The fourfold vipaśyanā (insight) method — vicinoti (investigates), pravicinoti (investigates closely), parivitarkayati (deliberates), parimīmāṁsām āpadyate (engages in thorough examination). The chapter unfolds the framework through three gateways: sign-only, seeking, and reviewing; six investigation-subjects: meaning, substance, characteristic, side, time, and reasoning; and four reasonings: dependence, cause-and-effect, proof-establishing, and nature-of-things.
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Sanskrit
English
parimīmāṁsāmāpadyate |
and engages in thorough examination —
Vicinoti → pravicinoti → parivitarkayati → parimīmāṁsām āpadyate — the same four prajñā-function verbs that appear throughout the Śrāvakabhūmi. The progression moves from coarse to fine inquiry: general examination → close discrimination → deliberation → thorough critical examination. The accumulation conveys that vipaśyanā is sustained, multi-aspected investigation rather than a single act of looking.
kauśalyālambanaṁ vā, kleśaviśodhanaṁ vā |
the skill object, or the defilement-purifying object —
yathāvadbhāvikatayā |
and 'as it actually is.'
Yāvad-bhāvikatā and yathāvad-bhāvikatā — 'as-far-as-it-goes-ness' and 'as-it-actually-is-ness.' A key Yogācāra distinction running throughout the vipaśyanā method. The first asks the scope of the object; the second its nature.
savikalpena manaskāreṇa prajñāsahagatena |
by way of conceptual attention joined with discernment.
sā khalveṣā vipaśyanā trimukhī ṣaḍvastuprabhedālambanā veditavyā |
This vipaśyanā should be known as having three gateways and six investigation-subjects.
vipaśyanā paryeṣaṇānucaritā, paryeṣitā ca |
vipaśyanā that follows seeking and what has been sought;
dharmamavavādasyāsamāhitabhūmikena manaskāreṇa manasi karoti |
he attends to the dharma of instruction with unconcentrated attention.
yadā punastīrayitvā upaparīkṣya yathā vyavasthāpitameva pratyavekṣate |
When, having weighed and examined, he then reviews the conclusions just as established,
iyaṁ trimukhī vipaśyanā |
This is the threefold-gateway vipaśyanā.
The three gateways are stages in the maturation of an investigation, not three separate practices. First the topic is held loosely (sign-only). Then actively worked (seeking). Then rested in the conclusion (reviewing). The asamāhita qualifier on stage one is striking — initial holding doesn't yet require absorbed attention.
arthaṁ, vastu, lakṣaṇaṁ, pakṣaṁ, kālaṁ, yuktiṁ ca paryeṣyannetānyeva paryeṣamāṇa etānyeva pratyavekṣate |
meaning, substance, characteristic, side, time, and reasoning. Having sought these, he reviews them.
asya bhāṣitasyāyamartho 'sya bhāṣitasyāyamartha ityevamarthaṁ paryeṣate |
'The meaning of this teaching is this; the meaning of this teaching is that' — thus he seeks meaning.
svalakṣaṇaṁ sāmānyalakṣaṇaṁ ca |
specific characteristic and general characteristic.
Svalakṣaṇa / sāmānya-lakṣaṇa — what makes this thing this (the particular nature), and what is shared across many things (typically anitya, duḥkha, anātman). Insight in the classical sense usually arises from general-characteristic contemplation.
śuklapakṣaṁ punarguṇato 'nuśaṁsataścaivaṁ pakṣaṁ paryeṣate |
The bright side as quality and benefit. Thus he seeks side.
apekṣāyuktiḥ, kāryakāraṇayuktiḥ, upapattisādhanayuktirdharmatāyuktiśca |
dependence-reasoning, cause-and-effect reasoning, proof-establishing reasoning, and nature-of-things reasoning.
tatrāpekṣāyuktyā saṁvṛtiṁ ca saṁvṛtitaḥ |
By dependence-reasoning he investigates the conventional as conventional,
kāryakāraṇayuktyā kāritraṁ dharmāṇāṁ paryeṣate |
By cause-and-effect reasoning he investigates the function of phenomena:
ayaṁ dharmaḥ, idaṁ kāritraṁ, ayamidaṁ kāritra iti |
'This is the dharma; this is its function; this is its function.'
upapattisādhanayuktyā trīṇi pramāṇāni paryeṣate |
By proof-establishing reasoning he investigates by means of the three pramāṇas (valid means of knowing):
āptāgamamanumānaṁ pratyakṣaṁ ca |
trustworthy testimony, inference, and direct perception.
atrātmā, nāstīti kiṁ pratyakṣamupalabhyate na veti, kimanumānena prayujyate na veti |
Is there a self here, or not? Is it apprehended by direct perception, or not? Is it established by inference, or not?'
The proof-establishing-reasoning move deploys the three pramāṇas — testimony, inference, perception — with the specific test 'is there a self here?' The Buddhist anti-ātman investigation framed as a pramāṇa exercise.
tatra dharmatāyuktyā tathābhūtatāṁ dharmāṇāṁ prasiddhadharmatāmacintyadharmatāmavasthitadharmatāmadhimucyate, na cintayati |
By nature-of-things reasoning he resolves upon the such-actuality [tathābhūtatā] of phenomena, the established nature of things, the unthinkable nature of things, the abiding nature of things — he does not further think it through,
Dharmatā-yukti is the limit of inquiry: at some point one rests in the nature-of-things and stops further analysis (na cintayati, na vikalpayati). The contemplation has reached its proper terminus.
na vikalpayatyevaṁ yuktim paryeṣate |
does not further discriminate. Thus he seeks reasoning.
iyaṁ ṣaḍvastuprabhedālambanā trimukhī vipaśyanā samāsataḥ |
This is the vipaśyanā with the six investigation-subjects and three gateways, in summary.
trividhamavabodhamadhikṛtya bhāṣitārthāvabodhaṁ vastuparyantatāvabodhaṁ |
Three kinds of comprehension are intended: comprehension of the meaning of what is taught; comprehension of 'as far as it goes' of the substance;
tatrārthaparyeṣaṇayā bhāṣitārthāvabodhaḥ |
The investigation of meaning yields comprehension of what is taught.
vastuparyeṣaṇayā, svalakṣaṇaparyeṣaṇayā ca vastuparyantatāvabodhaḥ |
The investigation of substance and the investigation of specific characteristic together yield comprehension of how far the substance extends.
tatra sāmānyalakṣaṇaparyeṣaṇayā, pakṣaparyeṣaṇayā, kālayuktiparyeṣaṇayā yathābhūtāvabodhaḥ |
The investigation of general characteristic, of side, of time and reasoning together yield comprehension of how things actually are.
yaduta bhāṣitasyārthaḥ, jñeyasya vastunaḥ yāvadbhāvikatā |
namely, the meaning of what is taught; and the yāvad-bhāvikatā of the substance to be known,
tatrāśubhe prayukto yogī ṣaḍvastūni paryeṣate |
The practitioner engaged in unattractiveness investigates the six investigation-subjects.
aśubhādhipateyaṁ dharmaṁ śrutamudgṛhītamadhipatiṁ kṛtvā samāhitabhūmikena manaskāreṇaivamarthapratisaṁvedī bhavati |
Taking what he has heard and grasped about unattractiveness as governing, with attention grounded in the concentrated plane, he comprehends the meaning thus:
aśubheyaṁ pratirūpametat pratikūlametad durgandhamāmagandhamiti |
'This is unattractive: counterfeit, repugnant, foul-smelling, rank.'
ebhirākārairevaṁbhāgīyaistasyaivāśubhādhikṛtasya dharmasya pūrvaśrutasyārthapratisaṁvedanā |
By such aspects [there is] comprehension of the meaning of the unattractiveness-teaching previously heard.
evamaśubhatayārthaṁ paryeṣate |
Thus he investigates the meaning by way of unattractiveness.
sa evamarthapratisaṁvedī tāmaśubhatāṁ dvayorbhāvayorvyavasthāpitāṁ paśyatyadhyātmaṁ bahirdhā ca |
Comprehending the meaning, he sees this unattractiveness as established in two locations: inwardly and outwardly.
adhyātmaṁ tāvadantaḥkāyagatāmaśubhatāṁ pratyaśubhatāmadhimucyate |
Inwardly, he resolves on the inherent impurity within the body:
santyasminkāye keśā romāṇi nakhā dantā rajo malaṁ tvaṅmāṁsamasthi snāyuḥ sirā vṛkkaṁ hṛdayaṁ plīhakaṁ kloma antrāṇyantraguṇā āmāśayaṁ pakvāśayaṁ mūtraṁ purīṣamaśru svedaḥ kheṭā śiṅghāṇakaṁ vasā lasīkā majjā medaḥ pittaṁ śleṣmā pūyaḥ śoṇitamastakaṁ mastakaluṅgaṁ prasrāvaḥ |
'There exist in this body: hair of the head, body hair, nails, teeth, dust, dirt, skin, flesh, bone, sinew, vein, kidneys, heart, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, stomach contents, bowel contents, urine, feces, tears, sweat, saliva, mucus, fat, lymph, marrow, grease, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, brain, cranial fluid, urine.'
tāṁ punaranekavidhāmantaḥkāyagatāmaśubhatāṁ dvābhyāṁ dhātubhyāṁ saṁgṛhītāmadhimucyate |
He further resolves that this multifold inward-body impurity is comprised by two elements:
yāvadyakṛtpurīṣā pṛthivīdhāturadhimucyate |
through liver and feces — this he resolves as the earth element.
aśruvedanāmupādāya yāvat prasrāvādabdhātumadhimucyate |
From [Damaged/Conjectural: tears and sweat] through urine — this he resolves as the water element.
The root prints aśruvedanām upādāya, but the body-fluid sequence and parallels in sbh2.2/sbh2.5 support expected aśru-svedam ('tears and sweat'). The English marks this as a conjectural/corrupt repair rather than silently turning vedanā into lymph.
bahirdhā vā punarbāhyagatāmaśubhatāṁ vinīlakādibhirākārairadhimucyate |
Outwardly, he resolves on the repulsiveness as found outside the body, by way of aspects beginning with the discolored.
purato vā śrutaṁ parikalpitaṁ vā, punaḥ striyā vā, puruṣasya vā, mitrasya vā, amitrasya vā, udāsīnasya vā |
or heard described, or imagined — of a woman, a man, a friend, an enemy, or one indifferent to him;
hīnaṁ vā, madhyaṁ vā, praṇītaṁ vā, dahrasya vā, madhyasya vā, vṛddhasya vā |
low, middling, or excellent; young, middle-aged, or elderly.
tatra nimittamudgṛhya ekāham mṛtaṁ pragaḍitaśoṇitamayaṁ prāptapūyabhāvaṁ vinīlakamityadhimucyate |
Taking the sign, he resolves on a corpse one day dead, blood having clotted, just turning to pus — as the discolored.
dvyaham mṛtaṁ prāptapūyabhāvamasañjātakṛmi vipūyakamityadhimucyate |
A corpse two days dead, fully turned to pus, before worms have arisen — as the festering.
saptāham mṛtaṁ sañjātakṛmi ādhmātaṁ ca vimadrāmakaṁ vyādhmātakam ityadhimucyate |
[A body] dead seven days, with worms arisen, swollen and decomposing-and-bursting — he resolves [on it as such].
kākaiḥ kuralairgṛddhaiḥ śvabhiḥ śṛgālair khādyamānaṁ vikhāditakamityadhimucyate |
A corpse being eaten by crows, vultures, dogs, jackals — as the gnawed.
apagatatvaṅmāṁsaśoṇitaṁ snāyumātropanibaddhaṁ vilohitakamityadhimucyate |
A corpse with skin, flesh, and blood gone, only sinews holding the bones together — as the bloody-skeletal.
diśodiśamaṅgapratyaṅgeṣu vikṣipteṣu viśleṣiteṣu samāṁseṣu nirmāṁseṣu kiñcicchiṣṭamāṁseṣu vikṣiptakamityadhimucyate |
When the limbs have been scattered in different directions and pulled apart — bones with flesh, bones without flesh, bones with little flesh remaining — as the dispersed.
anyato vā hastāsthīnyanyataḥ pādāsthīnyanyato jānvasthīnyūrvasthīni, bāhvasthīni, prabāhvasthīni |
[He resolves] hand-bones separately, foot-bones separately, knee-bones separately, thigh-bones, upper-arm-bones, forearm-bones;
The full enumeration of the body's bone-categories — hand, foot, knee, thigh, upper arm, forearm, spine, backbone, jaw, teeth-row, skull. This is the prima materia of the asthi-śaṅkalikā (skeleton-perception) practice. The pre-existing JSON skipped from
vikṣiptakam ityadhimucyate directly to api ca dve śaṅkalike (PDF 5190), dropping the enumeration and the anuvyañjana-grāhī vs. mere-nimitta-grāhī distinction that grounds it. Restored from PDF 5185-5189.śiraskapālaṁ dṛṣṭvā anyāsthīnyadhimucyate |
[and] the skull — having seen [these], he resolves on the other bones as well.
yadā punaḥ sambaddham arikṣakaraṅkam aviśīrṇaṁ manasi karoti |
Then, when he attends to [it] as a connected, unbroken bone-frame (arikṣa-karaṅka) —
na tu tasyāṅgapratyaṅgeṣu vyañjanagrāhī |
not a detail-grasper in its limbs and sub-limbs.
tadāsthiśaṅkalikām adhimucyate |
then he resolves on the bone-skeleton (asthi-śaṅkalikā).
api ca dve śaṅkalike dehaśaṅkalikā pratyaṅgaśaṅkalikā ca |
Furthermore, there are two skeletons: the body-skeleton and the limb-skeleton.
tatra dehaśaṅkalikā śroṇīkaṭāhamupādāya pṛṣṭhīvaṁśo yāvadyatra śiraskapālaṁ pratiṣṭhitam |
The body-skeleton runs from the pelvis up the spine to where the skull rests.
pratyaṅgaśaṅkalikā sambaddhāni bāhvasthīni ūrujaṅghāsthīni ca |
The limb-skeleton is the connected arm-bones and thigh-and-leg bones.
tatra yā dehaśaṅkalikā sā śaṅkalikaivocyate |
The body-skeleton is properly called the śaṅkalikā;
yā punaḥ pratyaṅgaśaṅkalikā sā asthiśaṅkaliketyucyate |
the limb-skeleton is called the asthi-śaṅkalikā (bone-skeleton).
api ca dvau śaṅkalikāyā nimittagrāhau citrakṛtāyāḥ pāṣāṇakāṣṭhaśādakṛtāyā vā |
Furthermore, two skeleton-signs may be taken:
abhūtaśaṅkalikāyā vā |
or the not-actually-existing skeleton, made as a painting or from stone, wood, or grass.
The skeleton-sign passage distinguishes actual and non-actual signs. The non-actual category includes painted or fabricated skeletons, here represented as made from stone, wood, or grass/reed. The point is not four coordinate signs, but two sign-types: actual skeleton versus constructed/imagined skeleton.
tadā śaṅkalikāmevādhimucyate nāsthiśaṅkalikāṁ |
[when he attends to the not-actually-existing,] he resolves only on the śaṅkalikā, not on the asthi-śaṅkalikā.
Asanga acknowledges that practitioners often work with painted images, carved skeletons, or imagined skeletons rather than actual corpses. He distinguishes the practice with imagined material (yields the deha-śaṅkalikā sign — the schematic body-form) from practice with an actual seen skeleton (yields the asthi-śaṅkalikā sign — the specific bone). Both are valid; they produce different signs.
yadā punarbhūtaśaṅkalikāyā nimittaṁ manasi karoti |
When he attends to the sign of the actually-existing skeleton,
sa khalveṣa bāhyāyā varṇanibhāyā upādāyarūpagatāyāstrividho vipariṇāmaḥ |
This outward color-form has three kinds of change:
tatra vinīlakamupādāya yāvad vyādhmātakāt svarasavipariṇāmaḥ |
From the discolored through the swollen — that is change-by-its-own-nature.
tatra vikhāditakamupādāya yāvad vikṣiptakāt parakṛto vipariṇāmaḥ |
From the gnawed through the dispersed — that is change-by-another.
tatrāsthikā vā śaṅkalikā vā ityayamubhayapakṣyo vipariṇāmaḥ |
The bones and the skeleton — that is change of both kinds.
An elegant taxonomic move. The cemetery sequence is grouped by what causes the change: early stages (decay through bloating) happen by the body's own internal processes; middle stages (gnawing through scattering) happen by external agents; the bone stages reflect both. Unattractiveness is not just 'the body falls apart' but 'the body changes by itself, by what acts on it, and by both together.'
ya evaṁ yathābhūtaṁ prajānāti bahirdhā aśubhatāmākārata evaṁ bahirdhā aśubhatāyāḥ svalakṣaṇaṁ paryeṣate |
One who thus knows directly the outward repulsiveness in this aspect investigates the specific characteristic of outward repulsiveness in just this aspect.
kathamaśubhatāyāḥ sāmānyalakṣaṇaṁ paryeṣate |
How does he investigate the general characteristic of unattractiveness?
yathā cādhyātmaṁ bahiḥ kāyasyāśubhā varṇanibhayā apariṇatā yāvad bahirdhā bahiḥ kāyasyāśubhā varṇanibhā vipariṇatā ādhyātmikayā aśubhayā varṇanibhā samānadharmatāṁ tulyadharmatāmadhimucyate |
Just as inwardly the body's color-form is unaltered unattractive-color [in some respects] and outwardly the body's color-form is altered unattractive-color [in others], he resolves that they share the same nature and the same property:
iyamapi me śubhā varṇanibhā evaṁ dharmiṇī iti |
'This unaltered color-form is also of this nature.'
ye 'pi kecit sattvā anayā śubhayā varṇanibhayā samanvāgatāsteṣāmapi sāśubhāyāṁ evaṁ dharmiṇī tadyatheyaṁ bāhyā |
Whatever beings possess this fair color-form — they too have it of just this nature, of the kind belonging to outward repulsiveness.
The insight move. Specific-characteristic investigation gave the body's gross unattractiveness in detail. General-characteristic investigation collapses the difference between the seemingly-fair and the obviously-unattractive: same nature, same property, same outcome. The fair color-form one finds attractive now is the same kind of thing as the corpse one would recoil from.
yadyasyā anayā śubhayā varṇanibhayā etāmaśubhatām |
'If, with regard to this fair color-form, I do not know this unattractiveness as it actually is,'
The dark-side reflection turns on a conditional: if the practitioner fails to know the unattractiveness of fair color-form as it actually is and generates craving for it, that craving is mere perversion on the dark side. The point is not that he 'generates unattractiveness,' but that he fails to recognize the unattractiveness already present in what appears fair.
tāṁ yathābhūtamaprajānann adhyātmaṁ vā bahirdhā vā śubhāyāṁ varṇanibhāyāṁ saṁrāgamutpādayāmi viparyāsa eva kṛṣṇapakṣasaṅgṛhītaḥ |
'whether inwardly or outwardly, and should generate craving for fair color-form, that is mere perversion, gathered into the dark side.'
niḥsaraṇadharmaḥ saduḥkhaḥ savighātaḥ sopadravaḥ saparidāhaḥ |
'It is a state from which there is escape, but one bound up with suffering, affliction, calamity, and burning.'
Niḥsaraṇadharmaḥ saduḥkhaḥ... is not 'escape-by-suffering.' In context, the dark-side perversion is painful and dangerous, yet not final: it is a condition from which escape is possible through seeing unattractiveness as it is.
atonidānā utpadyante āyatyāṁ jātijarāvyādhimaraṇaśokaparidevaduḥkhadaurmanasyopāyāsāḥ |
'From this arise, in time to come, birth, aging, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and distress.'
yā punarasyāṁ śubhāyāṁ varṇanibhāyāṁ aśubhadharmatānugatā yathābhūtānupaśyanā śuklapakṣyā |
'Whereas the seeing-as-it-is of the unattractiveness-nature within fair color-form is the bright side.'
eṣa dharmaḥ aduḥkhaḥ avighātaḥ yāvad atonidānā upāyāsā nirudhyante |
'This dharma is without suffering, without affliction; from this, the sufferings caused by that, through distress, cease.'
tatra yo 'yaṁ kṛṣṇapakṣasamayo nādhivāsayitavyaḥ prahātavyo viśodhayitavyaḥ |
'Therefore, what is the dark-side condition is not to be tolerated; it is to be abandoned, purified.'
śuklapakṣyaḥ punaranutpanna utpādayitavyaḥ |
'The bright-side, when not arisen, is to be aroused;'
utpannasya ca sthitirvṛddhirvaipulyatā vipulatā karaṇīyā |
'when arisen, its abiding, growth, abundance, and amplitude are to be made.'
yeyamadhyātmaṁ aśubhā varṇanibhā seyaṁ vartamānamadhvānamupādāya yā punariyaṁ bahirdhā aśubhā varṇanibhā iyamapi vartamāna tāmevādhvānamupādāya |
'This inward fair color-form is so taking the present time. This outward repulsive color-form is also so taking the present time.'
saiṣā tāvadatītamadhvānamupādāya śubhā satī tadyathā me etarhi |
'As that was — taking past time — fair, just as I am now',
evamānupūrvyā etarhi vartamānamupādāya aśubhā saṁvṛttā, sā me iyaṁ aśubhā varṇanibhā vartamānamadhvānamupādāya aśubhā satī |
'so by progression, taking present time, [the present fair one] has become repulsive. This fair color-form of mine, taking present time, is unattractive.'
anāgate adhvanyaśubhā na bhaviṣyatīti |
'It will not, in time-to-come, not be repulsive —'
tadyathaiṣā bāhyā evaṁ vartamānamadhvānamupādāya |
'As is this outward [body], so is mine taking present time.'
iti hyatītānāgatapratyutpanneṣvadhvasvayamapi me kāya evaṁbhāvī, evaṁbhūtaḥ, etāṁ ca dharmatāmanatīta ityevaṁ kālaṁ samanveṣate |
Thus through past, future, and present times: 'this body of mine is of such a nature, has been such, will be such, and does not transcend this nature.' Thus he investigates time.
nāstīti sa kaścidātmā vā sattvo vā adhyātmaṁ vā bahirdhā vopalabhyamānaḥ yaḥ śubho vā syādaśubho vā |
'There is no self, no being, inward or outward, that could be either fair or unattractive.'
api ca rūpamātrametat kaṇḍavaramātrametad yatreyaṁ saṁjñā samājñā prajñaptirvyavahāraḥ |
'Rather, this is mere form — [Damaged/Conjectural: mere body] — wherein this notion, this designation, this convention is applied':
The printed kaṇḍavara is likely a corrupt/extracted form of kaḍevara/kalevara ('body, corpse'). The earlier rendering as 'itching and scratching' followed kaṇḍū semantics from elsewhere and is not supported by this reasoning passage, which reduces fair/unattractive designation to mere form/body.
apaviddhastadā śete yathā kāṣṭhamacetanam ||
'then it lies cast off like an unconscious log.'
tasyāsya mṛtasya kālagatasyānupūrveṇa vipariṇatā imā avasthāḥ prajñāyante |
'Of this dead one, by stages, these altered states are to be known:'
yaduta vinīlakamiti vā yāvadasthiśaṅkalikāyā vā ayamapi me kāyaḥ |
'the discolored through the bone-skeleton stages. This body of mine —'
mātāpitryaśucisaṁbhūta odanakakulmāṣopacitaḥ |
'born from the impurities of mother and father, accumulated by gruel and barley —'
yena hetunā, yena nidānena iyaṁ tāvatkālikī śubhā varṇanibhā prajñāyate |
'by what cause, by what condition, is this present-time fair color-form known as fair?'
antaḥkāyaḥ punarnityaṁ nityakālamadhyātmaṁ ca bahirdhā cāśubhā evaṁ saṁvṛtiparamārthanidānataḥ |
'But the inward body is at all times, both inwardly and outwardly, unattractive.' Thus by way of the conventional, the ultimate, and the causal,
tasyaivaṁ bhavatīyamaśubhatā evamāsevitā bhāvitā bahulīkṛtā kāmarāgaprahāṇāya saṁvartate |
It occurs to him: 'This unattractiveness, thus practiced, cultivated, made much of, conduces to the abandonment of sensual craving.'
tasyaivaṁ bhavatyuktaṁ hi bhagavatā |
It occurs to him: 'It has been spoken by the Blessed One:
aśubhā āsevitā bhāvitā bahulīkṛtā kāmarāgaprahāṇāya saṁvartata ityayaṁ tāvanme āptāgamaḥ |
Unattractiveness practiced, cultivated, made much of, conduces to the abandonment of sensual craving. This, for me, is the trustworthy testimony.'
pratyātmamapi me jñānadarśanaṁ pravartate |
'Direct knowing-and-seeing arises in me also:'
Asanga gives the practitioner an explicit experimental protocol: 'as I cultivate unattractiveness, sensual craving doesn't arise; when arisen, it goes away.' The practice is verified pragmatically by its effect on the defilement — a precise statement of how a contemplative claim is to be tested.
ahamasmi yathā yathā aśubhatāṁ bhāvayāmi, manasi karomi |
'as I, however much, cultivate unattractiveness and attend to it,'
tathā kāmarāgaparyavasthānaṁ anutpannaṁ ca notpadyate |
'thus the obsession of sensual craving — when not arisen — does not arise;'
ānulomiko 'pyeṣa vidhirasti |
'There is also this consequential principle:'
The proof-establishing reasoning includes an inferential check: an object opposed to a defilement should not produce that defilement. The previous wording made the line sound affirmative, as if defilement arises through the counter-object; the Sanskrit is rhetorical and supports the antidote logic.
kathamidānīṁ vipakṣaṁ dharmaṁ manasikurvataḥ |
'How could, when one attends to the opposing dharma,'
evamupapattisādhanayuktyā paryeṣate |
Thus he investigates by proof-establishing reasoning.
prasiddhā dharmatā khalveṣā acintyadharmatā |
'This is an established nature-of-things, an unthinkable nature-of-things:'
yadaśubhā bhāvanā kāmarāgasya prahāṇapratipakṣa iti |
'that unattractiveness-cultivation is the antidote for abandoning sensual craving.'
