A Manual of Abhidhamma

by Nārada Thera | 80,494 words | ISBN-13: 9789380336510

In the Abhidhammattha Sangaha there is a brief exposition of the Law of Dependent Origination, followed by a descriptive account of the Causal Relations that finds no parallel in any other philosophy. Edited in the original Pali Text with English Translation and Explanatory Notes by Narada Maha Thera....

The Law of Casual Relations

Patthānanayo

§ 3.

(1) Hetupaccayo, (2) ārammanapaccayo, (3) adhipatipaccayo, (4) anantarapaccayo, (5) samanantarapaccayo, (6) sahajātapaccayo, (7 ) aññamaññapaccayo, (8) nissayapaccayo, (9) upanissayapaccayo, (10) purejātapaccayo, (11) pacchājātapaccayo, (12) āsevanapaccayo, (13) kammapaccayo, (14) vipākapaccayo, (15) āhārapaccayo, (16) indriyapaccayo, (17) jhānapaccayo, (18) maggapaccayo, (19) sampayuttapaccayo, (20) vippayuttapaccayo, (21) atthipaccayo, (22) natthipaccayo, (23) vigatapaccayo, (24) avigatapaccayo' ti ayamettha patthananayo.

i. Chadhā nāmantu nāmassa pañcadhā nāmarūpinam

Ekadhā puna rūpassa rūpam nāmassa c'ekadhā.

ii. Paññattināmarūpāni nāmassa duvidhā dvayam

Dvayassa navadhā c'āti chabbidhā paccayā katham.

  1. Anantaraniruddhā cittacetasikā dhammā paccuppannānam citta cetasikānamanantara samanantaranatthi-vigatavasena; purimāni javanāni pacchimānam javanānam āsevanavasena; sahajātācittacetasikā dhammā aññamaññam sampayuttavasenā'ti chadhā nāmam nāmassa paccayo hoti.
  2. Hetujhānangamaggangāni sahajātānam nāmarūpanam hetādivasena; sahajāta cetanā sahajātānam nāma rūpānam; nānakkhanikā cetanā kammābhinibbattānam nāmarūpānam kammavasena; vipākakkhandha aññamaññam saha jātānam rūpānam vipākavasenāti ca pañcadhā nāmam nāmārūpānam paccayo hoti.
  3. Pacchājātā cittacetasikā dhammā purejātassa imassa kāyassa paccājātavasen'āti ekadhā va nāmam rūpassa paccayo hoti.
  4. Chavatthūni pavattiyam sattannam viññānadhātunam; pañcalambanāni ca pañcaviññānavīthiyā purejātavasenāti ekadhā va rūpam nāmassa paccayo hoti.
  5. ārammanavasena upanissyavasenā'ti ca duvidhā paññattlnāmarūpāni nāmass' eva paccaya honti.

    Tattha rūpādivasena chabbidham hoti ārammanam.


    Upanissayo pana tividho hoti - ārammanūpanissayo, anantarūpanissayo, pakatūpanissayo c'āti. Tatth'ālambanam eva garukatam ārammanūpallissayo. Anantaraniruddha cittacetasikā dhamma anantarūpanissayo. Rāgādayo pana dhammā saddhādayo ca sukham dukkham puggalo bhojanam utu senāsanañ ca yathāraham ajjhattam ca bahiddhā ca kusalādidhammānam kammam vipākānanti ca bahudhā hoti pakatūpanissayo.
  6. Adhipati, sahajāta, aññamañña, nissaya, āhāra, indriya, vippayutta, atthi, avigatavasenā'ti yathāraham navadhā nāmarūpāni nāmarūpānam paccayā bhavanti.

    Tattha garukatamālambanam alambanādhipativasena nāmānam sahājadhipati catubbidho' pi sahajātavasena sahajātānam nāmarūpānanti ca duvidho hoti adhipati-paccayo.

Cittacetasikā dhammā aññamaññam sahajātarūpānañ ca, mahābhūta aññāmaññam upādārūpānañ ca, patisandhikkhane vatthuvipākā aññamaññanti ca tividho hoti sahajātapaccayo.

Cittacetasikā dhammā aññamaññam, mahābhūta aññamaññam patisandhikkhane vatthuvipākā aññamaññanti ca tividho hoti aññamaññapaccayo.

Cittacetasikā dhammā aññamaññam sanajātarūpānañ ca mahābhūtā aññamaññam upādārupānañ ca chavatthūni sattannam viññānadhātūnanti ca tividho hoti nissayapaccayo.

Kabalīkāro āhāro imassa kāyassa, arūpino āhārā sahājātānam nāma rūpanan'ti ca duvidho hoti āhārapaccayo.

