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ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 3 1996

Good or Skilful? Kusala in Canon and Commentary

University of Manchester


Abstract

This paper examines the use of kusala in the commentarial sources and finds that, although the commentators are aware of various senses of the word kusala, they tend to give primacy to meanings such as "good" or "meritorious". A detailed examination of the canonical Pali sources gives a rather different picture. Sometimes kusala is found in association with the idea of kamma or related notions, but very commonly too it belongs in a distinctly meditational context and points towards the states of the Buddhist path produced by wisdom. An examination of the etymology of the word ku"sala leads to the conclusion that Tedesco's attempt to derive it from:

a)súkṛta-
b)sukṛtá
c)* sukṛta- < sukṛt-

should be rejected. A revised version of Charpentier's link to Got. *hug(s), etc. is preferred. The original meaning of ku"sala in the sense with which we are concerned would then be "intelligent". Its sense in early Buddhist literature would be "produced by wisdom". The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the concept of puñña -- "fortune-bringing action" rather than "merit".

Kusala

Damien Keown comments that:

..ṭhe most natural translation for kusala when used in a moral context is "virtue" or "goodness". It is very common for kusala to be rendered as "skilful", but it should be recognised that this translation carries with it a specific implication for the nature of Buddhist ethics, namely that it is utilitarian. (1)

In fact, I am not convinced that a utilitarian implication does in fact necessarily follow. Skill, let alone wisdom, can be valued for more reasons than utilitarian ones. Keown then distinguishes what he calls the moral and the technical senses of the word kusala and argues strongly against translating it as "skilful":

Although I have no statistics to back this up there can be little doubt that in the Nikāyas the occurrences of kusala in a technical context are massively outnumbered by those in a moral context. So why, when translating the term into English, is the tail allowed to wag the dog and the moral sense suppressed in favour of the technical one?

He goes on to point out:

The problem with using "skilful" as a translation of kusala is that whereas both "good" and "kusala" extend in their respective languages to both moral and technical commendation, the English word "skilful" does not. "Skilful" denotes approval in the technical sense only and does not figure at all in the vocabulary of moral discourse in English.

As Keown indicates, the use of "skilful" is stylistically slightly unnatural here in terms of English usage. Perhaps, however, this only shows that Buddhist concepts are themselves unfamiliar to ordinary English usage and we should be cautious about adopting concepts with many hidden implications, deriving from a long history of European theological and philosophical debate. In fact I think that the use in the Buddhist literature is rather more complex than Keown allows and deserves to be investigated more fully. Here I shall look first at the commentarial account and then turn to the earlier sources.

Kusala in the commentarial sources

In the commentary to the Dīgha-nikāya Buddhaghosa gives five senses of the word kusala(2)

ārogya  absence of illness, health 
anavajja  (originally) not reprehensible, blameless; (later) 
kosalla-sambhūta  produced by skill 
niddaratha  freedom from distress
sukha-vipāka  bringing pleasant results

The first of these he attributes to the Jātaka method of exposition (pariyāya) and in fact it is clear that this represents a normal Indian usage, rather than a technical sense of Buddhist thought.(3) What is referred to is such expressions as kacci nu kusalaṃ meaning "Are you well?" or something similar, usually found in verse texts. This usage is indeed particularly common in the Jātakas.(4) The second meaning Buddhaghosa refers to as the Suttanta method of exposition; it is often applied by him in the exegesis of particular sutta passages.(5) Sometime this is referred to as the Bāhitika-sutta(nta) method of exposition.(6)

 The remaining three senses are all attributed by Buddhaghosa to the Abhidhamma method of exposition. In fact the fourth: "freedom from distress" is rather unusual and seems to be dropped by the later commentarial tradition.(7) Indeed Buddhaghosa himself does not use it and the ṭīkā writer cannot offer a source passage to illustrate it.(8) For present purposes we can disregard this meaning. The fifth we can also put on one side. The notion that skilful actions bring pleasant results is of course well-established, but it is noticeable that the commentators do not in fact often explain the word kusala as having this sense.(9) It is clear that Buddhaghosa has placed it in an abhidhamma context because of the importance of this idea to understanding the first triplet of the abhidhamma-mātikā.

 The ṭīkā writer's first comment on Buddhaghosa's explanation of kusala is to ask why the sense of cheka "skilled" is not given as a sixth meaning. This is indeed surprising; for this explanation is given by Buddhaghosa and other commentators in a number of contexts, including some cases where the word is used in what Keown calls its technical sense.(10) However, the ṭīkā writer answers his own question by pointing out that this sense is included in the third meaning given by Buddhaghosa: "produced by skill" and hence is not taken separately. Skill of course is listed in the abhidhamma register for understanding (paññā) and so the intended meaning is "produced by wisdom ". The ṭīkā writer explains this as equivalent to "caused by appropriate bringing to mind" (yoniso-manasik āra-hetuka).

 In fact this explanation of kusala as "produced by skill " is used in non-abhidhamma contexts also, as well as in explanations of akusala "unskilful".(11) Moreover, there are also contexts where the sense of expert (paṇḍita) is given, but seems to converge on the sense of "wise" or "knowledgeable".(12) Closely related to this are passages where the expression "skilful dhammas" is explained as referring to the dhammas which contribute to awakening (bodhipakkhiya).(13)

The author of the Abhidhamma commentary, probably a senior contemporary of Buddhaghosa,(14) takes a slightly different approach.(15) He offers just three senses: 1. health; 2. faultless; 3. produced by skill. He too relates the first to the Jātaka method of exposition and the second to the Bāhitika-sutta method of exposition. (He cannot explicitly relate it to the Suttanta method, as he wishes to argue that it is found in Abhidhamma.) Again like Buddhaghosa, he links the third to the Abhidhamma method of exposition and then addresses the obvious problem that this creates; for wisdom would be expected to lead to consciousness connected with knowledge (ñāṇasampayutta), but not to that which lacks knowledge. Yet the term "skilful" in abhidhamma is also applied to two-rooted consciousness which is without knowledge.

 The commentator argues that even this can be called skilful by convention. He gives the example of a palm-leaf fan which is still given that name even when made out of other materials. He agrees, however, that in terms of strict abhidhamma (nippariy āyena) only consciousness with knowledge can be called skilful in all three senses. In the case of consciousness without knowledge only the two senses of health and faultless strictly apply. The inclusion of the sense of "health " here is of course good hermeneutics; in fact, however, its inclusion as a sense of kusala must be a later development, derived from the kind of expression mentioned above.

