清淨道論 雜論 PakiṇṇakakathāVisuddhimagga · Miscellany Discussion Pakiṇṇakakathā
四刀合說。十六格相味現起是認貨的格子，成失四對是用壞了的警訊；四出離一刀一鎖。
最該背的是近敵遠敵那頁：遠敵告訴你別往那邊，近敵告訴你——小心你以為自己在這邊。「願你安樂」是慈；「願你安樂因為你是我的」是它的贗品。
次第有理：慈為底，悲喜立其上，捨最後把用力提煉成不費力。慈悲喜到三禪，捨從四禪起；四梵住以十波羅蜜行相圓滿一切善法——不是四種好情緒，是能載一切善法的底盤。
The four scalpels taken together. The sixteen cells of characteristic, function, and manifestation distinguish the genuine article; the four pairs of success and failure warn when it has been misused. Each of the four escapes fits one scalpel to one lock.
The page most worth memorizing is the one on near and far enemies. The far enemy tells you not to go over there; the near enemy warns you—take care, you may only think you are over here. “May you be happy” is goodwill; “May you be happy because you are mine” is its counterfeit.
The sequence has a rationale: goodwill is the foundation, compassion and sympathetic joy stand upon it, and equanimity finally refines exertion into effortlessness. Goodwill, compassion, and sympathetic joy reach the third jhāna; equanimity begins with the fourth. Through the modes of the ten perfections, the four divine abodes fulfill every wholesome quality—they are not four good emotions but the platform capable of bearing all wholesome qualities.
本單元白話為本編自巴利原典之譯疏（tr. mine）；底本事項詳本單元考據。
§1 雜論之起與四梵住之語義 〔無號〕
雜論
既知此等梵住為最上之梵所說，
於此等之上，此雜論亦應了知。
在這慈、悲、喜、捨當中，先就義而言：慈愛（mejjati）故為慈——其義是潤澤（siniyhati）。或者，於友而有的，或者是友之所轉起的，這也是慈。他苦在時，令諸善人心生震動（hadayakampana），故為悲。或者，破壞、傷害、滅除他苦，故為悲。或者，於諸苦者以遍滿之勢而被伸展，故為悲。具足它的人們以它而歡喜（modana），或者它自己歡喜，或者它只是歡喜這件事本身，故為喜。由捨去「願彼等無怨」等的營為，又由趣至中庸之性而旁觀（upekkhati），故為捨。
§2 四行之相・味・現起・近因與其成失 〔CSCD §263〕
其次，這裡就相等而言：慈以利益行相之轉起為相（lakkhaṇa），以引與利益為味（rasa），以調伏瞋恚為現起（paccupaṭṭhāna），以見諸有情之可意性為近因（padaṭṭhāna）¹。瞋恚的止息是它的成就（sampatti），愛著的生起是它的失壞（vipatti）。悲以除苦行相之轉起為相，以不堪他苦為味，以不害為現起，以見為苦所逼者之無依為近因。害的止息是它的成就，憂愁的生起是它的失壞。喜以欣悅為相，以不嫉為味，以破不樂為現起，以見諸有情之成就為近因。不樂的止息是它的成就，戲笑的生起是它的失壞。捨以於諸有情中庸行相之轉起為相，以見諸有情之平等為味，以瞋與貪的止息為現起，以這樣轉起的見業自作性——「有情是業之所有者；他們要依誰的喜好而成為安樂，或從苦解脫，或不從已得的成就退失呢」——為近因。瞋與貪的止息是它的成就，依家之無智捨的生起是它的失壞。
