The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature c8.s8.17

c8.s8.17

(4) Prīti (Pāli: pīti). This word, derived from the root prī, means “emotion of joy, delight, zest, exuberance” (Pāli Dicy.). It has been variously translated as “bliss”, “rapture,” “le plaisir,” “die Heiterkeit,” “l’amabilité,” “pleasurable interest,” “le contentement,” “joy in what one has attained,” “die Fröhlichkeit,” etc. It is often associated with prasāda (joy, satisfaction) and prāmodya (delight).318 The sukha (happiness, pleasure) of prīti (joy) is sometimes mentioned, especially in connection with the first dhyāna.319 Prīti is one of the indispensable qualifications of a bodhisattva. The Dhammasaṅgaṇi explains it thus: “Gladness, rejoicing at, rejoicing over, mirth and merriment, felicity, exultation, transport of mind.” 320 As C. A. F. Rhys Davids has pointed out, prīti connotes emotion as distinct from bare feeling. It is referred to the skandha of saṃskāras, and not to vedanā (feeling), as it is a complex psychological phenomenon. The five species of prīti, mentioned by Buddhaghoṣa, are not discussed by the principal Sanskrit writers.321 Prīti is regarded as something ethereal, as some devas are said to have prīti for their food.³²² A bodhisattva attains to rapt Concentration by means of prīti. Açvaghoṣa teaches that prīti arises from the cultivation of virtue, and it can save a bodhisattva from sloth and languor.³²³