common in Abhidhamma
definitions. It is sometimes hard to produce a corresponding effect in English,
yet to render such groups with words of different derivation obscures the mean-
ing and confuses the effect.
18. The renderings 'scheming' and so on in this context do not in all cases
agree with the P.T.S. Diet. They have been chosen after careful consideration.
The rendering 'rejection of requisites' takes the preferable reading patisedhana
though the more common reading here is patisevana (cultivation).
19. The Pali is: Icchdpakatassd ti icchdya apakatassa; up add utass a ti attho.
Icchdya apakatassa simply resolves the compound icchdpakatassa and is there-
fore untranslatable into English. Such resolutions are therefore sometimes omit-
ted in this translation.
20. ' " Putrid urine" is the name for all kinds of cow's urine whether old or not'
(Pm. 45). Fermented cow's urine with gallnuts (myrobalan) is a common Indian
medicine today.
21. It is not always certain now what kind of buildings these names refer to.
22. Nahand — tying, from nayhati (to tie). The noun is not in P.T.S. Diet.
23. The story of the oil-seller is given in the SammohavinodanI (VbhA. 483),
which reproduces this part of Vis. with some additions: 'Two bhikkhus, it seems,
went into a village and sat down in the sitting hall. Seeing a girl, they called her.
Then one asked the other, "Whose girl is this, venerable sir?"—"She is the
daughter of our supporter the oil-seller, friend. When we go to her mother's
house and she gives us ghee, she gives it in the pot. And this girl too gives it in
the pot as her mother does." ' Quoted at Pm. 46.
24. The 'ten instances of abuse' (akkosa-vatthu) are given in the Sammohavi-
nodanI (VbhA. 340) as: 'You are a thief, you are a fool, you are an idiot, you are
a camel (otthd), you are an ox, you are a donkey, you belong to the states of loss,
you belong to hell, you are a beast, there is not even a happy or an unhappy des-
tiny to be expected for you' (see also SnA. 364).
25. The following words of this paragraph are not in P.T.S. Diet.: Papana
(denigration), papanam (nt. denigrating), nippeseti (scrapes off—from pimsatil
cf. nippesikata—'belittling' §42, 64), nippuhchati (wipes off—only punchati in
Diet.), pesikd (scraper—not in this sense in Diet.: from same root as nippeseti),
nippimsitva (grinding, pounding), abbhahga (unguent = abbhanjana, Pm.47).
26. For attention (manasi-kara) as the means (upaya) and the way (patha) see
MA.i,64.
27. Avadhi —- 'limit' = odhi: this form is not in P.T.S. Diet, (see MA.ii,292).
28. 'Child's flesh" (putta-marhsa) is an allusion to the story (S.ii,98) of the
couple who set out to cross a desert with an insufficient food supply but got
to the other side by eating the flesh of their child who died on the way. The
derivation given in the P.T.S. Diet., 'A metaphor probably distorted from puta-
mamsa\ has no justification. The reference to rafts might be to D.ii,89.
29. This verse has been misunderstood in * Psalms of the Brethren'.
30. * "Making the whole rock resound'
1
: 'making the whole rock reverberate as
one doing so by means of an earth tremor. But some say that it was owing to the
cheering of the deities who lived there' (Pm. 58).
31. 'Four-sweets'—catumadhura: a medicinal sweet made of four ingredients.
32. "The Elder Maha-Tissa, it seems, was going on a journey during a famine,
and being tired in body and weak through lack of food and travel weariness, he
lay down at the root of a mango tree covered with fruit. There were many fallen
mangoes here and there'(Pm. 60). 'Though ownerless mangoes were lying fallen
on the ground near him, he would not eat them in the absence of someone to
accept them from' (Pm. 65). 'Then a lay devotee, who was older than he, went to
the elder, and learning of his exhaustion, gave him mango juice to drink. Then he
mounted him on his back and took him to his home. Meanwhile the elder
admonished himself as follows: "Nor your mother nor your father", etc. (see
§133). And beginning the comprehension [of formations], and augmenting in-
sight, he realized Arahantship after the other paths in due succession while he was
still mounted on his back' (Pm. 60).
33. ' "As elements" in this way: "This robe, etc., consists merely of [the four]
elements and occurs when its conditions are present; and the person who uses it
[likewise]". "As repulsive" in this way: Firstly perception of repulsiveness in
nutriment in the case of alms food; then as bringing repulsiveness to mind thus:
"But all these robes, etc., which are not in themselves disgusting, become utterly
disgusting on reaching this filthy body" '(Pm. 61).
34. ' "Use as theft": use by one who is unworthy. And the requisites are al-
lowed by the Blessed One to one in his own dispensation who is virtuous, not
unviituous; and the generosity of the givers is towards one who is virtuous, not
towards one who is not, since they expect great fruit from their actions' (Pm. 61;
cf. M. Sutta 142 and commentary).
35. The figures depend on whether koti is taken as 1,000,000 or 100,000 or
10,000.
36. 'Comprehending' (sammasana) is a technical term that will become clear in
Ch. XX. In short, it is inference that generalizes the 'three characteristics' from
one's own directly-known experience to all possible formed experience at all
times (see S.ii,107). Commenting on 'He comprehended that same illness' (§138),
Pm. says: 'He exercised insight by discerning the feeling in the illness under the
heading of the feeling [aggregate] and the remaining material dhammas as materi-
ality' (Pm. 65).