 Surprisingly, however, this is the Abhidhamma commentator's second discussion of the meanings of the word kusala. In an earlier passage he gives four senses:(16)

ārogya  absence of illness, health
anavajja  not reprehensible, blameless; faultless 
cheka  skilled 
sukha-vipāka  bringing pleasant results 

Exactly this list is given also by Buddhadatta and by Mahānāma.(17) It seems to be standard for later writers.(18) For most sources the third meaning is excluded for the main abhidhamma contexts(19) and this view is adopted by many modern commentators.(20) The general acceptance of this set of three probably derives from its occurrence in the Mahāṭīkā to the Visuddhimagga (attr. Dhammapāla).(21) Buddhadatta, however, allows only the two senses of "faultless" and "bringing wished for results" (iṭṭha-vipāka).

 Why then does the Abhidhamma commentary offer two different explanations? This must be because in the earlier passage it is commenting on kusalā dhammā in the first triplet of the Mātikā, whereas the later passage refers to kusalaṃ cittaṃ in the dhammuddesa of the first type of consciousness i.e. that connected with knowledge. This will in part account for the inclusion of "produced by skill" as a meaning of kusala. However, it must also have been embedded in his source material;(22) here, as elsewhere, the Abhidhamma commentary preserves material for us in a less digested form as against the more carefully styled writings of Buddhaghosa.

 There is perhaps more to it than this. The Pali abhidhamma system is unusual in allowing skilful consciousness without knowledge. In the Sarvāstivādin system, for example, knowledge is a universal and so there cannot be skilful consciousness without it. It may be that at an earlier stage the connexion between the skilful and wisdom was felt more strongly. That said, the commentaries do preserve the link. In the mnemonic exegesis of the word kusala, the first two syllables are sometimes taken as a word kusa, meaning "wisdom " (cp. Skt ku"sāgra).(23) No doubt too the question of how far even skilful consciousness can be entirely unrelated to wisdom is closely connected to the issue as to whether faith (saddā) that is not based on wisdom can occur.

In summary then, it seems that the commentators (except perhaps Buddhaghosa himself) would probably not have disagreed with Damien Keown's remarks:

No-one would describe a simple act of generosity as a "skilful deed", and who has ever heard of a boy scout doing his "skilful deed for the day" ? Instead, one naturally speaks of "good" or "virtuous" deeds."(24)

Yet there are suggestive hints of an underlying connection to wisdom in the early Buddhist concept and it may be wondered whether a widening of the meaning of kusala to refer to the "good" in general is in fact a later development. Edgerton defines the word kusala (BHSD s.v.) as "good in a moral sense (not so in Sanskrit literature), merit, righteous action." (I think he is right that this is not originally the usage in Sanskrit and will discuss this issue further below.) So the question arises as to whether in fact the earlier Pali texts already have this meaning or is it, largely or partially, something which only arises at a later date?

 Kusala in the canonical literature The use which Keown describes as the technical meaning of the word kusala occurs more than thirty times in the Canon.(25) In many of the passages in which it occurs it is simply a case of mentioning proficiency in some art or craft. However, in some places there is a little more to it than that; for the mention of such proficiency is directly linked to some further point. So when in the Mahāvagga Soṇa's proficiency in getting the right sound from the strings of a harp (vīṇā) is mentioned, it is in order to emphasize the necessity to control vigour and balance the faculties (indriya).(26) In other words there is an underlying implication that meditation is an activity requiring a kind of skill.

When the simile of the skilled elephant tracker is given, it is to emphasize the qualities of wisdom which can recognize a Tathāgata and to compare the jhānas and higher knowledges to the footprints of an elephant.(27) Again Prince Abhaya's knowledge of chariotry is adduced in order to compare it with the Buddha's penetration of the dhammadhātu i.e. his wisdom.(28) Or Prince Bodhi's proficiency in chariotry is compared to the Buddha's ability to teach.(29) Or the skilled cook is likened to the monk who develops the four establishings of mindfulness in the right way.(30) The chariot-maker, skilled in the crookednesses of wood, is compared to the Buddha as an arahat skilled in crookedness of body, mind and speech.(31)

 Around twice as frequent as passages where kusala is used in the sense of proficient are places where it has such meanings as expert, clever or wise.(32) In fact there is no clear dividing line between the two, just as there is no fixed line to be drawn between mundane cleverness and various kinds of superior understanding, whether in terms of understanding Buddhist theory or that involved in developing insight. A few passages concerned with mastery of jhāna or iddhi can also be mentioned at this point.(33) The notion of skill in theory or practice develops further both in the Pali commentarial literature and in the Mahāyāna.(34)

 This brings me to the very large number of passages in which kusala is linked with dhamma, either in the singular or more often in the plural. It is important to note that many of the passages here are meditational in their orientation. So in the Mahāvagga (Vin I 104) the Buddha declares that if a monk does not make known a Vinaya offence when the Pātimokkha is recited, this would be a deliberate lie and a deliberate lie is an obstacle. The text defines an obstacle (antar āyiko dhammo), first of all as an obstacle to achieving the first jhāna, then successively to the remaining jhānas up to the fourth, then various kinds of meditational experience are mentioned, ending (summarizing) with "to the achieving of skilful dhammas." Similarly, in the discussionof the fourth pārājika (at Vin ĪI 91), in the list of higher states which must not be falsely claimed by the monk these meditational attainments (jhāna, vimokkha, samādhi, etc.) are referred to as skilful dhammas.

 This kind of direct linkage between higher states and skilfulness is found in a number of contexts.(35) So in the Saṃyutta-nikāya we find the ascetic who wishes to attain a skilful dhamma and realize higher states (uttari-manussa-dhamma; alam-ariya-ñāṇa-dassana). In the Lohicca-sutta we meet the idea that if someone attains a skilful dhamma, he should not tell anyone else. Or the Buddha is asked if he has achieved this skilful dhamma for a long while. Again in the A"nguttara-nikāya we learn of the six factors which make a monk fit (or unfit) to attain a skilful dhamma: he is skilful in coming, skilful in going, skilful as to means (upāyakusala), he arouses the purpose (chanda) of attaining a skilful dhamma which has not been attained, he guards skilful dhammas which have been attained and is successful in constant action. Compare too passages in which are found the expression: (he succeeds in) the method, the dhamma that is skilful (...ñāyaṃ dhammaṃ kusalaṃ).(36) Usually this makes the point that, whether householder or renunciant, he can succeed if he follows the right way i.e. the eightfold path.

 Similar usages occur in the plural too.(37) So in the Majjhima-nikāya, when the Jains admit to not knowing: "the arousing of skilful dhammas", the reference must be to the apparent absence of the higher jhānas in the Jain system.(38) Or, in the A"nguttara-nikāya, when skilful dhammas explicitly refer to mental peace (cetosamatha) within and insight into dhammas from the standpoint of wisdom (adhipaññādhammavipassanā). In the Paṭisambhidā-magga we are even told that all skilful dhammas lead in the direction of the liberations (vimokkhānuloma).