Prahāṇa-pratipakṣa means an antidote for abandoning the target defilement, not an antidote opposed to abandonment itself. The line restates the practice-function already given at 17.1 and 17.5.
evaṁ dharmatāyuktyā aśubhatām paryeṣate |
Thus by nature-of-things reasoning he investigates unattractiveness.
iyaṁ tāvadaśubhāprayuktasya trimukhī ṣaḍvastuprabhedālambanā vipaśyanā |
This is the threefold-gateway, six-investigation-subject vipaśyanā of one engaged in unattractiveness.
kathaṁ maitrīprayukto vipaśyan ṣaḍvastūni paryeṣate |
How does the practitioner engaged in lovingkindness investigate the six investigation-subjects?
maitryadhipateyaṁ dharmamadhipatiṁ kṛtvā hitasukhādhyāśayagatasya sarveṣu sukhopasaṁhārādhimokṣalakṣaṇā maitrītyetamarthapratisaṁvedyarthaṁ paryeṣate |
Taking the lovingkindness-teaching as governing, comprehending the meaning of 'lovingkindness — characterized by the resolve to bring happiness to all, established in benefit-and-happiness-aspiration' — he investigates the meaning.
sa evamarthapratisaṁvedī punarvicinotītyayaṁ mitrapakṣo 'yamamitrapakṣo 'yamudāsīnapakṣaḥ |
He, comprehending the meaning, investigates closely: 'This is the friend-side; this is the enemy-side; this is the neutral-side.'
sarva ete pakṣāḥ parasantānapatitatvād bāhyaṁ vastvityadhimucyate |
'All these sides, falling within the continuum of others, are outward substance' — so he resolves.
mitrapakṣaṁ vā adhyātmamamitrodāsīnapakṣaṁ bahirdhā evaṁ ca vastuni maitrīṁ samanveṣate |
Or: friend-side as inward, enemy-and-neutral-side as outward. Thus he investigates lovingkindness in the substance.
ya ete trayaḥ pakṣāḥ aduḥkhā sukhatāḥ |
'These three sides — neither suffering nor happy,'
ye punarete aduḥkhāsukhitāḥ pakṣāḥ sukhakāmāsteṣāṁ trividhā sukhakāmatā prajñāyate |
Among those who are neither suffering nor happy and who desire happiness, three kinds of happiness-desire are known:
eke kāmasukhamicchantyeke rūpāvacaraṁ saprītikameke niṣprītikaṁ |
some desire sensual happiness; some desire form-realm happiness with rapture; some desire form-realm happiness without rapture.
evaṁ saprītikena niṣprītikena ca sukhena veditavyam |
Likewise of those wishing rapture-happiness or rapture-less happiness.
evaṁ svalakṣaṇato maitrīṁ samanveṣate |
Thus by way of specific characteristic he investigates lovingkindness.
yastāvanmitrapakṣastatra me na duṣkaraḥ |
'With the friend, bringing happiness is not difficult for me —'
tatra tāvanmayā sukhopasaṁhāraḥ karaṇīyaḥ |
'So bringing happiness is to be made by me here above all.'
nātra kaścidyaḥ ākrośate vā, ākruśyate vā |
'In this case, no one actually scolds or is scolded,'
śabdamātraṁ māṣamātrametadapi ca tathā saṁbhūto 'yaṁ kāyo rūpī audārikaścāturmahābhautiko yatra me sthitasyeme evaṁ rūpāḥ sparśāḥ krāmanti |
'They are mere sounds, mere [Damaged/Conjectural: syllables]. And this body, of form, gross, made of the four great elements — it is here that such contacts come to me, [I] standing here:'
The printed māṣamātra ('bean-measure') is contextually implausible after akṣarāṇy etāni ravanti and śabdamātram. The English marks a conjectural/corrupt repair to the expected reduction of abuse to mere sounds/syllables.
pāṇiloṣṭhadaṇḍaśastrasaṁsparśā vā ayaṁ me kāyaḥ |
'contacts of hand, clod, stick, weapon. This body of mine —'
anitya, ete 'pi sparśā ye te apakārakāste 'pyanityāḥ |
'is impermanent; these contacts that harm — these too are impermanent.'
sarva eva sattvā jātijarāvyādhimaraṇadharmāṇaste prakṛtyaiva duḥkhitāstanme pratirūpaṁ syāt |
'all beings are subject to birth, aging, illness, death; by their very nature they suffer. It would be unbecoming for me,'
yadyahaṁ prakṛtiduḥkhiteṣu sattveṣu bhūyo duḥkhopasaṁhārameva kuryāṁ, na sukhopasaṁhāraṁ tadamitratraṁ mitrasya kuryādyad ete sattvā ātmanaivātmanaḥ kurvanti |
'if to beings already naturally suffering, I should bring further suffering rather than happiness — that would be like an enemy acting on a friend, since these beings already do this to themselves.'
The Sanskrit anitya, ete 'pi sparśā ye te apakārakās te 'py anityāḥ anchors the equanimity argument in impermanence. Three reasoning moves toward universal maitrī: speech-act analysis (abuse is mere syllables, body is mere elements, contacts arise and pass); universal-suffering recognition (all beings suffer; adding to suffering is unbecoming); long-saṁsāric-time argument.
yo 'nena dīrghasyādhvanotyayān mātā vā bhūt pitā vā, bhrātā vā, bhaginī vā, ācāryo vā, upādhyāyo vā, gururvā, gurusthānīyo veti |
'who, in this long course of saṁsāra, has not been my mother, father, brother, sister, teacher, preceptor, or one in the position of a guru.'
tadanenāpi paryāyeṇāmitrapakṣa evaṁ me amitrapakṣaḥ |
Thus by this consideration also: the enemy-side is enemy-side only as a designation.
na cātra kasyacit pariniṣpattiḥ, mitrāmitrabhāvo, mitro 'pi tramapi ca kālāntareṇāmitro traṁ bhavati |
There is no fixed essence here — friend-or-enemy-being. The friend, by the passage of time, becomes the enemy;
tasmān na sarvasattveṣu samacittatā |
[Damaged/Conjectural]: Therefore equanimity-of-mind toward all beings,
The printed root has tasmān na sarvasattveṣu samacittatā, with a negation that conflicts with the immediately following instruction to cultivate equality-view and equal benefit/happiness aspiration. The English follows the contextually required affirmative and marks the line conjectural/corrupt.
tulyaśca hitāśayaḥ, sukhādhyāśayaḥ, sukhopasaṁhāraḥ |
an equal benefit-aspiration, happiness-aspiration, happiness-bringing —
evaṁ sāmānyalakṣaṇena maitrīṁ samanveṣate |
Thus by way of general characteristic he investigates lovingkindness.
yo me pāpakāriṣu sattveṣu vyāpādaḥ maraṇa eṣa dharma iti vistareṇa pūrvavat |
'Whatever ill-will arises in me toward harm-doing beings — that is the death-nature' — extended at length as before.
yo vā punarayametarhyavyāpādaḥ amaraṇa eṣa dharma iti vistareṇa pūrvavat |
'And whatever non-ill-will is now present — that is the deathless-nature' — extended at length as before.
evaṁ maitryāḥ kṛṣṇaśuklapakṣaṁ paryeṣate |
Thus he investigates the dark-and-bright sides of lovingkindness.
ye tāvadatītamadhvānamupādāya sukhakāmāḥ sattvāḥ te atītāḥ, teṣāṁ kiṁ punaḥ sukhopasaṁhāraṁ kariṣyāmaḥ |
'Those happiness-desiring beings, taking past time — they have passed away. To whom shall we now bring happiness?'
ye punarvartamānāḥ sattvāste vartamānamadhvānamupādāya |
'But those beings of present time — taking present time,'
yāvadanāgatādadhvano nityakālaṁ sukhino bhavantvityevaṁ maitryāḥ kālaṁ paryeṣate |
'taking future time — let them be at all times happy.' Thus he investigates the time of lovingkindness.
nāsti kaścidātmā vā, sattvo vā ya eṣa sukhakāmo vā syāt |
'There is no self, no being, who would be the desirer-of-happiness,'
api tu skandhamātrametat saṁskāramātrakametad yatraiṣā saṁjñā saṁjñaptirvyavahāraḥ |
'Rather, this is mere aggregate, mere formations, wherein this notion, designation, convention is applied.'
te punaḥ saṁskārāḥ karmakleśahetukā ityevamapekṣāyuktyā maitrīm paryeṣate |
'And these formations are caused by karma and kleśa.' Thus by dependence-reasoning he investigates lovingkindness.
prasiddhadharmatā khalveṣā acintyadharmatā yan maitrīvyāpādabhāvanā prahāṇāya saṁvartata ityevaṁ dharmatāyuktyā maitrīm paryeṣate |
'It is an established nature-of-things, an unthinkable nature-of-things, that lovingkindness-cultivation conduces to the abandonment of ill-will.' Thus by nature-of-things reasoning he investigates lovingkindness.
The reasoning-investigation collapses maitrī into anātman. Even lovingkindness practice is to be done with full recognition that there is no self sending the maitrī and no self receiving it — only aggregates conditioned by karma and kleśa. The Yogācāra distinctive: maitrī is not at odds with emptiness; the deepest maitrī is maitrī informed by anātman.
tatra kathamidaṁ pratyayatā pratītyasamutpādālambanā vipaśyanāprayuktārthaṁ paryeṣate |
How does he investigate the meaning, when engaged in vipaśyanā on the object of idaṁ-pratyayatā pratītyasamutpāda (this-conditionality / dependent-origination)?
Parallel to the maitrī treatment at 24-25, this paragraph applies the four-yukti vipaśyanā schema to idaṁ-pratyayatā pratītyasamutpāda — dependent-origination as a meditation object. The four yuktis (apekṣā, kāryakāraṇa, upapatti-sādhana, dharmatā) are the canonical Yogācāra analytical engines. The PS treatment is the longest of the four vipaśyanā treatments and unfolds the twelve-link doctrine (dvādaśa-bhavāṅga) in terms of the four characteristics (svalakṣaṇa / sāmānyalakṣaṇa) and the twofold cause-result structure (ākṣepaka-hetu / abhinirvarttaka-hetu).
tadadhipateyaṁ dharmamadhimatiṁ kṛtvā teṣāṁ teṣāṁ dharmāṇāmutpādātte te dharmā utpadyante, teṣāṁ teṣāṁ dharmāṇāṁ nirodhātte te dharmā nirudhyante |
Making that-governing dharma adhipati [authoritative], he investigates: 'From the arising of those-and-those dharmas, these-and-these dharmas arise; from the ceasing of those-and-those dharmas, these-and-these dharmas cease.'
nāstyatra dharmī kaścidīśvaraḥ, kartā, sraṣṭā, nirmātā dharmāṇāṁ, na prakṛtirna puruṣāntaraṁ, pravarttako dharmāṇāmityevamarthapratisaṁvedī arthaṁ paryeṣate |
'There is no dharma-possessor here — no ruler, no agent, no creator, no fashioner of dharmas; not primal nature, not a transcendent person, the propellant of dharmas.' Thus, as one discerning the meaning, he investigates the meaning.
avidyā yattatpūrvānte ajñānamiti vistareṇa yathā pratītyasamutpādavibhaṅge evaṁ svalakṣaṇaṁ paryeṣate |
'Ignorance is the not-knowing of the prior limit,' and so on in detail as in the Pratītyasamutpāda-vibhaṅga. Thus he investigates the own-characteristic.
evaṁ pratītyasamutpannāḥ saṁskārāḥ sarva ete abhūtvā bhāvād, bhūtvā ca prativigamātpūrvāparyeṇānityā jātijarāvyādhimaraṇadharmakatvāt |
'Thus all these dependently-arisen formations — by becoming-after-not-being, and by passing-away after coming-to-be, in succession — are impermanent, by reason of their being subject to birth, aging, sickness, death;
duḥkhā asvatantratvādantaḥ puruṣānupalambhācca śūnyā anātmānaśca ||
painful, by reason of their non-autonomy; empty, by reason of no inward person being found; and non-self.'
yo ya eṣvanityeṣu duḥkhaśūnyānātmakeṣu saṁskāreṣu yathābhūtaṁ pratisammohaḥ |
'Whoever, regarding these impermanent, painful, empty, non-self formations, is bewildered against the reality —
maraṇa eṣa dharmaḥ kṛṣṇapakṣyaḥ |
this dharma of his is the dark-side, [bound for] death;
yaḥ karttā vā pratisaṁvedako vā syānnānyatra dharmasaṁketāt |
as one who would be the agent or experiencer, [the agent exists] only as dharma-convention;
teṣvevāvidyāpratyayeṣu saṁskāreṣu yāvajjātipratyaye jarāmaraṇe saṁjñā prajñaptirvyavahāraḥ kārako vedaka ityevaṁ nāmā, evaṁ jātya, evaṁ gotra, evamāhāra, evaṁ sukhaduḥkhapratisaṁvedī, evaṁ dīrghāyurevaṁcirasthitika, evamāyuḥ paryanta iti |
with respect to those very ignorance-conditioned formations, up through birth-conditioned aging-and-death, [terms like] perception, designation, convention, agent, experiencer — likewise such-a-name, such-a-birth, such-a-clan, such-a-food, such-an-experiencer-of-pleasure-and-pain, such-long-lived, such-long-enduring, such an end of life — [are all conventional].'
dvividho heturātmabhāvaphalaṁ ca, viṣayopabhogaphalaṁ ca |
the cause is twofold: the individual-existence-result and the object-enjoyment-result.
tatrātmabhāvaphalaṁ yadetadvipākajaṁ ṣaḍāyatanaṁ |
Of these, the individual-existence-result is what is born of maturation — the six sense-bases;
viṣayopabhogaphalaṁ yo yā iṣṭāniṣṭakarmādhipateyā ṣaṭsparśasaṁbhavā vedanā |
the object-enjoyment-result is the desired-or-undesired action-governed feeling that arises from the six contacts.
tatrākṣepako heturdvividhe phale sammohāsammohapūrvakāśca puṇyāpuṇyāniṁjyāḥ, saṁskāraparigṛhītaṁ ca |
Of these, the propellant cause for the twofold result is preceded by [either] confusion-and-non-confusion — meritorious, demeritorious, and imperturbable — and is conjoined with formations;
punarbhavavijñānāṁkuraprādurbhāvāya tadbījaṁ, vijñānaparigṛhītaṁ paunarbhavikanāmarūpabījaṁ ṣaḍāyatanabījaṁ sparśavedanābījamiti |
[it is] the seed for the arising of the sprout-consciousness of further becoming, conjoined with consciousness, [namely] the seed of name-and-form of further becoming, the seed of the six sense-bases, the seed of contact-and-feeling.
ya evamāyatyāṁ jātisaṁjñakānāṁ vijñānanāmarūpaṣaḍāyatanasparśavedanānāmutpattaye |
For the future arising of what bear the name of birth — consciousness, name-and-form, the six sense-bases, contact, feeling —
yatpunaravidyāsaṁsparśajāṁ vedanāṁ vedayamānastadālambanayā tṛṣṇayā paunarbhavikīṁ tṛṣṇāmutpādayati |
Now, experiencing the feeling born of ignorance-contact, with that-as-object he generates craving — craving for further becoming.
tṛṣṇāpakṣyaṁ mohapakṣyaṁ copādānaṁ |
Clinging, of the craving-side and of the delusion-side,
yadbalena yatsāṁmukhyena tatkarma vipākadāne samarthaṁ bhavatyayamabhinirvṛttihetuḥ |
By whose force, by whose presence, that action becomes capable of yielding maturation — this is the actualizing cause.
imaṁ ca dvividhaṁ hetumadhipatiṁ kṛtvā evamasya trividhaḥ duḥkhatānupakṣasya kevalasyāsya duḥkhaskandhasya samudayo bhavatīti |
Making these two kinds of cause [his] adhipati, [he sees]: 'Thus arises the entire mass of suffering — characterized by the threefold suffering.'
āsevito bhāvito mohaprahāṇāya saṁvartate |
frequented and cultivated, conduces to the abandonment of delusion;
āptāgamopyeṣa pratyātmika ānumānikopyeṣa vidhiḥ |
this is the prescription from trustworthy testimony, and the prescription from direct cognition;
prasiddhadharmatāpyeṣa teṣeti evaṁ kāryakāraṇayuktimupapattisādhanayuktiṁ dharmatāyuktiñca paryeṣate ||
this is the established nature-of-things.' Thus he investigates by cause-and-effect reasoning, by establishment-of-arising reasoning, and by nature-of-things reasoning.
tatra kathaṁ dhātuprabhedālambanavipaśyanāprayuktamarthaṁ paryeṣate |
How does he investigate the meaning, when engaged in vipaśyanā on the object of dhātuprabheda (the distinction of elements)?
Vipaśyanā on dhātuprabheda (the distinction of the six elements) — shorter than the PS treatment because the element framework is already familiar from sbh2.5. The six elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space, consciousness) are analyzed via own-characteristic (svalakṣaṇa) and general-characteristic (sāmānyalakṣaṇa); the body is shown to be merely conventional like 'house' (composed of elements + space).
gotrārtho, dhātvarthaḥ, saṁjñārtho, hetvarthaḥ |
[Investigating] the meaning of gotra [lineage], the meaning of dhātu [element], the meaning of saṁjñā [designation], the meaning of hetu [cause],
prakṛtyartha ityevamarthapratisaṁvedī arthaṁ paryeṣate |
the meaning of prakṛti [nature] — thus as one discerning the meaning, he investigates the meaning.
pṛthivyādīnṣaḍdhātūnnadhyātmabahirdhādhimucyamāno vastu paryeṣate |
Resolving the six elements beginning with earth, internally and externally, he investigates the substance.
yāvatsamudīraṇalakṣaṇo vāyuḥ vijānanalakṣaṇaṁ vijñānaṁ |
[and so on] up through wind which is impulsion-characterized; consciousness which is knowing-characterized;
sauṣiryalakṣaṇārūpagatāsphuṭālakṣaṇaścākāśadhāturityevaṁ svalakṣaṇaṁ paryeṣate |
and the space-element which is hollowness-characterized, formless, untouchable. Thus he investigates the own-characteristic.
yāvannirātmatayetyevaṁ sāmānyalakṣaṇaṁ paryeṣate |
up through being non-self. Thus he investigates the general-characteristic.
iti yaḥ piṇḍasaṁjñino dhātunānātvaṁ ajānānasyānena kāyena nānādhātukena unnatirmanyanā maraṇa eṣa dharmaḥ kṛṣṇapakṣyaḥ viparyayācchuklapakṣya ityevaṁ pakṣaṁ paryeṣate |
'Whoever, conceiving a lump [as unitary], does not know the variety of elements — with this body of varied elements [thinking] in self-conceit: this dharma is death's, the dark-side; conversely, [non-self-conceit] is the bright-side.' Thus he investigates the side.
atītānāgatapratyutpanneṣvadhvasu ṣaḍdhātūnpratītya mātuḥ kukṣau garbhasyāvakrāntirbhavati |
In past, future, and present times, depending on the six elements, the embryo's descent into the mother's womb occurs.
tadyathā tṛṇaṁ vāpratītya, kāṣṭhamvā cākāśaṁ parivāritamagāra iti saṁkhyāṁ gacchatyevameva ṣaḍdhātūnupādāya |
Just as, depending on grass or wood, space enclosed [by them] comes to be called 'house' — likewise, taking up the six elements,
tvaṅmānsamāṁsa śoṇitaṁ cākāśe parivārite saṁjñā prajñaptirvyavahāro bhavati |
skin, flesh, and blood [with] space enclosed [by them], 'body, body' arises as designation, convention, language.
paurāṇāśca karmakleśāḥ svabījaṁ caiṣāṁ nidānamityevamapekṣāyuktimparyeṣate |
And ancient karma-defilements together with their own seed are the cause of these [bodily phenomena]. Thus by dependence-reasoning he investigates.
dhātuprabheda āsevito bhāvito mānastyānaprahāṇāya saṁvartate |
'Dhātuprabheda, frequented and cultivated, conduces to the abandonment of conceit and sloth;
āptāgamopyeṣa pratyātmajñānamanumānikopyeṣa vidhiḥ prasiddhadharmatā acintyadharmatetyevaṁ kāryakāraṇayuktimupapattisādhanayuktiṁ dharmatāyuktiṁ ca paryeṣate ||
this is from trustworthy testimony, from direct knowledge, the prescription [also] by inference, the established nature-of-things, the unthinkable nature-of-things.' Thus he investigates by cause-and-effect reasoning, by establishment-of-arising reasoning, and by nature-of-things reasoning.
kathamānāpānasmṛtyālambananicayaprayuktārthaṁ paryeṣate |
How does he investigate the meaning when engaged on the object-cluster of ānāpānasmṛti (mindfulness of breathing)?
Vipaśyanā on ānāpānasmṛti (mindfulness of breathing) — the fifth and last of the carita-viśodhana practices. Treated here as a vipaśyanā object (not, as in sbh2.6, as a śamatha base): the breath is investigated under the four yuktis with respect to its impermanence, dependent arising, and conventional designation. The closing remark — that breath-mindfulness conduces to the cutting of vitarka — anchors the practice in its canonical anti-discursive function.
āśvāsapraśvāsālambanopanibaddhā cittasyāsaṁpramoṣobhilapanatā |
Mindfulness whose object is bound to in-breath and out-breath — that non-forgetfulness, articulated awareness, of the mind —
āśvāsapraśvasāḥ kāyapratibaddhatvādbāhyāyatanasaṁgṛhītāścetyevaṁ vastu paryeṣate |
In-breaths and out-breaths, by being bound to the body, are reckoned as belonging to the external sense-base [of touch]. Thus he investigates the substance.
amī dīrghā āśvāsapraśvāsā, amī hrasvā imānsarvakāyena pratisaṁvedayāmi |
'These long in-and-out-breaths, these short ones — I experience them with the whole body.'
niruddhe āśvāse praśvāsa utpadyate |
When the in-breath has ceased, the out-breath arises;
niruddhe āśvāse praśvāse āśvāsaḥ |
when the out-breath has ceased, the in-breath [arises].
