Dhamma-Sangani - THE DIVISION ENTITLED ELIMINATION - The Group of the Fetters

A BUDDHIST MANUAL
Psychological Ethics,
FROM THE PALI
OF THE
DHAMMA-SANGANI

Translated by CAROLINE A. F. RHYS DAVIDS, M.A.

[Chapter V.
The Group of the Fetters (sannojana-gocchakam).]
[1113] Which are the states that are Fetters?
The ten Fetters, to wit, the Fetter of
sensuality,
repulsion,
conceit,
speculative opinion,
perplexity,
the contagion of mere rule and ritual,
the passion for renewed existence,
envy,
meanness,
ignorance.^
1 Saniiojanani 'mean the things that bind, that fetter
to the wheel of re-birth, the individual for whom they exist.'
Asl. 48. This list differs in some items from the well-
known dasa saniiojanani occurring so often in the
Suttas, and enumerated in Childers. See Ehys Davids,
' American Lectures,' 141 et seq. That that older category
was known to Buddhaghosa may be gathered from his
naming the first three in order as '
states which are to be
put away by insight,' § 1002 et seq. He proffers, however, no
comment on the two lists as such. In M. i. 360-363, eight
states of mind are enumerated and severally designated as
a Fetter and a Hindrance, but they are quite different
from either category habitually understood by these two
titles. Cf. also M. i. 432 ; A. ii. 238 ; Div. S. 533, 553.


In this connexion,
[1114] What is the Fetter of sensual passion ?
That sensual desire, sensual passion, sensual delight,
sensual craving, sensual fondness, sensual fever, sensual
languor, sensual rapacity, which is excited by the pleasures
of the senses—this is called the Fetter of sensuality.^
[1115] What is the Fetter of repulsion P
Answer as for *hate,' § 1060.
[1116] What is the Fetter of conceit?^
^
Cf. with § 1097. The single discrepancy is the omission
in § 1114 of '
sensual thirst' (kamapipaso), both in the
P. T. S. text and in K.
'^
Patigha-sannojanam, cf. §§ 413-421.
^ Mana-saiinojanam—or pride. Conceit is etymo-
logically more exact, though not so in any other respect.
'
Lowly '
is hin 0. (7/. §§ 269, et seq., 1025. '
Loftiness and
haughtiness '
are unnati, unnamo. *
[Flaunting] a flag
'
is simply dhajo, the metaphor implying the pretensions
conveyed by raising a flag over one's self or property, but
answering better to our metaphor of a *
flourish of trumpets.'
*
Assumption 'is sampaggaho. The Cy. (p. 372) hereon
has ukkhipanatthena cittam sampagganhati ti
—
to grasp in the sense of tossing (puffing up) the mind.
Cf. sisam ukkhipitva, quoted by Childers, and the
Hebrew figures for arrogance, etc.—lifting up head, horn,
heel, or one's self on high ; also paggaho, § 56. * Desire
of the heart for self-advertisement' is ketukamyata
cittassa. I can only make sense of the Cy. hereon by
altering the punctuation followed in the text. Thus
:
Ketu vuccati bahusu dhajesu accuggatadhajo. Mano pi
punappuna uppajjamano aparapare upadaya accuggatat-
thena ketum viyati ketu. Ketum icchati ti ketukamyatassa
bhavo ketukamyata. Sa pana cittassa, na attano, tena
vuttam :
—ketukamyata cittassa ti. *A flag hoisted
above many flags is called a ketu (sign, or standard)
;
cf Ramayana i. 19, 16, quoted by Bothl. and Both). By
ketu is meant the conceit which arising again and again
is like a signal in the sense of something set up on high.
The state of ketu-desire, i.e., to wish for self-advertise-
ment, is ketukamyata. But this means [a state of]
mind, not of a self-entity, therefore the phrase is desire of
the mind [or heart] for self-advertisement.'