37. A story of the Jambu River and its gold is given at MA.iv,147.
38. This list describes, in terms of abandoning, etc., the stages in the normal
progress from ignorance to Arahantship, and it falls into the following groups: I.
Virtue: the abandoning of the ten unprofitable courses of action (1>—(10). II. Con-
centration: A. abandoning the seven hindrances to concentration by means of
their opposites (11)-(17); B. the eight attainments of concentration, and what is
abandoned by each (18)—(25). III. Understanding: A. Insight: the eighteen princi-
pal insights beginning with the seven contemplations (26)-(43). B. Paths: the
four paths and what is abandoned by each (44)-(47).
Pm. comments here as follows on (26): 'The contemplation of what is im-
permanent, or contemplation as "impermanent", is "contemplation of imperma-
nence"; this is insight. It is the name for the kind of insight that occurs in
apprehending the impermanence in dhammas of the three [mundane] planes. "In
the case of the perception of permanence" means in the case of wrong perception
of formed dhammas that occurs thus "They are permanent, eternal". The same
method applies below (Pm. 67). For explanations of the other principal insights
see Ch. XX, notes 3 and 28.
39. Sabbhava—'presence' ( = sat + bhava): not in P.T.S. Diet. Not to be con-
fused with sabhava—'individual essence' ( = sa (Skr. sva) + bhava, or saha +
bhava).
40. The seven consisting of parajika, sanghadisesa, pacittiya, patidesaniya
dukkata, thullaccaya, dubbhasita (mentioned at MA.ii,33).
41. An allusion to the Gosihga Suttas (M. Suttas 31 and 32).
CHAPTER II
1. Nibbacana—'derivative name (or verbal derivative)'; gram, term not in
P.T.S. Diet; MA.i,61,105; Vis. Ch. XVI, §16.
2. Patati—'to gather (or to wander)': not in P.T.S. Diet.
3. Avakhandana—'hiatus' and ddna—'gap': not in P.T.S. Diet.
4. Such references to 'the Commentary' are to the old Sinhalese commentary,
no longer extant, from which Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa drew his material.
5. ' "Ekasangitika": one who knows one of the five collections (nikdya) begin-
ning with the Collection of Long Discourses (Digha Nikaya)' (Pm. 76).
6. 'That elder, it seems, was a sitter, but no one knew it. Then one night the
other saw him by the light of a flash of lightning sitting up on his bed. He asked,
"Are you a sitter, venerable sir?". Out of fewness of wishes that his ascetic
practice should get known, the elder lay down. Afterwards he undertook the
practice anew. So the story has come down' (Pm. 77).
7. 'The name of a street in Mahagama (S.E. Ceylon). Also in Anuradhapura,
they say' (Pm. 77).
8. On certain occasions, when the going forth was given by the Buddha with
only the words 'Ehi bhikkhu (Come, bhikkhu)', owing to the disciple's past merit
robes appeared miraculously upon him (see e.g. Vin. Mahavagga, Kh. 1).
9. Apddana—'institution (or production)': not in P.T.S. Diet.
10. Tatratthaka-paccattharana—'a bedspread that remains there': 'A name for
what has been determined upon as a bedspread in one's own resting place or in
someone else's. They say accordingly (it is said in a commentary) that there is
no breach of the ascetic practice even when these two, that is, the bedspread and
the undyed cloth, are kept as extra robes' (Pm. 78-79). For tatratthaka (fixture)
see also §61.
11. 'A meal to be given by setting it out in a principal house only' (Pm. 79).
This meaning of dhura-bhatta not in P.T.S. Diet.
12. Tickets that are not for actual food, but deal with medicine, etc' (Pm. 79).
Patikkamana—refectory' (§28) = bojun hal (eating hall) in Sinhalese transla-
tion.
13. Sakkard—'sugar': spelt sakkhard in P.T.S. Diet.
14. Subbata—'truly devoted': fm. su + vata (having good vows). See also §59.
15. Reading acchinna-mariyadam with Pm., which says: * "Without a drip-ledge
cut (acchinna-mariyddam)" means without a drip-ledge (mariydda) made above,
which might come under the heading of a drip-ledge (mahyddasahkhepena)
made to prevent rain water from coming in. But if the rain water comes under the
overhang (pabbhara) and is allowed to go in under it, then this comes under the
heading of the open air (abbhokasikasahkhepaY (Pm. 84). This seems to refer to
the widespread habit in ancient Ceylon of cutting a drip-ledge on over-hanging
rocks used for bhikkhus' dwellings so that the rain that falls on top of the rock
drips down in front of the space under the overhang instead of trickling down
under the rock and wetting the back and floor. Pabbhara in this context is 'over-
hang' rather than 'slope'.
16. 'He should not go into families' houses because he smells of the dead and is
followed by pisdea goblins' (Pm. 84).
17. Ayogapatta—'a binding-strap': this is probably the meaning. But cf. Vin.
ii, 135 and VinA. 891.
