Dhammasangani
Enumeration of Phenomena
400 B.C. | 124,932 words
*english translation* The first book of the Abhidhamma (Part 3 of the Tipitaka). The Dhammasangani enumerates all the paramattha dhamma (ultimate realities) to be found in the world. According to one such enumeration these amount to: * 52 cetasikas (mental factors), which, arising together in various combination, give rise to any one of... * ......
I.
[1053] Which are the states that are causes?
- The three causes of good (karma).
- The three causes of bad (karma).
-
The three causes of the indeterminate.
The nine causes operative in the sensuous universe.
The six causes operative in the universe of form.
The six causes operative in the universe of the formless. -
The six causes operative in the life that is the Unincluded.
(A) In this connexion,
[1054] Which are the three causes of good karma?
The absence of lust, hate and dulness.
In this connexion,
[1055] What is the absence of lust?
The absence of lust, lusting, lustfulness is the absence of infatuation, of raving, of passionateness;
the absence of covetousness, that absence of lust which is the root of good (karma).[2]
[1056] What is the absence of hate?
The absence of hate, hating, hatred;
love,[3] loving, loving disposition; [4]
tender care, forbearance, considerateness; [5]
seeking the general good,[6] compassion;
the absence of malice, of malignity;
that absence of hate which is the root of good (karma).[7]
[1057] What is the absence of dulness?
Knowledge about ill, about the uprising of ill, about the cessation of ill, and about the way leading to the cessation of ill;
knowledge about the former things, about the latter things, about both taken together;
knowledge about the assignable causation of causally determined states
— even that kind of wisdom which is understanding, search, research, searching the Truth, etc.
[continue as in § 34].
These are the three causes of good (karma).
(B) In this connexion,
[1058] Which are the three causes of bad (karma)?
Lust, hate, dulness.
In this connexion,
[1059] What is lust?
That which is
passion (rago),
infatuation (sarago),[8]
fawning (anunayo),[9]
compliance (anurodho),[10]
delighting in (nandi),[11]
taking passionate delight in (nandi-rago),[11]
infatuation of mind (cittassa sarago),[12]
longing (iccha),
languishing (muccha),
devouring (ajjhosanam),[13]
greed (gedho),
omnivorous greed (paligedho),
cleaving to (sango),
a slough (panko),[14]
seduction (eja),[15]
trickery (maya),[16]
genitrix (janika) ,[17]
progenitrix (sanjananl),
seamstress (sibbani),[18]
she who ensnares (jalini),[19]
the river (sarita),[20]
she who is poisonous (visattika),[21]
the thread (suttam),[22]
diffusion (visata),[23]
she who toils (ayuhani),[24]
the consort (dutiya),[25]
hankering (panidhi),
she who leads to renewed existence (bhavanetti),[26]
the jungle (vanam),
the undergrowth (vanatho),[27]
intimacy (santhavo),[28]
unctuous affection (sineho),
affection (apekkha),[29]
connexion (patibandhu),[30]
craving (asa),
wanting (asimsana),
cupidity (asimsitattam),
craving for visual forms (rupasa, etc.),
craving for sounds,
craving for odours,
craving for tastes,
craving for the tangible,
craving for getting,
craving for wealth,
craving for children,
craving for life,
mumbling (jappa),[31]
mumbling on,
mumbling over,
muttering,
murmuring,
self-indulgence (loluppam),[32]
self-indulging,
intemperateness,
agitation (puncikata),[33]
longing for the agreeable (sadhu kamyata),[34]
incestuous passion (adhammarago),[35]
lawless lust (visamalobho),
appetite (nikanti),
hungering for (nikamana),
entreating (patthana),
envying (pihana),
imploring (sampatthana),[36]
thirst for sensual indulgence (kamatanha),
thirst for existence (bhavatanha),
thirst for non-existence (vibhavatanha),[37]
thirst for form,[38]
thirst for formlessness,
thirst for annihilation,
thirst for visible forms,[39]
thirst for sounds,
thirst for smells,
thirst for tastes,
thirst for the tangible,
thirst for mental states (dhammatanha),
a flood (ogho),
a yoke (yogo),
trammels (gantho),
attachment (upadanam),
obstruction (avaranam),
hindrance (nivaranam),
counterfeiting (chadanam),[40]
bondage (bandhanam),[41]
depravity (upakkileso),
faltering (anusayo),[42]
pervading (pariyutthanam),[43]
a creeper (lata),[44]
avarice (veviccham),[45]
root of pain,
source of pain (dukkhanidanam),
production of pain (dukkhappabhavo),
Mara's trap (marapaso),
Mara's fish-hook (marabalisam),
Mara's domain (maravisayo),
thirst,
thirst for delight (nanditanha),
the fishing-net of thirst (jalamtanha)[46] ,
the leash of thirst (gaddulatanh a),[47]
the ocean (samuddo),[48]
covetousness (abhijjha) ,[49]
the lust that is the root of evil
— this is what is called lust.