āśvāsapraśvāsapravṛddhipratisambaddhaṁ ca || jīvitendriyamayaṁ ca kāyaḥ savijñānaka ityanityā āśvāsapraśvāsā mahāśravaṇetyevaṁ sāmānyalakṣaṇaṁ paryeṣate |
[They are] bound up with the rising-and-falling of in-and-out-breath; and the body together with consciousness is constituted by the life-faculty. Thus he investigates the general-characteristic: 'in-breaths-and-out-breaths are impermanent.'
evamāśvāsapraśvāseṣvanupasthitasmṛteḥ yo vitarkakṛtaḥ saṁkṣobhaścetasaḥ maraṇadharma eṣa dharmaḥ kṛṣṇapakṣyaḥ |
Of one whose mindfulness on in-and-out-breath is not established, whatever agitation of the mind is produced by vitarka — this dharma is death's, the dark-side;
viparyayācchuklapakṣya iti |
conversely, [the dharma of one whose mindfulness is established] is the bright-side.
atītānāgatapratyutpanneṣvadhvasvāśvāsapraśvāsapratibaddhaḥ kāyaḥ kāyacittaḥ pratibaddhāścāśvāsapraśvāsā ityevaṁ kālaṁ paryeṣate |
In past, future, and present times, the body is bound to in-and-out-breath; mind-and-body is bound, and so are the in-and-out-breaths. Thus he investigates the time.
nānyatra kaścidya āśvasiti praśvasiti vā asya caite āśvāsapraśvāsāḥ |
[There is] no one elsewhere who breathes in or out — these are his in-breaths and out-breaths.
api tu hetusamutpanneṣu, pratītyasamutpanneṣu saṁskāreṣviyaṁ saṁjñā |
Rather, in cause-arisen, dependently-arisen formations, this designation [is applied] —
prajñaptirvyavahāraḥ ityevamapekṣāyuktiṁ paryeṣate |
as designation, convention, language. Thus by dependence-reasoning he investigates.
ānāpānasmṛtirāsevitā bhāvitā vitarkopacchedāya saṁvarttate |
'Ānāpānasmṛti, frequented and cultivated, conduces to the cutting-off of vitarka;
āptāgamo 'pyeṣa, pratyātmajñānānusāriko 'pyeṣa vidhiḥ |
this is from trustworthy testimony, following from direct knowledge — [also] a prescription,
prasiddhadharmatācintya dharmatetyevaṁ kāryakāraṇayuktimupapattisādhanayuktiṁ dharmatāyuktimparyeṣate |
the established nature-of-things, the unthinkable nature-of-things.' Thus he investigates by cause-and-effect reasoning, by establishment-of-arising reasoning, and by nature-of-things reasoning.
evaṁ caritaviśodhanenālambanena ṣaḍvastūni paryeṣya, adhyātmaṁ cittaṁ punaḥ punaḥ śamayataḥ yan, punaḥ punaretadeva yathāparyeṣitaṁ |
Thus, having investigated the six substances with the temperament-matching object, while again and again calming the inward mind,
Transition from the carita-viśodhana ālambana treatments (paragraphs 20-28 — maitrī, PS, dhātu, breath) into the śamatha-vipaśyanā framework. The reciprocal-dependence formula here — 'vipaśyanā purified by śamatha; śamatha amplified by vipaśyanā' — is one of the load-bearing claims of Yogācāra meditation theory, and recurs at the close of this section (38.1-39.8) as the yuganaddha-mārga.
vipaśyanākāraiḥ paryeṣate |
he again and again investigates that same [object], as it has been investigated, by the modes of vipaśyanā.
tasya śamathaṁ niśritya vipaśyanā viśudhyate |
For him, vipaśyanā purifies on the basis of śamatha.
vipaśyanāṁ niśritya śamatho vaipulyatāṁ vipulatāṁ gacchati |
And on the basis of vipaśyanā, śamatha reaches abundance, amplitude.
kauśalyālambane ca | kleśaviśodhane ca yā vipaśyanā |
Vipaśyanā [is treated similarly] in the case of the skill-object and the defilement-purifying object.
ṣaḍvastukarmitāṁ paścādvakṣyāmi svasthāne |
I will speak of the working-with-six-substances later, in its own place.
tatra navavidhaḥ śuklasaṁgṛhītaḥ |
There, engagement [prayoga] is ninefold, bright-side-comprised;
The 9-fold prayogatā schema — nine kinds of engagement on the bright-side, nine kinds (inverse) on the dark-side, yielding the 18-fold prayoga total. The nine are: anurūpa (conformable), abhyasta (practiced), aśithila (non-slack), aviparīta (unperverted), kāla (time), upalakṣaṇa (observation), asaṁtuṣṭa (dissatisfaction), avidhura (undisturbing), samyak (right). This is the standard Yogācāra typology of how a practitioner engages śamatha-vipaśyanā well or poorly.
prayogastadviparyayeṇa ca navavidhaḥ kṛṣṇapakṣasaṁgṛhīto yoginā veditavyaḥ |
and the inverse — ninefold, dark-side-comprised — is also to be known by the yogī.
tadyathā anurūpaprayogatā, abhyastaprayogatā, aviparītaprayogatā |
Namely: conformable engagement, practiced engagement, unperverted engagement,
aśithilaprayogatā | kālaprayogatā | upalakṣaṇaprayogatā | asaṁtuṣṭaprayogatā | avidhuraprayogatā | samyakprayogatā ca |
non-slack engagement, time-engagement, observation engagement, dissatisfaction engagement, undisturbing engagement, and right engagement.
anayā navavidhayā śuklapakṣasaṁgṛhītayā tvaritatvaritaṁ cittaṁ samādhīyate |
By this ninefold bright-side-comprised [engagement], the mind is concentrated swiftly, swiftly.
yāvatī cānena bhūmirgantavyā bhavatyanuprāptavyā tāṁ laghu laghvevāgantā bhavatyadhandhāyamānaḥ |
Whatever stage is to be traversed by it, attained by it — that is reached lightly, very lightly, without languishing.
kṛṣṇapakṣasaṁgṛhītābhirnavavidhābhiḥ prayogatābhirna tvaritatvaritaṁ cittaṁ samādhīyate |
By the dark-side-comprised ninefold engagements, the mind is not concentrated swiftly, swiftly.
nāpi samādhiviśeṣāya paraiti |
Nor does it advance toward the distinction of concentration.
yāvatī cānena bhūmirgantavyā bhavatyanuprāptavyā | tatra dhandhāyate gamanāya |
Whatever stage is to be traversed, to be attained — there [the practitioner] languishes in going.
sa cedrāgacarito 'śubhāyāṁ cittamupanibaghnāti |
If [the practitioner] is lust-conducted, he binds the mind to aśubhā (unattractiveness);
dveṣacarito maitryāṁ, yāvadvitarkacarita ānāpānasmṛtau, samabhāgacaritaḥ mandarajaskaḥ punaḥ yatrālambane priyārohatā bhavati |
the hatred-conducted [binds it to] maitrī; up through the vitarka-conducted [to] ānāpāna-smṛti; the balanced-conduct one, lightly-dusted, [binds it to] whatever object has easy uptake (priyārohatā) for him.
tena prayujyate | iyamanurūpaprayogatā |
He engages with that [object]. This is conformable engagement.
abhyāso 'nena kṛto bhavati yo antataḥ parītto 'pi na sarveṇa sarvamādikarmika eva bhavati |
[That in which] practice has been done by him such that he is not entirely a beginner — at the very least, [he is] limited [in scope, but not] in every respect a beginner.
tathā hyādikarmikasyānurūpe 'pyālambane na prayuktasya nivāraṇāni nābhīkṣṇaṁ samudācaritaranti |
For one who is a beginner, even when engaged in the conformable object, the hindrances [recur] not infrequently.
yenāsya tat ca cittaṁ samādhīyate | iyamabhyastaprayogatā |
by which his mind too is hardly concentrated. This is practiced engagement.
sātatyaprayogī bhavati | satkṛtyaprayogī ca |
He is one engaged continuously, and one engaged respectfully.
sa cetpunarvyuttiṣṭhate | samādheḥ piṇḍapātahetośca gurugauravopasthānahetorvā |
If he rises from concentration — whether for alms-food, or to attend on a respected teacher,
glānopasthānārthamvā, sāmīcīkarmaṇo vā anyasyaivaṁbhāgīyasyetikaraṇaṁ yasyārthāya sa tannimnena cetasā tatpravaṇena tatprāstāreṇa bhāreṇa ca sarvaṁ karoti |
or for the sake of attending a sick person, or for a duty of respect, or any such matter — he does all of this with the mind inclining toward [the meditation], leaning toward it, set toward it, carrying it as a burden.
laghulaghveva ca kṛtvā, pariprāpya, punareva prayujyate |
And having done [the duty] lightly, very lightly, having completed it, he engages again [in meditation].
niyamya pratisaṁlayanāya sa cedbhikṣubhikṣuṇyupāsakakṣatriyabrāhmaṇaparṣadbhiḥ sārdhaṁ samāgacchati |
If, by appointment, going to seclusion, he meets with a gathering of monks, nuns, lay-followers, kṣatriyas, brāhmaṇas,
na ciraṁ saṁsargeṇātināmayati | mitaṁ ca saṁlapati |
he does not pass much time in association. He converses moderately.
na ca bhāṣyaprabandhamutthāpayati | nānyatra vyapakarṣati |
He does not give rise to lengthy speech. He does not withdraw [from his purpose] otherwise.
evaṁ ca punarārabdhavīryo bhavati | yannvahamadyaiva prāptavyamadhigaccheyaṁ |
Thus he is one whose energy is begun-anew. 'Today indeed I shall attain what is to be attained!'
tatkasya hetoḥ | bahavo me pratyayā maraṇasya — vāto vā me kupyeta, pittamvā, śleṣmamvā śleṣma vā, bhuktaṁ vā viṣamyeta, yena me viṣūcikā kāye santiṣṭheta |
Why so? 'Many are my conditions for death — wind in me might trouble, or bile, or phlegm; food might disagree, by which cholera might settle in my body.
ahirvā me māṁ daśet | vṛściko vā śatapadī vā | manuṣyādapi me bhayam ityetāni sthānāni nityakālasya na karotyapramattaśca viharatyevaṁ ca punarapramatto viharati |
Or a snake might bite me; a scorpion or centipede; or fear from a human.' These conditions he does not [forget] at any time; he abides heedfully. Thus heedfully he abides.
api bata jīveyaṁ saptāhaṁ ṣaṭ pañca catustridvirekāhayāmamardhayāmamapi muhūrtamapi ardhamuhūrtamapi |
'Even if I should live seven days, six, five, four, three, two, one day, a watch, a half-watch, an hour, a half-hour —
aho bata jīveyaṁ yāvatpiṇḍapātaṁ parimuñjeyaṁ | yāvadāśvasitvā syapraśvaseyaṁ |
ah, may I live so long as I enjoy alms-food; so long as, having breathed in, I breathe out;
yāvacca jīveyaṁ tāvadyogamanasikāreṇa śāstuḥ śāsane yogamāpadyeyaṁ |
and so long as I live, may I undertake yoga in the Teacher's dispensation by yoga and attention.
ya idiyatā mayā bahukṛtyaṁ syād yaduta śāstuḥ śāsane ityiyam aśithilaprayogatā |
What much-business is for me in this — namely, in the Teacher's dispensation?' This is non-slack engagement.
kālena kālaṁ śamathanimittaṁ pragrahanimittam upekṣānimittaṁ bhāvayati |
From time to time he cultivates the sign-of-śamatha, the sign-of-pragraha (lifting up), the sign-of-upekṣā (equanimity).
śamathaṁ ca jānāti | śamathanimittaṁ ca | śamathakālañca |
He knows śamatha, the sign of śamatha, and the time of śamatha;
vipaśyanāṁ vipaśyanānimittaṁ vipaśyanākālaṁ, pragrahaṁ pragrahanimittaṁ, pragrahakālaṁ |
[likewise] vipaśyanā, the sign of vipaśyanā, the time of vipaśyanā; pragraha, the sign of pragraha, the time of pragraha;
tatra śamathaḥ navākārā cittasthitiḥ |
There, śamatha is the ninefold mental abiding.
śamatha is defined here as 'the ninefold mental abiding' (navākārā cittasthitiḥ), pointing to the nine-stage taxonomy in detail at sbh3.1 (cittasthāpana through samādhāna). The four-mode/three-door definition of vipaśyanā at 31.14 has its fuller treatment at the start of sbh3.2.
nirnimittañca taccittaṁ tatra bhavati, nirvikalpaṁ, śānta praśāntaṁ, śamathasthitaṁ, niṣkevalaṁ, tenocyate śamatha iti |
And the mind there is signless, conception-less, calm, very calm, abiding in calm, undivided — hence it is called śamatha.
tatra śamathanimittaṁ dvividham ālambananimittaṁ, nidānanimittañca |
There, the sign of śamatha is twofold: the object-sign, and the basis-sign.
jñeyavastusabhāgaṁ pratibimbam ālambananimittaṁ |
The image conformable to the knowable substance is the object-sign —
yenālambanena taccittaṁ śamayati, śamathaparibhāvite cetasi uttaratra śamathasya pāriśuddhaye |
by means of that object he calms the mind, and in a mind well-cultivated by śamatha, [the cultivation is] for the further purification of śamatha.
yo vipaśyanāprayoga idaṁ nidānanimittaṁ |
Whatever engages in vipaśyanā — this is the basis-sign.
śamathakālaḥ katamaḥ | āha | uddhate citte ūrdhvamvābhiśaṁkini śamathasya kālo bhāvanāyai |
What is the time of śamatha? Answer: when the mind is agitated or suspected of agitation upward — that is the time for cultivating śamatha.
tathā vipaśyanāparibhāvite citte iti karaṇīyavyākṣepopahate śamathakālo bhāvanāyai |
Likewise when the mind is well-cultivated by vipaśyanā [and is] afflicted by distraction in what is to be done — that is the time for cultivating śamatha.
tatra vipaśyanā caturākārā trimukhī ṣaḍvastuprabhedālambanavyavacārā ||
There, vipaśyanā has four modes, three doors, and is the investigation of objects subdivided into six substances.
tatra vipaśyanānimittaṁ dvividham ālambananimittaṁ nidānanimittañca |
There, the sign of vipaśyanā is twofold: the object-sign and the basis-sign.
tatrālambananimittaṁ vipaśyanānimittaṁ śamathapakṣyaṁ jñeyavastusabhāgaṁ pratibimbam ālambananimittaṁ |
Among these, the object-sign — the sign of vipaśyanā [on] the śamatha-side — is the image conformable to the knowable substance, the object-sign,
tatra nidānanimittaṁ vipaśyanāparibhāvite cetasi uttaratra vipaśyanāpariśuddhaye cetaḥśamathabimbayogaḥ |
There, the basis-sign: in a mind well-cultivated by vipaśyanā, [the cultivation is] for the further purification of vipaśyanā — this is mind's union with the śamatha-image.
tatra vipaśyanākālaḥ śamathaparibhāvite cetasi ādita eva cājñeyavastuyathābhūtāvabodhāya vipaśyanāyāḥ kālo bhāvanāyai |
There, the time of vipaśyanā: when the mind is well-cultivated by śamatha, and from the very beginning for the realization-as-it-is of the knowable substance — that is the time for cultivating vipaśyanā.
yānyatamānyatamena prasadanīyenālambanenodgṛhītena cittasaṁharṣaṇā saṁdarśanā samādāpanā |
Whatever — by some pleasing object taken up — is the gladdening, showing-forth, encouraging of the mind.
tatra pragrahanimittaṁ yena ca prasadanīyenālambanena nimittena cittaṁ pragṛhṇāti |
There, the sign-of-pragraha: by which pleasing object as sign the mind is lifted;
yasya vīryārambhaḥ tadānulomikastatra pragrahakālaḥ līnaṁ cittaṁ līnatvābhiśaṁkini pragrahasya kālo bhāvanāyai |
the beginning of energy is conformable [to it]; there, the time-of-pragraha: when the mind is slack or suspected of being slack — that is the time for cultivating pragraha.
yā ālambane asaṁkliṣṭacetasaḥ cittasamatā śamathavipaśyanāpakṣe |
Whatever mental evenness toward the object, in an undefiled mind, on the śamatha-vipaśyanā side;
karmaṇyacittasya ca karmaṇyatā, cittasyānupradānam anābhogakriyā |
the workability of a workable mind, the non-applying of the mind, the act of effortlessness.
tatropekṣānimittaṁ | yena cālambanena cittamadhyupekṣate |
There, the sign-of-upekṣā: that object with which the mind regards [things] with equanimity;
yā ca tasminnevālambane vīryodrekāpratikāyatā |
and the not-counter-acting of the surge of energy in that very object.
tatropekṣākālaḥ śamathavipaśyanāpakṣālayau lauddhatyavinirmukte cetasi upekṣāyāḥ kālo bhāvanāyai |
There, the time-of-upekṣā: when the mind is free from agitation in the resting-place of śamatha-vipaśyanā — that is the time for cultivating upekṣā.
tatra katamā upekṣālakṣaṇā upalakṣaṇaprayogatā |
What, there, is equanimity-characterized observation-engagement?
tānyeva nimittāni sugṛhītāni bhavanti | susaṁlakṣitāni yeṣāṁ sūdgṛhītatvāt |
Those very signs are well-grasped, well-discerned, well-taken up —
yadā ākāṁkṣate | tadā vyuttiṣṭhate samādhigocaraṁ |
[so that] when he wishes, he rises [from concentration] into the range of concentration;
pratibimbamutsṛjya samāhitabhūmikāprākṛtālambanamanasikāreṇa | iyam upalakṣaṇaprayogatā |
having released the image, by attention to the natural object of the concentrated stage. This is observation-engagement.
asaṁtuṣṭo bhavati kuśalairekuśalair dharmaiḥ | aprativā bhāṇiṇī ca |
He is not satisfied with [merely] some of the wholesome dharmas — and not-prone-to-talk;
prahāsairuttaraṁ praṇītataraṁ sthānamabhiprārthayamāno rupī bahulaṁ viharatīti |
delighted at exhortations, he aspires to a higher, more sublime state — and 'dwells abundantly in form.'
nālpamātrakeṇāvaramātrakeṇāntarā viṣādamāpadyate | atyuttare karaṇīye | iyam asaṁtuṣṭaprayogatā |
He does not fall into despondency on account of a small or limited [attainment], when an exceeding higher [task] is to be done. This is dissatisfaction engagement.
śikṣāpadasamādānamvā na khaṇḍīkaroti, na chicchidrīkaroti |
He does not break the precepts undertaken, does not put holes in them;
na ca śiśumudāravarṇaṁ raṁjanīyaṁ mātṛgrāmaṁ dṛṣṭvā nimittagrāhī bhavatyanuvyaṁjanagrāhī, bhojane ca samakārī bhavati |
seeing a young, gracefully-formed, attractive woman, he is not a sign-grasper, not a feature-grasper; he is moderate in food;
jāgarikānuyuktaścālpārtholpakṛtyolpavyāsakaḥ |
he is yoked to wakefulness, of few duties, few activities, few preoccupations;
cirakṛtacirabhāṣitam anusmarttā bhavatyanusmārayitā |
he is one who recollects and reminds of what was long-done and long-said.
ityevaṁbhāgīyā dharmā avidhuraprayogateti ucyate |
Such kinds of dharmas are called undisturbing engagement.
anukūlā ete dharmāścittaikāgratāyāḥ | avidūrā, na ca cittakṣepāya saṁvarttante |
These dharmas are conformable to mental one-pointedness, not distant [from it]; they do not lead to mental distraction.
tena bahirdhā vyāsaṁgāya, nādhyātmacittākarmaṇyatāyai | iyam ucyate avidhuraprayogatā |
By them, [the mind is kept] from outward dispersion, from inward mental non-workability. This is undisturbing engagement.
adhimucyādhimucyālambanasya vibhāvanayā samyakprayoga ityucyate |
Right engagement is so called because of resolution upon, and vivid-realization of, the object that has been resolved upon.
sa cedaśubhāprayukto bhavati aśubhāṁ cāśubhākārair manasikaroti | nimittamātrānusāriṇyā vipaśyanayā |
If he is engaged in aśubhā, he attends to aśubhā under aśubhā-modes — by a vipaśyanā that follows only the sign.
tena manasikārastadālambano muhurmuhurvibhāvayitavyaḥ, muhurmuhuḥ saṁmukhīkartavyaḥ |
Then that attention, with that object, should be vividly-realized again and again; presented to the mind again and again.
vibhāvanā punaḥ pañcavidhā — adhyātmacittābhisaṁkṣepataḥ | asmṛtyamanasikārataḥ | tadanyamanasikārataḥ | pratipakṣamanasikārataḥ | ānimittadhātumanasikārataśca |
Now, vivid-realization is fivefold: by inward mental contraction; by non-attention-from-non-mindfulness; by attention to something else; by attention to the antidote; and by attention to the signless element.