18. For the triads of the Abhidhamma Matika (Abhidhamma Schedule) see
Ch. XIII, n.20.
' "Those who hold": a reference to the inhabitants of the Abhayagiri Monas-
tery at Anuradhapura. For they say that ascetic practice is a concept consisting in
a name (ndma-pannatti). That being so, they could have no meaning of shaking
off defilements, or possibility of being undertaken, because in the ultimate sense
they would be non-existent [concepts having no existence]' (Pm. 87). Cf. Ch.
IV, §29.
19. Apajjati (and its noun dpatti) is the normal word used for undesirable conse-
quences that follow on some unsound logical proposition. See Ch. XVI, §68f.
This meaning is not in P.T.S. Diet.
20. Idamatthita — 'that specific quality': 'Owing to these profitable states it
exists, (thus it is "specific by those"; imehi kusaladhammehi atthi = idam-atthi).
The knowledge by means of which one who has gone forth should be established
in the refuse-rag-wearer's practice, etc., and by means of which, on being so in-
structed, one undertakes and persists in the ascetic qualities — that knowledge is
idamatthitd' (Pm. 88).
21. SeeCh. XXI, §117.
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1. Exact dates are not agreed. The Ceylon Chronicles give the lengths of
reigns of kings of Ceylon back to the time of the Buddha and also of kings of
Magadha from Asoka back to the same time. Calculated backwards the list gives
543 B.C. as the year of the Buddha's parinibbdna (see list of kings in Codrington's
Short History of Ceylon, Macmillan 1947, p. xvf.). For adjustments to this calcu-
lation that bring the date of the parinibbdna forward to 483 B.C. (the date most
generally accepted in Europe), see e.g. Geiger Mahdvarhsa translation (introduc-
tion); Epigraphia Zeylanica i, 156; E. J. Thomas, Life of the Buddha, Kegan Paul,
p. 26, n.l. It seems certain, however, that Mahanama was reigning in the year
428 because of a letter sent by him to the Chinese court (Codrington p.29; E.Z.
Ill, 12). If the adjusted date is accepted then 60 extra years have somehow to be
squeezed out without displacing Mahanama's reign. Here the older date has been
used.
2. See also A Record of Buddhist Religion by I-tsing, trsl. J. Takakusu, Claren-
don Press, 1896, p. xxiii, where a geographical distribution of various schools
gives MulasarvAstivada mainly in the north and Ariyasthavira mainly in the
south of India. I-tsing, who did not visit Ceylon, was in India at the end of the
7th cent.; but he does not mention whether the Ariyasthavira (Theravada) Nikaya
in India pursued its studies in the Pali of its Tipitaka or in Sanskrit or in a local
vernacular.
3. In the epilogues and prologues of various works between the 5th and 12th
centuries there is mention of e.g., Padaratittha (VisA. prol.: near Madras),
Kancipura (AA. epil.: = Conjevaram near Madras), and other places where dif-
ferent teachers accepting the Great-Monastery tradition lived and worked. See
also Malalasekera, Pali Literature in Ceylon, p. 13; E.Z., iv, 69-71; Journal of
Oriental Research, Madras, Vol. XIX, pp. 278f.
4. Possibly the Vinaya summaries, Mulasikkhd and Khuddasikkhd (though
Geiger places these much later), as well as some works of Buddhadatta Thera. It
has not been satisfaptorily explained why the Mahdvamsa, composed in the late
4th or early 5th cent., ends abruptly in the middle of Chapter 37 with Mahasena's
reign (the Chronicle being only resumed eight centuries later).
5. The Gandhavamsa also gives the Apadana Commentary as by him.
6. Other readings are: Mayurarupapattana, Mayuradutapattana. Identified with
Mylapore near Madras (J.O.R., Madras, Vol. XIX, p. 281).
7. Identified with Conjevaram near Madras: P.L.C., p. 113. Acariya Ananda,
author of the sub-commentary to the Abhidhamma Pitaka (Mula-Tika), also
lived there, perhaps any time after the middle of the 5th century. The Elder
Dhammapala sometimes refers to the old Sinhalese commentaries as if they were
still available to him.
8. Other readings are: Morandakhetaka, Mudantakhedaka, Murandakhetaka,
etc.; not yet identified. Refers more probably to his birth-place than to his place
of pabbajjd. See also J.O.R., Madras, Vol. XIX, p. 282, article Buddhaghosa—
His Place of Birth by R. Subramaniam and S. P. Nainar, where a certain coinci-
dence of names is mentioned that might suggest a possible identification of
Morandakhetaka (moranda being Pali for 'peacock egg* and khedaka Skr. for
* village
1
—see Vis. Harvard ed., p. xv) with adjacent villages, 51 miles from
Nagarjunakonda and 58 m. from Amaravati, called Kotanemalipuri and Gundla-
palli (nemali and gundla being Telegu respectively for 'peacock* and 'egg').
However, more specific information will be needed in support before it can be
accepted as an indication that the Mahdvamsa is wrong about his birth-place.
More information about any connexion between Ceylon and those great South
Indian Buddhist centres is badly needed.
9. A definite statement that the DhA. was written later by someone else can
hardly avoid the inference that the 'postscript' was a fraud, or at least mislead-
ing.