[1060] What is hate?
When annoyance springs up at the thought:
he has done me harm, is doing, will do me harm;
he has done harm, is doing harm, will do harm to someone dear and precious to me;
he has conferred a benefit, is conferring, will confer a benefit on someone I dislike and object to;
or when annoyance springs up groundlessly[50] :
— all such vexation of
spirit,[51] resentment, repugnance, hostility;[52]
ill-temper, irritation, indignation;[53]
hate, antipathy, abhorrence;[54]
mental disorder,[55] detestation;[56]
anger, fuming, irascibility;
hate, hating, hatred;
disorder, getting upset, derangement;
opposition, hostility;[57]
churlishness, abruptness, disgust of heart
— this is what is called hate.
[1061] What is dulness?
Lack of knowledge about Ill,
lack of knowledge about the uprising of Ill,
lack of knowledge about the cessation of Ill,
lack of knowledge about the way leading to the cessation of Ill;
lack of knowledge about the former things, about the latter things and about both taken together;
lack of knowledge about the assignable causation of causally determined states
— even all that kind of lack of knowledge which is
lack of insight,
of understanding,
of wakefulness,
of enlightenment,
of penetration,
of comprehension,
of sounding,
of comparing,
of contemplation,
of perspicacity;impurity,
childishness,
unintelligence,
the dulness that is stupidity,
obtuseness, ignorance,
a flood of ignorance,
the yoke of ignorance,
the dependence of ignorance,
the being possessed by ignorance,
the barrier of ignorance,
the dulness that is the root of evil
— this is called dulness.[58]
These are the three causes of bad [karma].
(C) In this connexion,
[1062] Which are the three causes of the indeterminate?
The absence of lust, hate and dulness coming to pass as the result of good states, or as the indeterminate states known as kiriya-thoughts.[59]
[1063] Which are the nine causes operative in the sensuous universe (kamavacarahetu)?
The three causes of good [karma], the three causes of bad [karma], the three causes of indeterminate [states] — these are the nine.
[1064] Which are the six causes operative in the universe of form?
The three causes of good [karma], the three causes of indeterminate [states] — these are the six.
[1065] Which are the six causes operative in the universe of the formless?
The three causes of good [karma], the three causes of indeterminate [states] — these are the six.
[1066] Which are the six causes operative in the Unincluded?
The three causes of good [karma], the three causes of indeterminate [states] — these are the six.
In this connexion,
[1067] Which are the three causes of good [karma]?
The absence of lust, hate and dulness.
In this connexion,
[1068-1070] What is the absence of lust ... of hate ... of dulness?
Answers as in §§ 1055-1057, but omitting in § 1056, from 'hatred' to 'the absence of malice', exclusively.[60]
These are the three causes of good [karma].
(D) In this connexion,
[1071] Which are the three causes of indeterminate [states]?
The absence of lust, hate and dulness coming to pass as the effect of good states — these are the three.
These are the six causes operative in the Unincluded. These are the states which are causes.
[1072] Which are the states that are not causes?
Every state, good, bad and indeterminate, whether related to the worlds of sense, of form, of the formless, or to the life that is Unincluded, except the states enumerated above; in other words, the four skandhas; all form also and uncompounded element.
[1073] Which are the states that have causes as concomitants?[61]
Those states, to wit, the four skandhas, which have as concomitant causes the states enumerated above.[62]
[1074J Which are the states that have not concomitant causes?
Those states, to wit, the four skandhas, all form also, and uncompounded element, which have not as concomitant causes the states enumerated above.
[1075] Which are the states that are associated with a cause?[63]
The states, to wit, the four skandhas, which are associated with those states enumerated above.
[1076] Which are the states that are not associated with a cause?
The states, to wit, the four skandhas, all form also, and uncompounded element, which are not associated with the states enumerated above.
[1077] Which are the states that both are causes and have causes as their concomitants?
Lust with dulness is both. Dulness with lust is both. Hate with dulness is both. Dulness with hate is both.[64]
The absence of lust, the absence of hate, the absence of dulness — these also, taken one with the other, both are causes and have causes as their concomitants.