The five-fold vibhāvanā (vivid-realization) — by inward sign-contraction, by non-attention-from-non-mindfulness, by attention to something else, by attention to the antidote, and by attention to the signless element — is the technical engine of right-engagement (samyak-prayogatā). Each mode targets a different way the mind drifts: scatter, sign-grasping, fixation, opposing-defilements, and clinging to signs respectively.
tatra navākāracittasthityā vipaśyanā pūrvaṁgamayā adhyātmaṁ cittābhisaṁkṣepataḥ |
There, by the ninefold mental abiding, with vipaśyanā as forerunner, [there is] inward mental contraction;
sarvanimittavaipulyena āditaḥ | avikṣepāyopanibadhnato 'smṛtyamanasikārataḥ |
by the amplitude of all signs from the beginning — binding [the mind] to non-distraction — [there is] non-attention-from-non-mindfulness;
samāhitabhūmikādālambanālambanāntaraṁ samāhitabhūmikam eva manasikurvatastadanyamanasikārataḥ |
[passing] from the concentrated-stage object to another concentrated-stage object, while attending [only to] the concentrated stage — [this is] attention to something else;
śubhatāpratipakṣeṇāśubhāṁ tā bhatāṁ yāvadvitarkapratipakṣeṇa ānāpānasmṛtiṁ |
[attending to] aśubhā as antidote to beauty, up through ānāpānasmṛti as antidote to vitarka;
rūpapratipakṣeṇākāśadhātuṁ manasi kurvataḥ pratipakṣamanasikārataḥ |
[attending to] the space-element as antidote to form — [this is] attention to the antidote.
sarvanimittānām amanasikārād ānimittasya ca dhātor manasikārād ānimittadhātumanasikārataḥ |
From the non-attention to all signs and from the attention to the signless element — [this is] attention to the signless element.
api ca | vyāpya tadālambanaṁ vibhāvanālakṣaṇaṁ vyavasthāpitamasmiṁstvarthe adhyātmaṁ nimittābhisaṁkṣepataḥ | asmṛtyamanasikārataścābhipretā |
Moreover: pervading that object as established by the vivid-realization characteristic, in this meaning, [the practitioner] is also intended by inward sign-contraction and by non-attention-from-non-mindfulness.
tatrādikarmikeṇa tatprathamakalpikakarmikeṇa ādita eva cittaṁ na kvacid ālambane upanibandhitavyaṁ | aśubhāyāmvā, tadasminvā, nānyatra vikṣepāyaiva |
There, by a beginner, by one in his first attempt at engagement, the mind from the start should not be bound to just any object — except aśubhā or that-in-it, except for [the purpose of] non-distraction itself.
kaccinme cittaṁ nirnimittaṁ, nirvikalpaṁ śāntaṁ, praśāntam avicalam avikampyamanutsukaṁ, nirvyāpāram adhyātmam abhiramata iti |
['He examines:] 'Is my mind signless, conception-less, calm, very-calm, unagitated, unwavering, not-eager, free-of-effort, inwardly delighted?'
tathā prayukta utpannotpanneṣu sarvabāhyanimitteṣu asmṛtyamanasikāraṁ karoti | iyam asyāsmṛtyamanasikāreṇālambanavibhāvanā |
Thus engaged, with respect to all external signs as they arise and arise, he performs non-attention-from-non-mindfulness. This is his vivid-realization of the object by non-attention-from-non-mindfulness.
sa tatra yogaṁ kurvan pratigṛhṇāti, sa nirnimitte cālambane savikalpamaśubhādike carati |
While doing yoga there, he takes up — and ranges over the conception-laden aśubhā and the like in a signless object.
kathaṁ ca punaścarati | nimittamātrānusāriṇyā vipaśyanayā paryeṣaṇāpratyavekṣaṇānucāriṇyā |
And how does he range? By a vipaśyanā that follows only the sign, accompanied by investigation-and-observation.
punareva vipaśyanānimittaṁ | pratyudāvartya tadevālambanaṁ śamathākāreṇa manasi karoti |
Returning again to the sign of vipaśyanā, he attends to that same object in the mode of śamatha.
tena tadālambanaṁ tasminsamaye muktaṁ bhavati, nodgṛhītaṁ |
By him that object is then released, not taken up —
yasmāttadālambanaḥ śamatho vartate | tasmānna muktaḥ |
because that object is what śamatha proceeds on, hence not released;
yasmānna nimittīkaroti | na vikalpayati | tasmānnodgṛhītam evam adhyātmam abhisaṁkṣepataḥ | ālambanaṁ vibhāvayati |
because he does not make it a sign, does not conceptualize it, hence not taken up. Thus by inward contraction he vividly-realizes the object.
tatra vipaśyanānimittam udgṛhītavataḥ | punarjñeyavastunimittālambanaṁ sa cedayam ekāṁśenālambanam adhimucyate |
There, for one who has taken up the sign of vipaśyanā again — the object-sign of the knowable substance — if he resolves upon the object one-sidedly,
na punaḥ punarvibhāvayet | nāsyādhimokṣa uttarottaraḥ | pariśuddhaḥ, paryavadātaḥ |
without vividly-realizing it again and again, his resolve does not, in succession, become purified, refined;
pravartate | yāvaj jñeyavastupratyakṣopagamāya |
[it does not] proceed toward direct apprehension of the knowable substance.
yataśca punaḥ punaradhimucyate | punaḥ punarvibhāvayati | tatosyottarottarodhimokṣaḥ | pariśuddhataraḥ, pariśuddhatamaḥ pravartate | yāvaj jñeyavastupratyakṣopagamāya |
But when he resolves again and again, vividly-realizes again and again, his resolve, in succession, becomes more purified, most purified — proceeding toward direct apprehension of the knowable substance.
tadyathā citrakaraścitrakarāntevāsī vā tatprathamaścitrakarmaṇi prayuktaḥ syāt |
Just as a painter, or a painter's apprentice, first engaged in the painter's craft,
The painter simile is a classic Yogācāra image for the progressive purification of adhimokṣa through repeated cycles of resolve-and-erase. Like the painter, the meditator does not improve by repainting the same flawed image on top of itself (na janvandhasya tadrūpakapariśuddhiṁ nigacchet) but by erasing and remaking again and again.
sa ācāryasyāntikācchikṣāpūrvagamaṁ rūpakam ādāya dṛṣṭvā dṛṣṭvā pratirūpakaṁ karoti |
having received from the teacher a model-image preceded by instruction, makes a copy after looking at it again and again;
kṛtvā kṛtvā vibhāvayati, vināśayati | punareva ca karoti |
having made [the copy] again and again, he vividly inspects [it], destroys [the imperfect version], and makes [another];
yathā yathā bhaṅktyā bhaṅktyā karoti | tathā tathāsyottaraṁ rūpakaṁ pariśuddhataraṁ paryavadātataraṁ khyāti |
in whatever way he makes [it] break-by-break, in that way his subsequent picture appears more purified, more refined.
evaṁ hi samyakprayuktaḥ kālāntareṇācāryasamatāṁ gacchati | tatprativiśiṣṭatāmvā |
Thus indeed, by right-engagement, in time he attains equality with the teacher, or even surpasses him.
sacetpunarabhaṅktvā tadrūpakaṁ tasyaivopariṣṭāt paunaḥpunyena kuryāt | na janvandhasya tadrūpakapariśuddhiṁ nigacchet — evam ihāpi nayo veditavyaḥ |
If, on the other hand, he were to make that picture again-and-again on top of [the previous one] without erasing — like one born blind, he would not attain to the picture's purity. The same principle is to be known here.
tatra yāvadālambanam adhimucyate | tāvadvibhāvayati | na tvavaśyaṁ yāvadvibhāvayati | tāvadadhimucyate |
There, so long as he resolves on the object, so long he vividly-realizes [it]; not necessarily, so long as he vividly-realizes, so long he resolves.
parīttamadhimucyate, parīttameva vibhāvayati | evaṁ yāvanmahadgatapramāṇaṁ |
He resolves on the limited [scope] and vividly-realizes only the limited; thus up through the moderate-extended measure.
parīttaṁ punarvibhāvayitvā bhāvya kadācitparīttamevādhimucyate | kadācinmahadgatam eva | pramāṇameva mahadgate | pramāṇe veditavyaṁ |
Having vividly-realized the limited again, [made it] cultivated, sometimes he resolves only on the limited, sometimes on the moderate-extended; and the measure thus, in the moderate-extended, in measure, is to be known.
tatra rūpiṇāṁ dharmāṇāṁ yannimittaṁ pratibimbaṁ, pratibhāsaṁ — tadaudārikaṁ nirmāṇasadṛśam — arūpiṇāmvā punardharmāṇāṁ nāmasaṁketapūrvakaṁ yathānubhāvādhipateyaṁ | pratibhāsam iyam ucyate |
There, of form-dharmas, whatever is sign, image, appearance — that is gross, like a magical creation; or of form-less dharmas, [arising] after name-convention, governed by their experiential potency — [their] appearance. This is called
saiṣā navavidhā śuklapakṣyā śamathavipaśyanānulomā prayogatā veditavyā |
This is the ninefold bright-side engagement, conformable to śamatha-vipaśyanā — to be known [thus].
evaṁ paryāyeṇa navākāraiva vilomatā |
Likewise, in turn, [there is] just the ninefold inverse-mode [dark-side].
sa eṣa kṛṣṇaśuklapakṣavyavasthānenāṣṭādaśavidhaprayogo bhavati iyam ucyate ekāgratā ||
Thus by the dark-and-bright-side classification, [there is] the eighteenfold engagement. This is called one-pointedness [in the prayoga framework].
tatrāvaraṇaviśuddhiḥ katamā |
What, then, is purification from obstacles (āvaraṇa-viśuddhi)?
Āvaraṇa-viśuddhi — purification from the four obstacles. The Yogācāra fourfold obstacle-typology (paritamanā, nivaraṇa, vitarka, ātmasaṁpragraha) maps to: dispiritedness with practice, the five hindrances, defiled discursive thought, and self-conceit-from-attainment. The fourfold investigation (own-nature, cause, danger, antidote) is the Yogācāra standard for treating any unwholesome dharma.
āha | caturbhiḥ kāraṇair evaṁ samyakprayukto yogī āvaraṇe svaṁ cittaṁ pariśodhayati |
Answer: by four causes, the yogī thus right-engaged purifies his own mind of obstacles.
svabhāvaparijñānena, nidānena, ādīnavaparijñānena, pratipakṣabhāvanayā ca |
By full-knowledge of own-nature; by [knowledge] of the cause; by full-knowledge of the danger; and by cultivation of the antidote.
āha | catvāryāvaraṇāni | paritamanā, nivaraṇaṁ, vitarkaḥ | ātmasaṁpragrahaśceti |
Answer: there are four obstacles — paritamanā (despondency), nivaraṇa (hindrance), vitarka (discursive thought), and ātmasaṁpragraha (self-gripping).
tatra paritamanā yā naiṣkramyaprāvivekyaprayuktasya kliṣṭā utkaṇṭhā, aratiḥ | spṛhaṇā, daurmanasyam upāyāsaḥ |
There, paritamanā is the defiled longing, dissatisfaction — yearning, dejection, distress — of one engaged in renunciation and the seclusion-quality.
tatra nivaraṇaṁ kāmacchandādīni pañcanivaraṇāni |
There, nivaraṇa is the five hindrances beginning with sense-desire.
tatra vitarkaḥ kāmavitarkādayaḥ | kliṣṭā vitarkāḥ |
There, vitarka is sense-desire-vitarka and the like — defiled vitarkas.
tatrātmasaṁpragraho yad aṇumātrekeṇāvaramātrakeṇa jñānadarśanasparśamātrakeṇātmānaṁ saṁpragṛhṇāti | ahamasmi lābhī, anye ca na tatheti |
There, ātmasaṁpragraha is what — even by an atomic, even by a minimal, even by a mere-contact-of-knowing-and-seeing — grasps the self [as ground]: 'I am a gainer, the others are not so.'
pūrvavad vistareṇa veditavyam ayam āvaraṇasvabhāvaḥ |
As before, in detail, this is the own-nature of obstacle.
tadyathā pūrvakarmādhipatyā, vyādhiparikleśādvā āśrayadaurbalyaṁ | atiprayogaḥ | ardhaprayogaḥ | ādiprayogaḥ | kleśapracuratā | vivekānabhyāsaśca |
namely, by the dominance of previous karma; or by disease and affliction, weakness of the basis; excessive engagement; deficient engagement; initial-stage engagement; abundance of defilements; and non-practice of seclusion.
nivaraṇasya, vitarkāṇām ātmasaṁpragrahasya — nivaraṇasthānīye, avitarkasthānīye, svātmasaṁpragrahasthānīyeṣu dharmeṣv ayoniśomanasikāro bahulīkāro nivaraṇavitarkasaṁpragrahāṇāṁ nidānaṁ |
For nivaraṇa, vitarka, and ātmasaṁpragraha — with respect to the dharmas standing as place of hindrance, place of [non-]vitarka, place of self-gripping — unwise attention is the cause of the abundance of hindrance, vitarka, and self-gripping.
yad aśubhatām amanasi kṛtya śubhatāṁ manasikarotyayam atrāyoniśaḥ |
Not attending to unattractiveness, [the practitioner] attends to attractiveness — this here is unwise.
evaṁ maitrīṁ manasikṛtya, prahāya naimittikīm ālokasaṁjñāṁ manasikṛtyāndhakāranimittaṁ śamathamamanasikṛtya, jñātijānapadāmaravitarkaṁ paurāṇakrīḍitahasitarasitaparicāritaṁ |
Thus, having attended to maitrī [and] abandoned the sign-bearing āloka-saṁjñā, [then] attending to the dark-sign — not attending to śamatha — [he attends to] vitarka about relatives, the country, deathlessness, ancient play, laughter, sport, dalliance.
iyaṁ daṁ pratyayatā pratītyasamutpādam amanasikṛtya, traiyadhvikeṣv aham iti vā, mameti vā, ayogavihitāṁ saṁjñāṁ manasi karotyayam atrāyoniśastaśaḥ |
Not attending to idaṁ-pratyayatā pratītyasamutpāda, [he] attends — in [past-present-future] times — to '[as] I' or '[as] mine,' a perception not yoga-fitting: this here is unwise [attention].
asminnāvaraṇe sati saṁvidyamāne caturvidhe 'pyanadhigataṁ nādhigatāt parihīyate |
When this fourfold obstacle is present, what has not been attained is not attained; from what has been attained, [he] falls back;
yogaprayogād bhraśyate | saṁkliṣṭavihārī ca bhavati, duḥkhavihārī ca bhavatyātmā caitam avavadati | parataścāvavādaṁ labhate |
he falls from yoga-engagement; he becomes defiled-dwelling, pain-dwelling; he reproaches himself; and is reproached by others;
kāyasya ca bhedāt paraṁ maraṇād apāyeṣūpapadyate | ayam atrādīnavaḥ |
and at the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the unfortunate states. This is the danger here.
tatra paritamanāyāḥ samāsato 'nusmṛtayaḥ pratipakṣaḥ |
The antidote to paritamanā, in brief, is the recollections.
anusmṛtimanasikāreṇāyaṁ cittaṁ saṁharṣayitvā saṁharṣya utpannāṁ paritamanāṁ prativinodayati, anutpannāṁ ca notpādayati |
By attention to recollection, having gladdened the mind, having gladdened, he dispels arisen paritamanā and does not produce un-arisen [paritamanā].
tatra yacca kāyadaurbalyaṁ, yaścāpratiyogo, yaścādiprayogaḥ | tatra vīryasamatā pratiṣedhaḥ |
There, [for] bodily weakness, [for] disinclination, [for] initial-stage engagement — the antidote is the equality of energy, restraint.
pratipannaḥ yo 'rdhaprayogaḥ | tatra śuśrūṣā, paripṛcchā pratipakṣaḥ |
Approaching, [for] deficient engagement — the antidote is willingness-to-listen, careful inquiry.
yā kleśapracuratā tasyā yathāyogamaśubhādyālambanaprayogaḥ pratipakṣaḥ |
[For] abundance of defilements — the antidote is engagement of the aśubhā and other objects as appropriate.
yo 'nabhyāsastasyaivaṁvidhaṁ pratisaṁkhyānaṁ pratipakṣaḥ —
[For] non-practice — the antidote is just such a [reflective] consideration:
pūrvaṁ me mayāvivekābhyāso na kṛto, yena me etarhi vivekaprayuktasya paritamanā utpadyate |
'I have not previously practiced seclusion-cultivation, by which now in me, engaged in seclusion, paritamanā arises.
sa cedetarhi na kariṣyāmyabhyāsaṁ evamāyatiḥ punarbhava evaṁrūpo bhaviṣyati |
If I do not undertake practice now, [my] future rebirth will be of just this kind.
pratisaṁkhyāya mayā aratis tyaktavyā | ratiḥ karaṇīyetyevamiṣṭānāṁ nivaraṇādīnām ayoniśomanasikāraviparyayeṇa yoniśomanasikārabhāvanā pratipakṣo veditavyaḥ |
By consideration, dispiritedness must be abandoned by me; delight must be created.' Thus, by the reversal of unwise attention to the desired hindrances and the rest, the cultivation of wise attention is to be known as the antidote.
tatra svabhāvaṁ parijñāya āvaraṇataḥ, saṁkleśataḥ, tāvac chamathabāhulyaṁ | sā khalveṣā vipaśyanā jñeyā kṛṣṇapakṣataḥ | parivarjanīyam etad iti |
There, full-knowing the own-nature, from obstacle, from defilement, [there is] the predominance of śamatha — that very vipaśyanā [previously described] is to be known from the dark-side as 'to be avoided.'
nidānaparivarjanācca punarasya parivarjaneti | nidānaṁ paryeṣate |
And [recognizing] 'its avoidance is by avoidance of [its] cause,' he investigates the cause.
aparivarjanācca punarasya parivarjanīyasya ko doṣa ityata ādīnavaṁ paryeṣate |
And '[on the other hand,] of what is to be avoided, what is the fault if it is not avoided?' — thence he investigates the danger.
parivarjitasya cāyatyāṁ kathamanutpādo bhavatītyataḥ pratipakṣaṁ bhāvayatyevamanenāvaraṇebhyaścittaṁ pariśodhitaṁ bhavati |
'How is non-arising in the future, of what has been avoided?' — thence he cultivates the antidote. Thus the mind is purified by him from obstacles.
sa tatra yāvad deśanābāhulyaṁ vipaśyanānulomikaṁ tāvad vipaśyanābāhulyaṁ, yāvad vipaśyanābāhulyaṁ nānyādanantā veditavyā |
There, so long as the abundance of teaching is conformable to vipaśyanā, so long [is there] the abundance of vipaśyanā; and so long as there is the abundance of vipaśyanā, there are no other endless [modes].
yaduta ebhireva tribhirmukhaiḥ ṣaṇṇāṁ vastūnām ekaikaśyā syā anantākārapraveśanayena,
Namely, through these three doors, in the one-by-one [investigation] of the six substances, by the method of entry-into-endless-modes —
yathā ca yathā vipaśyanā samyakprayuktasya pṛthuvṛddhivaipulyatāṁ vipulatāṁ gacchatyabhyāsapāriśuddhibalam adhipatiṁ kṛtvā, tathā tathā, śamathapakṣasyāpi kāyacittapraśrabdhijanakasya pṛthuvṛddhivaipulyatā vipulatā veditavyā |
and so as vipaśyanā, when one is rightly engaged, reaches extension, growth, amplitude — making the power of cultivation-purity its predominance — so likewise the śamatha-side, productive of body-and-mind serenity, is to be known to reach extension, growth, amplitude.
tasya yathā yathā kāyaḥ praśrabhyate, cittaṁ ca, tathā tathālambanacittaikāgratāyāśca yadutāśrayaṁ vivardhayate |
As his body becomes serene, and the mind, so the mental one-pointedness on the object also — increasing the basis —
yathā cittaikāgratā vivardhate tathā tathā kāyaḥ praśrabhyate, cittaṁ ca,
As mental one-pointedness increases, so the body becomes serene, and the mind;
ityetau dvau dharmāv anyonyaṁ nirvṛtāv anyonyaṁ pratibaddhau — yaduta cittaikāgratā, pratyakṣajñānotpattiḥ |
thus these two dharmas are mutually produced, mutually bound — namely, mental one-pointedness [and] the arising of direct knowledge.
tatra kiyatā aśubhā pratilabdhā bhavati | kiyatā yāvad ānāpānasmṛtiḥ pratilabdhā bhavatīti | peyālaṁ |
There, to what extent is aśubhā attained? To what extent up through ānāpānasmṛti? — and so on.
ataścāsya yoginaḥ aśubhāprayogasyāsevanānvayāt bhāvanānvayād bahulīkārānvayāc carato vā, viharato vā, viṣayasaṁmukhībhāve api nimittapratyavekṣaṇayāpi prakṛtyaivānabhisaṁskāreṇa bahutarāśubhatāsaṁprakhyānaṁ |
Hence, for this yogī, as a consequence of frequenting, cultivating, and making-much of the engagement with aśubhā — whether walking or abiding, even with the object before [him], even by mere sign-observation, by natural-engagement [arising] without effort — there is the manifestation of an abundant aśubhā-perception.
yathāpi tatsubhāvitatvādaśubhāyāḥ kāmarāgasthānīyeṣu dharmeṣu cittaṁ na praskandati | na prasīdati | nādhimucyate | upekṣā saṁtiṣṭhate | nirvitpratikūlatā veditavyā |
And, by reason of the well-cultivation of aśubhā, the mind does not leap toward, does not become pleased with, does not resolve upon, dharmas connected with sense-lust — equanimity stands by; aversion-and-disgust [are] to be known.
yoginānuprāptaṁ me, aśubhā prāptaṁ me, bhāvanāphalam iyatā aśubhā pratilabdhā bhavati | viparyayeṇa apratilabdhā veditavyā |
'The yogī has reached it; I have reached aśubhā; I have the fruit of cultivation' — to this extent, aśubhā is attained. By the opposite, not-attained is to be known.
yathā aśubhā evaṁ maitrī, idaṁpratyayatāpratītyasamutpādaḥ | dhātuprabhedaḥ | ānāpānasmṛtiśca veditavyā |
As with aśubhā, so likewise maitrī, idaṁ-pratyayatā pratītyasamutpāda, dhātuprabheda, and ānāpānasmṛti are to be known.
tatrāyaṁ viśeṣaḥ — bahutaraṁ maitracittatā khyāti | na pratighanimittaṁ | vyāpādasthānīyeṣu dharmeṣu cittaṁ na praskandatīti vistaraḥ |
Here is the distinction: there is more loving-mindedness — not the sign of repugnance; the mind does not leap toward dharmas connected with ill-will, in detail.
bahutaram anityatā, duḥkhatā, nairātmyaṁ khyāti, na nityasukhasattvāya — dṛṣṭisahagataṁ sammohanimittaṁ mohaparyavasthānīyeṣu dharmeṣu cittaṁ na praskandatīti vistaraḥ |
There is more [perception of] impermanence, painfulness, non-self — not [of] permanence-pleasure-sentient-being; the view-accompanying confusion-sign — the mind does not leap toward dharmas connected with delusion, in detail.
bahutaraṁ nānādhātukatā tadekadhātukatā kāyacittaprabhedasaṁjñā khyāti | na tveva cittasaṁjñā, mānaparyavasthānīyeṣu dharmeṣu cittaṁ na praskandatīti vistaraḥ |
There is more [perception of] elemental diversity, of single-elementality, [more] body-mind-distinction-perception — not just mind-perception; the mind does not leap toward dharmas connected with conceit, in detail.
bahutarā adhyātmamupaśamasaṁjñā | śamathasaṁjñā | khyāti | na tveva prapañcasaṁjñā vitarkaparyavasthānīyeṣu dharmeṣu cittaṁ na praskandatīti vistaraḥ |
There is more inward calm-perception, śamatha-perception — not proliferation-perception; the mind does not leap toward dharmas connected with vitarka, in detail.
tatra niyatāntaṁ śamathaśca vipaśyanā cobhe mitrībhūte samayugaṁ varttete |
There, in the final limit, śamatha and vipaśyanā both become friend-like, going together.
Yuganaddha-vāhin (going-yoked) marks the convergence of śamatha and vipaśyanā into a single path-stream. This is the fulfillment of the framework introduced at the start of this section (29.3-4). The same yuganaddha doctrine grounds the adhiprajñā-dharma-vipaśyanā of the supramundane path. Compare AN 4.170 (Yuganaddha Sutta) for the canonical Pali parallel.
yena yuganaddhavāhī mārga ityucyate |
By which the path is called yuganaddha-vāhin (going-yoked).
āha | yo lābhī bhavati navākārāyāṁ cittasthitau navamasyākārasya — yaduta samāhitatāyāḥ |
Answer: one who is a gainer of the ninth mode of the ninefold mental abiding — namely, of the concentrated state —
sa ca taṁ pariniṣpannaṁ samādhiṁ niśritya adhiprajñaṁ dharmavipaśyanāyāṁ prayujyate |
having relied on that consummated samādhi, engages in adhiprajñā-dharma-vipaśyanā.
tasya tasminsamaye dharmān vipaśyataḥ | svarasavāhana eva mārgo bhavatyanābhogavāhanaḥ |
For him, vipaśyating the dharmas at that time, the path becomes self-flow-carrying, effort-less;
anabhisaṁskāreṇa vipaśyanā pariśuddhā, paryavadātā, śamathānuyogatāyāṁ kalpitā parigṛhītā pravarttate |
without volitional formation, vipaśyanā — purified, refined — proceeds as ordered, grasped, in conformity with śamatha.
yathaiva śamatham āsate tenocyate śamathaścāsya vipaśyanā cobhe mitrībhūte samayugaṁ varttete |
Just as śamatha is settled — for that reason it is called that śamatha and his vipaśyanā both have become friend-like, going-together.