§3 共通之用與不共之用——四出離 〔CSCD §264〕
其次，這四種梵住的共通之用，是觀之樂與有之成就；破除瞋恚等則是不共的。這裡，慈以破除瞋恚為用；其餘三者則以破除害、不樂、貪為用。這也是曾說過的：
「賢友，這慈心解脫，正是瞋恚的出離（nissaraṇa）²。賢友，這悲心解脫，正是害的出離。賢友，這喜心解脫，正是不樂的出離。賢友，這捨心解脫，正是貪的出離。」
§4 近敵與遠敵——一行各二敵 〔CSCD §265〕
又，這裡每一種都依近與遠而有兩兩之敵。先說慈梵住：貪由於同分於見〔其〕功德，是它的近敵（āsanna-paccatthika），如人之敵而行於近處；那〔敵〕很快就得其入處，所以要在那一面善加守護慈。瞋恚由於與同分者相異分，是它的遠敵（dūra-paccatthika），如人之敵而依止山等險處；所以在那一面可以無畏地修慈。因為「既修慈而又起瞋」——這是無有是處的。
至於悲梵住：以「對於眼所識的、可意的、可愛的、悅意的、令心歡喜的、與世間財相繫的諸色，於其不得，或見其為不得，或憶念先前曾得而今已過去、已滅、已變異者，於是生起憂——凡這樣的憂，這就叫作依家之憂」這樣的方式而來的依家之憂，由於同分於見失壞，是它的近敵。害由於與同分者相異分，是它的遠敵。所以在那一面可以無畏地修悲。因為「既行悲而又以手等惱害」——這是無有是處的。
至於喜梵住：以「對於眼所識的、可意的……乃至（廣說如前）……與世間財相繫的諸色，於其獲得，或見其為獲得，或憶念先前曾得而今已過去、已滅、已變異者，於是生起悅——凡這樣的悅，這就叫作依家之悅」這樣的方式而來的依家之悅，由於同分於見成就，是它的近敵；不樂由於與同分者相異分，是它的遠敵。所以在那一面可以無畏地修喜。因為「既有喜而又於邊遠坐臥處、或於增上善法生厭倦」——這是無有是處的。
至於捨梵住：以「以眼見色，於愚昧的、迷妄的凡夫，於未勝限定者、未勝異熟者、不見過患者、無聞的凡夫，生起捨——凡這樣的捨，它超不過色；所以那捨叫作依家的」這樣的方式而來的依家之無智捨，由於不辨過與德而〔與捨〕同分，是它的近敵。貪與瞋由於與同分者相異分，是它的遠敵。所以在那一面可以無畏地行捨。因為「既行捨而又生貪、又生瞋」——這是無有是處的。
§5 始中終・所緣之增大・捨為前三之等流 〔CSCD §266–267〕
又，這一切〔梵住〕都以欲作之欲（chanda）為始，以鎮伏諸蓋等為中³，以安止為終。所緣是依施設之法（paññatti）而立的一個有情或多個有情。在得到近行或安止之時⁴，就有所緣之增大（ārammaṇavaḍḍhana）。
其中，增大之次第是這樣：正如巧農先劃定應耕之處而後耕，同樣地，最初先劃定一個住處，就那裡的有情，以「願此住處中的有情無怨」等方式修慈。在那裡令心柔軟、堪任之後，應當劃定兩個住處。此後次第為三、四、五、六、七、八、九、十，一條街，半村，一村，一地方，一國，一方——這樣乃至一輪圍，或者更過於此，就在那一處一處的有情上修慈。悲等也是這樣——這就是這裡所緣增大之次第。
又，正如諸無色是諸遍的等流（nissanda）⁵，非想非非想處是定的等流，果等至是觀的等流，滅盡等至是止觀的等流，同樣地，這裡的捨梵住是前三梵住的等流。因為，正如不豎立柱、不安上樑架，就不能把椽架在空中，同樣地，於前三者若無第三禪，就不能修第四〔禪〕。
§6 何以名梵住・何以唯四・其次第・何以名無量 〔CSCD §268–269〕
這裡或有〔問〕：為什麼這慈、悲、喜、捨叫作梵住呢？又為什麼只有四種？它們的次第是什麼？又，在論藏中為什麼說為無量（appamaññā）呢？答曰：這裡的梵住性，先應當由最勝之義與無過之性而知。因為就對有情正行而言，這些住是最勝的。又，正如諸梵天以無過之心而住，同樣地，與這些相應的瑜伽者也成為與梵天等同而住——所以由最勝之義與無過之性而叫作梵住。
至於「又為什麼只有四種」等問，這就是它的解答：
依清淨之道等，故為四；