Pañcappasādā pañcannam viññānānam, rūpajīvitindriyam upādinnarūpānam, arūpino indriyā sahajātānam nāmarūpananti ca tividho hoti indriyapaccayo.

Okkantikkhane vatthuvipākānam, cittacetasikā dhammā sahajātarūpanam sahajātavasena, pacchājātā cittacetasikā dhammā purejātassa imassa kāyassa pacchājātavasena, cha vatthūni pavattiyam sattannam viññānadhātūnam purejātavasenā'ti ca tividho hoti vippayuttapaccayo.

Sahajātam purejātam pacchājātam ca sabbathā
Kabalīkāro āhāro rūpajīvitamiccayanti.
Pañcavidho hoti atthipaccayo avigatapaccayo.

ārammanūpānissaya-kamma-atthipaccayesu ca sabbe'pi paccaya samodhānam gacchanti.

Sahajātarūpanti pan'ettha sabbatthā'pi pavatte cittasamutthānānam patisandhiyam katattārūpānañ ca vasena duridho hoti veditabbam.

Iti tekālikā dhammā kālamutta ca sambhavā
Ajjhattañ ca bahiddhā ca sankhatāsankhatā tathā
Paññattināmarūpānam vasena tividhā thitā
Paccayā nāma patthāne catuvīsati sabbathā'ti.

 

(translation)

§ 3. The following are the causal relations:

  1. Root (18) Condition
  2. Object (19) "
  3. Predominance (20) "
  4. Contiguity (21) "
  5. Immediacy (21) "
  6. Conascence (22) "
  7. Mutuality (or Reciprocity) (23) "
  8. Dependence (24) "
  9. Powerful Dependence (or Sufficing) (24) "
  10. Pre-nascence (or Antecedence) (24) "
  11. Post-nascence (or Post occurrence) (26) "
  12. Repetition (or Habitual Recurrence) (27) "
  13. Kamma (28) "
  14. Effect (29) "
  15. Nutriment (30) "
  16. Control (31) "
  17. Jhāna (32) "
  18. Path (23) "
  19. Association (34) "
  20. Dissociation (36) "
  21. Presence (36) "
  22. Absence (37) "
  23. Separation (38) "
  24. Non-separation (38) "

Herein this is the law of causal relations.

In six ways mind is related to mind. In five ways mind is related to mind and matter. Again mind is related in one way to matter, and matter in one way to mind. In two ways concepts, mind and matter are related to mind. In nine ways are the two - mind and matter - related to mind and matter. Thus the relations are sixfold.

Relations of Mind and Matter

How?

A. In six ways mind is related to mind:

Consciousness and mental states that immediately cease, relate themselves to present consciousness and mental states by way of contiguity, immediacy, absence and separation.

Preceding Javanas are related to the subsequent, Javanas by way of repetition (or habitual recurrence). Coexisting consciousness and mental states are related to one another by way of association.

B. In five ways mind is related to mind and matter:

Root, Jhāna and Path factors are related to coexisting mind and matter by way of root, etc.

Coexisting volition is related to coexisting mind and matter and asynchronous volition to mind and matter born of Kamma by way of Kamma.

The (mental) aggregates of effect are related to one another and coexistent matter by way of effect.

C. Only in one way is mind related to matter:

Subsequent consciousness and mental states are related to this preceding (material) body by way of post-occurrence.

D. Only in one way is matter related to mind:

The six bases during life are related to the seven elements of cognition, and the five objects to the five processes of sense-cognition by way of antecedence.

E. In two ways are concepts, mind and matter related to mind - namely, by way of object and powerful dependence.

Therein object is sixfold as form, etc. But powerful dependence is threefold - namely, powerful dependence as object, powerful dependence as contiguity, and powerful dependence as intrinsic nature.

Of them the object itself when it becomes prominent serves as a powerful dependence of the object. Consciousness and mental states that immediately cease, act as the powerful dependence of proximity. The powerful dependence of intrinsic nature is of several kinds: states of lust, etc., states of confidence, etc., pleasure, pain, individual, food, season, lodging conditions, internal and external, as the case may be, are related to moral states, etc. Kamma, too, is similarly related to its effects.

F. Mind and matter are related to mind and matter in nine ways according to circumstances - namely, by way of predominance, conascence, reciprocity, dependence, nutriment, control, dissociation, presence, and non separation.

Therein relation of predominance is twofold:

  1. The object to which weight is attached is related to states of mind by way of objective predominance.
  2. The fourfold coexisting predominance is related to coexisting mind and matter by way of conascence.

The relation of conascence is threefold: consciousness and mental states are related to one another and to the coexisting material states; the four Great Essentials mutually and to the derived material qualities; the heart-base and the resultant (mental aggregates) to one another at the moment of rebirth.