 There are a great many places in which skilful dhammas are referred to briefly or without much qualification, where it is not possible to be sure whether the intention is to refer specifically to meditational states. Nevertheless, this is probably the meaning which should be assumed in the majority of cases. I do not wish to argue that a broader usage which includes other desirable states is entirely excluded, only that in such cases the expression points primarily to meditational practice. This makes translation by such expressions as "good states " misleading; for such renderings point first and foremost to the ordinary ethical dimension and only secondarily to meditational experience. By contrast I believe the intention of the Pali texts in these passages is to point first to the jhānas and the states later known as the dhammas contributing to awakening (bodhi-pakkhiya). In other words the use of kusala in these contexts is concerned with the fact that these are special states which are, directly or indirectly, produced by wisdom. That is why they are called "skilful".

 There are equally a great many passages where the meditational context is beyond real dispute. One example of this is the occurrence of skilful dhammas in the formula of the four right efforts and in related formulae concerned with vigour (viriya), such as descriptions of effort (vāyāma) in the eightfold path.(39) This of course is simply a specific case of the bodhi-pakkhiyas in general and indeed the seven sets are sometimes cited in relation to

kusala:

But, Venerable sir, there is another incomparable quality (ānuttariya): how the Lord teaches dhamma as regards skilful dhammas. As to that, the skilful dhammas are as follows: four establishings of mindfulness, four right efforts, four bases of success, five faculties, five powers, seven factors of awakening, the noble eightfold path ... That, Venerable Sir, is an incomparable quality as regards skilful dhammas ... there is nothing further to be known by higher knowledge, such that another mendicant or brahmin, knowing by higher knowledge, would know more deeply i.e. as regards skilful dhammas.(40)

Sometimes the link is made directly to the first of the seven sets: the four establishings of mindfulness.(41) So for example in the Janavasabha-suttanta we are told by Brahmā Sanaṃkumāra that the four establishings of mindfulness were made known for the purpose of attaining the skilful -- here the reference must be to the remaining six sets. Some at least of the discourses, where things kusala are mentioned in a context which lead up to a culmination with the eightfold or the tenfold path, probably belong here.(42) Compare also the Kāya-gatā-sati-sutta where we are told, in relation to the person who has brought into being, made much of and immersed himself in mindfulness of the body, that whatever skilful dhammas he has are connected with the knowledges (vijjā-bhāgiya) i.e. lead to the three knowledges.(43)

 When in the Mahā-hatthi-padopama-sutta Sāriputta tells (M I 184) us that all skilful dhammas are included in the four noble truths, we should again interpret skilful dhammas here as referring to meditational states. Indeed, this is made clear later in the sutta by the references to equipoise connected with the skilful. More generally, there are many passages in which skilful dhammas are spoken of in association with bhāvanā "bringing into being" or some form of the verb bhāveti.(44) In most of these what is implied is the technical sense of these words, as referring to the bringing into being of the eightfold path in particular or the dhammas which contribute to awakening in general i.e. the fourth noble truth. This is even more likely to be the case when the skilful to be brought into being is contrasted with the unskilful "to be abandoned" i.e. the corresponding function of the second noble truth.(45) No doubt closely related to this is the idea of achieving a stage of fixity in relation to skilful dhammas, an idea closely related to some interpretations of what is meant by stream-entry.(46)

 There are a number of passages which refer to someone who is (not) applying insight (vipassaka) to skilful dhammas.(47)

Sometimes this probably refers to a type of insight meditation.(48) However, it also merges into contexts where skilful dhammas or the skilful is simply the object of doubt or wisdom.(49) We also have the idea of the monk who abides in the measureless mental concentration (ceto-samādhi) even as he enjoys the four requisites. It is not easy to measure the amount of puñña, of the skilful, of pleasant results, etc. which will flow from this.(50) The same comment is made in relation to, for example, dāna to a noble disciple. So this brings us to the other major cluster of concepts associated with the skilful i.e. those concerned with future results.

 Naturally there are a considerable number of contexts in which kusala is, explicitly or implicitly, associated with kamma and many more which could be interpreted in such terms. There are some too where it is related to puñña in some way (see below) and others where it is connected with good conduct (sucarita) or precepts (sīla). Since there is no real doubt that, whatever kusala is, it can be explained as bringing pleasant results, I will not attempt to explore these here. But we should bear in mind that even the kamma which arises from non-greed, non-hate and non-delusion: "that kamma is skilful, blameless and bringing pleasant results, that kamma conduces to the cessation of kamma, that kamma does not conduce to the origination of kamma"(51)

 Many passages are, as previously suggested ambiguous. If the kusala is simply recommended or spoken of in terms of something which can increase or decline, we cannot really tell what exactly is meant. Even the abhidhamma references to the triplet of the skilful, unskilful and the undeclared (avyākata) or to kusala-citta can refer either to a context of kamma and result or to a meditational frame. This is most obvious in the Dhamma-sa"ngaṇi which, like others of the canonical abhidhamma works, uses a framework which is strongly meditation-orientated. The list of the fifty five dhammas present in the first kind of skilful consciousness with knowledge is quite sufficient to establish that: nearly all of them are either the classic subjects of insight meditation (aggregates, etc.) or connected with the bodhi-pakkhiya dhammas.(52)

 Of greater interest for the present purpose are those passages in which kusala is linked with groups of apparent synonyms. So we have the context where (e.g. in the Mahāvagga) someone has "done the auspicious (kalyāṇa), done the skilful, done what protects from fear (bhīru-ttāṇa), not done what is ill-fortuned (pāpa), not done things dreadful (ludda), not done things which are filthy (kibbisa)."(53) This seems usually to be in a situation where death is envisaged as nearby. It is in any case obvious that in this context the kusala is very much to do with future consequences.

 There is also a passage which occurs in the famous story of the Buddha-to-be Vipassin (and traditionally all Buddhas) seeing the four sights which motivated him to renounce the confines of the household life. The fourth sight is of course "a shaven-headed man, wearing brown, who has gone forth" i.e. a religious mendicant. In the story Vipassin who has presumably never seen such an individual, asks who and what he is. He is given as the explanation for such a mendicant the comment: "good (sādhu) is the practice of dhamma, good is the practice of tranquillity (sama), good is the doing of the skilful, good is the doing of puñña, good is absence of harming (avihiṃsā), good is sympathy for beings."(54)

 In the great majority of cases, however, whatever other terms are associated with kusala, the term which is always present,usually immediately next to kusala, is blameless (anavajja).(55) It is then not surprising that Buddhaghosa preserves for us the tradition that this is precisely the Suttanta method of exposition. The commentaries clearly understand this to be in principle distinct from the sense of "having pleasant results" which often occurs in conjunction with "blameless". It is doubtful whether the explanation of this was ever meant to imply that this is only found in Suttanta works, as opposed to Abhidhamma. Conversely, the description of "produced by skill" as the Abhidhamma method of exposition does not mean that it is found only in the Abhidhamma-piṭaka. Rather, it is intended to suggest that this is in some way a higher or more profound explanation of kusala, or at least one which is more strictly correct.