依利益等行相，則有其次第；
又它們轉起於無量之境，
由此故名為無量。
因為在這些當中，慈是多瞋者的清淨之道⁶，悲是多害者的清淨之道，喜是多不樂者的清淨之道，捨是多貪者的清淨之道。又因為，對有情的作意唯依引與利益、除去無益、隨其成就而喜、無所營為這四種而有。又因為，正如母親對於幼小的、生病的、正當盛年的、自營己事的四個兒子：於幼小者欲其增長，於生病者欲除其病，於正當盛年者欲其青春之成就久住，於自營己事者則於任何事都不介入；同樣地，住於無量者也應當對一切有情依慈等而有〔如是四心〕。所以，由此依清淨之道等，無量唯有四種。
又因為，想要修這四種的人，首先應當以利益行相之轉起而對有情行——而慈就是以利益行相之轉起為相的。此後，見到、或聽到、或推想到那些已被希求利益的有情為苦所逼，就應當以除苦行相之轉起而行——而悲就是以除苦行相之轉起為相的。接著，見到那些已被希求利益、已被希求離苦者的成就，就應當以隨其成就而喜而行——而喜就是以欣悅為相的。再往後，由於已無所應作，就應當以名為旁觀者之性的中庸行相而行——而捨就是以中庸行相之轉起為相的。所以，由此依利益等行相而有它們的次第：先說慈，其次是悲、喜、捨——應當這樣知道這個次第。
又因為這一切都於無量之境轉起：成為它們之境的有情是無量的。而且也不取「對一個有情，或於這麼大的地方，應當修慈等」這樣的量，唯依全分遍滿而轉起。因此說：
依清淨之道等，故為四；
依利益等行相，則有其次第；
又它們轉起於無量之境，
由此故名為無量。
§7 所屬之禪與八集之難 〔CSCD §270–272〕
這樣，這些雖以無量為境而同一相，前三者卻唯是三四之禪者⁷。為什麼？因為不離於悅。那麼，為什麼這〔前三者〕不離於悅呢？因為它們是從憂所生的瞋恚等的出離。至於最後一個，則唯是其餘一禪者。為什麼？因為與捨受相應。因為於有情以中庸行相轉起的梵住之捨，離了捨受是不轉起的。
但若有人這樣說：「由於世尊在八集中對四無量無差別地說：『比丘，此後你應當修這個定為有尋有伺的，也應當修為無尋唯伺的，也應當修為無尋無伺的，也應當修為有喜的，也應當修為無喜的，也應當修為與適悅俱的，也應當修為與捨俱的』——所以四無量是四分法五分法之禪者」；對他應當說：「不要這樣說。」因為若是這樣，身隨觀等也就成了四分法五分法之禪者；而於受等〔隨觀〕連初禪也沒有，何況第二禪等。所以，不要只取文之影而誣謗世尊——佛語甚深，那要親近諸阿闍梨而依其意趣領受。
因為那裡的意趣是這樣：據說，那位這樣請法而說「大德，願世尊為我略說法；我聽了世尊的法之後，願獨自遠離、不放逸、熱誠、精勤而住」的比丘，由於他先前聽了法之後也還是住在原處，並不去作沙門法，所以世尊先呵責他說「正是這樣，這裡有些愚人只顧請問我；法既已說了，又只想著要跟隨我」，然後，由於他具足阿羅漢果的親依（upanissaya）⁸，世尊就教誡他說：「比丘，所以你應當這樣學：我的心要於內安住、善安住，已生的惡不善法不得遍取我心而住。比丘，你應當這樣學。」
而以這個教誡，就對他說了依內自而唯是心一境性的根本定（mūlasamādhi）。此後，為了顯示「不要只以這麼多為滿足，這同一個定應當這樣增長」，就說：「比丘，當你的心於內安住、善安住，已生的惡不善法不得遍取你心而住之時，比丘，你就應當這樣學：我的慈心解脫要已修習、已多修、已作車乘、已作基地、已確立、已積習、已善策勵。比丘，你應當這樣學。」這樣依慈而說了修習之後，又說：「比丘，當這個定這樣已修習、已多修之時，比丘，你就應當把這個根本定修為有尋有伺的……乃至（廣說如前）……也應當修為與捨俱的。」
它的意思是：比丘，當你這個根本定這樣依慈而修習之時，那時你也不要以那麼多為滿足，應當把這個根本定在其餘所緣上也導至四分法五分法之禪，以「有尋有伺的」等方式而修。
這樣說了之後，為了顯示「你也應當以悲等其餘梵住為先導，在其餘所緣上依四分法五分法之禪而作修習」，又說了「比丘，當這個定這樣已修習、已多修之時，比丘，你就應當這樣學：我的悲心解脫」等等。
這樣顯示了以慈等為先導、依四分法五分法之禪的修習之後，又為了顯示以身隨觀等為先導的〔修習〕，說了「比丘，當這個定這樣已修習、已多修之時，比丘，你就應當這樣學：我要於身隨觀身而住」等等，然後以「比丘，當這個定這樣已修習、已善修習之時，比丘，無論你往哪裡去，都唯安樂而去；無論你在哪裡站立，都唯安樂而立；無論你在哪裡坐，都唯安樂而坐；無論你在哪裡臥，都唯安樂而臥」，以阿羅漢果之頂而結束了教示。所以應當知道：慈等唯是三四之禪者，捨則唯是其餘一禪者。而在論藏中也正是這樣分別的。