The relation of reciprocity is threefold: consciousness and mental states are related to one another; the four Great Essentials, to one another; the heart-base and the resultant mental aggregates to one another at the moment of rebirth.

The relation of dependence is threefold: consciousness and mental states are related to one another and coexisting matter; the four chief elements, to one another and derived material qualities; and six bases, to the seven cognitive elements.

The relation of nutriment is twofold: edible food is related to this body; and immaterial nutriment, to the coexisting mind and matter.

The relation of control is threefold: the five sensitive organs are related to the five kinds of cognition; the controlling power of material vitality, to the material qualities that have been grasped at; the immaterial controlling factors, to the coexistent mind and matter.

The law of dissociation is threefold: at the moment of conception the basis of mind is related to the effects (of kamma), and consciousness and mental states, to coexistent mind and matter by way of coexistence; the subsequent consciousness and mental states, to this antecedent body by way of post-occurrence; the six bases, in the course of life, to the seven cognitive elements by way of antecedence.

The five kinds of relations - coexistence, antecedence, post-occurrence, edible food, and material life - are, in every way, in the relation of presence and of non-separation.

All relations are included in the relations of object, powerful dependence, Kamma and presence.

Herein coexisting material qualities should be understood as twofold throughout the course of life they should be understood as those born of mind, and at rebirth as those born of kamma.

Summary

Thus the relative conditions pertaining to the three periods of time and timeless, internal and external, conditioned and non-conditioned, are threefold by way of concept, mind and matter.

In all, the relations in Patthāna are twenty-four.

 

Notes:

18. Hetu-paccaya - Here paccaya presents some difficulty. It is defined as that by means of which an effect comes to be. In other words it is the cause. Furthermore, it is explained as a 'serviceable or supportive factor' (upakārako dhammo). Hetu is defined as 'that by which an effect is established'. It is used in the sense of 'root' (mūlatthena). Like the roots of a tree are hetu; like water and manure that aid its growth are paccaya. In the Abhidhamma these two related terms are used in two different senses. In the Suttas, however, they are invariably employed as Synonymous terms, without any distinction, as, for example ko hetu, ko paccayo - what is the reason? what is the cause?

In the Patthāna 24 such paccayas are enumerated, and hetu is one of them. Hetu-paccaya is explained as 'hetu itself is a paccaya' or 'as hetu it becomes a paccaya'. It is interpreted as a supportive or serviceable factor in the sense of root (mūlatthena upakārako dhammo). The causal relation by way of 'root' may be suggested as the closest rendering. (See Compendium, p. 279; Journal of the Pāli Text Society, 1915-1916, pp. 29-53.)

'Roots are purely mental. They are the six moral and immoral roots. See Chapter 1.

19. ārammana - or ālambana. The former is derived from a + Ö ram, to delight in; the latter from ā + Ö lamb, to hang upon. Things which the subject delights in or hangs upon are 'objects'. There are six classes of objects. A form, for instance, acts as a causal relation to visual-consciousness by way of an 'object'. It should be stated that there is nothing mundane or supramundane that does not become an object for mind.

20. Adhipati - Lit., mastery or lordship over one's own. 0ne of the four dominant factors - namely, wish, thought, effort and reasoning - may, at one time, causally relate itself to coexistent mental states and material phenomena by way of predominance. "Whenever such phenomena as consciousness and mental states arise by giving predominance to one of these four factors, then this phenomenon is to the other phenomenon a condition by way of predominance". (Patthāna)

21. Anantara and Samanantara - In meaning there is no difference between the two terms. They differ only in etymology. According to Buddhist philosophy one thought-moment perishes, immediately giving birth to another. The succeeding thought-moment inherits all the potentialities of its immediate predecessor. The perishing preceding states causally relate themselves to immediately following states by way of contiguity and immediacy.

22. Sahajāta - The causal relation by way of conascence, as, for instance, the four mental aggregates, the different mental states that simultaneously arise in a particular type of consciousness, the four Great Essentials that arise together, the appearance of the three 'decads' at the moment of conception, etc. In the paticca-samuppāda it may be mentioned that both contact and feeling which appear as causes and effect are conascent.

A mental state may be conascent with a mental state, a mental with a physical, a physical with a physical, and a physical with a mental.

23. Aññamañña - Just as the legs of a tripod are reciprocally helpful, even so mental or physical state or states may be causally related by way of reciprocity (or mutuality). Causal relations of conascence and reciprocity should be differentiated. They are not identical. For instance, mind-born material phenomena are not reciprocally related to the coexisting mind, nor are the material derivatives to the coexisting Great Essentials. As a rule, mind and matter are reciprocally related.