[1078] Which are the states that have causes as their concomitants, but are not causes?
The states, to wit, the four skandhas, which have as their concomitant causes those states [enumerated above as causes], the latter states themselves excepted.
[1079] Which are the states that are both causes and associated with a cause?
[1080] Which are the states that are associated with a cause, but are not causes?
Answers identical with those in the foregoing pair.[65]
[1081] Which are the states that are not causes, but have a cause as their concomitant?[66]
The states, to wit, the four skandhas, which are not the causes of those states enumerated above, but which have any of them as their concomitants.
[1082] Which are the states that are not causes and have not causes as their concomitants?
The states, to wit, the four skandhas, all form also, and uncompounded element, which neither are the causes of those states enumerated above, nor have any of them as their concomitants.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
In connexion with the statement (§ 595) that form is 'that which is not a cause', the Cy. distinguishes, as did Aristotle, four varieties of cause. The coincidence, however, scarcely extends beyond the number. Hetu is either
- cause as cause (hetu-hetu);
- cause as condition, or necessary antecedent 'wherewithal' (paccayahetu);
- cause as ultimate or supreme (uttama-hetu); and
- cause as an attribute held in common (s adhar a nail etu). Asl. 303.
These distinctions are shown to be applied as follows:
(a)
the trinity of threefold cause given in § 1053. Here the word is always paraphrased by 'root', root, conversely, standing for productive agent in general (see the list in note to § 981), and, of course, for moral agency especially.
(b)
'I have declared, bhikkhu, that the four great phenomena are the causes, are the conditions of the form-skandha'.
When the paccayo is material, it may be said to coincide with Aristotle's second formal principle η υλη και το υποκειμενον. Possibly paccayo was this conception so generalized as to include the immaterial wherewithal requisite for the effect. Colebrooke, however ('Life and Essays', ii. 419), said that the Bauddhas distinguish between hetu as proximate cause and pratyaya (paccayo) as concurrent occasion.
(c)
'When good (karma) takes effect, it is the object ultimately or supremely desired'
— and the opposite, of course, in the case of bad karma. This may possibly approximate to Aristotle's final cause (το ου ενεκα).
(d)
'As the essence of the elements of earth and water (solid and liquid) are the condition of sweet or not-sweet, so is ignorance the common base-element of the syntheses (sanskaras). In our present connexion the term is said to be used in its first-named meaning.
[2]:
Cf, § 32. The Pali terms coincide in both answers. In the following answer, the terms differ considerably from those in § 33.
[3]:
The printed text has met tarn; the Cy. and K. read metti.
[4]:
'The mental condition of one who is possessed by love, and through love is loosed from clinging'.
(Asl. 362.).
Cf. note on p. 66.
[5]:
Anudda, anuddayana, anuddayitattam. The Cy. paraphrases by rakkhati, showing the reference there is in these terms, usually rendered by 'pity', 'compassion', to the protective, shielding aspect of altruism and benevolence. Cf its use in C. vii. 3, 13; S. ii., p. 218, where it is used to express that attitude of forbearance in the interests of the weaker brethren recommended by St. Paul to Eoman and Corinthian adherents.
[6]:
Hitesita. See C. ix. 5, 7.
[7]:
By all these words (i.e., from 'love' to 'compassion'), concludes Buddhaghosa, the advance (up a car a) and conception (appana) of love is described. Possibly the procedure in the induction of Jhana was in his mind in using these technical terms. Cf. Khys Davids, 'Yogavacara's Manual', p. xi.
[8]:
'Meaning strong rago'. Asl. 362,
[9]:
This is opposed to patigho or repugnance in Mil. 44; cf. 122 and 322. The comment (Asl. 362) — visayesu sattanam anunayanato — may indicate that the fawning is by way of pandering to the sensual appetites of others.
[10]:
This is opposed to virodho, pativirodho. See § 1060. The Cy. (ibid.) paraphrases by kameti. Cf. S. i. Ill; K. Y. 485.
[11]:
Explained as the recurrence over and over again of that thirst for some object, the single occurrence of which constitutes the state called nandi. Asl. 363.
[12]:
Explained as qualifying the 'infatuation' already named by emphasizing the reference to a mental state or psychosis, and not to any personal entity. Ibid.
[13]:
'I.e., grasping by swallowing, by putting a complete end to.'
Asl. 363, 370.