§8 四之最勝與圓滿一切善法・品末 〔CSCD §273–274〕
這樣，這些雖依三四之禪與其餘一禪而分為二類，仍應當依淨最勝等而知它們彼此不同的威力之差別。因為在〈訶利達婆娑那經〉中，就是以淨最勝等之性而分別說它們的。如說：「諸比丘，我說慈心解脫以淨為最勝。諸比丘，我說悲心解脫以空無邊處為最勝。諸比丘，我說喜心解脫以識無邊處為最勝。諸比丘，我說捨心解脫以無所有處為最勝。」
那麼，為什麼這樣說它們呢？因為它們各是那個的親依。先說：住於慈的人，有情對他是不厭逆的。於是，由於他串習了不厭逆，當他把心導向不厭逆的、色澤清淨的青等〔遍〕時，心不費力就躍入其中。這樣，慈是淨解脫的親依，而不過於此；所以說它以淨為最勝。
至於住於悲的人：由於他見到以杖打等為色相而至的苦，悲得以轉起，於是色的過患就被他徹知。於是，由於他已徹知色的過患，當他除去地遍等當中的一種、把心導向色之出離的虛空時，心不費力就躍入其中。這樣，悲是空無邊處的親依，而不過於此；所以說它以空無邊處為最勝。
至於住於喜的人：由於他見到因這樣那樣歡喜之因而生起歡喜的有情之識，喜得以轉起，於是他的心就串習了對識的把取。於是，當他超越了次第所證得的空無邊處、把心導向以空之相為境的識時，心不費力就躍入其中——這樣，喜是識無邊處的親依，而不過於此；所以說它以識無邊處為最勝。
至於住於捨的人：由於沒有「願有情安樂，或從苦解脫，或不從已得之樂退失」這樣的作意，由於背離了對樂苦等勝義的執取，他的心就成為作不存在者之難把取的心。於是，他那已串習背離勝義執取的心、又於勝義上作不存在者之難把取的心，超越了次第所證得的識無邊處，當他把心導向自性上不存在的、成為勝義的識之無有時，心不費力就躍入其中。這樣，捨是無所有處的親依，而不過於此；所以說它以無所有處為最勝。
這樣依淨最勝等而知了它們的威力之後，又應當知道：這一切都是施等一切善法的圓滿者。因為，諸大士由於對有情有饒益之意樂、由於不堪有情之苦、由於欲令已得之成就的殊勝久住、又由於對一切有情無所偏黨而心平等轉起，就不作「應當給這個、不應當給那個」的分別，而把作為一切有情安樂之因的施捨施出。他們避免對那些〔有情〕的損害而受持戒。為了圓滿戒而親近出離。為了對有情的利與不利不迷惑而淨治慧。為了有情的利益與安樂而常發精進。即使依最上的精進而達到英勇之性，也忍受有情種種的過犯。對於「我們要給你們這個、要為你們做這個」所作的許諾不欺誑。為了他們的利益與安樂而有不動搖的決意。對他們以不動搖的慈而先行施作。以捨而不希求回報——這樣圓滿了諸波羅蜜，乃至圓滿一切分為十力、四無所畏、六不共智、十八佛法的善法。這樣，這〔四者〕就是施等一切善法的圓滿者。
如是，於為令善人歡喜而造的《清淨道論》中，
於定修習一部裡，
名為〈梵住釋〉的
第九品。
註
¹ 相・味・現起・近因（lakkhaṇa・rasa・paccupaṭṭhāna・padaṭṭhāna）：本論釋一法之四目定式——相為其自性之標識，味為其作用，現起為其所現之相，近因為其最近之因；四目之立在前品。
² 本篇「出離」一語譯二原語：此處之 nissaraṇa（從某法脫出）與後文「為了圓滿戒而親近出離」之 nekkhamma（捨欲之出離）。漢語同形，隨文可辨。
³ 五蓋之立與其鎮伏之法在第四品〈地遍〉；本篇唯借其成語。
⁴ 近行定（upacāra-samādhi）：諸蓋已伏而尚未入安止之一級定；安止定（appanā-samādhi）則心全然入於所緣而不動。
⁵ 等流（nissanda）：由前法之勢用所流出而成之後法；此處謂捨梵住為前三梵住修習之所流出。
⁶ 此處「清淨之道」為普通名詞，謂各為一類人所行之清淨之道；與品末所題之書名《清淨道論》同語而異用。
⁷ 三四之禪（tikacatukkajjhāna）：四分法之前三禪、五分法之前四禪之合稱——非「第三與第四禪」。
⁸ 親依（upanissaya）：有力之所依緣，謂前法為後法生起之強依；本篇四見，皆作「……之親依，而不過於此」之定式。
The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.
