GUIDE THROUGH THE NYANATILOKA GUIDE THROUGH THE ABHIDHAMMA PITAKA • i &Uanisiftut)^ $Lpaitoa«r ^osjti^cnM^ B r GUIDE THROUGH THE ABHIDHAMMA-PITAKA being a synopsis of the philosophical COLLECTION BELONGING TO THE BUDDHIST PALI CANON FOLLOWED BY AN ESSAY ON THE PATICCA-SAMUPPADA (ANATILOKA MAHATHERA if® c3M6DTUWlljL} ; it rrrsiScrr®®! fi.$aa|gn^®rM.A bt BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY Kandy Ceylon First Edition: 1938 Second Revised and Enlarged Edition 1957 (Published by the Bauddha Sahitya Sabha .Colombo) Third Edition; 1971 Fourth Edition: 1983 (Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy) DEDICATED To the memory of My Burmese Ddyika THE LATE Mrs. HLA OUNG, k.lh.. in token of admiration for her great services rendered to the Buddhist cause in general, as well as to the work of uplifting her own people. CONTENTS Publisher’s Preface ... ... ... ... vii Preface to the Second Edition ... ... ... viii Preface to the First Edition ... ... ... ix Foreword by Dr. Cassius A. Pereira ... ... xi Introduction ... ... ... ... ... I The Matrix (Matika) ... ... ... ... 4 I. Dhajnma-Sangani ... ... ... ... 12 II. Vibhanga ... ... ... ... ... 24 III. Dhatu-Katha ... ... ... ... ... 52 [V. Puggala-P;innatti ... ... ... ... 57 V. Katha-Vutthu. 60 VI. Yamaka ... ... ... • ••• 88 VII. Patthana ... ... ... ... ••• 1*4 Appendix: Paticca-Samuppada ... ••• *53 Index of Pali tenns ... ... .... •• *75 PUBLISHER’S PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION T* N * t This edition is an unchanged reprint of the Second Revised and Enlarged Edition (1957) of the work. The first two editions were issued by the Bauddha Sahuya SabhS of Colombo to which our sincere thanks are due for ceding to our Society the publication rights and for contributing towards the printing costs of this volume For the information of students of Abhidhamma, we wish to supplement here the list of English translationsofwnonical AbW- dhamma books by the following titles which have appeared after the publication of the first two editions of this book (seeSge^ Discourse on Elements (Dhatu-Katha). A Translation with Charts and Explanations by U Narada <Muia Parana Sayacbw) of Rangoon. London 1962, Pali Text Society. * ' Conditional Relations (.Patthana). Being a transl. of Vol. I of die Chatt^sangayana Text of this work, by U Narada (MiUa Patthana Sayadaw). London 1969, Pali Text Society. ?ibh?Z§a)- Translated by Pathamakyaw Ashm Thittila. London 1969, Pali Text Society. BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY February 1971 Vli PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION This very valuable synopsis of canonical Abhidhanuna literature has been out of print for a long time and greatly missed by students of Buddhist philosophy. It is therefore muchappreciated f6pflnt It, thus continuing the laudable service rendered by that society in the field of Buddhist literature. It was the Venerable Author’s wish to revise this book fully and enlarge it himself, but the infirmities of old-age obliged him to entrust this task to his pupil the undersigned. At his suggestion a new introductory chapter on the Abhidhatnma Matika, with a complete translation of it, has been included. As to the previously existing chapters, the most numerous additions are those made to Chapter II, on the Vibhanga,. Here, for instance, the intricate divisions and sub-divisions found in some of the sections have been outlined and partly illustrated by extracts. The details of these rather involved classifications certainly do not make interest¬ ing reading, yet the editor regarded it as a principal aim of this book to clarify the structure of the several Abhidhamma works and thus aid closer study of them. With that aim in view tables have been included in the chapter on the Paffhana which show by symbols some of the regular permutations of terms used in that work. But owing to restrictions of space required by the present edition, the chapter on the Patthana could not be extended beyond its present limits. For some of the additions incorporated here, use has been made of the more extensive German version of the book, which has been prepared by the Author himself, but still remains unpublished. However, many extracts from the Pali text and explanatory addi¬ tions have been contributed by the editor, who assumes, therefore, responsibility for any shortcomings that may be found in the book in its present shape. While the final proofs of this book were read by the editor, the Venerable Author passed away, on May 28, 1957. NYANAPONIKA viii J/Arti PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION I owe the idea for the present work to the late Mr. S. W. Wijayatilake of Matale, editor of the “Buddhist Annual of Ceylon." When he asked me to write a summary of the whole Abhidhamma- Pitaka of the Pali Canon to be published in parts in the Buddhist Annual,* it appeared to me such a difficult undertaking, that at first I refused; but after Mr. Wijayatilake’s