śamathavipaśyanāyuganaddhavāhī ca mārgo bhavatīti ||
And the path is going-as-śamatha-vipaśyanā-yoked.
anantaroddānaṁ ||
Subsequent uddāna [verse summary]:
Anantar-uddāna — 'subsequent uddāna,' an intermediate summary verse following a major section. This uddāna covers the 9-fold prayoga + āvaraṇa-viśuddhi material in śloka-meter. The verse is corrupt in places (esp. the line about pakṣa/kāla); meaning is recoverable from the prose discussion above.
nimittagrāhaparyeṣṭiḥ pratyavekṣāmukhānugā |
[Investigation of] sign-grasping, sign-seeking, [then] following the mouth of observation;
arthatastu lakṣaṇaiḥ pacchaiḥ pakṣaiḥ kālaiśca saha yuktibhiḥ ||
by meaning, by characteristics, by sides, by sides [classification], and by times together with reasonings;
anurūpaṁ tathābhyāsam āśaithilyaṁ viparyayaḥ |
[the prayogas]: conformable, likewise practiced, [unperverted], non-slackness, [its] inverse;
anurūpas tathābhyāsa āśaithilyād viparyayaḥ kālopalakṣaṇā tuṣṭiravaidhuryaṁ prayogatā ||
conformable, likewise practiced, [from] non-slackness, the inverse, time, observation, satisfaction, undisturbing — these [are] the engagements;
samyakprayogatā caiva navādhārā dvidhā matā |
and right engagement is the ninth-base, thought of as twofold;
svabhāvato nidānācca tathādīnavadarśanāt ||
[āvaraṇa-viśuddhi:] from own-nature, from cause, likewise from danger-seeing,
pratibhāvitā caiva śuddhirāvaraṇasya hi ||
and from being well-realized [by the antidote] — [this is] the purification of obstacles.
tatra manaskārabhāvanā katamā |
What, then, is manaskāra-bhāvanā (cultivation of attention)?
The four-fold manaskāra framework — cittasaṁtāpana (mind-heating), cittābhiṣyandana (mind-suffusing), praśrabdhi-janaka (serenity-producing), and jñāna-darśana-viśodhana (knowledge-and-vision-purifying) — is the Yogācāra operational protocol for getting an ādikarmika (beginner) into one-pointedness and delight-in-abandonment. Each manaskāra targets a specific phase: heating produces saṁvega; suffusing produces praharṣa; the serenity-producing transitions into śamatha; the knowledge-purifying transitions into vipaśyanā. The same fourfold reappears in sbh4.1 as the framework underlying the seven attentions.
āha | ādikarmikastatprathamakarmika evaṁ vyāpini lakṣaṇe vyavasthāpite ekāgratāyām āvaraṇaviśuddheśca mithyāprayogaṁ ca varjayati | samyakprayoge ca śikṣate |
Answer: the beginner, the one engaged for the first time in this work, having had the pervasive characteristic established for him with respect to one-pointedness and the purification from obstacles, avoids wrong engagement and trains in right engagement.
sa tatprathamata ekāgratāṁ prahāṇābhiratiṁ cādhigamiṣyāmīti caturbhirmanaskāraiḥ prayujyate |
From the very first, [thinking] 'I shall attain one-pointedness and delight-in-abandonment,' he engages by four kinds of attention.
katamaiścaturbhiḥ — cittasantāpanīyena manaskāreṇa, cittābhiṣyandanīyena, praśrabdhijanakena, jñānadarśanaviśodhakena ca manaskāreṇa |
By which four? By the citta-saṁtāpana (mind-heating) attention, the citta-abhiṣyandana (mind-suffusing) attention, the praśrabdhi-janaka (serenity-producing) attention, and the jñāna-darśana-viśodhana (knowledge-and-vision-purifying) attention.
āha | yenāyaṁ manaskāreṇa | saṁvejanīyeṣu dharmeṣu cittaṁ saṁvejayati ayaṁ cittasantāpano manaskāraḥ |
Answer: that attention by which he stirs up the mind with respect to stirring-up-worthy dharmas — this is the mind-heating attention.
yenāyaṁ prasadanīyena manaskāreṇa cittam abhipramodayati — ayaṁ cittābhiṣyandano manaskāraḥ |
That pleasing attention by which he gladdens the mind — this is the mind-suffusing attention.
āha | yenāyaṁ manaskāreṇa kālena kālaṁ cittaṁ saṁvejanīyeṣu dharmeṣu saṁvejayitvā saṁvejya kālena kālam abhipramodanīyeṣu dharmeṣu cittam abhipramodayitvā abhipramodyādhyātmaṁ śamathayati |
Answer: that attention by which, from time to time having stirred up the mind with respect to stirring-up-worthy dharmas, and from time to time having gladdened the mind with respect to gladdening-worthy dharmas, he then inwardly calms [the mind];
nirnimittāyāṁ | nirvikalpakatāyām evaṁ sthāpayatyekāgrāṁ smṛtiṁ pravarttayati |
in the signless, conception-less, he establishes [the mind] thus, makes one-pointed mindfulness proceed;
yenāsya hetunā, yena pratyayena kāyacittadauṣṭhulyapratipakṣeṇa kāyacittahlādanakarī kāyapraśrabdhiścittapraśrabdhiścotpadyate |
by which cause, by which condition — as antidote to body-and-mind dauṣṭhulya, producing gladness in body-and-mind — body-serenity and mind-serenity arise.
ayam ucyate praśrabdhijanako manaskāraḥ |
This is called the serenity-producing attention.
tatra jñānadarśanaviśodhano manaskāraḥ katamaḥ |
What, there, is jñāna-darśana-viśodhana attention?
yena manaskāreṇa kālena kālaṁ cittena tathādhyātmaṁ saṁśayam iti saṁśamayati tena punaḥ punarabhīkṣṇam adhiprajñaṁ dharmavipaśyanāyāṁ yogaṁ karoti |
That attention by which, from time to time, having pacified inward doubt of the mind, he engages again and again in adhiprajñā-dharma-vipaśyanā —
yaduta tam evādhyātmaṁ cetaḥśamathaṁ niśritya | ayam ucyate jñānadarśanaviśodhano manaskāraḥ |
namely, having relied on that very inward cetaḥ-śamatha — this is called the knowledge-and-vision-purifying attention.
katamaḥ kālena kālaṁ saṁvejanīyeṣu dharmeṣu cittaṁ saṁvejayati — evamasya taccittaṁ taptaṁ bhavati | saṁtaptamudvignaṁ saṁvignaṁ — yad utāsravasthānīyeṣu ca dharmeṣu |
What [is the description] when, from time to time, he stirs up the mind with respect to stirring-up-worthy dharmas? Thus his mind becomes heated — well-heated, agitated, well-agitated — namely, with respect to the outflow-stationed dharmas.
āha | catvāri | tadyathā ātmavipattiḥ, paravipattiśca — vartamāne samavahite saṁmukhībhūte yoniśo manasikārānvayāt saṁvejanīyaṁ sthānaṁ bhavati |
Answer: four. Namely, ātma-vipatti (one's own misfortune) and para-vipatti (the misfortune of others) — in the present, when at hand, when face-to-face, [taken up] in consequence of wise attention, [each] becomes a stirring-up-worthy place.
The four saṁvejanīya-sthāna — places that generate urgency — pair across two axes: one's own / others', and misfortune at hand (present) / fortune past (gone). The wise-attention to misfortune face-to-face heats the mind; the wise-attention to past-fortune-now-perished also heats it (through impermanence). This is one of the tightest Yogācāra schemas for the practical generation of saṁvega.
tatrātmasaṁpattiḥ | parasaṁpattiśca — abhyatīte kṣaṇe niruddhe vigate vipariṇate yoniśo manasikārānvayāt saṁvejanīyaṁ sthānaṁ bhavati |
And there [the contrary pair]: one's own success and others' success — in the past, when ceased, gone, transformed, [taken up] in consequence of wise attention, [each] becomes a stirring-up-worthy place.
sa kālena kālam abhipramodanīyeṣu dharmeṣu cittam abhipramodayati | tasyābhipramodayataḥ, evamasya taccittaṁ snigdhaṁ bhavatyārdraṁ ca, dravañcācchaṁ ca, prasannaṁ ca |
From time to time he gladdens the mind with respect to gladdening-worthy dharmas. When he gladdens [the mind], his mind thus becomes oily, moist, fluid, clear, serene.
āha | trividhāḥ — catvāro 'bhipramodādhiṣṭhānaṁ: ratnāni, śikṣāpadapāriśuddhiḥ, ātmani ca viśeṣādhigamasaṁbhāvanājātasya cetaso asaṁkocaḥ |
Answer: threefold. Four bases of gladdening: the Three Jewels, purity of the trainings (śikṣāpada-pāriśuddhi), and non-shrinking of the mind that has arisen with the conception of distinctive attainment in oneself (ātmani viśeṣādhigama-saṁbhāvanā).
The three bases of gladdening: Three Jewels recollection (the standard fourfold formula: Buddha, dharma, fellow brahmacāris, the auspicious-death), śikṣāpada-pāriśuddhi (recollection of purity of trainings), and ātmani viśeṣādhigama-saṁbhāvanā (the non-shrinking confidence in one's own capacity for distinctive attainment). Each is developed at length in 42.8 through 44.2.
sa evaṁ ratnānyanusaraṁś cittam abhipramodayati: 'lābhā me sulabdhāḥ — yasya me śāstā tathāgato 'rhan samyaksaṁbuddhaḥ |
Following the Jewels, he gladdens the mind thus: 'Gains are well-gained by me — whose Teacher is the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Fully Awakened One;
lābhā me sulabdhāḥ — yo 'haṁ svākhyāte dharmavinaye pravrajitaḥ |
gains are well-gained — that I have gone forth in the well-stated dharma-vinaya;
lābhā me sulabdhāḥ — yasya me sabrahmacāriṇaḥ śīlavanto guṇavantaḥ peśalāḥ, kalyāṇadharmāṇaḥ |
gains are well-gained — whose fellow brahmacāris are virtuous, possessed of qualities, lovely, of beautiful dharmas.
bhadrakaṁ me maraṇaṁ bhaviṣyati | bhadrikā kālakriyā, bhadrako abhisaṁparāyaḥ |'
My death will be auspicious, my time-of-passing auspicious, my future auspicious.'
evaṁ catvāryanusmaraṁś cittam abhipramodayati |
Thus, recollecting the four [Three Jewels + self], he gladdens the mind.
kathaṁ śikṣāpadapāriśuddhiṁ śīlapāriśuddhim anusmaraṁś cittam abhipramodayati |
How does he gladden the mind while recollecting purity of the trainings, purity of virtue?
'lābhā me sulabdhāḥ — so 'haṁ śāstari tathāgate arhati samyaksaṁbuddhe, tasya ca svākhyāte dharmavinaye, tatra ca supratipanne śrāvakasaṁghe, aham ebhiḥ sabrahmacāribhiḥ śīlasāmānyagataḥ, śikṣāsāmānyagato, maitrakāyavāṅmanaskarmāntaḥ, dṛṣṭisāmānyagataḥ, sādhāraṇaparibhogī |'
'Gains are well-gained by me — I, in respect of the Teacher the Tathāgata Arhat Fully Awakened One, and his well-stated dharma-vinaya, and the well-practicing disciples' saṁgha therein — I am with these fellow brahmacāris of common virtue, of common training, with loving body, speech, and mental action, of common view, of common enjoyment.'
evaṁ śikṣāpadapāriśuddhiṁ, śīlapāriśuddhim anusmaraṁś cittam abhipramodayati — yaduta vipratisārapūrvakeṇa prāmodyena |
Thus recollecting purity-of-trainings, purity-of-virtue, he gladdens the mind — namely, by joy preceded by non-regret.
tatra katham ātmano adhigamasaṁbhāvanām adhiṣṭhāya — 'bhavyo aham asmy evaṁ pariśuddhaśīlaḥ |
How, by relying on the conception of one's own distinctive attainment: 'I am capable, of such pure virtue;
pratibalaśca bhājanabhūtaśca | ebhiḥ sabrahmacāribhiḥ śīlasāmānyagato, dṛṣṭisāmānyagataḥ, sadbhiḥ sāmānyagataiḥ samyaggataiḥ satpuruṣaiḥ, bhavyo aham asmyevaṁbhūta, evaṁ pratipanno, dṛṣṭa eva dharme aprāptasya prāptaye, anadhigatasyādhigamāya, asākṣātkṛtasya sākṣātkriyāyai' iti prāmodyam utpādayatyevam ātmano adhigamasaṁbhāvanādhiṣṭhānena cittam abhipramodayati |
I am able and a fit vessel. With these fellow brahmacāris of common virtue, common view, and with these good [people] of common course, gone rightly, true persons, I am capable of being thus, of so engaging, of attaining the unattained, realizing the unrealized, directly experiencing the not-yet-directly-experienced in this very life.' Thus he generates joy — by relying on the basis of self-conception-of-distinctive-attainment, he gladdens the mind.
api ca | yad anena pūrveṇāparam ārabdhavīryeṇa viharatā viśeṣādhigamaḥ kṛto bhavati |
Moreover: by whatever distinctive attainment has been made by him while abiding with energy begun afresh after a previous [phase],
tadanusmarann uttari ca viśeṣādhigamam abhiśraddadhāc cittam abhipramodayati — ayam aparaḥ [adhiṣṭhānaḥ] |
recollecting that and confidently apprehending further distinctive attainment, he gladdens the mind — this is the further basis.
saṁvejanīyeṣu dharmeṣu cittam abhisaṁtāpayann āsravaṁ — āsravasthānīyebhyo dharmebhyaścittaṁ vimukhīkaroti | viguṇīkaroti | prātimukhyenāvasthāpayati | viśleṣayati |
Heating the mind with respect to stirring-up-worthy dharmas, he turns the mind away from outflow-stationed dharmas, makes it inverse [to them], establishes it facing-away, separates it.
abhipramodanīyeṣu dharmeṣv abhipramodayann abhiṣyandayan — naiṣkramyapravivekajeṣu dharmeṣu sasnehaṁ cittam abhimukhīkaroty upaśleṣayati | ramayati | saṁyojayati |
Gladdening, suffusing the mind with respect to gladdening-worthy dharmas, he turns the mind, with affection, toward dharmas born of renunciation and seclusion; he attaches [the mind] to them, delights [the mind] in them, conjoins [the mind] with them.
evam asya taccittaṁ yābhyāṁ dvābhyāṁ dharmābhyāṁ — sarvakṛṣṇapakṣavimukhaṁ sarvaśuklapakṣābhimukhaṁ ca pravarttate — yad uta saṁvegapraharṣābhyām |
Thus, by these two dharmas, his mind proceeds — turned away from all dark-side, turned toward all bright-side — namely, by saṁvega (urgency) and praharṣa (gladness).
yataścittam evaṁ kṛṣṇapakṣavimukhaṁ ca cittasantāpanīyena manaskāreṇa śuklapakṣābhimukhaṁ ca kṛtvā abhiṣyandanīyena manaskāreṇa, kālena kālam adhyātmaṁ ca pradadhāti — yad uta cetaḥśamathena praśrabdhijanakena manaskāreṇa |
Since the mind, thus turned away from the dark side by the mind-heating attention and turned toward the bright side by the mind-suffusing attention, from time to time is inwardly applied — namely, by cetaḥ-śamatha with the serenity-producing attention —
kālena kālaṁ dharmān vicinoti, pravicinoti, parivitarkayati, parimīmāṁsām āpadyate — jñānadarśanaviśodhakena manaskāreṇa |
from time to time he discerns dharmas, examines, ponders, investigates — by the knowledge-and-vision-purifying attention.
evam asya taccittaṁ kālena kālaṁ śamathavipaśyanāparigṛhītaṁ, sarvākārasarvaguṇahetūpakṛtaṁ, teṣāṁ teṣāṁ rātridivasānām atyayāt, kṣaṇalavamuhūrttānāṁ ca viśeṣāya paraiti |
Thus his mind, from time to time conjoined with śamatha-vipaśyanā, supported by causes of all modes and all qualities, after the passing of those nights and days, of moments, half-moments, hours, advances toward distinction.
tadyathā jātarūparajataṁ dakṣeṇa karmāreṇa vā, karmārāntevāsinā vā, kālena kālaṁ yadā saṁtāpitaṁ ca bhavati, vigatamalakaṣāye bhāve, abhiṣyanditaṁ ca bhavati — tatra tatrālaṁkārakarmaṇā mṛdukarmaṇyatāyogenābhimukhīkṛtaṁ bhavati |
Just as raw-gold or silver, by a skilled smith or by a smith's apprentice, when from time to time it is heated, [its] state with stains and dross gone, and suffused — there, by the ornament-making work, made workable by the combined-soft work, [it is] made fit;
The gold-smith simile — one of the more famous Yogācāra meditation similes. The yogī is the smith; the mind is the raw metal; the four manaskāras together produce the workable mental state in which śamatha and vipaśyanā can be 'shaped' to the practitioner's purpose. The simile recurs in the Yogācārabhūmi and the Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṅkāra.
tam enaṁ dakṣaḥ karmāro vā karmārāntevāsī vā tadupamena śilpajñānena karmāntavastunā yatreṣṭā alaṁkāravikṛtistatra pariṇamayati —
the skilled smith or the smith's apprentice, with the comparable craft-knowledge, with that material of his craft, transforms it where the desired ornament-variety is required —
evam eva yoginā yadā taccittam abhidhyādimalakaṣāye vimukhībhāvenodvejitaṁ ca bhavati, kliṣṭadaurmanasyavimukhībhāvena cābhipramoditaṁ bhavati,
just so, when the yogī's mind has been agitated by being turned away from the stains and dross of covetousness and the rest, and gladdened by being turned away from defiled-dejection,
tam enaṁ yogī yatra yatra niyojayati — śamathapakṣe vā vipaśyanāpakṣe vā — tatra tatra sūpaśliṣṭaṁ ca bhavati, sulagnaṁ cāvikalaṁ cāvikampyaṁ ca |
then wherever the yogī directs it — to the śamatha-side or the vipaśyanā-side — there [the mind] becomes well-attached, well-clinging, undivided, unshaking;
yathābhipretārthasaṁpattaye ca paraiti |
and it advances toward the perfecting of the intended purpose.
tatra katham ādikarmikaḥ tatprathamakarmiko manaskārabhāvanāyāṁ viniyujyate |
There, how is the beginner, the one in his first attempt at this work, instructed in manaskāra-bhāvanā?
yathāyaṁ viniyujyamānaḥ pratipadyamānaśca spṛśati tatprathamataḥ prahāṇābhiratiṁ cittasyaikāgratāṁ |
[The way is] that he, being instructed and engaging, first touches prahāṇa-rati (delight in abandonment) and one-pointedness of mind.
iha yogajño yogaprayukte ādikarmike tatprathamata evam avavadati —
Here, the yogajña (knower of yoga) initially admonishes the ādikarmika engaged in yoga thus:
'ehi tvaṁ, bhadramukha, trīṇi nimittodgrāhakāni kāraṇāni niśritya — yad uta dṛṣṭamvā śrutamvā, cintānumānādhipateyaṁ vā parikalpaṁ — pañca nimittānyudgṛhṇīṣva:
'Come, dear one — relying on the three causes that take up signs (namely, what is seen or heard, or what is governed by thought and inference, [or] imagined), take up five signs:
The five nimitta-grahaṇa sequence: (1) saṁvejanīya (urgency), (2) prasadanīya (gladdening), (3) ādīnava (danger), (4) āloka (luminous), (5) vasturūpaṇa (substance-image). The yogajña (teacher) leads the beginner through each in order. Each nimitta is an internal object the practitioner cultivates to ground a specific manaskāra and prepare for śamatha-vipaśyanā. The lust-conducted student (here) is led specifically into the aśubhā practice; later paragraphs cover the maitrī-, idaṁ-pratyayatā-, dhātu-, and ānāpāna-conducted variants.
saṁvejanīyaṁ, prasadanīyam, ādīnavanimittam, ālokanimittaṁ, vasturūpaṇānimittaṁ ca |
the saṁvejanīya (urgency-generating), the prasadanīya (gladdening), the ādīnava (danger), the āloka (luminous), and the vasturūpaṇa (substance-image) signs.
sa cetsa yogaprayukta ādikarmiko rāgacarito bhavatyaśubhāvineyaḥ — kathaṁ sa pañcānāṁ nimittānām udgrahaṇāyāvabodhyate |
If that yoga-engaged ādikarmika is of lust-conduct, suited to be led by aśubhā — how is he to be awakened to the taking-up of the five signs?
evam avabodhyate — 'ehi tvaṁ, bhadramukha | yaṁ yam eva grāmamvā nigamamvopaniśritya viharasi | sa cedanyatra grāme nigame vānyatamaṁ puruṣamvā striyamvā ābādhikaṁ śṛṇoṣi — duḥkhitaṁ bāḍhaglānaṁ, mṛtamvā kālagataṁ, puruṣamvā striyamvā |
He is to be awakened thus: 'Come, dear one. Whatever village or town you dwell in dependent on: if you hear of someone, man or woman, in another village or town who is afflicted — pained, gravely ill, or dead — man or woman;
api tu tasya puruṣasya vā striyā vānyatamānyatamaṁ mitrāmātyajñātisālohitaṁ, paracakrakṛtamvā tadgrāmaparyāpannasya janakāyasya bhojanavyasanaṁ, agnidāhakṛtamvā, udakāpaharaṇakṛtamvā, kuvihitapraviṇāśakṛtamvā, kuprayuktakarmāntapralujyanākṛtamvā, apriyadāyādādhigamakṛtamvā, kulāṅgāra-vipraṇāśakṛtamvā |
or [news] of any of that man's or woman's friends, ministers, relatives, kin — done by an enemy-host, [news of] eating-misfortune of the people of that village, fire-burning, water-carrying-off, [news of] destruction by poor management, ruin from misengaged transactions, [news of] hostile-heir-arrival, fire-destruction-of-the-house;
no cecchṛṇoṣi — api tu pratyakṣaṁ paśyasi |
or if you do not hear [of it] but see [it] directly.
no vānyasmin grāmanigame, no ca tasminneva grāmanigame — na pareṣām, anya-rairapi tu ātmanaiva spṛṣṭo bhavasi — śārīrikābhirvedanābhirduḥkhābhistīvrābhir' iti vistareṇa pūrvavat |
Either in another village-town, or in this very village-town — [either of others, or, on others' part, even] of yourself — you are touched, by bodily pains, by sharp painful feelings,' in detail as before.