10. Adikaram, Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon, pp. 3 and 86.
11. Paritta or 'protection': a name for certain suttas recited for that purpose.
SeeMA.iv,114.
12. See Vis. epil.
13. For instance, Prof. Kosambi, in his preface to the Vis. Harvard ed., over-
looks these considerations when he says: 'More positive evidence (that he was
not a North-Indian Brahman) is in the passage "Unhassa ti aggisantdpassa.
Tassa vanaddhddisu sambhavo veditabbo" (Ch. I, §86). "Heat: the heat of fire,
such as occurs at the time of forest fires, etc." This is a comment upon protection
against heat given by a civara. His explanation is obviously ridiculous. It is not
known to Indian southerners that a bare skin is sure to be sunburnt in the north-
ern summer' (p. xii). And Professor Kosambi has not only overlooked the fact
that it is almost certainly translated material that he is criticizing as original com-
position, but he appears not to have even read the whole passage. The sutta
sentence (M.i,10) commented on in the Visuddhimagga (Ch. I, §86-87) contains
two words unha and dtapa. If, before condemning the explanation as 'ridiculous,'
he had read on, he would have found, a line or two below, the words Atapo ti
suriydtapo (' " Burning " is burning of the sun'—Ch. I, §87).
14. The allusion is to the author of various Pali works including the Abhi-
dhammdvatdra; see n. 4.
15. Sahghardjd ('Ruler of the Community' —a title existing in Thailand today):
possibly a mistake for Sanghapala here (see Vis. epil.).
16. A learned allusion to Vis. Ch. VIII, §1.
17. Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion, article 'Buddhaghosa' by T. W. Rhys
Davids. Note also that another elder of the same name invited the writing of the
Sammohavinodani. The problem is discussed at some length by Prof. Nihar-
ranjan Ray, Theravada Buddhism in Burma, pp. 24ff.
18. The legitimateness of the mental moment of 'presence' (thiti) as deducible
from A.i,152 is questioned by Acariya Ananda (VbhAA.), who wrote early in the
Middle Period; he cites the Yamaka (refs.: ii,13; ii,14; and i,216-17) against it.
19. The Elder Dhammapala, commenting on Vis. Ch. XXI, §77, takes the reading
phutthantam sacchikato and explains that (cf. Mula Tika Pug AA. p. 32), but the
Elder MahanAma, commenting on the PatisambhidAmagga from which the pas-
sage is quoted, takes the reading phutthattd sacchikato and comments differently
(PsA., p. 396, Hewavitarne ed.). Again, what is referred to as 'said by some
(keciY in the Elder Dhammapala's comment on the Visuddhimagga (see Vis. Ch.
VIII, n.46) is put forward by the Elder Mahanama with no such reservation
(PsA., p.351). It is the usual standard of strict consistency that makes such very
minor divergences noticeable. These two commentators, though, rarely repro-
duce each other verbatim. Contrastingly, where the Paramatthamahjusd and the
Mula Tikd similarly overlap, the sentences are mostly verbatim, but the former,
with extra material, looks like an expanded version of the latter, or the latter a
cut version of the former.
20. See A.ii,56; Ps.ii,92f.
21. In the present work the development of serenity (concentration) is carried to
its limit before insight (understanding) is dealt with. This is for clarity. But in the
commentary to the Satipatthana Sutta (D. Sutta 22, M. Sutta 10) either the two
are developed contemporaneously or insight is allowed to precede jhana concen-
tration. According to the Suttas, concentration of jhana strength is necessary for
the manifestation of the path (see e.g. Vis. Ch. XIV, §127; XV, n.7; D.ii,313 =
M.iii,252; A.ii,156, quoted at Ps.ii,92f.).
22. See Prof. I. A. Richards, Mencius on Mind, Kegan Paul, 1932.
23. Exceptions are certain early works of Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids. See also
discussions in appendixes to the translations of the Kathdvatthu (Points of Con-
troversy, P.T.S.) and the Abhidhammatthasahgaha (Compendium of Philosophy,
P.T.S.).
24. Pronounce letters as follows: a as in countryman, a father, e whey, i chin,
I machine, u full, u rule; c church (always), g give (always); h always sounded
separately, e.g. bh in cab-horse, ch in catch him (not kitchen), ph in upholstery
(not telephone), th in hot-house (not pathos), etc.; j joke; m and n as ng in singer,
n as ni in onion; d,}, n and t are pronounced with tongue-tip on palate; d, i, n and
t with tongue-tip on teeth; double consonants as in Italian, e.g. dd as in mad dog
(not madder), gg as in big gun (not bigger); rest as in English.
25. Of the principal English value words, 'rear, 'truth', 'beauty', 'good', 'abso-
lute', 'being', etc.: 'real' has been used for tatha (Ch. XVI, §24), 'truth' allotted
to sacca (Ch. XVI, §25) and beauty to subha (Ch. IX, §119); 'good' has been
used sometimes for the prefix su~ and also for the adj. kalydna and the subst.
attha. 'Absolute' has not been employed, though it might perhaps be used for the
word advaya, which qualifies the word hasina ('universality', 'totalization') at
M.ii,14, and then: 'One (man) perceives earth as a universality above, below,
around, absolute, measureless' could be an alternative for the rendering given in
Ch. V, §38. 'Being' (as abstract subst.) has sometimes been used for bhava,
which is otherwise rendered by 'becoming.'
