Abhidhammattha Sangaha - Summary of Functions

Abhidhammattha Sangaha ( A Manual of Abhidhamma )

Translated by Narada Maha Thera
Published By the Buddhist Missionary Society

(iii.Kicca—Sangaho)
_______
§6.Kicca-sangahe kiccani nama patisandhi-
bhavangavajjanadassana–savana–ghayana-
sayana–phusana–sampaticchana–santirana-
votthapana–javana–tadalambana–cutivasena
cuddasavidhani bhavanti.
Patisandhibhavangavajjanapancavinnana-
tthanadivasena pana tesam dasadha thana–
bhedo veditabbo.
Tattha dve upekkhasahagatasantiranani
c’eva attha mahavipakani ca nava ruparupa–
vipakani c’ati ekunavisati cittani patisandhi–
bhavanga–cutikiccani nama.
âvajjanakiccani pana dve. Tatha dassana–
savana-ghayana-sayana-phusana-sampaticcha-
nakiccani ca.
Tini santiranakiccani.
Manodvaravajjanam’eva pancadvare vottha-
panakiccam sadheti.
âvajjanadvaya-vajjitani kusalakusalakriya
cittani pancapannasa javanakiccani.
Atthamahavipakani c’eva santiranatta-
yanc’ ati ekadasa tadalambanakiccani.
Tesu pana dve upekkhasahagatasantiranaci-
ttani patisandhi-bhavanga-cuti-tadarammana-
santirana-vasena panca kiccani nama.

Mahavipakani attha patisandhi-bhavanga
cuti-tadarammana-vasena catukiccani.
Mahaggatavipakani nava patisandhi-
bhavanga-cutivasena tikiccani.
Somanassa-sahagatam santiranam-tadalam-
banavasena dukiccam.
Tatha votthapanan ca votthapanavajjanava-
sena.
Sesani pana sabbani’pi javana-manodhatu-
ttika -panca-vinnanani yathasambhavam’ eka
kiccani’ti.
§7.Patisandhadayo nama kiccabhedena cuddasa
Dasadha thanabhedena cittuppada pakasita
Atthasatthi tatha dye ca navatthadve
yathakkamam
Ekadviticatupancakiccatthanani niddise.
_______
(iii.Summary of Functlons)
_______
§6.In the summary of functions (17) there are four-
teen kinds — namely, 1. relinking (18) 2. life-continuum,
(19) 3. apprehending (20) 4. seeing, 5. hearing, 6. smell-
ing, 7. tasting, 8. contacting (21) 9. receiving (22),
10.investigating (23), 11. determining (24), 12. Javana
(25), 13. retention (26), and 14. decease (27).
Their classification (28) should be understood as ten-

fold — namely, 1. relinking, 2. life-continuum, 3. appre-
hending, 4. fivefold sense-impressions and so forth.
Of them nineteen types of consciousness perform the
functions of relinking, life-continuum, and decease,
They are:—
1.two types of investigating consciousness accom-
panied by indifference (29),
2.eight great resultants (30), and
3.nine Form-Sphere and Formless Sphere result-
ants (31). (2 + 8 + 9 = 19)
Two perform the function of apprehending (32).
Similarly two (33) perform the functions of seeing, hear-
ing, smelling, tasting, contacting, and receiving (34).
Three (35) perform the function of investigating.
The mind-door consciousness performs the function of
determining (36) in the five sense-door (thought-process).
With the exception of two apprehending types of con-
sciousness (37) the fifty-five (38) types of immoral, moral,
and functional consciousness perform the function of javana.
The eight great resultants and the three types of
investigating consciousness, (totalling eleven) (39), per-
form the function of retention.
Of them the two types of investigating conscious-
ness, accompanied by indifference, perform five functions
such as relinking, life-continuum, decease, retention, and
investigating.