repeated entreaties I finally yielded. Indeed, of the 7 collections of this intricate labyrinth of the most abstruse trains of ideas presented in an old Indian dialect, only a little more than one sixth has been translated into Western tongue. With regard to Dhammasangani and Kathavatthu, my task was greatly facilitated by the translations of Rhys Davids (s.Introd.). I further consulted the Burmese edition of the Pali commentaries and of the sub-commentary (Mula-tika), as well as the Pali treatise on Yamaka** by the Burmese scholar Ledi Sayadaw. The Sinhalese paraphrase of Dhatu-Kathaj by my friend D. Gunaratana-Thera, also proved of some help. I am well aware that this first attempt of mine, of giving a com¬ plete and clear synopsis of such intricate problems, cannot be free from imperfections or shortcomings, especially if one considers the limited period of time that had been at my disposal. I, therefore, beg the reader to be lenient in his judgement, remembering at the <am«» time that this pioneer task had hitherto never yet been attempted by anyone not even in Ceylon or in Burma, the strong¬ holds of pristine Buddhism. Island Hermitage, NYANATILOKA Dodanduwa, Ceylon, April 1938. •Only the first portion actually appeared (1932), as the magazine unfortu¬ nately had to be discontinued. ••'Landana-devi-puccha-visajjanfi*; s. App. to PTS’s edition of Yamaka f Dhfitukathaprakarap apfiliy a padartha-bhav&rtha-gran thapada-vi varag- ayenyuktayi. 1912. ix FOREWORD The Abhidhamma is the third section of the Ti-Pitaka or Three Baskets of Buddhist Doctrine. We are unable, perhaps, to date exactly the first appearance of the Seven Books of this "Basket" «t their present-day form.- Internal evidence indicates that the Dhammasangani, the Vibhanga, and the Pafthana are the oldest, and were probably recited, even as they stand today, at the Second Great Council of Arahants, held in the first quarter of the 4th Century b.c., or earlier. The Dhatu-Katha, Puggala-Pafinarri, and the Yamaka, too, are pre-Asokan, and were recited in much the same substance as today, at the Third Great Council of Arahants, held during Dhamma-Asoka'S reign. The Kathavatthu, as we know it today, dates from that same Third Council, whose President, the Arahant Thera Moggaliputta Tissa, composed it to refute the pernicious views of all schismatics till that time. Available evidence, therefore, goes to prove that all seven books of the Abhidhamma, in practically the same cast and arrangement as we have them today, were already fixedat a date not later than 250 b.c. From internal evidence again, it is clear that these books have never been tampered with throughout the period of their use in Lanka. This is true of the whole Tl-Pitaka as we know it today. Since the introduction of these books to Lanka, shortly after the Third Council, by Asoka’s Arahant son, they have been consi¬ dered to be finally closed and not open to alteration by jot or line. The Sangha has held these books in utmost veneration as the im¬ mutable word of the Buddha, and though the Commentaries contain many references to local events and incidents of interest, the Ti- Pitaka itself has come down substantially the same books that were treasured originally in India in the Middle Country of the Master. Not a word of reference do any of these books contain to local matters though the temptation must have been great to thus perpetuate the name of Bhikkhu, King, or humble clerk. It is not impossible that there may be errors of clerk or copyist; indeed it would be wonderful were this never to have occurred throughout the transmission of these books through the centuries. But such errors are obvious, trivial and insignificant. When one speaks of Books, in this connection, it must be remembered that the Ti-Pitaka was reduced to writing only later, in Lanka. The "Books” of the Three Baskets were, till then] an orderly arrangement of the Dhamma as taught by the Buddha] cast in definite groups and memorized by members of the Sangha] Thus was it recited by saintly yellow-robed teacher to eager yellow- robed pupil, memorized, and passed on from generation to genera¬ tion till the reign of Vattagamani Abhaya. "Then,” says the xi Mahavamsa "the most wise Bhikkhus who had passed down the Ti-Pitaka and the Commentaries thereon orally informer times, since they saw that the people were less righteous, the Bhikkhus assembled and, in order that the true doctrines may endure, they wrote them down in Books ” This was approximately in 25 b.c., since which time we have had written Books of Ti-Pitaka. It must be stated here that the tradition of the Theravada, the original trunk of orthodox Pali Buddhism, insists that the Abhi- dhamma is the direct teaching of the Master himself. We, in Lanka, Burma, Siam, etc., the direct continuation of that parent stem, hold that, immediately after the performance of the "twin Miracfes," the Buddha spent the three-month "Season of Rains’" in Tavatimsa, the Realm of the Thirty-three.