CHAPTER I
1. 'From a visible datum sometimes as far down as a mental datum, or vice
versa, following the order of the six kinds of objects of consciousness as given in
the teaching' (Pm. 5, see Ch. XV, §1).
2. The Great Monastery (Mahdvihdra) at Anuradhapura in Ceylon.
3. 'The words "insight alone" are meant to exclude, not virtue, etc., but seren-
ity (i.e. jhana), which is the opposite number in the pair, serenity and insight.
This is for emphasis. But the word "alone" actually excludes only that concentra-
tion with distinction [of jhana]; for concentration is classed as both access and
absorption (see Ch. IV, §32). Taking this stanza as the teaching for one whose
vehicle is insight does not imply that there is no concentration; for no insight
comes about without momentary concentration. And again, insight should be
understood as the three contemplations of impermanence, pain, and not-self; not
contemplation of impermanence alone' (Pm. 9-10).
4. * "Develops" applies to both "consciousness" and "understanding". But are
they mundane or supramundane? They are supramundane, because the sublime
goal is described; for one developing them is said to disentangle the tangle of
craving by cutting it off at the path moment, and that is not mundane. But the
mundane are included here too because they immediately precede, since supra-
mundane (see Ch. Ill, note 5) concentration and insight are impossible without
mundane concentration and insight to precede them; for without the access and
absorption concentration in one whose vehicle is serenity, or without the mo-
mentary concentration in one whose vehicle is insight, and without the gateways
to liberation (see Ch. XXI, §66f.), the supramundane can never in either case be
reached' (Pm. 13). 'With triple root-cause' means with non-greed, non-hate and
non-delusion.
5. One who is virtuous has nothing to be remorseful about.
6. The three kinds of clear-vision are: recollection of past life, knowledge of
the passing away and reappearance of beings (divine eye), and knowledge of de-
struction of cankers (M.i,22-23). The six kinds of direct-knowledge are: knowl-
edge of supernormal power, the divine ear element, penetration of minds, recol-
lection of past life, knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings,
and knowledge of destruction of cankers (M.i,34-35). The four discriminations
are those of meaning, law, language, and intelligence (A.ii,160).
7. 'Consciousness-concomitants' (cetasika) is a collective term for feeling,
perception, and formations, variously subdivided; in other words, aspects of
mentality that arise together with consciousness.
8. Silana, and upadhdrana in this meaning (cf. Ch. I, §141 and sandhdrana,
Ch. XIV, §61), are not in P.T.S. Diet.
9. The three kinds of profitable bodily kamma or action (not killing or stealing
or indulging in sexual misconduct), the four kinds of profitable verbal kamma or
action (refraining from lying, malicious speech, harsh speech, and gossip), and
right livelihood as the eighth.
10. Uposatha (der. from upavasati, to observe or to prepare) is the name for the
day of 'fasting' or 'vigil' observed on the days of the new moon, waxing half
moon, full moon, and waning half moon. On these days it is customary for
laymen to undertake the Eight Precepts {slid) or Five Precepts. On the new-moon
and full-moon days the Patimokkha (see note 11) is recited by bhikkhus. The two
quarter-moon days are called the 'eighth of the half moon'. The full-moon day is
called the 'fifteenth' (i.e. 15 days from the new moon) and is the last day of the
lunar month. That of the new moon is called the 'fourteenth' when it is the
second and fourth new moon of the four-month season (i.e. 14 days from the full
moon), the other two are called the 'fifteenth'. This compensates for the irregu-
larities of the lunar period.
11. The Suttavibhanga, the first book of the Vinaya Pitaka, contains in its two
parts the 227 rules for bhikkhus and the rules for bhikkhunis, who have received
the admission (upasampadd), together with accounts of the incidents that led to
the announcement of the rules, the modifications of the rules and the explana-
tions of them. The bare rules themselves form the Patimokkha for bhikkhus and
that for bhikkhunis. They are also known as the 'two codes' (dve mdtika). The
Patimokkha is recited by bhikkhus on the Uposatha days of the full moon and
new moon.
12. The 'ten instances of talk' (dasa kathdvatthuni) refer to the kinds of talk
given in the Suttas thus: 'Such talk as is concerned with effacement, as favours
the heart's release, as leads to complete dispassion, fading, cessation, peace,
direct knowledge, enlightenment, nibbana, that is to say: talk on wanting little,
contentment, seclusion, aloofness from contact, strenuousness, virtue, concentra-
tion, understanding, deliverance, knowledge and vision of deliverance' (M.i,145;
13. See Ch. IV, note 27.
14. ' "On seeing a visible object with the eye": if the eye were to see the visible
object, then (organs) belonging to other kinds of consciousness would see too;
but that is not so. Why? Because the eye has no thought (acetanatta). And then,
were consciousness itself to see a visible object, it would see it even behind a
wall because of being independent of sense resistance (appatighabhdvato); but
that is not so either because there is no seeing in all kinds of consciousness. And
herein, it is consciousness dependent on the eye that sees, not just any kind. And
that does not arise with respect to what is enclosed by walls, etc., where light is
excluded. But where there is no exclusion of light, as in the case of a crystal or a
mass of cloud, there it does arise even with respect to what is enclosed by them.