The eight great resultants perform four functions
such as relinking, life-continuum, decease, and retention.
The nine Sublime resultants perform three functions
such as relinking, life-continuum, and decease (40).
The investigating consciousness, accompanied by
pleasure, perform two functions such as investigating and
retention.
Similarly the determining consciousness (41) per-
form two functions such as determining and apprehending.
All the remaining types of consciousness—javana of
three mind-elements (42), and five sense-impressions—
perform only one function as they arise.
_______
§7.The types of consciousness are declared to be
fourteen according to functions such as relinking and so
forth, and ten according to classification.
It is stated those that perform one function are sixty-
eight; two functions, two; three functions, nine; four func-
tions, eight; and five functions, two respectively.
Notes:
17.Kicca or Function.
In the first chapter consciousness was classified chiefly
according to the nature (jati) and planes or states (bhumi).
In this section the different functions of all the 89 types of
consciousness are explained in detail.
Each consciousness performs a particular function.

Some types of consciousness perform several functions,
under different circumstances, in various capacities. There
are fourteen specific functions performed by them all.
18.Patisandhi, literally, means re-linking.
The type of consciousness one experiences at the moment
of conception is termed patisandhi citta. It is so called
because it links the past with the present.
This patisandhi citta, also termed ‘rebirth-conscious-
ness’, is conditioned by the powerful thought one experi-
ences at the dying moment, and is regarded as the source
of the present life stream. In the course of one particular
life there is only one patisandhi citta. The mental contents
of bhavanga, which later arises an infinite number of times
during one’s lifetime, and of cuti, which arises only once at
the final moment of death, are identical with those of
patisandhi.
19.Bhavanga. Bhava + anga = factor of life, or
indispensable cause or condition of existence.
One experiences only one thought-moment at any
particular time. No two thought-moments coexist.
Each thought-moment hangs on to some kind of
object. No consciousness arises without an object, either
mental or physical.
When a person is fast asleep and is in a dreamless
state he experiences a kind of consciousness which is more
or less passive than active. It is similar to the consciousness

one experiences at the initial moment of conception and at
the final moment of death. This type of consciousness is in
Abhidhamma termed bhavanga. Like any other conscious-
ness it also consists of three aspects—genesis (uppada),
static (thiti) and cessation (bhanga). Arising and perishing
every moment it flows on like a stream not remaining the
same for two consecutive moments.
When an object enters this stream through the sense-
doors, the bhavanga consciousness is arrested and another
type of consciousness appropriate to the object perceived
arises. Not only in a dreamless state but also in our waking
state we experience bhavanga thought-moments more
than any other types of consciousness. Hence bhavanga
becomes an indispensable condition of life.
Mrs. Rhys Davids and Mr. âung compare bhavanga
to “Leibniz’s state of obscure perception, not amounting to
consciousness, in dreamless sleep.”
One cannot agree because bhavanga is a type of con-
sciousness. There is no obscure perception here.
Some identify bhavanga with sub-consciousness.
According to the Dictionary of Philosophy sub-consciousness
is “a compartment of the mind alleged by certain psycholo-
gists and philosophers to exist below the threshold of con-
sciousness.” In the opinion of Western philosophers sub-
consciousness and consciousness coexist. According to
Abhidhamma no two types of consciousness coexist. Nor is
bhavanga a sub-plane.
The Compendium further states that “bhavanga de-

notes a functional state (or moment) of sub-consciousness.
As such it is the sub-conscious state of mind—‘below the
threshold’ of consciousness—by which we conceive contin-
uous subjective existence as possible. Thus it corresponds
to F. W. Myer’s ‘subliminal consciousness’”.
87
The Dictionary of Philosophy explains “subliminal
(sub, under + limen, the threshold) as allegedly uncon-
scious mental processes especially sensations which lie
below the threshold of consciousness”. Strictly speaking, it
does not correspond to subliminal consciousness either.
There does not seem to be any place for bhavanga in
Western Psychology.
Bhavanga is so called because it is an essential condi-
tion for continued subjective existence.
Whenever the mind does not receive a fresh exter-
nal object, one experiences a bhavanga consciousness.
88
Immediately after a thought-process, too, there is a bha-
vanga consciousness. Hence it is called vithimutta—
process-freed. Sometimes it acts as a buffer between two
thought-processes.
Life continuum89 has been suggested as the closest
English equivalent.
87.p. 266.
88.Cp. Susupti or deep sleep mentioned in the Upanishads. “In it the mind and the
sense are both said to be inactive.” Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, p. 258.
89.Radhakrishnan says …Bhavanga is sub-conscious existence, or more accurately
existence free from working consciousness. Bhavanga is sub-conscious existence
when subjectively viewed, though objectively it is sometimes taken to mean
Nirvana.’ Indian Philosophy, p. 408…. This certainly is not the Buddhist con-
ception. Bhavanga occurs in the waking consciousness too immediately after
a ‘Citta-Vithi (thought-process) Bhavanga is never identified with Nibbana.