 This is perhaps born out by analysis of the terms associated with kusala and anavajja in the passages I have cited. In fact they are not synonyms -- just as kusala here means "skilful" and anavajja means "blameless", but these are not the same thing. Of course, a skilful action i.e. one produced by wisdom is indeed likely to be one which could not be criticized by a knowledgeable person. Similarly, both are indeed likely to bring pleasant results (sukha-vipāka; sukhudraya; kalyāṇa), both in terms of common sense and in the light of the theory of kamma-vipāka. They are also "appropriate to the saint" (alaṃ-ariya), refined (paṇīta) and "do not cause harm" (avyāpajjha, cf. avihiṃsā above). Naturally, they are also "to be followed" (sevitabba) and are "praised by the wise".

Ku"sala in Sanskritic sources

The use of ku"sala in Classical Sanskrit sources is conveniently surveyed by P. Tedesco in a useful article.(56) The word appears first in late portions of the Aitareya-brāhmaṇa and the "Satapatha-brāhmaṇa and then in several Upaniṣads and in Pāṇini. In general it has two main uses in Sanskrit, both already attested by Pāṇini (2.3.40 and 2.3.73):

 1. (As an adjective) "skilful, experienced";
2. (As a neuter substantive) "welfare, well-being".

 Slight variations on these do occur, but some of Tedesco's attempts to find additional meanings in the oldest sources seem forced.

 In what may be the oldest extant source (Ait. Br. 7.18: ...na te ku"salaṃ menire), where Tedesco and others seek to see the meaning "right", it is equally possible that the meaning is "wise" -- closely related to such notions as "skilful or expert". Another early passages that he cites is the Chāndogya-upaniṣad (4.10.2 and 4), but, as Tedesco admits, this can be understood as "expertly" or for that matter wisely. I do not understand why he thinks that tending the sacrificial fire would be understood as involving dutifulness rather than (ritual) skill. The only other passages which Tedesco is able to cite for this meaning are three from the Gobhila-gṛhya-sūtra.(57) All are debatable and were not understood in the way Tedesco requires either by the commentaries or by the first translator. In sum, then, the root meaning of the word is most likely to be connected either to "wise" or to "skilful". The latter sense occurs already in the "Satapatha-brāhmaṇa and in others of the earliest sources.(58)

 The etymology of ku"salais uncertain. Tedesco suggested a derivation from *"sukala- by metathesis, but this seems unlikely for so common a prefix as su-. This would represent three distinct Vedic forms:

a)súkṛta-
b)sukṛtá
c)* sukṛta- < sukṛt-

a) adj. "Well made, well done"; b) n. "a well made work, a good deed, righteousness, virtue, merit"; c) "doing good, skilful, pious". On his first proposed explanation ku"sala- would have come from a Māgadhī form such as *"sukala- which with metathesis would give ku"sala. However, this explanation requires the entry of a Māgadhism into Sanskrit at a rather early date. His second (and preferred) suggestion involves successive assimilation and dissimilation (*kusaṭa > *kuṣaṭa > *ku"saṭa).

 It is clear that part of Tedesco's motivation for this approach lies in an understanding of the Pali sources. He cites the Pali Text Society's Dictionary (PED) favourably as evidence that "the use of the word in Pāli differs considerably from that in Sanskrit."(59) In particular he claims: "But the most frequent meaning of Pāli kusala- is one that in regular Sanskrit is virtually unkown: adjectival "(morally) good, right" ... and substantival "a good deed, virtue, the good (bonum) ..." However, the evidence cited above would suggest that it is not necessary to recognize this kind of sense in the earliest Pali sources; it is rather a subsequent development, associated with the later identification in Buddhism (and in Jaina sources) of the kusala- and the puñña-. Tedesco and PED have both been misled by a commentarial exegesis based on later developments.

 If Tedesco's approach is rejected, what then is the historical etymology of ku"sala? Turner tentatively suggests a relationship with a word in the Germanic dialect of Romany: kuslo "choir-leader", but this might derive from ku"sala-.(60) This leaves only a suggestion of Charpentier.(61) He refers to Gothic *hug(s) (attested gen. hugis; used to translate nous at Eph. 4, 17) and to various related forms in other Germanic languages, all of which have the two meanings of "intelligence, thought, understanding" (sinn, gedanke) and "gladness" (freude). He suggests that this would naturally derive from an Indo-European

which would also be the ancestor of ku"sala. (For the final syllable of ku"sala-, Charpentier refers to the derivation of -lo- from -n- stems or alternatively to -la- as the diminutive

suffix.)

 Charpentier seems to see the base meaning as connected with "gladness", "well-being" and "health ". More probably the root meaning is that of "thought", "intelligence" or "mind". Ku"sa given in the exegetical tradition as "wisdom" is then not far of the mark. If we take a possible early ku"sa as "intelligence", then ku"sala will mean "intelligent" (cf. the paṇḍita of some of the commentaries) which is easily extended to anything done intelligently or "with nous". The second old meaning of the Sanskrit: "well-being" must derive from the extended senses of the Germanic languages -- mind in the sense of "heart" taken as referring to "feeling" and "affection" and subsequently giving rise to the notions of "joy" and "gladness" referred to by Charpentier.(62) Tedesco dismissed Charpentier's view with the comment: "since the meanings have almost nothing in common, this etymology is without foundation." In fact, however, Charpentier's etymology, with the slightly different semantic development suggested here, seems to fit very well the meanings "wise, skilful" and "welfare, health" that seem to be the best attested in the oldest Sanskrit and Pali sources.

 Buddhist Sanskrit sources use ku"sala in a similar way to the Pali. So in the commentary to the Arthavini"scaya-sūtra ignorance as to skilful and unskilful dharmas is defined as ignorance in relation to the dharmas which contribute to awakening and their opposites and we are told that the dharmas which contribute to awakening are ku"sala: "in the sense of peace (kṣemārthena) and because they have a wished for result (iṣṭaphalatvāt)".(63) The Abhidharmāvatāra of Skandhila defines ku"sala as peace (kṣema) and as skill,(64) while in the Abhidharmasāra we read that: "the term wholesome is used when clean thoughts bring about a lovely fruit." (65) It is worth citing the French translation of the former in full:

Le bonheur (kṣema) est synonyme de bien (ku"sala). Celui-ci produit des existences agr"eables (iṣṭabhava) et des germes de d"elivrance. L'habilet"e (kau"salya) suscit"ee par une "etude accomplie signifie "egalement le bien (ku"sala). (En effet), c'est gr^ace "a l'habilet"e qu'on est "a m^eme de composer de belles images et que l'on proclame (l'artiste) bon en tant que ma^itre de dessin (citrakara) r"ealisateur de belles images.