The term is probably formed from sa, to bind (or to gain), and usually, by its context, signifies attachment. Cf. M. i. 109, 498; Mil. 74. Judging by the Commentary, however, there seems to be a homonym derived from the root a 9, to eat, similar to th e parallel evolution of jhayati, from dhya and ksa. Cf. Ehys Davids, 'Dialogues of the Buddha', i. 33, note 2.
The passage in A. i. 66, 67, is the only one at present known to me where the word, occurring as it does in coordination with terms of attachment and also of greed, may be rendered equally well in either sense.
[14]:
Paraphrased by osldanarn. Asl. 363.
[15]:
Paraphrased by akacldhanam, used in the Dhp. Cy. (p. 412) to illustrate the magnetic power of the love of treasure and of family. Ibid.
[16]:
Paraphrased byvancanam. Ibid.
[17]:
Because lust causes beings to be reborn on the Wheel (of life). So for the following epithet. As it is written:
Tanha janeti purisam, cittam assa vidhavati.
[18]:
The Cy. explains that lob ho sews, or joins beings to sorrow by way of rebirth, just as a tailor joins one piece of cloth to another. Ibid.
[19]:
She = tanha, by the suffusion of which the manifold web of the senses becomes as a net. Ibid.
Yassa jalini visattika
tanha n'atthi kuhinci netave.
S. i. 107; = Dhp., ver. 180.
[20]:
From the swift current of lobho, or else from its glutinous tenacity, according to the Commentator, who quotes:
Saritani sinehitani ca
somanassani bhavanti jantuno.
Dhp., ver. 341.
[21]:
See above note 2.
[22]:
By reason of its chaining together destruction and misfortune as jars are arranged on a cord. Asl. 364.
[23]:
'In the sense of spreading out over sensuous objects.'
Ibid.
[24]:
'I.e., she causes beings to toil after (ayuhapeti) this or that state'.
Ibid.
On ayuhati, see J. P. T. S., 1885, pp. 58, 59; 1886, pp. 155, 156; Mil. 108, 214.
[25]:
Lobho (or tanha) is likened to a dear alter ego, or wife, or travelling companion.
The idea is found in Sutta Nipata, verse 740, quoted by the Cy.:
Tanhadutiyo puriso digharn addhanam samsaram
Itthabhavannathabhavam samsaram nativattati ti.
[26]:
Cy.: Bhavanetti = the cord of existence. For by it beings are led, as cows by a cord bound about their necks, wherever they are wanted.
[27]:
The impenetrable, impassable nature of tropical forest growth often serves to illustrate the dangers of lobho or tanha. Cf. Dh., p. 283, quoted in the Cy. Ibid.
[28]:
'Intimacy is of two kinds: it is either carnal (i.e., of tanha) or friendly. Here the former is meant'.
Asl. 365.
[29]:
'Alayakaranavasena apekkhati ti apekkha.'
Ibid.
The quotation in the Cy. on this word is from the Mahasudassana Sutta, 229, with which cf. S. iii. 144.
[30]:
'As being constantly near to living beings there is no relative (or connexion) like tanha'.
Asl. 365.
[31]:
The four following terms are all variants of jappa.
'Whenever anything is given to a greedy person, he will mutter,
"This is mine, this is mine!, This has been given me by so-and-so!"'
Asl. 365.
K. repeats jappa after abhijappana. Cf. C. iv. 14, 26: sakannajappakam.
[32]:
See Jat. i. 340; iv. 306. Buddhaghosa derives this from lumpati. Cf. Whitney's 'Boots', etc., where it appears as the Intensive of lup, but belonging in meaning to lubh.
[33]:
The excitement or fluster produced by tanha is here, according to the Cy., likened to that shown by 'dogs wagging their tails' (read sunakha) when seeking to find something. Ibid.
[34]:
The Cy. and K. read sadhu.
[35]:
For a mother, a mother's sister, etc. Asl. 366.
[36]:
I.e., patthana intensified. Ibid.
[37]:
I.e., for a state of annihilation. Ibid.
[38]:
I.e., for a state of pure (suddhe) form. Ibid.
[39]:
Before 'thirst for sounds' K. inserts rupatanha for the second time, the rupani craved for here being presumably 'sights', 'perceptions of sight', as distinguished from that supersensuous plane of being craved for under the former rupatanha, and ranking next to the formless plane. The Cy., on the other hand, only notices between 'thirst for annihilation' and 'thirst for sounds', the word ditthirago, passion for speculation.
[40]:
So Asl. and K. Cf. Sutta Nip. i. 5, 7.
[41]:
I.e., 'on the wheel' (of samsara). Ibid,
[42]:
'Through loss of strength'. Ibid.