So it is as a basis of consciousness that the eye sees.
' "When there is the impingement of door and object": what is intended is:
when a visible datum as object has come into the eye's focus. "One sees": one
looks (oloketi)', for when the consciousness that has eye-sensitivity as its material
support is disclosing (obhdsente) by means of the special quality of its support a
visible datum as object that is assisted by light (dloka), then it is said that a
person possessed of that sees the visible datum. And here the illuminating is the
revealing of the visible datum according to its individual essence, in other words,
the apprehending of it experientially (paccakkhato).
Here it is the "sign of woman" because it is the cause of perceiving as
"woman" all such things as the shape that is grasped under the heading of the
visible data (materiality) invariably found in a female continuity, the un-clear-
cut-ness (avisadata) of the flesh of the breasts, the beardlessness of the face, the
use of cloth to bind the hair, the un-clear-cut stance, walk, and so on. The "sign
of man" is in the opposite sense.
* "The sign of beauty" here is the aspect of woman that is the cause for the
arising of lust. By the word-"etc." the sign of resentment (patigha), etc., are
included, which should be understood as the undesired aspect that is the cause
for the arising of hate. And here admittedly only covetousness and grief are
specified in the text but the sign of equanimity needs to be included too; since
there is non-restraint in the delusion that arises due to overlooking, or since
"forgetfulness or unknowing" is said below (§57). And here the "sign of equa-
nimity" should be understood as an object that is the basis for the kind of equa-
nimity associated with unknowing through overlooking it. So "the sign of beauty,
etc." given in brief thus is actually the cause of greed, hate, and delusion.
* "He stops at what is merely seen": according to the Sutta method "The
seen shall be merely seen" (Ud. 8). As soon as the colour basis has been appre-
hended by the consciousnesses of the cognitive series with eye-consciousness he
stops; he does not fancy any aspect of beauty, etc., beyond that.... In one who
fancies as beautiful, etc., the limbs of the opposite sex, defilements arisen with
respect to them successively become particularized, which is why they are called
"particulars". But these are simply modes of interpreting (sannivesdkdra) the
kinds of materiality derived from the (four) primaries that are interpreted
(sannivittha) in such and such wise; for apart from that there is in the ultimate
sense no such thing as a hand and so on' (Pm. 40-41). See also Ch. Ill, note 31.
15. 'As the elder was going along (occupied) only in keeping his meditation
subject in mind, since noise is a thorn to that in the early stage, he looked up
with the noise of the laughter, (wondering) "What is that?". "Perception of
foulness" is perception of bones; for the elder was then making bones his medita-
tion subject. The elder, it seems, as soon as he saw her teeth-bones while she was
laughing, got the counterpart sign with access jhana because he had developed
the preliminary-work well. While he stood there he reached the first jhana. Then
he made that the basis for insight, which he augmented until he attained the paths
one after the other and reached destruction of cankers' (Pm. 41-42).
16. To expect to find in the Paramatthamanjusa an exposition of the 'cognitive
series' (citta-vithi), and some explanation of the individual members in addition
to what is to be found in the Visuddhimagga itself, is to be disappointed. There
are only fragmentary treatments. All that is said here is this:
'There is no unvirtuousness, in other words, bodily or verbal misconduct, in
the five doors; consequently restraint of unvirtuousness happens through the
mind door, and the remaining restraint happens through the six doors. For the
arising of forgetfulness and the other three would be in the five doors since they
are unprofitable states opposed to mindfulness, etc.; and there is no arising of
unvirtuousness consisting in bodily and verbal transgression there because five-
door impulsions do not give rise to intimation. And the five kinds of non-
restraint beginning with unvirtuousness are stated here as the opposite of the five
kinds of restraint beginning with restraint as virtue' (Pm. 42). See also Ch. IV,
note 13.
17. The formula 'kuhana kuhdyand kuhitattam\ i.e. verbal noun in two forms
and abstract noun from pp., all from the same root, is common in Abhidhamma
definitions. It is sometimes hard to produce a corresponding effect in English,
yet to render such groups with words of different derivation obscures the mean-
ing and confuses the effect.
18. The renderings 'scheming' and so on in this context do not in all cases
agree with the P.T.S. Diet. They have been chosen after careful consideration.
The rendering 'rejection of requisites' takes the preferable reading patisedhana
though the more common reading here is patisevana (cultivation).
19. The Pali is: Icchdpakatassd ti icchdya apakatassa; up add utass a ti attho.
Icchdya apakatassa simply resolves the compound icchdpakatassa and is there-
fore untranslatable into English. Such resolutions are therefore sometimes omit-
ted in this translation.
20. ' " Putrid urine" is the name for all kinds of cow's urine whether old or not'
(Pm. 45). Fermented cow's urine with gallnuts (myrobalan) is a common Indian
medicine today.
21. It is not always certain now what kind of buildings these names refer to.
22. Nahand — tying, from nayhati (to tie). The noun is not in P.T.S. Diet.
23. The story of the oil-seller is given in the SammohavinodanI (VbhA. 483),
which reproduces this part of Vis. with some additions: 'Two bhikkhus, it seems,
went into a village and sat down in the sitting hall. Seeing a girl, they called her.