Clearly in this passage Skandhila is raising some of the same issues that were discussed earlier in this paper. So ku"sala is defined as peace (or happiness), but is seen as leading both to fortunate rebirth and as contributing to the development of the path that leads to liberation. Significantly he also stresses the sense of skill in an artistic sense. Clearly for him there are similarities between the one kind of skill and the other.

Puñña

Space does not permit a detailed discussion of puñña here. I would like to suggest, however, that what is often translated "merit" originally refers to the fortune-bringing or auspicious quality of an action, not, as Keown would have it, to the "felt consequences" of the act."

The etymology of the word puṇya from which the Pali puñña derives is not entirely clear. It probably comes from a form <*puṇya, but it is uncertain precisely which of several possible roots it is related to. Senses such as "protecting" or "satisfying" may be implied. The Indian grammatical tradition usually links it either to a root PUṆ in the sense of "(performing) "subhakarman"(66) or to the root PU "cleanse, purify". Dhammapāla gives both the second explanation and one which relates puñña to pūjā or pujja.(67) Earlier the author of the Abhidhamma commentary gives the same two explanations as Dhammapāla and also one which links puñña to the root PṚ.(68) In the earliest (pre-Buddhist) literature (Ṛg-veda and Atharva-veda) it appears first with the senses of "happiness" or "good fortune" as a noun and "pleasant" or "happy" as an adjective.(69) Initially, there seems to have been no suggestion that this was necessarily the result of anything done by the individual.(70) Such a wider sense of the word remains current in later Sanskrit literature, although the meaning which associates the term more closely with acts and their results tends to become predominant.

 Already in the pre-Buddhist period the word had developed in its usage and become part of the brahminical cultus, both sacrificial and more general. So what was earlier probably simply "good fortune" came to refer to whatever brings fortune and hence to the rites and practices intended to assure good fortune. The sacrifice is precisely an act intended to provide protection and happiness in the future. Naturally then with the process of ethicization that occurs in Buddhism and other contemporary religious traditions, just as the true sacrifice is now the act of generosity, so the true fortune-bringing action is no longer seen in terms of ritual action. Instead it is precisely the skilful actions of the precepts and the meditative process which bring good fortune.

 The PTS Dictionary gives only the sense of "merit, meritorious action,virtue" for Pali, but this may not be correct in all of the oldest passages. Indeed, Dhammapāla (It-a I 73f.) gives the following meanings for puñña:

1. puñña-phale  "in the sense of result of meritorious action "
2. kāma-rūpāvacara-sucarito (sic) "in the sense of kāmāvacara and rūpāvacara good conduct
3. sugati-visesa-bhūte upapatti-bhave  "in the sense of rebirth existence which consists of a specific gooddestiny"
4. kusala-cetanāyaṃ  "in the sense of skilful volition"

Buddhaghosa too seems to extend the meaning of puñña to results of kamma.(71)

 What is clear, if one examines the canonical use of the word puñña, is that it occurs both much less frequently than kusala (72) and, on the whole, in a more restricted context. Especially in the earlier texts, it is found mainly in connection with dāna and other activities of the lay life. Indeed it is quite commonly used in an expression which describes a motive for a monk to backslide: he can enjoy life's pleasures and still perform acts which bring good fortune (puññāni).(73) It also occurs quite often in direct connection with heavenly or other future lives.

 PḌ. Premasiri has sought to differentiate the usage of puñña and kusala.(74) Essentially I agree with him that, although there is some overlapping, puñña is most often used in regard to actions intended to bring about results of a pleasant kind in the future. It is almost exclusively kusala which is used in relation to the Buddha's path. Indeed one may go further and suggest that puñña was almost certainly not a technical term in the thought of the Buddha and his early disciples. It was no doubt a part of the background of beliefs current at the time, although there is certainly no reason to suppose that they objected to the notion as such. Of course their understanding as to what constitutes puñña would not necessarily be the same as that of all their contemporaries.

 What I am less happy with is the use by many scholars of the translation "merit" or "meritorious", at least for the earlier literature. The notion of merit seems to imply the notions of "deserving" or "being entitled". To the extent that this is so, it seems inappropriate for puñña, which simply means fortunate or happy. As a noun it is applied either to an act which brings good fortune or to the happy result in the future of such an act. Of course the early Buddhists certainly taught that the kind of act which brings good fortune is precisely one which is blameless and praiseworthy, one which is skilful in the sense that it is produced by wisdom or at all events because it is the kind of thing that a wise person would do or approve. As we read in the Cakkavatti-sīha-nāda-suttanta:(75)

By reason of the undertaking of skilful dhammas, monks, in this way this good fortune increases (kusalānaṃ bhikkhave dhammānaṃ samādāna-hetu evaṃ idaṃ puññaṃ pavaḍḍhatī ti

In an interesting paper Martin Southwold discusses the question as to whether Buddhism possesses a concept of evil.(76) He adapts Grayson's distinction between descriptive and moral evil (applied to early Hebrew literature) to the Buddhist context and distinguishes a weak and a strong sense in the case of moral evil. I agree with him that the strong sense is not found in Buddhism; it seems to be associated historically with some forms of monotheism. The distinction between the descriptive and the moral can, I suggest, be applied equally to puñña. The descriptive meaning alone can be found in the earliest Indian literature; essentially puñña and pāpa are simply that which causes happiness or harm respectively.

Semantic development

Returning to ku"sala, the semantic evolution I see is:

  1. An original meaning of "intelligent" or "wise";
  2. Expert in magical and sacrificial ritual (in the Brāhmaṇas); for brahmins, of course, this would precisely constitute wisdom.
    • Skilled in meditational/mystical (/ascetic?) practices (in the early Pali sources and, no doubt, in other contemporary traditions), including skilled in the kind of behaviour which supports meditation, etc. i.e. sīla, etc.
    • Skilled in performing dāna and yañña, now interpreted in terms of Buddhist ethical concerns; and associated with keeping the precepts and so on.

  3. Kusala in later Buddhist and Jain sources becomes generalized to refer to something like wholesome or good states.

So there is no reason to doubt that by a later period (i.e. in the commentaries and perhaps later canonical sources) kusala in non-technical contexts meant something which could be translated as "good".