24. Nissaya and Upanissaya - derived from upa + ni + Ö si, to lie. Upa is an intensive prefix. As trees depend on the ground for their support, and as pictures depend on a canvas on which they are painted, so is the causal relation of dependence. Upanissaya is defined as a stronger form of Nissaya. It is compared to the rains on which depend the growth of trees. S. Z. Aung renders upanissaya by 'sufficing condition'. For instance, one of the five heinous crimes such as matricide, parricide and so on, will serve as an upanissaya to effect a birth in a woeful state. Good environments, early education, etc., will serve as a causal relation by way of 'dependence' (nissaya) for the acquisition of health, wealth and knowledge in later life. Just as good actions become upanissaya for future good deeds, even so they may become upanissaya for evil too as, for instance, spiritual pride. See Ledi Sayadaw's learned article on this subject in P.T.S. Journal, 1916, pp. 49-53.

25. Purejāta - lit., born before or that which pre-exists. The six physical bases and six sensual objects are regarded as pre-existent. The pre-existent things are regarded as causal relations only when they continue to exist in the present and not by mere antecedence. Priority is not a good rendering.

26. Pacchājāta - Of the 89 types of consciousness, 85 types, excluding the four arūpa resultants, and the 52 mental states, are causally related to the antecedent physical body by way of post-occurrence.

27. āsevana - Repeated practice, as a rule, leads to proficiency. This applies to both good and evil things. By repetition one acquires a certain amount of skill in any particular thing. āsevana denotes this repeated practice. In javana process the second thought moment is causally related to the first, the third to the second, the fourth to the third, by way of recurrence. This is the reason why the fourth javana thought-moment is considered very powerful.

28. Kamma means the volition that plays the most important part in moral and immoral thoughts, words, and deeds. This volition, technically known as Kamma, is causally related to the Kamma-born material phenomena, etc. As a seed to a tree so is Kamma causally related to its inevitable results.

29. Vipāka - Like a cool breeze that pacifies a person seated under the cool shade of a tree, even so mental states of resultant types of consciousness are causally related to coexistent mental states and material phenomena by way of 'effect' due to their effortless peaceful nature.

30. āhāra - Just as material food sustains the physical body, even so mental foods sustain mental states. Edible food is causally related to the body by way of nutriment or food; so are mental contacts or impressions (phassa) to feelings; volitions or moral and immoral actions (mano-sañetanā) to rebirth-consciousness (patisandhi viññāna); and rebirth-consciousness (viññāna) to mind and matter.

31. Indriya - The controlling factors enumerated in Chapter VII become causally related to the coexistent mental states and material phenomena because they exercise control in their respective spheres. For instance, confidence controls its co-adjuncts in religious convictions; psychic and physical life, in vivifying mind and matter; mindfulness, in contemplative exercise; feelings, in grief and happiness, etc.

32. Jhāna - The seven jhāna factors of (1) initial application, (2) sustained application, (3) rapture, (4) happiness, (5) equanimity, (6) displeasure and (7) one-pointedness are causally related to one another and other concomitants by way of close perception and contemplation. For instance, the initial application (vitakka) is causally related to its concomitants in directing them towards the desired object. See Chapter 1.

1, 2, 3, 4, 7 are found in two classes of consciousness rooted in attachment; 1, 2, 6, 7, in hateful consciousness; 1, 2, 5, 7, in deluded consciousness.

33. Magga - means a way or road. One way leads to woeful states; the other, to states of bliss. The vehicles that convey travelers to the former are the evil 'Path Constituents' of wrong views, wrong application, wrong effort, and wrong one-pointedness. The vehicles that ply on the latter way are right understanding, right aspirations, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right one-pointedness. These path factors are causally related to both mind and body, leading downwards in the case of bad ones, and leading away from existence (niyyāna) in the case of good ones.

34. Sampayutta - Though possessing distinct characteristics from an ultimate standpoint yet, as certain mental states arise together, perish together, have one identical object and one identical base, they are causally related to one another by way of 'association'.

35. Vippayutta is the opposite of the foregoing. Sweet and bitter tastes may be helpful to each other in being dissimilar. For instance, mind that depends on the heart-basis is causally related to it by way of dissociation because, both mind and heart-basis are not mutually bound, as water on a lotus leaf.

36. Atthi is the causal relation of states that exist in the present to similar states like the causal relation of coexistence. The visibility of objects, for instance, is due to the presence of light.

37. Natthi - As with the disappearance of light, darkness spreads, so with the disappearance of the predecessor, the successor appears. Such is the causal relation by way of absence. For instance, the visual consciousness (dassana) is causally related to the immediately following receiving consciousness (sampaticchana) by way of absence.

38. Vigata and Avigata are similar to Natthi and Atthi respectively.

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