'sarvaṁ dṛṣṭvā śrutvā caivaṁ cittaṁ saṁvejaya — duḥkho batāyaṁ saṁsāraḥ, kṛcchra ātmabhāvapratilabdho yatremā evaṁrūpā ātmanaśca pareṣāṁ ca vipattaya upalabhyante |
'Having seen, heard all this, stir up the mind: ‘Painful indeed is this saṁsāra, hard-won this individual-existence-attainment, in which such forms of misfortune — one's own and others' — are met with.
yaduta ārogyavipattirapi, jātivipattirapi, bhogavipattirapi, vyādhirvyādhidharmatā ca, maraṇaṁ maraṇadharmatā ca | api caikeṣāṁ śīlavipattirapi, dṛṣṭivipattirapi yato nidānaṁ sattvā dṛṣṭe ca dharme duḥkhavihāriṇo bhavanti | saṁparāye ca durgatigāminaḥ |
Namely: misfortune of health, of birth, of wealth, sickness and the nature-of-sickness; death, the nature-of-death. Furthermore, for some, even misfortune of virtue, of view — by which-cause beings here-and-now become pain-dwellers, and in the future are bound for unfortunate destinies.
yāśca saṁpattayo dṛṣṭadharmasukhavihārāya, abhisaṁparāye ca sugatigamanāya — tā apyanityāḥ, tāsām apyanityatā prajñāyate |
And whatever fortunes [there are] for here-and-now happy-dwelling and for fortunate destinies in the future — these too are impermanent; their impermanence is to be discerned.
vipattiścet saṁmukhībhūtā, vimukhībhūtā tasminsamaye saṁpattiḥ | asaṁmukhībhūtāyām api vipattau durlabhā saṁpattirvināśadharmiṇī ca |'
If misfortune is face-to-face, fortune at that time is turned-away. Even when misfortune is not face-to-face, fortune is hard to obtain and of perishable nature.’'
evaṁ ca punaścittamudvejayitvā sādhu ca suṣṭhu ca yoniśaḥ pradadhatsva —
And thus, having agitated the mind, wisely and well, you should apply [yourself] wisely:
'anāśvāsyam etatsthānam aviśvāsyaṁ | yatsaṁsāre me saṁsarataḥ, aparinirvṛtasyāvimuktacetasaḥ — etā vipattisaṁpattayo, na me saṁmukhībhāvaṁ, vimukhībhāvaṁ ca gaccheyuḥ |
'This place is unreliable, untrustworthy. Going round in saṁsāra, not finally-extinguished, with mind not yet liberated — these fortunes-and-misfortunes might not [always] turn-away-from me, or face-me.
na vā ato nidānaṁ me duḥkham utpadyate — tīvraṁ, kharaṁ, kaṭukam, anālāpyam, alabhyam etatsthānaṁ — tasmādetatsarvārtham adhipatiṁ kṛtvā prahāṇaratiratena me bhavitavyam apramattena |
Or from this cause, suffering does not [necessarily] arise for me — sharp, harsh, bitter, indescribable, unobtainable [is] this place. Therefore making all this adhipati, I must be one delighting in abandonment, heedful.
evaṁ bahulavihāriṇo me apyevāsyānarthasyākriyā syād' iti yoniśaḥ pradadhatsva — evaṁ tvaṁ saṁvejanīyaṁ nimittam udgṛhya, punaḥ prasadanīyaṁ nimittam udgṛhṇīṣva |
Thus dwelling abundantly [in this practice], the not-doing of this harm of mine would be [the result].' Thus wisely apply yourself — thus, having taken up the urgency-generating sign, take up next the gladdening sign.
evaṁ ca punarudgṛhṇīṣva | ātmanaḥ śīlāni pratyavekṣasva |
And again, take it up thus — examine your own virtues:
'kiṁ pariśuddhāni me śīlānyapariśuddhāni vā — yo me smṛtisaṁpramoṣādvā, anādarādvā, kleśapracuratayā vā, avyutpannato vā asti kaścicchikṣāvyatikramaḥ |
'Are my precepts pure, or impure? Is there any transgression of training — through forgetfulness, lack of respect, abundance of defilement, or by being uninstructed?
vyatikrānte vā me, mayā śikṣāṁ yathādharmaṁ pratikṛtya, adhyāśayena ca punarakaraṇāya cittamutpāditaṁ |
Or, having transgressed, have I made amends as the dharma directs, and with [right] intention generated the mental resolve not to do [it] again?
kaccinme kartavyaṁ kṛtam, akartavyañca na kṛtaṁ — samāsataḥ | kaccidadhyāśayasaṁpanno asmi, prayogasaṁpannaśca — yaduta śikṣāpadeṣu |'
Have I done what should be done; have I left undone what should not be done, in brief? Am I one of accomplished resolve and accomplished engagement — namely, in the trainings?'
evaṁ na te pratyavekṣamāṇena, sa cetpariśuddhaḥ śīlaskandhaḥ, na punaste cetanā karaṇīyā: 'kaccinme vipratisāra utpadyeta' — api tu dharmataiveyaṁ — yad evaṁ viśuddhaśīlasyāvipratisāra utpadyate |
Thus he should not [generate the volition]: 'May regret arise in me!' For when one is of pure virtue, by the nature of things, non-regret arises.
The 'volition-less arising' principle — central to Yogācāra meditation psychology. Non-regret, joy, gladness, and mind-delight should not be willed into being; they arise by the nature of things (dharmatā) once the prior condition (pure virtue → non-regret → joy → gladness → mind-delight) is in place. The chain is: pure śīla → avipratisāra → prāmodya → praharṣa → prīti-manaskatā. Each step is dharmatā-arising, not effortful production.
evaṁ cāvipratisāriṇā na cetanā karaṇīyā: 'kaccinme prāmodyam utpadyeta' — api tu dharmataiveyaṁ yad avipratisāriṇaḥ prāmodyam utpadyate |
Likewise, for one without regret, the volition should not be made: 'May joy arise in me!' For by the nature of things, joy arises for the non-regretting one.
anena tāvad ekena prāmodyādhiṣṭhānena dvayāvipratisārapūrvakaṁ prāmodyam utpādayitavyam |
By this one base of gladdening, joy preceded by the twofold non-regret is to be generated.
utpādya pareṇa saṁpraharṣādhiṣṭhānena mānasaṁ saṁpraharṣaya |
Having generated [joy], by another base of further gladdening — gladden the mind.
sa cetpunarbhavasi pūrveṇāparaṁ parīttasyāpi viśeṣādhigame — prītirjanayitavyā: 'bhavyo aham asmi, pratibalaḥ | evaṁ pariśuddhaśīlo bhagavataḥ śikṣāsu supratiṣṭhitaḥ |
If, then, you have, after a previous [attainment], become [one with] even a limited further distinctive attainment, joy is to be generated: 'I am capable, able. Thus, of pure virtue, well-established in the trainings of the Blessed One —
dṛṣṭe dharme prāptasya prāptaye, anadhigatasyādhigamāya, asākṣātkṛtasya sākṣātkriyāyai' — anenāpyadhiṣṭhānena mānasaṁ saṁpraharṣaya |
in this very life, for the attainment of what was not yet attained, the attainment of the unrealized, the realization of the not-yet-realized.' By this base too, gladden the mind.
sa cetpunarlābhī bhavati pūrveṇāparaṁ paracittasyāpi viśeṣādhigamasya — sa tvaṁ tam adhipatiṁ kṛtvā pareṣāṁ ca paripūrṇe viśeṣādhigame, yaduta tathāgate, tathāgataśrāvakeṣu vā, ātmanaścottariviśeṣādhigamasaṁpratyayajāto mānasaṁ saṁpraharṣaya iti |
And if you have, after a previous [attainment], also become a gainer of distinctive attainment in others' minds — then, making that adhipati, and [recognizing] the complete distinctive attainment in others (namely, the Tathāgata and the Tathāgata's disciples), with confidence in your own further distinctive attainment, gladden the mind.
ya ebhirākārairmānasaḥ — sa praharṣa iti |
Whatever mental [delight] arises from these modes — this is praharṣa (gladness).
ya ebhirākāraiḥ sa pūrvapramuditasyaitarhi prītimanaskatetyucyate |
Whatever [delight arises] from these modes — this is called prīti-manaskatā (mind-delightedness) of the previously-gladdened one.
evaṁ prasadanīyaṁ nimittam udgrāhayatyudgrāhayitvā hi punaḥ samanuśāsti —
Thus having taken up the gladdening-sign, [the teacher] again admonishes:
'ehi tvaṁ, bhadramukha — saṁvejanīyena nimittena saṁtāpitacittaḥ, prasadanīyena cittenābhiṣyanditacittaḥ — prahāyābhidhyādaurmanasyaṁ loke bahulaṁ vihariṣyasi |
'Come, dear one. With mind heated by the urgency-generating sign, with mind suffused by the gladdening-sign — having abandoned covetousness and dejection in the world, you shall abide abundantly.
yatra ca yatrālambane prayokṣyase — śamathapakṣe vā vipaśyanāpakṣe vā — tatra tatrālambane cittaṁ sthitaṁ bhaviṣyati |
Wherever you engage in the object — on the śamatha-side or the vipaśyanā-side — there, on that object, the mind shall stand.
adhyātmaṁ susaṁsthitaṁ, kāyacittapraśrabdhicittaikāgratāśca pratilapsyase |'
Inwardly well-established, you shall attain body-serenity, mind-serenity, mind-one-pointedness.'
evaṁ kṛṣṇapakṣavimukhībhūtaḥ śuklapakṣābhimukhībhūtasya yaduta saṁvegābhiṣyandanatayā — sarvaṁ punarasyādīnavanimittam udgṛhṇīṣva — yaduta nimittebhyo vipakṣebhyaścopakleśebhyaśca |
Thus, for one turned away from the dark side and turned toward the bright side — namely, through urgency and suffusion — take up next the danger-sign (ādīnava-nimitta): from the signs, from the opposed-side, and from the defilements.
The threefold sign-system the yogī presents to the ādikarmika: (1) saṁvejanīya (urgency) was the aśubhā application of the four saṁvejanīya-sthāna; (2) prasadanīya (gladdening) was the recollection of Three Jewels + śīla + ātmano-adhigama-saṁbhāvanā; (3) ādīnava (danger) is the three-fold analysis of how signs / vitarka / defilements harm the mind. Following these, the āloka-nimitta (luminous-sign) is given in paragraph 49 and the vasturūpaṇa-nimitta (substance-image) implicitly governs the entire engagement with the meditation object.
tatra nimittāni rūpanimittādīni daśa, vitarkāḥ kāmavitarkādayo 'ṣṭau, upakleśāḥ kāmacchandādayaḥ pañca |
There: signs are the ten beginning with form-sign; vitarkas are the eight beginning with sense-desire-vitarka; defilements are the five beginning with sense-desire.
evaṁ ca punasteṣv ādīnavam udgṛhṇīṣva — 'itīmāni nimittāni vyāpārakārakāṇi cittasya | itīme vitarkā unmuktasaṁkṣobhakārakāś cittasya | itīme upakleśā anupaśamakārakāś cittasya |
And of these, take up the danger thus: 'These signs are bustle-makers for the mind. These vitarkas are agitation-makers, loosing the mind. These defilements are non-calmness-makers for the mind.
yaśca cittasya vyāpāro nimittakṛtaḥ | yaścon-muktasaṁkṣobho vitarkakṛtaḥ | yaścānupakleśa upakleśakṛtaḥ — duḥkhāvihāra eṣa cittasya |
Whatever bustle of the mind made by signs, whatever loosing-agitation made by vitarka, whatever non-pacification made by defilement — this is the painful-dwelling of the mind.
tasmād ime nimittavitarkopakleśāḥ duḥkhā anāryā anarthopasaṁhitāś cittavikṣepasaṁkṣobhakarāḥ' iti |
Therefore these signs, vitarkas, defilements are painful, ignoble, harm-bringing, mind-scattering and agitating.'
evaṁ ādīnavanimittam udgṛhya cittaikāgratāyāṁ, cittasthitau, cittāvikṣepe ṣaḍbhirākārair nimittam udgṛhāṇa — yaduta nimittasaṁjñayā nirnimitte, avyāpārasaṁjñayā, nirvikalpasaṁjñayā, nirvikalpe cānautsukyāsaṁkṣobhasaṁjñayā, upaśamasaṁjñayā, upaśamena niṣparidāha-nairvṛtya-aśubhasaṁjñayā |
Thus having taken up the danger-sign, [practicing] mental one-pointedness, mental abiding, mental non-scattering, take up the sign through six modes: by sign-perception with respect to the signless, by non-bustle perception, by conception-less perception, in the conception-less also by non-eagerness, non-agitation perception, by upaśama (calm) perception, [and] by upaśama-induced, burning-free, peace-of-aśubhā perception.
evaṁ nimittam udgṛhya punaraparaṁ cālokanimittam udgṛhāṇa — yaduta pradīpādvā, agniskandhaprabhāsādvā, sūryamaṇḍalādvā, candramaṇḍalādvā nimittam udgṛhya, śmaśānādyupasaṁkramya, vinīlakādvā nimittam udgṛhāṇa,
Thus having taken up the [danger] sign, take up next the āloka-nimitta (luminous-sign): from a lamp, from the brightness of a fire-mass, from the sun-disk, from the moon-disk — having taken up the sign; or approaching a charnel-ground, take up the sign from a livid corpse,
yāvad asthināmvā, asthiśaṁkalikānāmvā — no cecchmaśānādapi tu citrakṛtādvā, kāṣṭhaśmaśānakṛtādvā nimittam udgṛhāṇa |
up through bones or a skeleton — or, failing the charnel-ground, take up the sign from a painted [representation] or a wood-charnel-imitation.
udgṛhya śayanāsanamupasaṁkrama — upasaṁkramyāraṇyagato vā, vṛkṣamūlagato vā, śūnyāgāragato vā, mañce vā, pīṭhe vā, tṛṇasaṁstarake vā niṣīda |
Having taken up [the sign], approach the sitting-place — go to a forest, the foot of a tree, or an empty hut; sit on a couch, a seat, or a grass-mat.
paryaṅkamābhujya, pādau prakṣālya, ṛjuṁ kāyaṁ praṇidhāya, pratimukhīṁ smṛtim upasthāpya, niṣadya tatprathamata ekāgratāyāṁ cittāvikṣepe smṛtyupanibaddhaṁ kuru |
Cross your legs, wash your feet, hold the body straight, establish mindfulness to the fore, and sit. From the very first, make [mindfulness] bound up in one-pointedness, in mental non-scattering.
tatra ca ṣaṭsaṁjñāḥ — nirvikalpasaṁjñām, upasaṁśamasaṁjñāṁ, nirvyāpārasaṁjñām, anautsukyāsaṁkṣobhasaṁjñām, niṣparidāha-nairvṛtya-aśubhasaṁjñāṁ |
There, [develop] the six perceptions — nirvikalpa-saṁjñā (conception-less perception), upaśama-saṁjñā (calm perception), nirvyāpāra-saṁjñā (non-bustle perception), anautsukya-asaṁkṣobha-saṁjñā (non-eagerness, non-agitation perception), and niṣparidāha-nairvṛtya-aśubha-saṁjñā (burning-free, peace, aśubhā perception).
tatra ca te vikṣepāvikṣepaparijñāvadhānaṁ pratyupasthitaṁ bhavatu — yena vikṣepāvikṣepaparijñāvadhānena tathā tathā nimittavitarkopakleśeṣu vikṣepañca parijānīṣva, cittaikāgratāyāñca ṣaṭsaṁjñābhāvanānugatāyām avikṣepaṁ |
And there, let the awareness-of-distraction-and-non-distraction be present — by which awareness, in whichever signs, vitarkas, defilements [arise], you know distraction; and in mental one-pointedness, accompanied by the cultivation of the six perceptions, [know] non-distraction.
tatra ca vikṣepāvikṣepayoḥ tathā tathāvahito bhava yathā te ekāgratopanibaddhā, adhyātmaṁ cetaḥśamathopanibaddhā sarvā cittasantatiś cittadhārā paurvāparyeṇa nirnimittā pravarteta, nirvikalpā upaśāntā |
And there, attentive to distraction-and-non-distraction, be such that your continuum and mental flow — bound to one-pointedness, bound inwardly to cetaḥ-śamatha — proceeds successively, signless, conception-less, calm.
sa cetpunaḥ smṛtisaṁpramoṣāt tathā śamathaprāpte cetasi nimittavitarkopakleśā anabhyāsadoṣād ābhāsam āgacchanti, sukham ādarśayanti, ālambanīkurvanti —
If, due to forgetfulness, when the mind has reached śamatha, signs, vitarkas, defilements appear (through the fault of non-practice), [they] show pleasure, make themselves [your] object —
teṣūtpannotpanneṣu smṛtyamanasikāraḥ kartavyaḥ — yaduta pūrvadṛṣṭam evam adhipatiṁ kṛtvā evaṁ tadālambanam anusmṛtyamanasikāreṇa vibhāvitaṁ, viśvastam anābhāsagatāyām avasthāpitaṁ bhaviṣyati |
in those that arise and arise, non-attention from non-mindfulness should be made — namely, making the previously-seen [tendency] adhipati; that object is then vividly-realized by the recollection-non-attention, and is established as untrusted, gone to non-appearance.
taccaitad, bhadramukha, sūkṣmam ālambanaṁ — duḥpratividhyam asya te prativedhāya tīvracchandaśca vyāyāmaśca karaṇīyaḥ |
Dear one, this is the subtle object — hard for [you] to penetrate. For your penetration, sharp desire and exertion are to be made.
idaṁ cālambanaṁ sandhāyoktaṁ bhagavatā —
This object the Blessed One signified [in the following discourse]:
'"janapadakalyāṇī, janapadakalyāṇī" iti, bhikṣavo, mahājanakāyaḥ sannipateta |
'Bhikkhus, [crying] ‘Country-beauty! Country-beauty!’ — a great crowd of people would assemble.
The janapadakalyāṇī (country-beauty) parable — a canonical Pali parallel exists at SN 47.20 Janapadakalyāṇī Sutta. Asaṅga gives the yogācāra allegorical reading: country-beauty = defilement-obsessions; great gathering = ten signs; oil-vessel = śamatha-bound mind; sword-raised executioner = the danger-sign just taken up. The parable enacts the satyābhyavaṣṭabdha-prayogatā (anchored-engagement) introduced at the start of the 9-fold prayoga framework.
atha puruṣa āgacched abālajātīyaḥ | taṁ kaścidevaṁ vadet:
Then a man would come, not of foolish kind. To him someone would say:
"idaṁ te bhoḥ puruṣa tailapātrapūrṇaṁ samatittikam anabhiṣekyam antarā ca janakāyaḥ sannipateta | sā khalu janapadakalyāṇī antarā ca mahāsamājaṁ pariharttavyam |
‘Sir man, [carry] this oil-vessel full to the brim, not to be sprinkled, between [yourself] and the assembled crowd. That country-beauty [is to be seen] between, with the great gathering — be careful!
ayaṁ ca te utkṣiptāsiko vadhakapuruṣaḥ pṛṣṭhataḥ pṛṣṭhataḥ samanubaddhaḥ | sa cet tvam asmāt tailapātrādekabindum api pṛthivyāṁ nipātayiṣyasi, tataste utkṣiptāsiko vadhakapuruṣa ucchinnamūlaṁ śiraḥ prapātayiṣyati |"
Behind you, behind you, a sword-raised execution-man follows. If you drop even a single drop from this oil-vessel onto the ground, the sword-raised execution-man will cut down your head at the root!’
kiṁ manyadhve bhikṣavaḥ — api nu sa puruṣaḥ amanasikṛtya tailapātraṁ, amanasikṛtya utkṣiptāsikaṁ vadhakapuruṣaṁ, janapadakalyāṇīṁ manasi kuryāt, mahājanasamājamvā?'
What do you think, bhikkhus — would that man, not attending to the oil-vessel, not attending to the sword-raised execution-man, attend to the country-beauty or the great gathering?'
'no, no, bhadanta, tatkasya hetoḥ — tathā hi tena puruṣeṇotkṣiptāsiko vadhakapuruṣaḥ pṛṣṭhataḥ pṛṣṭhataḥ samanubaddho dṛṣṭaḥ |
'No, no, Bhadanta! Why so? Because by that man the sword-raised execution-man — behind, behind, following — has been seen.
tasyaivaṁ syāt: "sa ced aham asmāttailapātrādekabindum api pṛthivyāṁ pātayiṣyāmi, ato me utkṣiptāsiko vadhakapuruṣaḥ ucchinnamūlaṁ śiraḥ prapātayiṣyati |"
He would think: ‘If I drop even a single drop from this oil-vessel onto the ground, then this sword-raised execution-man will cut down my head at the root!’
nānyatra sa puruṣaḥ amanasikṛtya janapadakalyāṇīṁ mahāsamājaṁ vā, tad eva tailapātraṁ sarvacetasā samanvāhṛtya samyageva pariharet |
Rather, that man — not attending to the country-beauty or the great gathering — would carry just that oil-vessel with the whole mind brought to bear, and would [carry] it rightly.'
evameva, bhikṣavaḥ — ye kecit catvāri smṛtyupasthānāni satkṛtya bhāvayanti, gurukṛtya sarvacetasā samanvāhṛtya, te me ime śrāvakāḥ |'
'Just so, bhikkhus — those who, having venerated the four foundations of mindfulness, cultivate them, having esteemed them, brought the whole mind to bear — these are my disciples.'
tatra 'janapadakalyāṇī' iti kāmacchandādyupakleśaparyavasthānīyānāṁ dharmāṇām etadadhivacanaṁ |
There, 'country-beauty' is the [Buddha's] name for dharmas standing as the obscuring-by-defilements beginning with sense-desire.
'paramapradhāna-nṛtta-gīta-vādita' iti vitarkaprapañcasaṁkṣobhasthānīyānāṁ dharmāṇām etadadhivacanaṁ |
'The supreme dance-song-music' is the name for dharmas standing as agitation-by-vitarka-proliferation.
'mahāsamāja' iti rūpanimittādīnāṁ daśānāṁ nimittānām etadadhivacanaṁ |
'The great gathering' is the name for the ten signs beginning with form-sign.
'abālabhāgīyaḥ puruṣa' iti yogācārasyādhivacanaṁ |
'The man not of foolish kind' is the name for the yogācāra.
'tailapātra' iti śamathopanibaddhasya cittasya etadadhivacanaṁ — kāyacittapraśrabdhi-snehanārthena |
'The oil-vessel' is the name for the mind bound up in śamatha — by virtue of its anointing of body-and-mind with serenity.
'utkṣiptāsiko vadhakapuruṣa' iti nimittavitarkopakleśeṣu pūrvodgṛhītasyādīnasya etadadhivacanaṁ |
'The sword-raised execution-man' is the name for the danger previously taken up with respect to signs, vitarkas, defilements.