Bibliography

Allon, Mark, "Some stylistic features of the prose portions of Pāli canonical sutta texts and their mnemonic function," PhḌ., Cambridge, 1995.
Boyd, James W., Satan and Māra. Christian and Buddhist symbols of evil, Studies in the History of Religions XXVĪ, E.J.Brill, Leiden, 1975.
Charpentier, Jarl, "Etymologische beitrāge. 1. Got. hugs : ai. k'ucala-," Beitrāge zur Kunde der indogermanischen Sprachen, XXX, 1906, 153-55.
Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson and William A. Craigie, An Icelandic-English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1957.
Feist, Sigmund, Vergleichendes Woorterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., E.J.Brill, Leiden, 1939.
Filliozat, Jean, "Sur le domaine s'emantique de Pun.ya," in Indianisme et Bouddhisme. M'elanges offerts a Mgr 'Etienne Lamotte, 101-116, Institut Orientaliste, Louvain-La-Neuve, 1980.
Gethin, RṂḶ., The Buddhist Path to Awakening. A Study of the Bodhi-Pakkhiyā Dhammā, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1992.
Keown, Damien, The Nature of Buddhist Ethics, Macmillan, London, 1992.
Mori, Sodo, Studies of the Pali Commentaries. A Provisional Collection of Articles, Saitama, Japan, 1989.
Nārada, U, Conditional Relations (Paṭṭhāna), Vol. I, Translation Series No. 37, Pali Text Society, London, 1969.
Pagel, Ulrich, The Bodhisattvapiṭaka. Its Doctrines, Practices and their Position in Mahāyāna Literature, Buddhica Britannica. Series Continua V, ed. Tadeusz Skorupski, The Institute of Buddhist Studies, Tring, 1995.
Premasiri, P. D., "Interpretation of Two Principal Ethical Terms in Early Buddhism," Sri Lanka Journal of the Humanities, 2, 1, 1976, 63-74. Samtani, NḤ., ed. The Arthavini"scaya-sūtra & its Commentary (Nibandhana), Tibetan Sanskrit Works Series Vol. XĪI, K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute, Patna, 1971.
Skilling, Peter, "Vimuttimagga and Abhayagiri: the form aggregate according to the Saṃskṛtāsaṃskṛtavini"scaya," JPTS , XX, 1994, 171-210. Southwold, Martin, "Buddhism and evil," in The Anthropology of Evil, ed. David Parkin, 128-41, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1985.
Tedesco, P, "Sanskrit ku"sala- "skilful, welfare "," JAOS, 74, 1954, 131-42.
Van Velthem, Marcel, Le Trait'e de la Descente dans la Profonde Loi (Abhidharmāvatāra"sāstra) de l'Arhat Skandhila, Publications de l'Institut Orientaliste de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste, Louvain, 1977. Willemen, Charles, The Essence of Metaphysics, 'Etudes et Textes 4, Publication de L'Institut Belge des Hautes 'Etudes Bouddhiques, Brussels, 1975.

Notes

Abbreviations used in this paper are those of the Critical Pāli Dictionary. An earlier version of this paper was presented at a conference on "Buddhism and Peace: Theory and Practice" (Honolulu, June, 1995). A printed version is to appear in a conference volume (University of Hawaī Press, 1997). Thanks are due to Professor D.J. Kalupahana for permission for prior publication in JBE.

 1 Damien Keown, The Nature of Buddhist Ethics, London, 1992, p. 119. Return

 2 Sv ĪI 883. Return

 3 It is rarely used by Buddhaghosa himself, but cf. Pa A4is-a ĪI 576; JA ĪI 411; Vv-a to Vv 26.Return

 4 e.g. J IV 427f.; V 323; 348; 377; VI 418; 515; 532; 542; 569; but see also: Sn 981; Nidd Ī 1; Vv 25; 45; Cp 93. Also unrelated to the specifically Buddhist senses is the expression icc ' etaṃ kusalaṃ, common in the Vinaya, but occurring a few times elsewhere e.g. M ĪI 129.Return

 5 Sp Ī 436; Sv I 286; Ps ĪI 443; Mp ĪI 203; IV 123; V 1; 30. Compare JA I 275; cf. ĪI 411; IV 223; VI 175; Nidd-a Ī 373; It-a I 173; Th-a ĪI 77.Return

 6 Buddhaghosa has Bāhiya-suttanta, but this is probably an error in view of the ṭīkās. The Mūlaṭīkā (Ce 1938) 21 and Sp- A4 to Sp Ī 489 (Mahidol CD), however, interpret the Bāhītika-sutta as illustrating kusala in the sense of health.Return

 7 At Dhs-a 63 it is subsumed in anavajja.Return

 8 The only commentarial passage where it is used to explain kusala is: Vibh-a 14, but it is given by Mahānāma in a different context (to explain upasama and asāraddha) at Paṭis-a I 96; Ī 483.Return

 9 But cf. Spk ĪI 141.Return

 10Sp VĪ 1360; 1377; Ps ĪI 323; Mp ĪI 132; Vibh-a 290; Pj Ī 433; Nidd-a I 199; 240; Ī 292; Paṭis-a I 277; JA Ī 298; V 326; VI 260; Th-a ĪI 160; Bv-a 49; Ap-a 283; 286. Note also the use of cheka in apposition to pāpaka at Nidd I 467.Return

 11 Spk ĪI 141; Mp ĪI 161; Vibh-a 289; Nidd-a I 219; Ī 306; 439; Th-a ĪI 69; Paṭis-a I 168; 329; Vism-mhṭ (Be 1977) I 155 and in relation to akusala: Sp I 135; Ī 404; Ps ĪI 346; Nidd-a I 65; Ud-a 220.Return

 12 Sp V 1391; VĪ 1360 (ñāṇapāramippatta); Pj Ī 574; Nidd-a Ī 284; Paṭis-a ĪI 549 (ñāṇa); JA ĪI 210; cp. V 66.Return

 13 e.g. Ps ĪI 244ff.; Mp Ī 45ff.; Dhs-a 405f.; Vibh-a 289ff.; Pj Ī 503; cf. JA I 275; Ī 22; Mūlaṭīkā (Ce 1938) 21; cf. RṂḶ. Gethin, The Buddhist Path to Awakening. A Study of the Bodhi-Pakkhiyā Dhammā, Leiden, 1992, p. 75.Return

