Chapter 10: On tinges

Q. 6. Bhante! Does the black tinge attain the colour and the hue of the blue tinge by coming into contact with it?

A. 6. Gautama! Refer to Chapter Four on ‘Tinges’ in the Paṇṇavaṇā Sūtra³...till outcome, colour, substance, smell, purity, unwholesomeness, oppression, heat, movement, transformation, space-units, dimensions, categories, place, quantum—more or less. (All these need be stated about tinges.)

Bhante! So they are. Glory be to the great Lord! So saying, Bhagavān Gautama paid his homage and obeisance to the Lord, and having done so, he withdrew to his seat.

Chapter Ten ends.

Book Four ends.

Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):

3. The discussion in the Paṇṇavaṇā Sūtra is as follows:

Q. Bhante! Does black tinge, by acquiring blue tinge, alter itself into the latter’s shape, colour, smell, substance and touch?

A. Gautama! Black tinge, by acquiring blue tinge, alters,... till touch.

The implication is that if a soul with black tinge acquires blue tinge before it quits a body, then it is born with blue tinge. As it has been said,

jallesāiṃ davvāiṃ pariyāittā kālaṃ karei tallese uvavajjai

[The soul acquires at birth a tinge which it took before death.]

Q. Bhante! (As you say), by acquiring blue tinge, the black tinge assumes the former’s shape,... till touch. What is the reason for this?

A. Gautama! Just as milk which is sweet, when mixed with butter-milk, acquires the shape, colour, smell, substance and touch of the latter, in the same way, the black tinge assumes the shape, etc., of the blue tinge when mixed with it.

Just as a piece of white cloth, when soaked in red, yellow, etc., acquires the shape,... till touch of the particular colour, in the same way, when the black tinge is mixed with the blue tinge, it acquires the latter’s shape,... till touch.

What has been said of the black-blue tinges has to be repeated for blue-ash tinges, ash-red tinges, red-pink tinges and pink-white tinges.

So much on the outcome. Coming to other items of which the first one is hue or colour, Gautama said,

Q. Bhante! What is the hue of the black tinge?

A. Gautama! The hue of the black tinge is dark, like that of a cloud. The hue of the blue tinge is like that of a drone. The hue of the ash tinge is like that of catechu. The hue of the red tinge is like that of a hare’s blood. The hue of the pink tinge is like that of a campaka flower. The hue of the white tinge is like that of a conch.

The substance of the tinges is as follows:

black tinge—pingent like nīm juice;
blue tinge—hot like dried ginger;
ash tinge—sour like green berry;
red tinge—sweet-sour like a mango;
pink tinge—hot-pungent-sweet like liquors;
white tinge—sweet like jaggery.

The smell of the tinges are as follows:

black, blue and ash—unwholesome;
red, pink and white—wholesome.

Black, blue and ash tinges are impure, unwholesome, miserable, cold and harsh, ushering in misery; red, pink and white tinges are pure, wholesome, joyous, soft and pleasant ushering in happiness.

The outcome of tinges is good, bad or medium, each having a subdivision into three, giving in all nine forms.

Each one of the six tinges has an infinite number of pradeśas, and each one of the six is mixed up with an unlimited (number of) pradeśas of non-sphere (sky). And so on.

The intensity of the tinges as substance is as follows:

black tinges has the lowest;
blue tinge has an innumerable times more (than the black);
ash tinge has an innumerable times more (than the blue);
red tinge has an innumerable times more (than the ash);
pink tinge has an innumerable times more (than the red);
white tinge has and innumerable times more (than the pink).