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The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies v7.c52: Paṭṭhāna

The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies v7.c52

Language
English

Contents

Paṭṭhāna

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Summary by K.H. Potter

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The vastness of this work is belied by the comparatively brief summary that follows. McGovern remarks: “Pāli theories concerning cosmic dynamics are to be found in that vast literary jungle known as the Paṭṭhāna.” Of unknown authorship, this work probably grew over the years but may be dated in its earliest form to about the same age as Yamaka. Cousins considers it “cannot be later than the second century B.C.”, although Bareau dates it in the 1st century A.D. Yamada considers it “the last of the Pāli Abhidharma texts”.

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Editions of portions of the work began to appear as early as 1904, when the Paccayavibhaṅgavara and Kuśalaṭīkā sections appeared in Burmese characters (ed. by Hsaya Sudhamma, Mandalay 1904). Mrs. Rhys Davids edited the Duka section for the Pali Text Society in 1906, and the Ṭīkā section in 1923 with Buddhaghoṣa’s commentary. Complete editions exist: one in Sinhalese characters by Nanavimala Thera, four volumes, Colombo 1954-55; Jagdish Kashyap from Nalanda in 1961, in six volumes. A translation of an initial portion was made by U Narada in London 1969 for the Pali Text Society under the title “Conditional Relations”. References in the following summary are to the Kashyap 1961 edition (“E”) and the Narada translation (“T”).

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The Paṭṭhāna discusses in terms of conditions (pratyaya) the relations among the items identified in the Dhammasaṅgaṇi and the other six Theravāda Abhidharma treatises. It is extremely long, and the summary here will be very laconic. See the tabular presentation by Narada in T for detailed explanation of the contents of this work.

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INTRODUCTION: ANALYSIS OF TRIPLETS ENUMERATION OF THE POSITIVE CONDITIONS

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(E1-11, T1-12) Twenty-four types of conditions are listed and explained.

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1. Moral or root condition is related to the *dharmas* associated with roots and matter produced thereby.

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2. Supporting object condition by which sense-bases are related to their corresponding elements and the *dharmas* associated with them. Any *dharma* may be the content of awareness.

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3. Dominant condition relating desire, energy, awareness and investigation to the *dharmas* associated with them and the matter produced thereby.

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4. Immediately precedent condition by which preceding *dharmas* are related to their immediately succeeding ones.

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5. Directly antecedent condition by which preceding *dharmas* are related to their immediate successors. The exposition of this and item 4 preceding it are precisely the same.

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6. Conascence condition relating those pairs of things which are born together.

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7. Mutuality condition between things which regularly go together.

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8. Dependence condition between things which depend on one another.

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9. Strong dependence condition between things which necessarily depend on one another.

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10. Prenascent condition relating each kind of sense-basis with the corresponding kinds of element and its associated *dharmas*.

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11. Postnascent condition relating postnascent awareness and concomitant (*cittacaitāsika*) *dharmas* to the prenascent body.

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12. Repetition condition relating the moral quality (good, bad, neutral) of preceding *dharmas* to the same quality in succeeding *dharmas*.

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13. Act condition, relating good and bad karma to the matter constituting the matured aggregates, and relating will to the *dharmas* and associated matter produced thereby.

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14. Maturation condition relating the four nonmaterial matured aggregates to each other.

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15. Nutriment condition relating food to the body constituted by it, and relating the nonmaterial nutriments to their associated *dharmas* and matter.

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16. Faculty condition relating each sense basis to its corresponding element and associated *dharmas*.

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17. Meditation condition relating the factors of meditation to their associated *dharmas* and matter resulting.

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18. Path condition relating the factors of the path to their associated *dharmas* and resulting matter.

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19. Association condition relating the four nonmaterial aggregates to each other.

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20. Dissociation condition relating material *dharmas* to immaterial ones and vice versa.
21. Presence condition relating *dharmas* with other *dharmas* which are present, i.e. in contact, with them when they arise.
22. Absence condition, relating *dharmas* which have just parted from each other to each other.
23. Disappearance condition relating *dharmas* which have completely disappeared from relation with others to those others.
24. Nondisappearance condition relating *dharmas* which have not completely disappeared from relation with others to those others.

Questions

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(E11-119; T13-21) The first triplet of *Dhamma-saṅgaṇi* concerns good, bad and neutral *dharmas*. For each of the three alone and for each possible combination (making seven possible ways of occurrence) the question arises for each of the 24 conditions just listed, whether the *dharmas* in question are determined by or dependent on that kind of condition. A total of 49 X 24, or 1176 such questions are indicated.

I. Good, Etc., Triplet

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A. Dependence Section

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1. Positive Method

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(a) Analysis (*vibhaṅga*)

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(E120-129; T22-35) Answers to those of the foregoing questions which related to positive conditioning are provided, showing which *dharmas* depend on which of the 24 conditions.

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(I-A.1) Enumeration (*saṃkhyā*)

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(E129-132; T35-38) The number of answers relating to the combinations and conditions of the several sorts is provided. E.g., there are nine answers concerning root conditions, three concerning supporting object conditions, etc., and there are three answers concerning root and object conditions together, nine concerning root and dominant conditions together, etc. Conditions are first discussed singly, then in pairs, then by threes, twelves and twenty-twos.

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(I-A.2) Negative Conditions

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Questions about Good, Bad or Neutral

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(E132-144; T38-54) Those *dharmas* which arise dependent on good, bad or neutral states though not being conditioned in each of the 24 ways are now answered, and the answers enumerated.