Conceit at the thought *
I am the better man '; conceit at
the thought * I am as good [as they] '; conceit at the
thought *
I am lowly '
—all such sort of conceit, overween-
ing, conceitedness, loftiness, haughtiness, flaunting a flag,
assumption, desire of the heart for self-advertisement—this
is called conceit.
[1117] What is the Fetter of speculative opinion ?
Answer as for the * Intoxicant of speculative opinion,'
§ 1099, ivith this supplement: And, with the exception of
the *
Fetter of the contagion of mere rule and ritual,' all
wrong views are included in the Fetter of speculative
opinion.
[1118] What is the Fetter ofperplexity ?
Answer as for * perplexity,' § 1004.
[1119] What is the Fetter of the contagion of mere rule
and ritual ?
Ansiver as for the 'contagion of,' etc., § 1005.
[1120] What is the Fetter of the passion for renewed
existence ?
Answer asfor the * Intoxicant of renewed existence,' § 1098.
[1121] What is the Fetter of envy (issasanno-
janam) ?
Envy, envying, enviousness—jealousy, the expression
and mood of jealousy at the gifts, the hospitality, the
respect, afi'ection, reverence and worship accruing to others^
—this is called the Fetter of envy.
[1122] What is the Fetter of meanness (macchari-
sannojanam)?
The Five Meannesses, to wit, meanness as regards dwell-
ing, families, gifts, reputation, doctrine^—all this sort of
^ In other words, discontent and murmuring at the success
of one's neighbour, and complacency when bad luck over-
takes him {Schadenfreude). Asl. 373. Cf. P. P., p. 19.
2 Buddhaghosa is at some pains to distinguish genuine
instances of want of magnanimity from such as are not.
For example, it is macchariyam when a bhikshu, enjoy-
ing the use of a lodging, grudges another a share of it, or
when he grudges another intercourse with his own patrons


meanness, grudging, mean spirit, avarice and ignobleness/
niggardliness and want of generosity of heart^—this is
called the Fetter of meanness.
and relatives, or gifts from the laiety for his piety, or that
he should enjoy a reputation for physical or moral attrac-
tiveness, or that he should win proficiency in the letter, or
the spirit of doctrine. On the other hand, it is not mac-
chariyam to deprecate the arrival at one's lodging of
quarrelsome persons and the like, or the introduction to
one's own social circle of peace-breakers, or the gifts made
to selfish, miserly brethren instead of to the virtuous. Nor
is it ungenerous in every case to withhold instruction from
an inquirer. Eeserve may be employed out of regard
either for the doctrine, or for the inquirer. The latter may
distort the imparted doctrine, or the doctrine may upset
him. Nevertheless, it is an act of doctrinal illiberality to
withhold the doctrine, if the inquirer is not a *
weak
brother,' but one likely to prove hostile to 'our Cause'
(amhakam samayam bhinditum samattho).
There then follows a mythological paragraph on the
unpleasant rebirths awaiting those who err with respect to
any one of these five forms of meanness. Asl. 374, 375.
^
Yeviccham kadariyam. These terms are charac-
terized (Asl. 375, 376) as respectively the soft (mudu) and
hard (thaddha) varieties of meanness (c/. Childers, s.v.
thaddho). We might name them the negatively and the
positively anti-social. For the former is the spirit that
says, spreading itself over all its own gettings, '
Mine be
it, not another's !'
(§ 1059). The latter (the anariyo)
would even prevent another from giving to others.
^ Katukaiicukata aggahitattam cittassa. There
is doubt about the reading of the former term. K. has
katakancukata, Buddhaghosa katukancukata. The
term is discussed by Morris, J. P. T. S., 1887, p. 161.
Buddhaghosa's remark is as follows (Asl. 376): 'Katu-
kancuko means that, on seeing a beggar, owing to one's
styptic (katuko) disposition, one's heart narrows or is
bent (ancati—? ^^ anh, or anc) and shrinks up. ' He then,
in offering an alternative explanation, relapses into charac-
teristic etymology, deriving katukancukata from katac-
chugaho—spoon-helps. When your rice-pot is full to the
brim, one can only take niggling helps with the tip of