'satkṛtya viharati, na caikabindum api pṛthivyāṁ pātayati' iti vikṣepāvikṣepaparijñānāvadhānaparigṛhītasya śamathamārgasya etadadhivacanaṁ — yenāyaṁ sarvāṁ cittasantatiṁ cittadhārāṁ nirnimittāṁ nirvikalpām upaśāntāṁ vīryabalena nirantarāṁ paurvāparyeṇa pravarttayati |
'Carries [it] venerated, and does not drop even one drop onto the ground' — this is the name for the śamatha-path held by the awareness of distraction-and-non-distraction — by which one continually causes the entire mind-stream, mind-flow to proceed, signless, conception-less, calm, by the power of energy, in succession.
na caikacittam utpādayati nimittālambanamvā vitarkopakleśālambanamvā ||
And he does not produce even one mind taking sign-as-object or vitarka-or-defilement-as-object.
tam enam evaṁ śamathaprayuktam ādikarmikaṁ yogī samanuśāsti —
Thus the yogī admonishes the ādikarmika engaged in śamatha:
'yāvatte, bhadramukha, evaṁ śamathamārgaprayuktasya, evam upāyaparigṛhītaṁ smṛtisaṁprajanyasahagataṁ sābhirāmaṁ cittaṁ bhavati — tāvatte śamathamārga eva bhāvayitavyaḥ |
'So long, dear one, as your mind — engaged in the śamatha-path, accompanied by mindfulness-and-clear-comprehension, accompanied by delight — is held by [proper] means, so long should you cultivate the śamatha-path itself.
sa cetpunaranabhyāsadoṣān na ramate sopāyaṁ ca tadālambanaṁ — tasmān nirvikalpādālambanād vyutthāya savikalpa ālambane smṛtyupanibaddhaṁ kurute |
If, due to the fault of non-practice, [the mind] does not delight, and the object is with means — then, having risen from the conception-less object, make [the mind] bound up in mindfulness on a conception-laden object.
yad eva te pūrvodgṛhītamaśubhanimittaṁ — tad eva manasi kuru tatprathamato nimittamātrānusāriṇyā vipaśyanayā — yad uta vinīlakamvā, vipūyakamvā, yāvadasthiśaṁkalikāmvā |
That very aśubhā-sign you previously took up — that very thing, attend to it from the start by a vipaśyanā that follows only the sign — namely, the livid-corpse, or the pus-laden, up through the skeleton.
tathā prayuktaśca tatprathamavata ekaṁ vinīlakam adhimucyasva, yāvad ekām asthiśaṁkalikāṁ |
And thus engaged, from the first resolve on one livid-corpse, up through one skeleton.
yataścātra kṛtaparicayo bhavasi, prabhāsvaraśca te 'dhimokṣaḥ pravartate — tadālambanaṁ dvau tadā dvau, trīṇi, catvāri, pañca, daśa, viṁśa, triṁśat, catvāriṁśat, pañcāśat, vinīlaka-śataṁ, vinīlaka-sahasraṁ, yāvatsarvā diśo vidiśaśca pramāṇākāreṇa pūrvāṁ nirantarām adhimucyasva |
When you have made acquaintance there, and your resolve is bright — [resolve] on the object as two, then two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, a hundred livid-corpses, a thousand livid-corpses, up through all directions and intermediate-directions — by the limit-mode (apramāṇa), as before, resolve [on them] uninterrupted,
The multiplication-sequence from one corpse to immeasurable corpses — a Yogācāra elaboration of the Pali aśubhā meditation. Each step of the resolve (adhimokṣa) extends the imagined object outward until 'all directions and intermediate-directions' are filled without gap. The result-sign is a luminous (prabhāsvara) resolve in which real-attention (bhūta-manaskāra) follows. Same multiplication-pattern is used for maitrī (54.6) and other practices.
yeṣāṁ na syād avakāśaḥ antato daṇḍaviṣṭambhanakoṭimātrapyaṁ |
of which there is no space, not even the size of the tip of a staff [unfilled].
yathā vinīlakānām evaṁ yāvad asthiśaṁkalikānāṁ sarvam evam adhimuktimanaskāraṁ niśritya bhūtamanaskāram avatara |
As with the livid-corpses, so up through the skeletons — all in this way: relying on resolve-attention, descend to real-attention.
evaṁ ca punaravatara: "yāvantyetāni vinīlakāni mayādhimuktāni yāvad asthiśaṁkalikā — ato apramāṇavarāṇi me pūrvāntam ārabhya, tatra tatra bhavagaticyutyupapādeṣu, mṛtasya kālagatasya yāni vinīlakāni nirvṛttāni, yāvad asthiśaṁkalikā nirvṛtyāṁ;
And descend again thus: 'As many of these livid-corpses I have resolved on, up through skeletons — but immeasurably more for me, beginning from the prior limit, in those-and-those rebirths, deaths, and re-takings of birth, the livid-corpses produced from the dead, the time-gone, up through skeletons produced —
yeṣāṁ pūrvā koṭir na prajñāyate, nivartamānānāṁ — tāḥ sa cetkaścit saṁharet, saṁhṛtāś ca na vinaśyeyuḥ, na ca pūtībhaveyuḥ — nāsti sa pṛthivīpradeśo yatra teṣām avakāśaḥ syāt |
of those returning, whose prior limit is not discerned: if anyone were to collect them, and the collected ones not perish, not putrefy — there is no earth-region where they would have room.
ekakalpikā nāmapi, tāvad yāvad asthiśaṁkalikānāṁ — sa cet kaścit saṁhārako bhavet — tāsāṁ syāt saṁhṛtānāṁ vipulapārśvaparvatasamā rāśiḥ |
[Even] those of a single kalpa, up through skeletons — if anyone were a gatherer, the heap of the gathered would be like a vast mountain-side.
yathā pūrvasyāntare pūrvāntamārabhya evam aparāntamapi yāvat — duḥkhasyāntaṁ na kariṣyāmi — evaṁ hi tvam abhiyuṁkṣva |"
Just as for the prior limit, so beginning from the prior limit also the further limit — up through ‘I shall make an end of suffering!’ Thus indeed you should engage.'
manaskāraṁ niśritya bhūtamanaskāram avatīrṇo bhaviṣyasi |
Relying on attention, you shall descend into real-attention.
na caitāni vinīlakāni yāvad asthiśaṁkalikā yā vipaśyanāprayuktena sakṛd vipaśyitavyāni | nānyatraikaṁ vinīlakam adhimucya punaścittaṁ śamayitavyam — tāvac ca tadvinīlakamadhimoktavyaṁ yāvat tasminnālambane sābhirāma-prabhāsvaraṁ nopāyāsena paryavanahyate |
And these livid-corpses, up through skeletons, are not to be vipaśyated all at once by the vipaśyanā-engaged practitioner. Rather, [you] should not resolve on one livid-corpse and then [immediately] calm the mind. Resolve on that livid-corpse so long, until on that object, with delight and luminosity, [the mind] is not overcome by effort.
na tāvatkālakaraṇīyaṁ bhavati | tasmin samaye adhyātmaṁ saṁśamayitavyam | yathā vinīlakam evaṁ yāvad asthiśaṁkalikā ekā — evaṁ yāvad apramāṇā anenaiva nayena veditavyāḥ |
Then [the time] is not yet for [other] work. At that time, [the mind] should be inwardly calmed. As with the livid-corpse, so up through each skeleton — and so, up through the immeasurable, by this very method is to be known.
cittam adhyātmaṁ saṁśamayitvā saṁśamya vimoktavyās — tataḥ sarvapaścādapramāṇāni vinīlakāni, apramāṇā yāvad asthiśaṁkalikā adhyātmaṁ cittābhisaṁkṣepeṇa vibhāvayatyanābhāsagatāyāṁ sthāpayati |
Having calmed the mind inwardly, calm and release [the object]. Then, afterwards, the immeasurable livid-corpses, immeasurable up through skeletons — inwardly, by mental contraction, [the practitioner] vividly-realizes [them], establishing [them] in [a state] gone to non-appearance.
na ca tāni nimittāni utsṛjati || savikalpāni nāpi ca kalpayati | nānyatra tadālambanam eva nirnimittaṁ nirvikalpam upaśāntaṁ cittam avasthāpayati |
And he does not release those signs, nor does he conceptualize the conception-laden ones — otherwise, [he] establishes [the mind] only on that object as signless, conception-less, calm.
'yatte, bhadramukha, pūrvam evālokanimittam udgṛhītaṁ — tat tvaṁ śamathapakṣaprayoge api manasi kuru, vipaśyanāpakṣaprayoge api | ālokasahagatena cittena, saprabhāsasahagatena, prabhāsvareṇānandhakāreṇa śamathavipaśyanāṁ bhāvaya |
'Dear one, that āloka-nimitta you previously took up — that, too, attend to in śamatha-side engagement and vipaśyanā-side engagement. With mind accompanied by light, accompanied by brightness, luminous, free of darkness, cultivate śamatha-vipaśyanā.
evaṁ ca te śamathavipaśyanāmārge ālokasaṁjñāṁ bhāvayataḥ, sa cedādita eva avispaṣṭo 'dhivimokṣo bhaviṣyaty ālambane samyagābhāsaḥ, sa tena hetunā, tena pratyayena bhāvanābhāsād viśiṣṭatā bhaviṣyati, pracurābhāsagatā ca |
And thus, for you cultivating āloka-saṁjñā on the śamatha-vipaśyanā path: if from the very beginning the resolve-liberation is unclear, [if] the [object's] appearance is right — by this cause, this condition, from the cultivation-appearance, there shall be distinction and abundance of appearance.
sa cetpunarādita eva vispaṣṭo bhaviṣyati pracurābhāsaḥ — sa bhūyasyā mātrayā vispaṣṭataratāṁ pracurābhāsataratāṁ ca gamiṣyati |'
If from the very beginning it is clear, abundant in appearance — it shall by greater measure go to clearer-and-clearer and more-abundant-in-appearance.'
sa tvam etat saṁveganimittena sūdgṛhītena, prasadanīyanimittena, śamathanimittena, vipaśyanānimittena, ālokanimittena sūdgṛhītena, kālam adhyātmaṁ cittaṁ saṁśamayan kālena kālaṁ dharmān vicinvan, nimittamātrānusāriṇyā vipaśyanayā, smṛtyupasthāneṣv avatara —
You, with the urgency-sign well taken up, the gladdening-sign, the śamatha-sign, the vipaśyanā-sign, the āloka-sign well taken up, from time to time inwardly calming the mind, from time to time discerning dharmas — by a vipaśyanā that follows only the sign, descend into the foundations of mindfulness.
yad utāśubhāprayogamevādhipatiṁ kṛtvā, evaṁ ca punarvicinvan bahirdhā ṣaṭtriṁśato dravyāṇi kāyāt keśādi-prasāvaparyantāntaṁ nimittam udgṛhya, adhyātmamapy etāni sarvāṇy aśucidravyāṇy adhimucyādhyātmaṁ cittaṁ saṁśamaya —
Namely, making the aśubhā-engagement adhipati, and discerning thus externally the 36 substances of the body — from the head's hair up through the [final] effluence — having taken up the sign, resolving these all as impure substances also inwardly, inwardly calm the mind.
The 36 aśuci-dravya — the 36 unattractive substances of the body, taken as the aśubhā basis. From this base, the four foundations of mindfulness are established in turn: (1) body-as-body inwardly (own body, 52.7); (2) body-as-body externally (others, 52.8-9); (3) inwardly-and-externally (52.10-11); (4) feelings/mind/dharmas through the four formless aggregates analyzed in the three modes (śamatha/distraction/vipaśyanā) (52.12-19). This is the practical-instruction synthesis of aśubhā (the carita-viśodhana practice at sbh2.2) with the four foundations of mindfulness (the framework developed at sbh2.0 ¶¶68-88).
idaṁ te bhaviṣyatyadhyātmaṁ kāye kāyānupaśyanāyāḥ — yad utātmano 'ntaḥkāyam ārabhya |
This shall be for you the inward body-as-body contemplation — namely, beginning from one's own inward body.
sa tvaṁ punarapi bahirdhā aśubhānimittenodgṛhītena vinīlakaṁ cādhimucyasva, yāvad asthi vā śaṁkalikāmvā, parīttena vādhimokṣeṇa, mahadgatena vā apramāṇena vā — adhimucyādhimucyādhyātmaṁ cittaṁ saṁśamaya |
And again externally — having taken up the aśubhā-sign, resolve on a livid-corpse, up through bones or a skeleton, by limited resolve, or by moderate-extended or by immeasurable [resolve] — resolving again and again, inwardly calm the mind.
idaṁ te bhaviṣyati bahirdhā kāye kāyānupaśyanāyā — yad uta parasāntatikaṁ bahiḥkāyam ārabhya |
This shall be for you externally the body-as-body contemplation — namely, beginning from the [other-]continued external body.
sa tvaṁ punarapyātmano 'ntaḥkāye 'śubhatāparibhāvitena cetasā, parakāye cāntarbahiścāśubhatāparibhāvitena cetasātmānaṁ mriyamāṇam adhimucyasva, mṛtamvā punaḥ śmaśāne abhinirhriyamāṇam, abhinirhṛtamvā śmaśāne choritaṁ, choritamvā vinīlakāvasthaṁ, vipūyakāvasthaṁ, yāvad asthiśaṁkālikāvasthamadhimucyasva |
And again, in one's own inward body, with mind well-cultivated in aśubhā, and in another's body — with mind well-cultivated in aśubhā internally-and-externally — resolve on yourself as dying, or after death being carried to the charnel-ground, or having been carried, abandoned at the charnel-ground; or abandoned, in the livid-corpse state, pus-laden state, up through the skeleton state.
idaṁ te bhaviṣyatyadhyātmabahirdhā kāye kāyānupaśyanāyāḥ sattvaṁ |
This shall be for you the inward-and-external body-as-body contemplation (sattva).
punarapi catvāro 'rūpiṇaḥ skandhāḥ śrutacintādhipateyena parikalpanimittagrāheṇa triṣu bhāgeṣv adhimucyasva — śamathapakṣye, vikṣepapakṣye, vipaśyanāpakṣye ca |
Again, the four formless aggregates — by the dominion of hearing-and-reflection, by the imagined sign-grasping, resolve [on them] in three portions — on the śamatha-side, the distraction-side, and the vipaśyanā-side.
yad ādhyātmaṁ cittam abhisaṁkṣipasi, tatra nirnimitta-nirvikalpopaśamākārā, nirvyāpārānutsukāsaṁkṣobhaniḥparidāha-nairvṛtyasukhasaṁjñākārā, avikṣepālambanā vedanādayaścatvāro arūpiṇaḥ skandhāḥ |
When you inwardly contract the mind, there [are] the four formless aggregates beginning with feeling — characterized by signlessness, conception-lessness, calm-mode, non-bustle, non-eagerness, non-agitation, burning-free, peace-of-perception-mode, with non-distraction as object.
pratikṣaṇaṁ pratikṣaṇam anyonyatayā navanavaniṣpurāṇatayā pravartanta ityadhimucyasva |
Resolve [thus]: 'Moment by moment, by mutual-otherness, by ever-new-non-old-ness, they proceed.'
idaṁ te bhaviṣyatyadhyātmabahirdhā vedanāsu, citte, dharmeṣu dharmānupaśyanāyāḥ sattvaṁ |
This shall be for you the inward-and-external contemplation of feelings, mind, dharmas — feeling-as-feeling, mind-as-mind, dharmas-as-dharmas contemplation.
ye pūrvaṁ viṣayopādānā, viṣayālambanā asamāhitabhūmipatitā abhyapatitāḥ kṣīṇā, ye caitarhi smṛtisaṁpramoṣāc cittakṣepe satyutpadyante nimittavitarkopakleśālambanādhipateyā vedanādayaścatvāro arūpiṇaḥ skandhāḥ — teṣām āyāpāyikatāṁ, tāvatkālikatām, itvarapratyupasthāyitāṁ, sādīnavatāṁ, sādhruvatām, anāśvāsikatām adhimucyasva |
Those [factors] previously [acting as] object-takers, object-supports — fallen onto the non-concentrated stage, fallen-aside, exhausted — and those that arise now, when through forgetfulness there is mental distraction, [namely the] four formless aggregates ruled by sign-, vitarka-, and defilement-as-object — resolve on their being subject-to-coming-and-going, momentary, ephemeral, with danger, with [no] firmness, untrustworthy.
idaṁ te bhaviṣyati bahirdhā vedanā-citta-dharmānupaśyanāyāḥ sattvam |
This shall be for you externally the feeling-, mind-, dharmas-as-dharmas contemplation.
punarapi vipaśyanānimittam udgṛhya sanimitte saṁkalpe manaskāre sthitaḥ — ye savikalpasanimittālambanādhipateyā adhyātmam utpadyante vedanādayaścatvāro arūpiṇaḥ skandhāḥ, teṣāṁ pratikṣaṇaṁ navanavatāṁ niṣpurāṇatāmanyonyatāṁ pūrvavad adhimucyasva |
Again, having taken up the vipaśyanā-sign, established in conception-laden, signed, [mental] resolve and attention — those [factors] ruled by conception-laden, signed [object]-supports — arising inwardly, the four formless aggregates — resolve on their moment-by-moment ever-newness, non-oldness, mutual-otherness, as before.
idaṁ te bhaviṣyati bahirdhā vedanāyāṁ, citte, dharmeṣu dharmānupaśyanāyāḥ sattvam |
This shall be for you externally [the contemplation] in feelings, mind, dharmas — dharmas-as-dharmas contemplation.
evaṁ hi tvam aśubhāprayogam adhipatiṁ kṛtvā catvāri smṛtyupasthānānyavatīrṇo bhaviṣyasi | smṛtyupasthāne, prayoge api ca te kālena kālaṁ śamathavipaśyanāyāṁ prayoktavyam |
Thus, making the aśubhā-engagement adhipati, you shall have descended into the four foundations of mindfulness. And [thereafter] you must, from time to time, engage in śamatha-vipaśyanā on the foundations-of-mindfulness and the [conception-laden] engagement.
sa tvam evam upasthitayā smṛtyā caturṣu smṛtyupasthāneṣu — yaṁ yam eva grāmaṁ vā nigamaṁ vopaniśritya viharasi, sa tvaṁ tam eva grāmaṁ vā nigamaṁ vā tannityena cittena, tatpravaṇena, tatprābhāreṇa ālambanam ālambananimittam utsṛjatā piṇḍāya praviśa |
You, with mindfulness thus established in the four foundations of mindfulness — whatever village or town you dwell in dependent on — enter that very village or town, with mind constantly thereon, leaning toward it, weighed-with-it as a burden, without releasing the object, the object-sign, for alms.
The alms-round and four-postures protocol — extending mindfulness through the post-sitting routine. The five elements (53.1-7) — alms-round behavior, lodging avoidances, faculty-restraint, food-moderation, speech-discipline — together form the standard Yogācāra prescription for non-relinquishment of the object in daily activity. Compare the parallel treatment of jāgarikā-anuyoga (sbh1.3 ¶42) and saṁprajāna-vihāritā (sbh1.3 ¶¶43-47).
caṇḍasya hastinaḥ, caṇḍasyāśvasya, caṇḍasya goḥ, caṇḍasya kurarasya, ahiśvabhrasthāṇukaṇṭakapalvalaprapātasyandika-gūthakaṭhalla-pāpike yā caryā śayanāsanaparivarjanā — arakṣitaste ātmā bhavati |
[Avoid] in the alms-round and in lodging the conduct of [going near] a rogue elephant, a rogue horse, a rogue ox, a rogue osprey, a place of snakes-and-dogs-stumps-thorns-pools-precipices-streams-faeces-clods-impurities — [for at such a place] your self is unprotected.
yeṣu ca te viṣayanimitteṣv indriyāṇi prerayitavyāni, teṣv anābhogatayā asaṁvṛtāny indriyāṇi bhavantu; yeṣu vā punarnimitteṣv indriyāṇi prerayitavyāni, teṣu teṣūpasthitā smṛtir bhavatu — yad uta kleśāsamudācārāya |
Toward those sense-object-signs in which the faculties would be impelled, let the faculties be unrestrained from non-engagement. Toward those signs in which the faculties [should] be impelled, let mindfulness be present in those — namely, for the non-arising of defilement.
sa tvam evaṁ surakṣitena kāyena, susaṁvṛtair indriyaiḥ, sūpasthitayā smṛtyā, tadgatena mānasena mātrayā piṇḍapātaṁ paribhuṁkṣva | mitabhāgīṇī ca bhava, sārdhaṁ gṛhasthapravrajitair yuktakābhāṇī, kālabhāṇī, ārjavabhāṇī, praśāntabhāṇī |
You, thus with well-guarded body, well-restrained faculties, well-established mindfulness, with [intent] mind, eat alms-food in moderation. Be of measured share. Speak fittingly with householders and renunciants — speaking in season, with straightforwardness, peacefully.
adharmyā ca te tvayā kathā sarveṇa sarvaṁ parivarjayitavyā | dharmyām api te tvayā kathāṁ kathayatā na vigṛhya kathā karaṇīyā |
Non-dharmic conversation in every respect is to be avoided by you. Even a dharmic conversation, when you converse, is to be carried on without dispute.
tatkasya hetoḥ — vigṛhya kathāsaṁrambhānuyogamanuyuktasya puruṣapudgalasya viharataḥ kathābāhulye cittaṁ santiṣṭhate | tathā bāhulye saty auddhatyam, auddhatye saty avyupaśamaḥ | avyupaśāntacittasyārāc cittaṁ samādherbhavati |
Why? Because for a person dwelling engaged in disputatious conversation, the mind stays on abundance-of-talk. With abundance-of-talk, agitation; with agitation, non-calming. From the mind of one not calmed, the mind is far from concentration.
na tvam evaṁcārī tvaritatvaritam anutsṛṣṭenālambanena me adya śamathavipaśyanāyāṁ yathodgṛhītenaiva nimittena pratanukāritayā vā, antakāritayā ca — yogaṁ kuru | te sa tvam agnimathanaprayogeṇa ca sātatyasatkṛtyaprayogatayā pratatakārī bhava |
You, not so behaving, swiftly, swiftly, with object not abandoned, by the sign as taken up — make yoga with śamatha-vipaśyanā, by minimal action and limit-action. You, by fire-friction-like engagement, by continuous and respectful engagement, become one of perpetual practice.
evaṁ tu punaścittaṁ praṇidhatsva — 'sa cedyāvadāyurjambūdvīpe sarveṣāṁ jaṁbūdvīpakānāṁ manuṣyāṇām abhūt tatsarvam abhisamastaṁ mama ekasyaitarhi syāt — so 'haṁ tāvad apramāṇenāyuṣā pramāṇayogaprayogeṇa ca sātatyasatkṛtyaprayogatayā pratatakārī bhavāmi |'
And further, set your mind [as follows]: 'If the lifespan of all the people of Jambūdvīpa were assembled into mine alone now, then with that immeasurable lifespan, by measure-yoga-engagement and by continuous-respectful engagement, I should be one of perpetual practice.'
evaṁ ca punaścittaṁ praṇidhatsva — 'sa cedyāvadāyurjambūdvīpe manasikāre śamathavipaśyanāyāṁ yogaṁ na riñcayam' — yaduta asyaiva yogaprayogasya mahāphalatāṁ mahānuśaṁsatāṁ ca viditvā prāgevāsmin paripraṇidhatte āyuṣi itvare jīvite, dūram api gatvā varṣaśatike parigaṇyamāne mauntike |
And further, set the mind: 'If for my life-long [lifespan] in Jambūdvīpa I do not relax from yoga in attention, śamatha-vipaśyanā' — namely, knowing the great fruit and great benefit of this very yoga-engagement, beforehand he forms the resolve, [even] with respect to a brief-and-impermanent life [counted] in the silent counting of a hundred years, though he might go far.
evaṁ hi tvaṁ yathānuśiṣṭaḥ pratatakārī vātyantakārī ca — yasyārthe prahāṇam upagatastasyārthasyābādhako bhaviṣyasi |
Thus indeed, instructed [thus], you, of perpetual practice or absolute practice, will be the non-injurer of the meaning whose abandonment-attainment was reached.
tatprathamatas taṁ prakṣyasi — mṛdukāṁ kāyapraśrabdhiṁ, cittaikāgratāṁ — tataścottari vipulā laukika-lokottarāṁ saṁpadam ārāgayiṣyasi |
First you will touch soft body-serenity and mind-one-pointedness; then further you shall obtain the extensive worldly and supramundane fortune.
evam ayam ādikarmikastatprathamakarmikaḥ aśubhāprayukto yogajñenācāryeṇa codyamānaḥ samyak codito bhavati, evaṁ ca pratipadyamānaḥ samyakpratipanno bhavati |
Thus this ādikarmika, this one in his first attempt at this work, engaged in aśubhā — being urged by the yoga-knowing teacher — is rightly urged. And so engaging, he is rightly engaged.
yathā aśubhāvineyo aśubhāyāṁ, tathā maitryavineyādayo api ānāpānasmṛtiparyavasānāya yathāyogaṁ veditavyāḥ |
As [there is] the aśubhā-suited one in aśubhā, so [too] the maitrī-suited one and the rest, up through one ending in ānāpānasmṛti, are to be known as suitable.
tatrāyaṁ viśeṣaḥ — tadanyeṣv avataraṇa-mukheṣu taṁ vibhāvayiṣyāmi |
Here is the distinction: I shall vividly-realize him in the other gates-of-descent.
tatra maitrībhāvanāprayukteno ādikarmikeṇa bahirdhā mitrapakṣād udāsīnapakṣāc ca nimittam udgṛhya, pratirūpaśayanāsanagato hi sukhādhyāśayagatena manaskāreṇa samāhitabhūmikena — pūrvam ekaṁ mitram adhimoktavyam, ekam amitram, ekam udāsīnam |
There, the ādikarmika engaged in maitrī-cultivation, having taken up externally the sign from the friend-side and the neutral-side, gone to a suitable seat-place, with attention based on happiness-aspiration in the concentrated-stage — should first resolve on one friend, one enemy, one neutral.