According to the Vibhavini Tika bhavanga arises
between,
i.patisandhi (relinking) and avajjana (apprehend-
ing), ii.javana and avajjana, iii.tadarammana and avaj-
jana, iv.votthapana and avajjana, and sometimes between
v.javana and cuti, and vi.tadarammana and cuti.
20.âvajjana—opening or turning towards.
When an object enters the bhavanga stream of conscious-
ness the thought-moment that immediately follows is called
bhavanga-calana, (bhavanga vibration). Subsequently
another thought-moment arises and is called the bhavanga-
upaccheda (arresting bhavanga). Owing to the rapidity of
the flow of bhavanga an external object does not immedi-
ately give rise to a thought-process. The original bhavanga
thought-moment perishes. Then the flow is checked. Before
the actual transition of the bhavanga it vibrates for one
moment. When the bhavanga is arrested a thought-
moment arises adverting the consciousness towards the
object. If it is a physical object, the thought-moment is
termed five-door cognition (pancadvaravajjana). In the
case of a mental object it is termed mind-door cognition
(manodvaravajjana).
In the sense-door thought-process, after the avajjana
moment, arises one of the five sense-impressions.
See Ch. 1, N. 27.
âvajjana arises between bhavanga and pancavinnana
(sense-impressions), and bhavanga and javana.

21.Pancavinnana (sense-impressions) arise be-
tween five-door cognition’s (pancadvaravajjana) and re-
ceiving consciousness (sampaticohana).
Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and contacting are
collectively termed pancavinnana.
22.Sampaticchana arises tween five sense-
impressions and investigating consciousness (santirana).
23.Santirana arises between receiving-consciousness
and determining consciousness (votthapana).
24.Votthapana = Vi + ava +
√ tha, to stand,
to fix, to rest, lit., thorough settling down.
It is at this moment that the nature of the object is
fully determined. This is the gateway to a moral or im-
moral thought-process. Discrimination, rightly or wrongly
employed at this stage, determines the thought-process
either for good or evil.
There is no special class of consciousness called vot-
thapana. Manodvaravajjana (mind-door consciousness)
performs the function of determining.
Votthapana arises between i.investigation and
javana, and ii.investigation and bhavanga.
25.Javana derived from
√ ju, to run swiftly.
This is another important technical term which should be
clearly understood.
Ordinarily the term is employed in the sense of swift.
Javanahamsa, for example, means swift swan; javana-

panna means swift understanding. In the Abhidhamma it
is used in a purely technical sense.
Here Javana means running. It is so called because in
the course of a thought-process it runs consecutively for
seven thought-moments or five, hanging on to an identical
object. The mental states occurring in all these thought-
moments are similar, but the potential force differs.
When the consciousness perceives a vivid object usu-
ally seven moments of javana arise in the particular
thought-process. In the case of death or when the Buddha
performs the Twin Psychic Phenomenon (Yamaka Patiha-
riya) only five thought-moments arise. In the Supramun-
dane javana process the Path-consciousness arises only for
one moment.
This javana stage is the most important from an eth-
ical standpoint. It is at this psychological stage that good
or evil is actually done. Irrespective of the desirability or
the undesirability of the object presented to the mind, one
can make the javana process good or bad. If, for instance,
one meets an enemy, a thought of hatred will arise almost
automatically. A wise and forbearing person might, on the
contrary, harbour a thought of love towards him. This is
the reason why the Buddha has stated in the Dhammapada
(V. 165)—
“By self is evil done,
By self is one defiled,
By self is no evil done,
By self is one purified.”