[43]:
I.e., the heart becomes possessed by lust, as a road by highwaymen. Ibid.
[44]:
. . . lata ubbhijja titthati. Dhp. 340. Quoted in the Cy. Greed or lust strangles its victim, as a creeper strangles a tree.
[45]:
See Sutta Nip. 1033. Buddhaghosa, however, paraphrases the term as 'multifarious wants', Vielhaberei; 'vividhani vatthuni icchati'. Ihid.
At Asl., p. 375, he has a different explanation. Cf. S. N. ii., s.v. veviccha.
[46]:
Spread out like a net over the river. Asl. 367.
[47]:
Cf. J at. ii. 246; iii. 204. Tan ha drags its victims about as dogs are drawn by a leash (Asl. 367).
[48]:
The thirst of lust is hard to satiate. Ibid. Cf. above, p. 175, note 4.
[49]:
See § 391.
[50]:
'Atthane va pana aghato ti akarane kopo.
E.g., when one is vexed because it rains too much, or because it doesn't rain, or because the sun is too hot, or not hot enough, or because there is too much or too little wind, or because one cannot sweep away the Bo-tree-leaves, or because the wind prevents one from putting on one's robe, or because one has fallen over a tree stump'.
Asl. 367.
[51]:
Cittassa aghato. Aghato is rendered above by annoyance. The two next terms are patighato and patigham. The latter is the word used to express action and reaction in sense-activity. § 597 et seq.
[52]:
Pativirodho. Cf. Mil. 203, 402.
[53]:
Kopo, pakopo, sampakopo.
[54]:
Padoso, sampadoso.
[55]:
Cittassa vyapatti; paraphrased as a houleversement, or cataclysm of mind. Vyapatti is used for the wrecking of a ship in Jat. iv. 107. Cf. above, § 418.
[56]:
Manopadoso. Cf. Jat. iv. 29; M. i. 377, where it means apparently curse or execration — the original sense of ' detesting'.
[57]:
See § 418.
[58]:
According to Asl. 368, this is ' thoroughly set out in the Commentary on the Vibhanga',
[59]:
Kiriyavyakatesu dhammesu. See above, § 566 et seq. The Cy. here is silent.
[60]:
Ado so has been inadvertently omitted in the text.
[61]:
Sahetuka. The Cy. (p. 47) on this term has: Samp ayogato pavattena saha hetuna ti sahetuka, and on the opposite: ahetukath Tath'eva pavatto n'atthi etesam hetu ti. This maybe rendered:
'Sahetuka means, union in continuance with a cause'.
And
'ahetuka means, there is for them no continuance of a cause'.
The sustamiiig of a cause in concomitance with a given state is so much harped upon by the Cy. that one is tempted to surmise that the mediaeval controversy, known by the formula, Cessante causa cessat et effectus, was not unfamiliar to Buddhist scholastics.
Have we here the categorizing of certain states, for the maintenance of which, as effects, the continuance of the cause is required? In that case the Buddhist would have agreed (see § 1075, n.) with a modern logician (J. S. Mill) that, in some cases only,
'The continuance of the condition which produced an effect is necessary to the continuance of the effect'.
The coincidence, however, is extremely doubtful.
The Pali even leaves it vague as to whether the concomitant cause is the cause of the state in question; sometimes, indeed, this is evidently not the case.
E.g., in § 1077 'dulness' is a hetu-dhammo, but not therefore the cause of the concomitant states, lust and hate. The compilers were, as usual, more interested in the psychology than in the logic of the matter, and were inquiring into the factors in cases of mental association.
[62]:
Tehi dhammehi, i.e., with one or other of the six causes of good or bad effects. Asl. 368.
[63]:
Hetu-sampayutta. On the import of the term sampayutto, see p. 1, n. 4. This pair of opposites is further declared to be not different in meaning from the preceding pair (atthato nanattam natthi), and the formulae only differentiated for the purpose of adaptation to the various dispositions (aj jhasayavasena) of the hearers. Asl. 48. This coincidence of meaning seems, however, to be applicable only in the sphere of hetu.
In the next gocchakam, the attribute of asavavippayutta is allowed to be compatible with the attribute sasava, § 1111, and so for subsequent gocchakas.
[64]:
Dulness when accompanied by perplexity and excitement (uddhaccam) is said to be a cause, but to have no cause as its concomitant. Asl. 368.
[65]:
Cf. § 1075, n. 2.
[66]:
Supplementary questions, says the Cy., dealing with the na-hetu states. Asl. 47.