The friend-enemy-neutral system in maitrī is the standard Yogācāra elaboration of the Pali brahmavihāra. The three parties model the practitioner's reactive structure: friends evoke easy maitrī (no obstacle); enemies evoke the obstacle of resistance; neutrals evoke the obstacle of indifference. Cultivating equal maitrī across the three trains the mind to produce maitrī regardless of object-class — the prerequisite for the immeasurable-extension.
teṣu ca triṣu pakṣeṣu tulyaṁ hitasukhādhyāśayagatena manaskāreṇopasaṁhāraś ca karaṇīyaḥ — 'sukhitā bhavantyete sukhakāyāḥ sattvāḥ' — yad uta anavadyakāmasukhena, anavadyasaprītikasukhena, anavadyaniṣprītikasukhena |
And toward those three parties — equally, with attention based on welfare-and-happiness-aspiration — gathering [them] is to be made: 'May these beings be happy, with happy bodies' — namely, with blameless sense-desire-happiness, with blameless joy-accompanied happiness, with blameless joy-free happiness.
tataḥ paścād dve mitrāṇi, trīṇi, catvāri, pañca, daśa, viṁśa, triṁśat pūrvavad yāvatsarvā diśo vidiśaśca mitrāmitra-traiḥ pūrṇā adhimucyante |
Then afterwards two friends, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, as before, up through all directions and intermediate-directions, filled with the three [classes] of friend-enemy-neutral, are resolved-on.
nirantarā yatra nāstyantaramantato daṇḍakoṭīviṣkambhanamātram api | yathā mitrapakṣeṇa evam amitrodāsīnapakṣeṇa veditavyam |
[They are] uninterrupted, where there is no gap, not even the size of the tip of a staff. As with the friend-side, so it is to be known with the enemy-and-neutral-side.
sa ca maitrīprayogaṁ ca na jahāti — nānyatra bhāvayanneva maitrīṁ smṛtyupasthāneṣv avatarati |
And he does not abandon the maitrī-engagement — rather, cultivating maitrī itself, he descends into the foundations of mindfulness.
kathaṁ punaravataratyadhimucyamāno avatarati — 'yathāham apyanyeṣāṁ mitrasaṁmato, amitrasaṁmataścodāsīnasaṁmataśca | aham api sukhakāmo duḥkhapratikūlaḥ — idamasyādhyātmaṁ kāye kāyānupaśyanāyāḥ sattvam |
How does he again descend, resolving? 'As I am to others a friend-deemed, enemy-deemed, and neutral-deemed; I too am happiness-desiring, suffering-averse — this is for him, inwardly, the body-as-body contemplation (sattva).
ete api sattvāḥ pareṣāṁ mitrabhūtā, amitrabhūtā, udāsīnabhūtāśca; yathā me te api sukhakāmā duḥkhapratikūlā — idam asya bahirdhā kāyānupaśyanāyāḥ sattvam |
These beings too are friends, enemies, neutrals to others; as I am, so they too are happiness-desiring, suffering-averse — this is for him, externally, the body-as-body contemplation (sattva).
yathāhaṁ tathaite sattvā, yathā me ātmanaḥ sukham eṣaṇīyaṁ — sattvānām ātmasamatayātmatulyatayā eṣāṁ sattvānāṁ mayābhihitasukhopasaṁhārakaraṇāya' iti — idam asyādhyātmabahirdhā kāye kāyānupaśyanāyāḥ sattvam |
As I, so these beings are; as happiness is to be sought for myself, so for beings — by self-equality, self-likeness — for these beings, by me, [taking up] the bringing-about of the offered happiness' — this is for him, inwardly-and-externally, the body-as-body contemplation (sattva).
catvāri caitāni smṛtyupasthānāni, saṁbhinnaskandhālambanatayā saṁbhinnālambanaṁ smṛtyupasthānaṁ bhavati |
These four foundations of mindfulness — by [their having] aggregate-as-object-and-mixed-object, [become a] mixed-object foundation.
rūpanimittaṁ tu yogī udgṛhya varṇasaṁsthānanimittaṁ, vijñaptinimittaṁ ca mitrāmitrodāsīnapakṣebhyo 'dhimucyate |
Having taken up the form-sign — the color-and-shape-sign, the cognition-sign too — the yogī resolves [on it] from the friend-enemy-neutral-side.
tenedaṁ kāyasmṛtyupasthānam eva vyavasthāpyate | so 'dhimuktimanaskāraṁ niśritya bhūtamanaskāram asyāvatarati |
Hence this is established as body-foundation-of-mindfulness itself. He, relying on resolve-attention, descends into real-attention with respect to it.
evaṁ ca punaradhimucyamāno avatarati — 'yāvad apramāṇāḥ sattvā ete mayādhimuktā hitasukhagatenādhyāśayena | ato apramāṇatarāḥ sattvā ye mama pūrvāntam ārabhya mitrāmitrodāsīnapakṣatayā abhyatītāḥ — ye mama mitratāṁ gatvā amitratām upagatā, amitratāṁ gatvā mitratāṁ codāsīnatāṁ tu upacopagatāḥ — tadanena paryāyeṇa sarva eva sattvāḥ samasamāḥ |
And he descends again thus, resolving: 'As far as these beings are immeasurable [whom] I have resolved-on with welfare-and-happiness-aspiration — but immeasurably more are the beings who, beginning from my prior limit, have passed away in friend-enemy-neutral status, who have gone from friendship to enmity, from enmity to friendship-and-neutrality — by this scheme, all beings whatsoever are equal-equal.
nāstyatra kācinmitratā vā, amitratā vodāsīnatā vā pariniṣpannā' — ityanenaiva paryāyeṇa tulya-hitasukhopasaṁhāratā ca karaṇīyā |
There is no perfected friendship-or-enmity-or-neutrality here.' By this very scheme, equal welfare-and-happiness-bringing is to be done.
yathā pūrvāntam ārabhya evam aparāntamapyāramya, satyāṁ saṁsṛtau saṁsāre, ye 'pi ca mayā sattvāḥ pūrvāntam ārabhya tan-maitreṇa cittenānukampitāḥ — kiñcāpi te abhyatītā api tu tān etarhyanukampe — yaduta cittaniṣkāluṣyakaluṣatām avyāpannatām upādāya |
As [beginning] from the prior limit, so also from the further limit — saṁsāra being the going-round — those beings whom I have, from the prior limit, with that loving-mind compassionated — although they have passed, I now compassionate them — namely, taking up [my] mind's freedom from defilement, freedom from hatred.
'sukhitā bata te sattvāḥ — bhūtā bhaviṣyanti, abhūvan, ye, api ca na bhūtā anāgate adhvani sukhitā bhavantu' iti — evaṁ bhūtamanaskārānupratiṣṭhasya maitrīvihāriṇaḥ yaḥ puṇyābhiṣyandaḥ kuśalābhiṣyandaḥ — tasyādhimokṣikamaitrīvihāragataḥ puṇyaskandhaḥ śatimām api kalāṁ nopaiti | sahasrimām api | saṁkhyām api, kalām api, gaṇanām apyupaniṣadam api nopaiti | śeṣaṁ pūrvavat ||
'May those beings be happy — those who have been, who will be, who were, who, also, having not been in the future, may they be happy' — thus, for the maitrī-dweller established in real-attention, whatever flood of merit, flood of wholesome[ness] — his merit-aggregate gone to the resolve-maitrī-dwelling does not approach even a hundredth part [of it]. Even a thousandth, even an enumeration, a counting, a comparison — not even an approximation. The rest as before.
tatra idaṁpratyayatāpratītyasamutpāda-ādikarmikaḥ śrutacintādhipateyena parikalpitaṁ nimittam udgṛhṇātyanyeṣāṁ sattvānām ajñānaṁ, saṁmoho yeneme pratyakṣam anityaṁ nityato avagacchanti, pratyakṣam aśuci śucitaḥ, duḥkhaṁ sukhataḥ, nirātmakatām ātmataḥ |
There, the idaṁ-pratyayatā pratītyasamutpāda ādikarmika takes up the sign imagined through the dominion of hearing-and-reflection — namely, the ignorance, the delusion of other beings, by which they perceive the directly impermanent as permanent, the directly impure as pure, the painful as pleasant, the non-self as self.
viparyastā ete sattvā — viparyāsa-hetor dṛṣṭe dharme, vedanāsu saṁparāye cātmabhāvābhinirvṛttau tṛṣyanti, tṛṣitāś ca jātimūlakāni karmāṇi kṛtvā evam āyatyāṁ karmakleśahetuḥ ............ kevalaṁ saṁduḥkham abhinirvartayanti —
These beings are perverted — through the cause of perversion, in here-and-now and in saṁparāya, in feelings, in the becoming-of-individual-existence, they crave; and craving, having done birth-rooted actions, in the future [with] karma-and-defilement as cause [.......] solely engender pain —
evaṁ nimittam udgṛhyādhyātmam adhimucyate: 'ayamapi kevalo duḥkhaskandha evam eva saṁbhūta' iti |
thus having taken up the sign, he resolves inwardly: 'This too is simply the pain-aggregate, just so come into being.'
ye cātmabhāvā nānantāḥ paryantāḥ pūrvāntam ārabhya yeṣām ādireva na prajñāyate, te 'pyevaṁbhūtāḥ — eṣām api sattvānām atītānāgatapratyutpannāḥ sarva evātmabhāvā duḥkhaskandhasaṁgṛhītā evam evābhinirvṛttāḥ | āyatyāṁ notpadyante |
And [as for] those individual existences — innumerable, limitless, beginning from the prior limit, whose beginning is not discerned — they too are thus. The past-future-present individual existences of these beings — all are gathered under the pain-aggregate, just so come into being. They do not arise in the future.
sa khalvayam idaṁpratyayatāpratītyasamutpādamanaskāraḥ sarvabhūtamanaskāra eva, nāstyādhimokṣikaḥ — yadi na punarātmano vartamānān skandhān pratītyasamutpannān manasi karoti |
And this idaṁ-pratyayatā pratītyasamutpāda attention is itself simply real-attention — there is no [other] adhimokṣa-attention — provided he does not attend to his own present skandhas as dependently-arisen.
tadādhyātmaṁ kāye yāvad dharmeṣu dharmānudarśī viharati |
[When he does,] there inwardly in the body, up through the dharmas, he abides as a dharma-contemplator.
yadā ca punaḥ pareṣāṁ vartamānān skandhān pratītyasamutpannān manasi karoti, tadādhyātmabahirdhā kāye yāvad dharmeṣu dharmānudarśī viharati |
And when he attends to others' present skandhas as dependently-arisen, then inwardly-and-externally in the body, up through the dharmas, he abides as a dharma-contemplator.
yadātmanaśca pareṣāṁ cātītānāgatān skandhān pratītyasamutpannān manasi karoti, tadādhyātmabahirdhā kāye yāvad dharmeṣu dharmānudarśī viharati | śeṣaṁ pūrvavat |
When he attends to his own and others' past-future skandhas as dependently-arisen, then inwardly-and-externally in the body, up through the dharmas, he abides as a dharma-contemplator. The rest as before.
tatra dhātuprabhedaprayogaprayukta ādikarmiko bahirdhā pṛthivīkāṭhinyanimittam udgṛhya — tadyathā bhū-parvata-tṛṇa-vana-śarkara-kaṭhilla-maṇi-mukti-vaiḍūrya-śilā-pravālādikebhyaścādhyātmaṁ kāṭhinyam adhimucyate |
There, the ādikarmika engaged in dhātuprabheda-engagement — having taken up externally the earth-hardness-sign — namely, from earth, mountain, grass, forest, gravel, clods, jewels, pearls, lapis-lazuli, rock, coral, and so on — resolves on hardness inwardly.
bahirdhā apsv abdhātor nimittam udgṛhya — tadyathā nadī-prasravaṇa-taḍāga-kūpādibhyaḥ; tathā mahato agniskandhasya abdhau vā ādityakiraṇasaṁtāpitā bhūrāviṣṭebhyo vā sarvebhyaḥ; udārāgnisaṁpratāpitebhyo vā prasrayebhyaśca — no bahirdhā vāyuskandhāt pūrvadakṣiṇa-paścimottarebhyo vāyubhyo yāvadvāyumaṇḍalebhyaḥ;
Having taken up externally the water-element-sign — namely, from river, spring, pond, well, and the rest; likewise from a great mass of fire, [present] in water, or from earth heated by sun-rays, or from all greatly fire-heated [places], or from rivulets; not externally from the wind-mass, from east-south-west-north winds up through wind-disks;
ye deśā astyādes tāraṇīyā vāyugatena sacchidrāḥ, suśirāḥ, sāvakāśāḥ — tasmād ākāśadhātor nimittam udgṛhṇātyadhyātmam abdhātuṁ, tejodhātuṁ, vāyudhātum, ākāśadhātum adhimucyate, śrutacintādhipateyena ca parikalpitena |
those places fit for traversal that are wind-affected, with holes, hollow, with space — therefrom he takes up the space-element-sign — and inwardly resolves on water-element, fire-element, wind-element, space-element, by the imagined [object] dominated by hearing-and-reflection.
evaṁ vijñānadhātor nimittam udgṛhṇāti — cakṣur ādhyātmikam āyatanam aparibhinnaṁ cedbhavati, rūpam ābhāsagataṁ, na ca tajjo manaskāraḥ pratyupasthito bhavati, na tajjasya cakṣurvijñānasya prādurbhāvo bhavati — viparyayād bhavati | evaṁ yāvanmanodharmān manovijñānaṁ veditavyam |
Thus he takes up the consciousness-element-sign — when the inward sense-base of the eye is unimpaired, form having reached appearance, and the attention born of that is present, then the arising of eye-consciousness from that occurs; in the opposite [case, it does not]. Likewise up through mental dharmas, mind-consciousness is to be known.
evaṁ nimittam udgṛhyāpyeṣāṁ sarveṣāṁ vijñānānām asmin kāye cāturmahābhūtike bījaṁ, dhātur, gotraṁ, prakṛtir ityadhimucyate |
Thus, having taken up the sign of all these consciousnesses, [he resolves] in this fourfold-great-element body: 'The seed, element, lineage, nature [is this body]' — thus he resolves.
tānyetāni catvāri mahābhūtāni tatprathamato aṅgapratyaṅgagatato arthaṁ vināpyadhimucyate; tataḥ paścāt sūkṣmatarāvayava-prabhedān adhimucyate; evaṁ yāvad agatāyanapraviṣṭas truṭi-samatayā; evaṁ yāvac chanaiḥ śanaiḥ paramāṇuśo 'dhimucyate |
These four great elements, first, even apart from the limb-and-sub-limb meaning, he resolves; then afterwards, the subtler component-divisions; up through reached the limit of [analyzability], with the equality of split; up through gradually, atom-by-atom, he resolves.
sa ekaikam aṅgāvayavapramāṇa-paramāṇu-saṁcaya-sanniviṣṭam adhimucyate; kaḥ punarvādaḥ sarvakāyamayam |
He resolves [the body] as a collection of atoms equal in measure to each limb-sub-limb. What need to mention the whole body?
ayaṁ dhātuprabhedaprayuktasya cārthaprabhedaparyantaḥ rūpiṇāṁ tāvad-dhātūnām, ākāśadhātoḥ punaḥ — yatpunarasya tasmin prayoge śamathavipaśyanābhāvanāyāṁ vikṣepāvikṣepaparijñāvadhānam — idam asya saṁprajanyasya smṛtisamatāyāś ca |
This is, for the dhātuprabheda-engaged one, the limit of meaning-distinction — for the form-element-elements, but for the space-element too — and the awareness of distraction-and-non-distraction in this engagement with śamatha-vipaśyanā cultivation: this is his [practice of] saṁprajanya and mindfulness-equality.
yatpunaḥ saṁveganimittaṁ, prasadanīyaṁ ca nimittaṁ sūdgṛhītaṁ bhavati — idam asyābhidhyādaurmanasya-vinayasya |
And again, that the urgency-sign and the gladdening-sign are well taken up — this is for him the [practice of] abhidhyā-daurmanasya-vinaya (training-down-of-covetousness-and-dejection).
tasyaivam ātāpino viharato yāvad dvitīyaloke abhidhyādaurmanasyaṁ pūrvam eva samyakprayogasamārambhakāle |
For him thus dwelling ardent, up through the second world's covetousness-and-dejection [is overcome] — already at the time of beginning right-engagement.
sūkṣmacittapraśrabdhir durupalabhyā pravarttate — yā tatra śamathamvā bhāvayato, vipaśyanāmvā prasvasthacittatā, prasvasthakāyatā, cittakāyakarmaṇyatā | iyam atra kāyacittapraśrabdhiḥ |
A subtle mind-serenity, hard to obtain, proceeds — whichever inward calm-of-mind, calm-of-body, mind-body-workability is there for one cultivating either śamatha or vipaśyanā. This here is kāya-citta-praśrabdhi.
tasya saiva sūkṣmā cittaikāgratā cittakāyapraśrabdhiścābhivardhamānā audārikāṁ sūpalakṣyāṁ cittaikāgratāṁ kāyapraśrabdhim āvahati — yad uta hetupāraṁparyādānayogena |
His very subtle mind-one-pointedness and mind-body-serenity, increasing, brings about a gross, easily-observable mind-one-pointedness and body-serenity — namely, by the method of complete-conformity of cause-pāramitā.
na tasya, na cirasyedānīm audārikī cittakāyapraśrabdhiścittaikāgratā ca sūpalakṣyotpatsyatīti — yāvad asyāḥ pūrvanimittaṁ pūrva-nirgaurava-pratibhāsam utpadyate — na caitad bādhalakṣaṇam |
Not long from now, the gross mind-body-serenity and mind-one-pointedness, easily-observable, will arise — when, prior to that, a non-respect-appearance, a prior sign of it, arises. And this is not a hindrance-characteristic.
tasyānantarotpādād yat prahāṇaratir-vibandhakāri-kleśapakṣyaṁ cittadauṣṭhulyaṁ tat prahīyate, tatpratipakṣeṇa ca cittakarmaṇyatā cittapraśrabdhir utpadyate |
From its proximate arising — whatever mental-dauṣṭhulya, hindering of delight-in-abandonment, on the defilement-side — is abandoned. By its antidote, mind-workability and mind-serenity arise.
tasyotpādāt kāyapraśrabdhyutpādānukūlāni vāyūr-dhva-muktāni mahābhūtāni kāye 'vakramanti | teṣām avakramaṇahetoryat kāyadauṣṭhulyaṁ tad vigacchati |
By its arising, the great-elements favorable to body-serenity-arising — released upward by wind — descend into the body. By the cause of their descent, the body-dauṣṭhulya departs.
prahāṇaratirivaddakṛtakleśāpakṣyakāyapraśrabdhyā ca tatpratipakṣikayā sarvakāyaḥ pūryate | syāt ............ dhyāti |
By delight-in-abandonment-like, [body-]produced, defilement-side-free body-serenity — its antidote — the whole body is filled. [Description corrupted; partial reading]
tataḥ prathamopanipāte cittauḍḍilyaṁ, cittadauṣṭhulyaṁ, cittasumanaskāraprāmodyasahagatālambanasābhirāmatā ca cittasya tasmin samaye khyāti |
Then, at the first attainment, mind-effervescence, [diminution of] mind-dauṣṭhulya, and accompanied-by-glad-attention-and-pre-joy delight-in-object — these become manifest in the mind at that time.
tasyordhvaṁ yo 'sau tatprathamopanipātī praśrabdhivegaḥ — sa śanaiḥ śanaiḥ pariślathataro bhavati |
Upward of that, whatever first-attainment serenity-surge there is — that gradually becomes more slack.
chāyevānugatā praśrabdhiḥ kāye ca pravarttate | yac ca tad auddhatyaṁ cetasas tad apyavahīyate |
Shadow-like, accompanying serenity proceeds in the body. And whatever agitation of the mind there is — that too subsides.
praśāntākāracittasālambane śamatho yat-tac-cayas-saḥ pravarttate |
On the calm-mode mind-object — śamatha — that accumulation proceeds.
tata ūrdhvam ayaṁ yogī ādikarmikaḥ samanaskāro bhavati — 'samanaskāra' iti ca saṁkhyāṁ gacchati |
Above that, this beginner-yogī becomes samanaskāra (one-with-attention) — 'samanaskāra' he is reckoned.
Samanaskāra — the ādikarmika-yogī who has obtained attention. This is the structural milestone that the entire ādikarmika-tutorial has been preparing for. The English keeps the Sanskrit term because of its technical specificity: sa-manaskāra literally 'one-possessing-attention,' marking the transition from pre-attention preparation into the concentrated-stage proper. The signs at 56.15-22 are the diagnostic markers — limited but observable body-serenity, swift-onset śamatha, weakened defilement-arising, alms-round attention preserved. From this point the practitioner is ready for the seven attentions of sbh4.1.
tatkasya hetoḥ — rūpārthānurodhena samāhitabhūmiko manaskāraḥ parīttastaprathamataḥ pratilabdho bhavati | tenocyate samanaskāra iti |
Why so? Because, in conformity with the form-meaning, concentrated-stage attention, limited [in scope] from the first, has been attained. Hence he is called samanaskāra.
tasyāsya samanaskārasya ādikarmikasyemāni liṅgāni bhavanti — parīttam anena rūpāvacaraṁ cittaṁ pratilabdhaṁ bhavati |
Of this samanaskāra ādikarmika, these are the signs (liṅgāni): a limited form-realm-pertaining mind has been attained by him.
parīttā kāyapraśrabdhiś cittapraśrabdhiś cittaikāgratā — bhavyo bhavati pratibalaḥ |
Limited [are his] body-serenity, mind-serenity, mind-one-pointedness — he becomes capable, able.
kleśaviśodhanālambanaḥ prayoge 'sya, snigvāmā cāsya cittasantatiḥ pravarttate | śamathopagūḍhāccaritaṁ tadānena viśodhitaṁ bhavati |
His engagement [is] with the defilement-purifying object, his mind-continuum proceeds with affection. The conduct that was hidden-by-śamatha is thereby purified.
sa cedrañjanīye viṣaye carati — na tīvraṁ rāgaparyavasthānam utpādayati | alpamātrakeṇāvaramātrakeṇa ca, pratipakṣasanniśrayeṇa ābhogamātrakeṇāśakto atiprativiśodhayituṁ |
If he ranges in a lust-arousing object, he does not generate intense lust-obsession. By a minimal, limited [effort], with [defilement-]antidote-support and merely by intention, the [obsession] is impossible to overcome [further].
yathā rañjanīye, evaṁ dveṣanīye, mohanīye, mānasthānīye, vitarkasthānīye veditavyam |
As with lust-arousing, so with aversion-arousing, delusion-arousing, conceit-stationed, vitarka-stationed [objects] — to be known.
niṣaṇṇasya cāsya pratisaṁlayane cittaṁ pratidadhatas tvaritatvaritaṁ cittaṁ praśrabhyate, kāyaśca |
And when he sits in seclusion, his mind set [on the object], swiftly, swiftly the mind becomes serene, and the body [too].
kāyadauṣṭhulyāni ca nātyarthaṁ bādhante | na cātyarthaṁ nivaraṇasamudācāro bhavati | na cātyarthamutkaṇṭhā-ratiparitamanāsahagatāḥ saṁjñāmanasikārāḥ samudācaranti |
Body-dauṣṭhulyas do not afflict [him] excessively. There is no excessive hindrance-flow. There is no excessive longing-and-displeasure-accompanied perception-or-attention-flow.
vyutthitasyāpi manaso 'pi carataḥ — praśrabdhi-mātrā kācic citte, kāye, citte cānugatā bhavati ityevaṁbhāgīyāni samanaskārasya ādikarmikasya liṅgāni nimittānyavadātāni veditavyāni ||
Even of one risen [from concentration], even of one moving about, some measure of serenity in the mind, in the body, accompanied by [the residue], is present. — Such kinds of signs of the samanaskāra ādikarmika, clear marks, are to be known.
viniyogarakṣopacayaḥ prāvivekyabhavaikatā ||
application-keeping-and-accumulation, seclusion-quality, oneness of becoming,
āvaraṇaśuddhayutkṛṣṭeha manaskārasya bhāvanā ||
purity from obstacles, supremacy — here the cultivation of attention.
|| yogācārabhūmau śrāvakabhūmisaṁgṛhītāyāṁ tṛtīyaṁ yogasthānaṁ samāptam ||
[Here ends] the third yoga-position, comprised within the Śrāvakabhūmi of the Yogācārabhūmi.
Closing colophon for the entire Yogasthāna III. The Sanskrit accusative tṛtīyaṁ yogasthānaṁ samāptam is the standard Yogācāra chapter-closing formula. The English is rendered into the bracketed shape used for the parallel Yog I colophon at sbh1.3:86.1.