True indeed that circumstances, habitual tendencies, envi-
ronment, etc., condition our thoughts. Then the freewill is
subordinated to the mechanistic course of events. There is
also the possibility to overcome those external forces and,
exercising one’s own freewill, generate either good or bad
thoughts.
A foreign element may be instrumental, but we our-
selves are directly responsible for our own actions.
Of the normal seven javana thought-moments, the
first is the weakest potentially as it lacks any previous sus-
taining force. The Kammic effect of this thought-moment
may operate in this present life itself. It is called the
Ditthadhammavedaniya Kamma. If it does not operate, it
becomes ineffective (ahosi). The last is the second weak-
est, because the sustaining power is being spent. Its Kam-
mic effect may operate in the immediately subsequent life
(Upapajjavedaniya). If it does not, it also becomes ineffec-
tive. The effects of the remaining five may operate at any
time till one attains Parinibbana (Aparapariyavedaniya).
It should be understood that moral and immoral
javanas (kusalakusala) refer to the active side of life (kam-
mabhava). They condition the future existence (upapatti-
bhava). Apart from them there are the Phala90 and Kriya
Javanas. In the Kriya Javanas, which are experienced only
by Buddhas and Arahants, the respective Cetanas lack
Kamma creative power.
90.Note the term used is Phala (fruit), but not Vipaka. In the Lokuttara Javana
process the Path-Consciousness is immediately followed by the Fruit-
Consciousness.

It is extremely difficult to suggest a suitable render-
ing for Javana.
“Apperception” is suggested by some.
The Dictionary of Philosophy defines apperception as
“the introspective or reflective apprehension by the mind
of its own inner states. Leibniz, who introduced the term,
distinguished between perception (the inner state as rep-
resenting outer things) and apperception (the inner state
as reflectively aware of itself). In Kant, apperception de-
notes the unity of self-consciousness pertaining to either
the empirical ego (empirical apperception) or to the pure
ego (transcendental apperception).” p. 15.
Commenting on Javana Mrs. Rhys Davids says:
“I have spent many hours over Javana, and am content to
throw apperception overboard for a better term, or for
Javana, untranslated and as easy to pronounce as our own
‘javelin’. It suffices to remember that it is the mental aspect
or parallel of that moment in nerve-process, when central
function is about to become efferent activity or ‘innervation’.
Teachers in Ceylon associate it with the word ‘dynamic’. And
its dominant interest for European psychologists is the
fusion of intellect and will in Buddhist Psychology “
(Compendium of Philosophy, p. 249).
Impulse is less satisfactory than even apperception.
As Mrs. Rhys Davids suggests it is wise to retain the
Pali term.
See Compendium of Philosophy, pp. 42–45, 249.

According to the Vibhavini Tika Javana occurs
between
(i)votthapana and tadarammana, (ii)votthapana
and bhavanga, (iii)votthapana and cuti, (iv)mano-
dvaravajjana and bhavanga, (v)manodvaravajjana and
cuti.
26.Tadalambana or Tadarammana, literally,
means ‘that object’. Immediately after the Javana process
two thought-moments or none at all, arise having for their
object the same as that of the Javana. Hence they are
called tadalambana. After the tadalambanas again the
stream of consciousness lapses into bhavanga.
Tadalambana occurs between (i)javana and bha-
vanga and (ii)javana and cuti.
27.Cuti is derived from
√ cu, to depart, to be
released.
As patisandhi is the initial thought-moment of life so
is cuti the final thought-moment. They are the entrance
and exit of a particular life. Cuti functions as a mere pass-
ing away from life. Patisandhi, bhavanga and cuti of one
particular life are similar in that they possess the same
object and identical mental co-adjuncts.
Death occurs immediately after the cuti conscious-
ness. Though, with death, the physical body disintegrates
and the flow of consciousness temporarily ceases, yet the

