The Indriyanis

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Indriy¤ni

Forces, Faculties, Controlling Powers

Samyutta Nikaya, V: Mahavagga: Indriyasamyutta
PTS: Kindred Sayings V: The Great Chapter: Kindred Sayings on the Faculties
WP: The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: The Great Book: Connected Discourses on the Faculties


Pali	MO	Hare	Horner	Punnaji	Bodhi	Nanamoli	Rhys Davids	(Mrs)Rhys Davids	Thanissaro	Walshe	Woodward
Indriy¤ni	forces	controlling faculties			faculty	faculty	faculties, controlling powers		faculties	faculties
Cakkhundriyaµ	eye						eye			eye
sotindriyaµ	ear						ear			ear
gh¤nindriyaµ	nose						nose			nose
jivahindriyaµ	tongue						tongue			tongue
k¤yindriyaµ	body						body			body
Sukhindriyaµ	pleasure						pleasure			pleasant [bodily] feeling
dukkhindriyaµ	pain						pain			pain
somanassindriyaµ	mental ease						joy			gladness
demanassindriyaµ	mental pain						grief			sadness
upekkhindriyaµ	detachment	equanimity, poise	equanimity	introspection	equanimity	equanimity	indifference, equanimity		equanimity	indifferent feeling, equanimity	equanimity
Saddhindriyaµ	faith	faith	faith		faith	faith	faith		conviction	faith
viriyindriyaµ	energy	energy	energy	practice	energy	energy	energy	energy, effort	persistence	energy	energy
satindriyaµ	mind	mindfulness, conscience	mindfulness	attentiveness	mindfulness	mindfulness	mindfulness	mindfulness	mindfulness	mindfulness	mindfulness
sam¤dhindriyaµ	getting high	concentration	concentration	Equilibrium, Mental Repose	concentration	concentration	concentration	concentration	concentration	concentration	concentration
pa¾¾indiyaµ	insight, wisdom	insight	wisdom	understanding, penetrative awareness, the primal knowledge	wisdom	wisdom	insight		discernment	wisdom
ana¾¾¤taµ-¾ass¤m¨tindriyaµ	knowing the unknown						coming to know the unknown			knowing that one will know the unknown
a¾¾indriyaµ	omnicience						knowing			highest knowledge
a¾¾¤t¤vindriyaµ	attaining omnicience						perfected knowledge			the faculties of the one who knows

**Pali Text Society, Pali English Dictionary (edited entry):**
Indriya: Vedic indriya adj. only in meaning "belonging to Indra"; nt. strength, might, but in specific Pali sense "belonging to the ruler", i.e. governing, ruling, nt. governing, ruling or controlling principle. A. on term: Indriya is one of the most comprehensive and important categories of Buddhist psychological philosophy and ethics, meaning "controlling principle, directive force, elan...(a) with reference to sense-perceptibility "faculty, function", often wrongly interpreted as "organ"; (b) w. ref. to objective aspects of form and matter "kind, characteristic, determinating principle, sign, mark" (cp. woman-hood, hood, kind, form); (c) w.ref. to moods of sensation and (d) to moral powers or motives controlling action, "principle, controlling" force; (e) w. ref. to cognition and insight "category" -gutta: one who restrains and watches his senses.

PED on Line (no diacriticals): "Indriya"
PED on Line (unicode font required): "Indriya"

See: SN.V. Indriyasamyutta PTS: The Method, V.179; WP: The Faculty of Final Knowledge, II.1677; and The Powers of the Aristocrats) Attributes of Indra; Indra-like. Of or flowing from Indra. The usual "faculties," needs "...of Indra" or something that indicates that these are extra-ordinary, or god-like faculties (or, more accurately, faculties seen as godlike or wondrous). Woodward uses "controlling powers, faculties, and controlling faculties." The various Indrianis are all forms of power or attributes that are found under other categories. However when in the Pali they are found under this heading they have a much more magical, super-normal connotation. Since the idea of Indra (a god of War and Wrath, much like, if not the same as Zeus and Jupiter) was largely replaced in the Buddhist culture by the idea of Sakka (a god of good deeds, respect for the elders, and a Streamwinner), I suspect that what we have in these "faculties" is a carry-over of an old set of power categories with the terms being redefined in the Buddhist sense possibly to make the transition more comprehensiable for those of the older beliefs. In the Samyutta version of these three, the heading is ¾¤ya, or "method" or "knack,"