[1123] What is the Fetter of ignorance ?
Answer as for the Intoxicant of ignorance, § 1100.
These are the states that are Fetters.
[1124] Which are the states that are not Fetters ?
Every state, good, bad and indeterminate, which is not
included in the foregoing [ten] states, whether it relates to
the worlds of sense, or of form, or of the formless, or to the
life that is Unincluded ; in other words, the four skandhas ;
all form also, and uncompounded element.
Which are the states that are
[1125] (a) favourable to the Fetters .^^
Co-Intoxicant states, good, bad and indeterminate,
relating to the worlds of sense, form, or the formless ; in
other words, the five skandhas.
[1126] (b) unfavourable to the Fetters ?
The Paths that are the Unincluded and the Fruits of the
Paths, and uncompounded element.
Which are the states that are
[1127] (a) associated with the Fetters ?
[1128] (b) disconnected with the Fetters ?
Answers identical with those given to corresponding ques-
tions respecting the ^Intoxicants,' §§ 1105, 1106.
Which are the states that are
[1129] (a) both Fetters and favourable to the Fetters ?
a spoon. And just as the heart of the niggard shrinks, so
too is his body '
bent back on itself, thrown back on itself,
obtains no peace '
(he quotes from Mil., p. 297). Similarly
aggahitattam cittassa is a holding the heart fast, or
back, preventing its expansion by way of gifts and service
to others.
^ Saniiojaniya. So the text and K. The Cy. reads
sannojanlya. But cf ganthaniya, oghaniya, yoga-
niya, Asl. 49. The Cy. explains the term, which is
literally fetter-ish, as that which benefits the Fetters by
developing them, once their inception has begun. Asl. 48.


The Fetters themselves are both
[1130] (b) favourable to the Fetters but not themselves
Fetters.
The states which are favourable to those [ten] states
afore-named; that is to say, with the exception of the
Fetters themselves, all co-Intoxicant states whatever, good,
bad and indeterminate, whether relating to the worlds of
sense, form or the formless ; in other words, the five
skandhas.
Which are the states that are
[1131] (a) both Fetters and associated with Fetters ?
The Fetter of sensuality in conjunction with the Fetter
of ignorance, and conversely, is both. So is any one of the
remaining eight Fetters when in conjunction with the Fetter
of ignorance, and conversely.
[1132] (b) associated with the Fetters but not a Fetter?
The states which are associated with those ten states
afore-named, with the exception of the Fetters themselves
;
in other words, the four skandhas.
Which are the states that are
[1133] (a) disconnected with the Fetters yet favourable to
them ?
The states which are disconnected with those afore-
mentioned [ten] states, that is to say, good, bad and
indeterminate states which are co-Intoxicant, whether
they relate to the worlds of sense, or of form, or of the
formless ; in other words, the ^ve skandhas.
[1134] (b) disconnected with the Fetters and not favourable
to them ?
The Paths that are the Unincluded and the Fruits of the
Paths ; all form also, and uncompounded element.
^
^ In quitting the subject of Fetters, the Cy. declares
(pp. 376, 377) that the Fetters of sensuality and repulsion
are put away during one's progress through the third
(an a garni) path, the Fetter of conceit in the fourth


(arahatta) path, the Fetters of speculative opinion, per-
plexity, and the contagion of mere rule and ritual, in the
first (sotapatti) path, the Fetter of the passion for
renewed existence in the fourth path, the Fetters of envy
and meanness in the first path, the Fetter of ignorance in
the fourth path. Hence the second path seems, according
to Buddhaghosa, to constitute an interim in the breaking
of Fetters.
The following tables show how far the Dh. S. and its
Cy. agree with the authorities quoted in Childers, s.v.
samyojanam (cf. D. i. 156)
:
Dh. S, and Asl.
ditthi
vicikiccha
silabbata-paramaso
issa
macchariyam
kamarago
patigho
mano
bhavarago
avijja

Childers.
sakkaya-ditthi
vicikiccha
silabbata-paramaso
kamarago
patigho
ruparago
aruparago
mano
uddhaccam
avijja

On the work of the Fourth Path compare Dh. S., § 364,
which is in agreement with the right-hand table. In the
first edition (p. 452) of Dr. Oldenberg's '
Buddha ' attention
was called to discrepancies in this connexion.