 14 In the introduction to the first two volumes the author states that he was asked to write the commentary by the bhikkhu Buddhaghosa. It seems very unlikely that, if the author's name was Buddhaghosa, he would have referred to another Buddhaghosa without some designation to indicate the difference. Such differentiations are frequent in the commentaries. The names of the early Sinhalese monks are conveniently collected by Sodo Mori in two papers originally published in 1987-88 in Bukkyo Kenkyu (Buddhist Studies), cf. Sodo Mori, Studies of the Pali Commentaries. A Provisional Collection of Articles, Saitama, Japan, 1989, pp. 21-105. Many examples of distinguishing epithets could be cited from the lists given there. If there were two Buddhaghosas in the same monastery, then a distinguishing name would have been in use. The same applies in case this Buddhaghosa was not the famous Buddhaghosa. Most probably then it was Buddhaghosa himself who requested the author to compose this commentary.Return

 15 Dhs-a 62-3; cf. Moh 6. Return

 16 Dhs-a 38ff.Return

 17 Abhidh-av v. 11; Paṭis-a I 129; 205-6; Bv-a 49. At Pj Ī 503 we have the same number of senses, but with iṭṭha-phalain place of sukhavipāka and kosalla-sambhūta instead of cheka.Return

 18 e.g. Moh 5. But Dhammapāla occasionally explains kusala in terms of khema or khemin e.g. Th-a I 100; It-a I 93. This perhaps reflects influence from Buddhist Sanskrit writers or from lexicographical sources.Return

 19 e.g. Dhs-a 38.Return

 20 See for example U Nārada's discussion: Nārada, U, Conditional Relations (Paṭṭāna), Vol. I, London, 1969, pp. cvīi-cix.Return

 21 Vism-mhṭ (Be 1977) Ī 113f. But note that this text adds na ...kosalla-sambhūtaṃ in the immediately following exegesis of akusala.Return

 22 That this is so is perhaps suggested by the need of Mahānama, in his second treatment of the subject, to refer also to the threefold definition of kusala: Pa A4is-a I 206; cf. 271.Return

 23 Dhs-a 39; Abhidh-av v. 9 (p A4 and A4); Vism-mh A4 (Be 1977) Ī 113f.; cp. Abhidh-k-vy I 29: kutsitā"s chalitā gatā apakrāntā iti ku"salā; prajñā 85 vā ku"sa iva tīkṣṇeti ku"saḥ, taṃ lānti ādadata iti ku"salā.Return

 24 Ibid.Return

 25 Vin Ī 201; V 64 3D 158; D Ī 183; A I 116f.; Ī 185; 186; Sn 321; Dhp 44f.; Th 1139; Pp 42; J Ī 162; 298; ĪI 477; IV 469; V 148; 157; 326; 490; VI 25; 77; 85; 87; 213; 260; 475 and the following six notes.Return

 26 Vin I 182 3D A ĪI 375.Return

 27 M I 178ff.Return

 28 M I 395f.Return

 29 M Ī 94f.Return

 30 S V 149-52.Return

 31 A I 112f.Return

 32 Vin V 130; 197; 216; 216 ?; D Ī 136 ?; M I 226f.; Ī 144; ĪI 5; S I 35; 169; A Ī 46; 138; ĪI 201; 431; V 96; 98; Kh 8 3D Sn 143; Sn 48; 591; 881; 1039; 1078; Nidd I 69; 71-72; 105; 325; 177; 450; Ī 9; 127; 128; Th 251; Pv 4; 44; Bv 62; J ĪI 210; 348; V 65; VI 356; Ap I 26; 29; 43; Ī 499; 518; 570; Vibh 310; Kv 170ff.; 176ff.; 180ff.; 190ff.; Return

 33 S ĪI 264-77; A ĪI 311; IV 34; Th 1183; Paṭis I 48f.Return

 34 See Ulrich Pagel, The Bodhisattvapiṭaka. Its Doctrines, Practices and their Position in Mahāyāna Literature, Tring, 1995, Index s.v. skill and p. 258ff.; Peter Skilling, "Vimuttimagga and Abhayagiri: the form aggregate according to the Saṃskṛtāsaṃskṛtavini"scaya," JPTS, XX, 1994, 171-210.Return

 35 S IV 337-39; D I 224-29; M I 318; A I 115f.; ĪI 431; cp. Vin V 148.Return

 36 M I 514-22; Ī 181-84; 197ff.; S V 19; A I 69; cf. M I 502.Return

 37 M I 93; Ī 215; 217; A V 17-21; 26-29; 96-98; 99ff.; 123-28; Paṭis Ī 70; note too passages where sīla or adhisīla is defined as the mukhaṃ pamukhaṃ kusalānaṃ dhammānaṃ samāpattiyā: Vin I 103; Nidd I 39; 148; 270; 348; cf. 365; Vibh 246 and compare S V 143; 165; 187; 188.Return

 38 In later Jainism, at least, states of consciousness without vitarka and vicāra seem to have been considered only possible just prior to liberation.Return

 39 D Ī 312; ĪI 221; 237; 268; 285; M I 124 ?; 356; Ī 11; 95; 128; S ĪI 364; V 9; 197 f.; 225; 244-47; 268; A I 39; 117; 153; 244ff.; 296; Ī 15; 74; 93; 95 ?; 250f.; 256; ĪI 2; 11; 65; 135; 152-55; 310; IV 3; 153f.; 234; 291; 352; 357f.; 462-63 (expand); V 15; 24; 27; 90f.; 339; Ud 36f.; Nidd I 477; Ī 96f.; 104; Paṭis I 41; 103f.; Ī 15; 17; Vibh 105; 208-14; 216-19; 235. To these could probably be added some passages related to appamāda: D ĪI 272; S I 89; V 45; 91; A I 11; Nidd Ī 90. Compare also with chanda: A V 99-100; 104-05; Nidd Ī 90.Return

 40 D ĪI 102; compare Nidd I 13-14; 361f.; 468f.; 486; Ī 200; cf. Th 900.Return

 411 D Ī 216; cp. S V 171f.; 186 f.; 187; 188.Return

 42 e.g. M Ī 24-29; cf. A V 215f.; 241.Return

 43 M ĪI 94; cp. A I 43f.Return

 44 M ĪI 76f.; 94; S V 402; A I 58; Ī 40; 182; IV 109-11; 120-22; 353; V 215-16; Sn 66; It 9; 10; 21; Th 83; Thī 9; J I 275; 278; Ī 22.Return

 45 Of course, whether a usage is to be taken as technical or not, may depend in part on the age of the text concerned. Many scholars believe that some of the technical usages of the abhidhamma and commentaries only develop in the later portions of the sutta literature. This may of course be so (and must be in some cases), but there is as yet no real consensus as to the course of development of early Buddhist literature. For present purposes this problem will not in any case greatly affect the overall picture, as many of the passages concerned are probably not among the earliest sutta texts.Return

 46Usually something like: okkamati niyāmaṃ kusalesu dhammesu sammattaṃ cf. A I 121f.; ĪI 174f.; 435f.; Pa A4is I 124; Vibh 341-42; Kv 94; 309; Pp 13; 28.Return