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(I.A.3) Positive-Negative

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(E144-155; T54-64) Taking a positive condition (e.g., root) and a negative condition (e.g., not-object) the number of answers provided is enumerated. The method is by twos (as above), by threes (e.g., root + object is positive, nondominant is negative), by fours (e.g., root, object and dominance are positive, nonprenascent is negative), by elevens, twelves and twenty-threes.

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(I.A.4) Negative-Positive

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(E155-163; T65-73) Taking a negative condition and a positive condition the number of answers is enumerated by twos, threes, sevens, tens, fourteens and twenty-ones.

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I-B. Conascence Section
1. Positive Conditions

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(E164-165; T73-75) Answers to those of the questions (cf. Introduction) which relate to conascent conditioning are provided, showing which dharmas depend on which of the 24 conditions. Then the number of answers relating to the combinations of conditions of the several sorts is provided, as before.

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2-4. Negative Conditions, Positive-Negative and Negative-Positive

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(E165-166; T75-76) As in I-A.2-4, except that now it is the relations of conascence that are studied.

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I-C. Conditioned Section 1-4. Positive, Negative, Positive-Negative and Negative-Positive Conditions

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(E167-1100; T77-115) Answers to those of the questions of Introduction which relate to which are the good, bad and neutral dharmas on which other good, bad and neutral dharmas depend. The organization of this section parallels the preceding sections I-A and I-B.

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I-D. Supported Section 1-4. Positive, Negative, Positive-Negative and Negative-Positive

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(E1100-1104; T115-120) As the three preceding sections, except that the new attention is on those good, bad and neutral dharmas which are supported by good, bad and neutral *dharmas*.

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I-E. Conjoined Section

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(E1104-1120; T120-138) Discussion as in the preceding four sections and in same order. Discussion concerns which good, bad and neutral *dharmas* are conjoined with which other good, bad and neutral *dharmas*.

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I-F. Associated Section

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(E1121-1122; T138-141) As in the preceding five sections. Discussion concerns which good, bad and neutral *dharmas* are associated with which other good, bad and neutral *dharmas*.

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I-G. Wisdom Section

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(E1123-1270; T141-317) The order of subsections of this is the same as in the six preceding sections. The section answers the same set of questions as the preceding six do, but with the emphasis now on which states condition others rather than the ones that are conditioned. For example, in discussing what sorts of *dharmas* good *dharmas* condition, three relations are studied: (1) with other good *dharmas*, (2) with neutral *dharmas*; (3) with *dharmas* which are both good and neutral. On the other hand, in discussing what sorts of *dharmas* condition, since only neutral *dharmas* are conditioned by them, there is only one relation discussed.

II. Feeling Triplet

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(E1. 271-308; T318-361) Discussion now turns to the second triplet of the *Dhammasaṅgaṇi*. The order of seven sections, and the order of subsections, is preserved. The questions are as before (they are not repeated); the sections provide the answers as before.

III. Maturation Triplet

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(E1. 308-360; T362-428) Discussion as before of third triplet.

IV. Grasped at Triplet

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(E1. 361-414; T429-502) Discussion of fourth triplet.

V. Defilement Triplet

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(E1. 414-436; T502-526) Discussion of fifth triplet.

VI. Initial Thought Triplet

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(E2. 3-118)

VII. Joy Triplet

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(E2. 119-146)

VIII. Vision Triplet

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(E2. 147-190)

IX. Elimination by Seeing Triplet

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(E2. 191-251)

X. Accumulation Triplet

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(E2. 252-287)

XI. Training Triplet

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(E2. 288-316)

XII. Limited Triplet

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(E2. 317-357)

XIII. Limited Object Triplet

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(E2. 358-375)

XIV. Inferior Triplet

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(E2. 376)

XV. Regulated Falsity Triplet

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(E2. 377-401)

XVI. Path as Object Triplet

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(E2. 402-422)

XVII. Arisen Triplet

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(E2. 423-430)

XVIII. Past Triplet

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(E2. 431-437)

XIX. Past Object Triplet

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(E2. 438-453)

XX. Internal Triplet

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(E2. 455-474)

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XXI. INTERNAL OBJECT TRIPLET (E2. 475-485)

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XXII. VISIBLE/RESPONSIVE TRIPLET (E2. 486-417)

Analysis of Pairs

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1. Positive Conditions

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(E3-4) Now each of the 100 pairs of *Dhammasaṅgaṇi* are examined in a similar fashion.

Analysis of Pairs/Triplets

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1. Positive Conditions

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(E4) Now each of the 100 pairs is taken as reference with each of the 22 triplets as variants, e.g., the first section studies good-root *dharmas*, not-good-root *dharmas* and root-good-not-root-good *dharmas*. There are 100 such sections.

Analysis of Triplet/Pairs

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1. Positive Conditions

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(E4) Each of the 22 triplets is taken as reference with each of the 100 pairs as variants. So, the first section deals with good-root *dharmas*, bad-root *dharmas* and neutral-root *dharmas*. There are 22 such sections.

Analysis of Triplet/Triplets

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1. Positive Conditions

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(E5) Now each triplet is varied with the rest of the triplets.

Analysis of Pair/Pairs

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1. Positive Conditions

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(E5) And each pair with the rest of the pairs.

Triplet, Pair, Pair/Triplet, Triplet/Triplet, Pair/Pair

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2-4. Negative, Positive-Negative and Negative-Positive Conditions

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(E6 entire) And finally, each of the foregoing lists is taken in reference to negative conditioning (e.g., *dharmas* that are not good-root conditioning *dharmas* that are not good), positive-negative conditioning (e.g., good *dharmas* that root condition *dharmas* that are not good) and negative-positive conditions (e.g., *dharmas* that are not good root conditioning good *dharmas*).

Cites (2)