lifestream is not annihilated as the Kammic force that pro-
pels it remains. Death is only a prelude to birth.
Cuti occurs between (i) javana and patisandhi,
(ii)tada rammana and patisandhi, and (iii)bhavanga
and patisandhi.
28.òhana, lit., place, station, or occasion. Though
there are fourteen functions yet, according to the function-
ing place or occasion, they are tenfold. The pancavinnana
or the five sense-impressions are collectively treated as
one since their functions are identical.
29. One is akusala (immoral) and the other is kus-
ala (moral).
Rebirth (patisandhi) in the animal kingdom, and in
peta and asura realms takes place with upekkhasahagata
santirana (akusala vipaka). Bhavanga and cuti of that par-
ticular life are identical with this patisandhi citta.
Those human beings, who are congenitally blind,
deaf, dumb, etc., have for their patisandhi citta the kusala
vipaka upekkha-sahagata santirana. Though deformity is
due to an evil Kamma, yet the birth as a human is due to a
good Kamma.
30. Namely, the Kamavacara kusala vipaka. All
human beings, who are not congenitally deformed, are
born with one of these eight as their patisandhi citta.
All these ten pertain to the Kamaloka.

31. Namely, the five Rupavacara vipaka and the four
Arupavacara vipaka.
Lokuttara (supramundane) Phalas are not taken into
consideration because they do not produce any rebirth.
Nineteen classes of consciousness, therefore, per-
form the triple functions of patisandhi, bhavanga and
cuti.
32. Namely, the manodvaravajjana (mind-door
cognition) and the pancadvaravajjana (sense-door cogni-
tion), mentioned among the 18 ahetuka cittas. The former
occurs when the mind perceives a mental object, and the
latter when it perceives a physical object.
33. Namely, the ten types of moral and immoral
resultant sense-impressions (kusala-akusala vipaka
pancavinnana).
34. Namely, the two types of receiving conscious-
ness, accompanied by indifference, mentioned among the
ahetukas.
35. Namely, the two accompanied by indifference,
and one accompanied by pleasure. It is the first two that
function as patisandhi, bhavanga and cuti.
It should not be understood that at the moment of
rebirth there is any investigation. One consciousness per-
forms only one function at a particular time. This class of

consciousness only serves as a rebirth-consciousness con-
necting the past and present births;
The investigating consciousness, accompanied by
pleasure; occurs as a tadalambana when the object pre-
sented to the consciousness is desirable.
36. There is no special consciousness known as vot-
thapana. It is the manodvaravajjana that serves this func-
tion in the five-door thought-process.
37. Namely, the manodvaravajjana and the panca-
dvaravajjana, two of the Ahetuka Kriya Cittas. As they do
not enjoy the taste of the object they do not perform the
function of Javana. The remaining Kriya Citta, smiling
consciousness, performs the function of Javana.
38. Namely, 12 immoral + (8 + 5 + 4 + 4) 21
morals + 4 Lokuttara Phalas (Fruits) + (1 + 8 + 5 + 4)
18 functionals = 55.
The term used is not Vipaka but Phala. The Vipakas
(resultants) of Kama, Rupa and Arupa lokas are not re-
garded as Javanas. The Supramundane Paths and Fruits
which occur in the Javana process are regarded as Javanas
though they exist only for a moment.
39. These eleven are vipaka cittas (resultants).
When they perform the function of retention (tadalam-
bana), there is no investigating function.
The investigating consciousness, accompanied by pleas-
ure, performs the dual functions of investigating and retention.

40. In their respective planes.
41. Manodvaravajjana.
42. Manodhatu is applied to the two classes of
receiving consciousness (sampaticchana) and five-door
cognition (pancadvaravajjana). All the remaining classes
of consciousness, excluding the ten sense-impressions
(dvipanca-vinnana), are termed mano-vinnana dhatu.