 47 In association with the term bodhi-pakkhiya/ ika: Vin ĪI 23; A ĪI 70f.; 300f. In other contexts: It 41; Pa A4is I 58; 60; 70; Ī 27-29.Return

 48 Note the link to the word bodhi-pakkhiya, etc. For a full discussion of the eighteen or so canonical contexts in which this term is found, see Gethin, op. cit., pp. 289-98.Return

 49This is common in the standard formula for the fifth hindrance: D I 71, etc.; M I 181; 269; 275; 347; ĪI 3; 136; 251; A Ī 211; ĪI 93; IV 437; V 207; Vibh 245; 256; Pp 59; 68, but also in relation to wisdom or questioning: D I 24f.; Ī 214-16; 222f.; 228; ĪI 61; 157; Pp 30f.; cf. 65.Return

 50 A Ī 54f.; 56f.; cf. ĪI 51f.; IV 245-47; S V 391-92; 399-402; Kv 346.Return

 51 A I 263.Return

 52 It must be noted that the six pairs, unique to the Pali system as far as we know, are simply an expansion of the fifth bojjha"nga: tranquillity.Return

 53 Vin ĪI 72; M ĪI 164; A Ī 174f.; It 25. Note that the two halves of this follow the rule of "waxing syllables ". On this see now: Mark Allon, "Some stylistic features of the prose portions of Pāli canonical sutta texts and their mnemonic function," PhḌ., Cambridge, 1995.Return

 54 D Ī 28f.; cp. (without the last two items) S I 101f.; V 456. Note that by the rule of "waxing syllables" puñña-kiriyā is out of place.Return

 55 D I 163-65; Ī 83f.; M Ī 115f.; S V 104; 106; A I 97f.; 104; 129; 189-91; 194f.; 263; 293f.; ĪI 165; IV 363f.; V 240-45; Pa A4is I 80; Ī 79; Pp 65; Kv 344f.; 439f.; 442f.; 481f.; 484; 577. Note, however, M I 416-19; A Ī 36f.Return

 56 PṬedesco, "Sanskrit ku"sala- "skilful, welfare "," JAOS, 74, 1954, 131-42.Return

 57 Gobh. G 87h. 1.5.26; 1.7.7.; 2.1.1.Return

 58"Sat. Br. 11.4.2.1, 4, 13; Chānd. Up. 1.8.1; Kaṭha. Up. 2.7; Pāṇ. 2.3.40 (refs from Tedesco).Return

 59 op. cit., p. 133.Return

 60 CDIAL s.v. He also suggests a link to ku"sīlava- "bard, actor, mimic " (Manu, etc.).Return

 61 See: Jarl Charpentier, "Etymologische beitrāge. 1. Got. hugs: ai. k A3 87ala-,"Beitrāge zur Kunde der indogermanischen Sprachen, XXX, 1906, 153-55. The etymology of *hug(s) and related words is generally given in the literature as uncertain. For other suggestions which have been put forward, see: Sigmund Feist, Vergleichendes Woorterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden, 1939, p. 272f.Return

 62 e.g. Richard Cleasby et al., An Icelandic-English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford, 1957 s.v. hugr, hyggja, hugga, etc.Return

 63NḤ. Samtani, ed. The Arthavini"scaya-sūtra & its Commentary (Nibandhana), Tibetan Sanskrit Works Series Vol. XĪI, Patna, 1971, p.108.Return

 64 Marcel Van Velthem, Le Trait'e de la Descente dans la Profonde Loi (Abhidharmāvatāra"sāstra) de l 'Arhat Skandhila, Louvain, 1977, p. 19.Return

 65 Charles Willemen, The Essence of Metaphysics, Brussels, 1975, p. 16; cp. p. 106.Return

 66 cp. Dhātup p. 19: puṇa kammani subhe; and Dhātum p. 41: puṇo subhakriye. Also Amg-D Vol. 5 p. 661ff.Return

 67 It-a I 78; Ī 23; Vv-a 19 (for the reading pujja-, see Trsl. p. 38 n. 143; Ce 1925 (p. 15) also reads this.) Compare also Bv-a 67; Vism-mhṭ (Be 1977) Ī 117; Sp- A4 to Sp Ī 399; Maṇg (Mahidol CDRom).Return

 68 Vibh-a 142 (DD I 174): "it fulfills the (store of good) inclination". So too Vism-mhṭ (Be 1977) Ī 258 and Paṭis-a ĪI 633.Return

 69 See Jean Filliozat, "Sur le domaine s'emantique de Puṇya," in Indianisme et Bouddhisme. M'elanges offerts a Mgr 'Etienne Lamotte, 101-116, Louvain-La-Neuve, 1980.Return

 70 The case is probably similar for the opposite concept. See James W. Boyd, Satan and Māra. Christian and Buddhist symbols of evil, Leiden, 1975, p. 157 where pāpa is explained as "that which is essentially miserable, full of suffering and inferior".Return

 71 e.g. Ps Ī 283: āyatiṃ vipāka-kkhandhā ti attho.Return

 72 The Mahidol CD (Budsir 4.0) counts 150 word forms beginning with puñña- in the tipiṭaka (211 from puññ-) as against 323 beginning with kusal-. In total some 1,285 occurrences are listed for puñña-, as against 7,526 for kusal-. The latter figure is inflated by references in the Abhidhamma-piṭaka, but kusal- is still more frequent in the earlier texts. For example kusalaṃ occurs 105 times in Vin, as against 12 times for puññ.am, and 191 times in the first four nikāyas, as against 119. Puññ-, however, is more frequent in the Khuddaka-nikāya, if Paṭis is excluded (as being an abhidhamma text).Return

 73 e.g. Vin I 182.Return

 74 P. D. Premasiri, "Interpretation of Two Principal Ethical Terms in Early Buddhism,"Sri Lanka Journal of the Humanities, 2, 1, 1976, 63-74.Return

 75 D ĪI 58; 79; cp. 73f. Here, for the layfolk, the skilful dhammas which are undertaken are the kamma-patha, beginning with not killing and so on and the good fortune is longer life and better looks, by implication also children and enjoyable things, even the power of the universal monarch. For the monks the skilful dhammas are the four foundations of mindfulness, while the good fortune is the iddhi-pādas (long life), the observance of the training rules of the Pātimokkha (good looks), the four jhānas (happiness), loving-kindness and the other three immeasurables (enjoyable things) and arahatship (power). So for the laity the puñña is fortunate results, while for the monks it is new, fortunate actions.Return

 76 Martin Southwold, "Buddhism and evil," in The Anthropology of Evil, ed. David Parkin, 128-41, Oxford, 1985.Return

Copyright 1996

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