Then one asked the other, "Whose girl is this, venerable sir?"—"She is the
daughter of our supporter the oil-seller, friend. When we go to her mother's
house and she gives us ghee, she gives it in the pot. And this girl too gives it in
the pot as her mother does." ' Quoted at Pm. 46.
24. The 'ten instances of abuse' (akkosa-vatthu) are given in the Sammohavi-
nodanI (VbhA. 340) as: 'You are a thief, you are a fool, you are an idiot, you are
a camel (otthd), you are an ox, you are a donkey, you belong to the states of loss,
you belong to hell, you are a beast, there is not even a happy or an unhappy des-
tiny to be expected for you' (see also SnA. 364).
25. The following words of this paragraph are not in P.T.S. Diet.: Papana
(denigration), papanam (nt. denigrating), nippeseti (scrapes off—from pimsatil
cf. nippesikata—'belittling' §42, 64), nippuhchati (wipes off—only punchati in
Diet.), pesikd (scraper—not in this sense in Diet.: from same root as nippeseti),
nippimsitva (grinding, pounding), abbhahga (unguent = abbhanjana, Pm.47).
26. For attention (manasi-kara) as the means (upaya) and the way (patha) see
MA.i,64.
27. Avadhi —- 'limit' = odhi: this form is not in P.T.S. Diet, (see MA.ii,292).
28. 'Child's flesh" (putta-marhsa) is an allusion to the story (S.ii,98) of the
couple who set out to cross a desert with an insufficient food supply but got
to the other side by eating the flesh of their child who died on the way. The
derivation given in the P.T.S. Diet., 'A metaphor probably distorted from puta-
mamsa\ has no justification. The reference to rafts might be to D.ii,89.
29. This verse has been misunderstood in * Psalms of the Brethren'.
30. * "Making the whole rock resound'
1
: 'making the whole rock reverberate as
one doing so by means of an earth tremor. But some say that it was owing to the
cheering of the deities who lived there' (Pm. 58).
31. 'Four-sweets'—catumadhura: a medicinal sweet made of four ingredients.
32. "The Elder Maha-Tissa, it seems, was going on a journey during a famine,
and being tired in body and weak through lack of food and travel weariness, he
lay down at the root of a mango tree covered with fruit. There were many fallen
mangoes here and there'(Pm. 60). 'Though ownerless mangoes were lying fallen
on the ground near him, he would not eat them in the absence of someone to
accept them from' (Pm. 65). 'Then a lay devotee, who was older than he, went to
the elder, and learning of his exhaustion, gave him mango juice to drink. Then he
mounted him on his back and took him to his home. Meanwhile the elder
admonished himself as follows: "Nor your mother nor your father", etc. (see
§133). And beginning the comprehension [of formations], and augmenting in-
sight, he realized Arahantship after the other paths in due succession while he was
still mounted on his back' (Pm. 60).
33. ' "As elements" in this way: "This robe, etc., consists merely of [the four]
elements and occurs when its conditions are present; and the person who uses it
[likewise]". "As repulsive" in this way: Firstly perception of repulsiveness in
nutriment in the case of alms food; then as bringing repulsiveness to mind thus:
"But all these robes, etc., which are not in themselves disgusting, become utterly
disgusting on reaching this filthy body" '(Pm. 61).
34. ' "Use as theft": use by one who is unworthy. And the requisites are al-
lowed by the Blessed One to one in his own dispensation who is virtuous, not
unviituous; and the generosity of the givers is towards one who is virtuous, not
towards one who is not, since they expect great fruit from their actions' (Pm. 61;
cf. M. Sutta 142 and commentary).
35. The figures depend on whether koti is taken as 1,000,000 or 100,000 or
10,000.
36. 'Comprehending' (sammasana) is a technical term that will become clear in
Ch. XX. In short, it is inference that generalizes the 'three characteristics' from
one's own directly-known experience to all possible formed experience at all
times (see S.ii,107). Commenting on 'He comprehended that same illness' (§138),
Pm. says: 'He exercised insight by discerning the feeling in the illness under the
heading of the feeling [aggregate] and the remaining material dhammas as materi-
ality' (Pm. 65).
37. A story of the Jambu River and its gold is given at MA.iv,147.
38. This list describes, in terms of abandoning, etc., the stages in the normal
progress from ignorance to Arahantship, and it falls into the following groups: I.
Virtue: the abandoning of the ten unprofitable courses of action (1>—(10). II. Con-
centration: A. abandoning the seven hindrances to concentration by means of
their opposites (11)-(17); B. the eight attainments of concentration, and what is
abandoned by each (18)—(25). III. Understanding: A. Insight: the eighteen princi-
pal insights beginning with the seven contemplations (26)-(43). B. Paths: the
four paths and what is abandoned by each (44)-(47).
Pm. comments here as follows on (26): 'The contemplation of what is im-
permanent, or contemplation as "impermanent", is "contemplation of imperma-
nence"; this is insight. It is the name for the kind of insight that occurs in
apprehending the impermanence in dhammas of the three [mundane] planes. "In
the case of the perception of permanence" means in the case of wrong perception
of formed dhammas that occurs thus "They are permanent, eternal". The same
method applies below (Pm. 67). For explanations of the other principal insights
see Ch. XX, notes 3 and 28.
39. Sabbhava—'presence' ( = sat + bhava): not in P.T.S. Diet. Not to be con-
fused with sabhava—'individual essence' ( = sa (Skr. sva) + bhava, or saha +
bhava).
40. The seven consisting of parajika, sanghadisesa, pacittiya, patidesaniya
dukkata, thullaccaya, dubbhasita (mentioned at MA.ii,33).
41. An allusion to the Gosihga Suttas (M. Suttas 31 and 32).
CHAPTER II
1. Nibbacana—'derivative name (or verbal derivative)'; gram, term not in
P.T.S. Diet; MA.i,61,105; Vis. Ch. XVI, §16.
2. Patati—'to gather (or to wander)': not in P.T.S. Diet.
3. Avakhandana—'hiatus' and ddna—'gap': not in P.T.S. Diet.
4. Such references to 'the Commentary' are to the old Sinhalese commentary,
no longer extant, from which Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa drew his material.
5. ' "Ekasangitika": one who knows one of the five collections (nikdya) begin-
ning with the Collection of Long Discourses (Digha Nikaya)' (Pm. 76).
6. 'That elder, it seems, was a sitter, but no one knew it. Then one night the
other saw him by the light of a flash of lightning sitting up on his bed. He asked,
"Are you a sitter, venerable sir?". Out of fewness of wishes that his ascetic
practice should get known, the elder lay down. Afterwards he undertook the
practice anew. So the story has come down' (Pm. 77).
7. 'The name of a street in Mahagama (S.E. Ceylon). Also in Anuradhapura,
they say' (Pm. 77).
8. On certain occasions, when the going forth was given by the Buddha with
only the words 'Ehi bhikkhu (Come, bhikkhu)', owing to the disciple's past merit
robes appeared miraculously upon him (see e.g. Vin. Mahavagga, Kh. 1).
9. Apddana—'institution (or production)': not in P.T.S. Diet.
10. Tatratthaka-paccattharana—'a bedspread that remains there': 'A name for
what has been determined upon as a bedspread in one's own resting place or in
someone else's. They say accordingly (it is said in a commentary) that there is
no breach of the ascetic practice even when these two, that is, the bedspread and
the undyed cloth, are kept as extra robes' (Pm. 78-79). For tatratthaka (fixture)
see also §61.
11. 'A meal to be given by setting it out in a principal house only' (Pm. 79).
This meaning of dhura-bhatta not in P.T.S. Diet.
12. Tickets that are not for actual food, but deal with medicine, etc' (Pm. 79).
Patikkamana—refectory' (§28) = bojun hal (eating hall) in Sinhalese transla-
tion.
13. Sakkard—'sugar': spelt sakkhard in P.T.S. Diet.
14. Subbata—'truly devoted': fm. su + vata (having good vows). See also §59.
15. Reading acchinna-mariyadam with Pm., which says: * "Without a drip-ledge
cut (acchinna-mariyddam)" means without a drip-ledge (mariydda) made above,
which might come under the heading of a drip-ledge (mahyddasahkhepena)
made to prevent rain water from coming in. But if the rain water comes under the
overhang (pabbhara) and is allowed to go in under it, then this comes under the
heading of the open air (abbhokasikasahkhepaY (Pm. 84). This seems to refer to
the widespread habit in ancient Ceylon of cutting a drip-ledge on over-hanging
rocks used for bhikkhus' dwellings so that the rain that falls on top of the rock
drips down in front of the space under the overhang instead of trickling down
under the rock and wetting the back and floor. Pabbhara in this context is 'over-
hang' rather than 'slope'.
16. 'He should not go into families' houses because he smells of the dead and is
followed by pisdea goblins' (Pm. 84).
17. Ayogapatta—'a binding-strap': this is probably the meaning. But cf. Vin.
ii, 135 and VinA. 891.
18. For the triads of the Abhidhamma Matika (Abhidhamma Schedule) see
Ch. XIII, n.20.
' "Those who hold": a reference to the inhabitants of the Abhayagiri Monas-
tery at Anuradhapura. For they say that ascetic practice is a concept consisting in
a name (ndma-pannatti). That being so, they could have no meaning of shaking
off defilements, or possibility of being undertaken, because in the ultimate sense
they would be non-existent [concepts having no existence]' (Pm. 87). Cf. Ch.
IV, §29.
19. Apajjati (and its noun dpatti) is the normal word used for undesirable conse-
quences that follow on some unsound logical proposition. See Ch. XVI, §68f.
This meaning is not in P.T.S. Diet.
20. Idamatthita — 'that specific quality': 'Owing to these profitable states it
exists, (thus it is "specific by those"; imehi kusaladhammehi atthi = idam-atthi).
The knowledge by means of which one who has gone forth should be established
in the refuse-rag-wearer's practice, etc., and by means of which, on being so in-
structed, one undertakes and persists in the ascetic qualities — that knowledge is
idamatthitd' (Pm. 88).
21. SeeCh. XXI, §117.
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