§1 Opening of the Miscellany Discussion and the Meanings of the Four Divine Abodes 〔No number〕
Miscellany Discussion
Knowing these divine abodes taught by Brahmā supreme,
this Miscellany Discussion concerning them should further be known.
Among these four—goodwill, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity—first, as to meaning: it is goodwill because it loves (mejjati); the meaning is that it moistens (siniyhati). Or it exists in a friend, or is a friend’s activity: this too is goodwill. When another suffers, it makes the hearts of good people tremble (hadayakampana), and so it is compassion. Or it breaks, harms, and destroys another’s suffering, and so it is compassion. Or it is extended among those who suffer by way of pervasion, and so it is compassion. Those endowed with it rejoice through it (modana), or it itself rejoices, or it is simply rejoicing itself, and so it is sympathetic joy. By abandoning the activity expressed in “May they be free from enmity” and the rest, and by proceeding to the state of neutrality, it looks on (upekkhati), and so it is equanimity.
§2 Characteristic, Function, Manifestation, Proximate Cause, Success, and Failure of the Four Practices 〔CSCD §263〕
Next, as to characteristic and the rest here: goodwill has the occurrence of the mode of welfare as its characteristic (lakkhaṇa), the bringing of welfare as its function (rasa), the removal of ill will as its manifestation (paccupaṭṭhāna), and seeing the agreeableness of sentient beings as its proximate cause (padaṭṭhāna).¹ The subsiding of ill will is its success (sampatti); the arising of attachment is its failure (vipatti). Compassion has the occurrence of the mode of removing suffering as its characteristic, inability to bear another’s suffering as its function, non-harming as its manifestation, and seeing the helplessness of those overwhelmed by suffering as its proximate cause. The subsiding of harming is its success; the arising of grief is its failure. Sympathetic joy has gladness as its characteristic, non-envy as its function, the destruction of discontent as its manifestation, and seeing the success of sentient beings as its proximate cause. The subsiding of discontent is its success; the arising of merriment is its failure. Equanimity has the occurrence of the mode of neutrality toward sentient beings as its characteristic, seeing equality in sentient beings as its function, and the subsiding of aversion and attachment as its manifestation. Its proximate cause is seeing ownership of kamma proceeding in this way: “Sentient beings are the owners of their kamma. By whose preference could they become happy, be freed from suffering, or not fall away from the success they have attained?” The subsiding of aversion and attachment is its success; the arising of house-based ignorant equanimity is its failure.
§3 Common and Distinctive Purposes—the Four Escapes 〔CSCD §264〕
Next, the common purpose of these four divine abodes is the happiness of insight and success in existence; repelling ill will and the rest is their distinctive purpose. Here goodwill has the purpose of repelling ill will, while the other three have the purposes of repelling harming, discontent, and attachment. This too has been said:
“Friend, the mind-deliverance of goodwill is precisely the escape (nissaraṇa) from ill will.² Friend, the mind-deliverance of compassion is precisely the escape from harming. Friend, the mind-deliverance of sympathetic joy is precisely the escape from discontent. Friend, the mind-deliverance of equanimity is precisely the escape from attachment.”
§4 Near Enemies and Far Enemies—Two Enemies for Each Practice 〔CSCD §265〕
Furthermore, each practice here has two enemies, by way of the near and the far. First, for the divine abode of goodwill, attachment is its near enemy (āsanna-paccatthika) because it is of the same kind in seeing good qualities—like a person’s enemy who moves nearby. That enemy quickly gains an opening, so goodwill must be well guarded against it. Ill will is its far enemy (dūra-paccatthika) because it is disparate from what is of the same kind—like a person’s enemy who shelters in mountain fastnesses and the like. Therefore goodwill can be cultivated fearlessly with respect to it. For that someone should cultivate goodwill and yet become angry is impossible.
For the divine abode of compassion, house-based grief that comes in this way—“Regarding visible forms cognizable by the eye that are wished for, desired, agreeable, endearing, connected with worldly acquisitions: when such forms are not obtained, or when their non-obtainment is regarded as such, or when forms formerly obtained that have now passed, ceased, and changed are recollected, grief arises. Such grief is called house-based grief”—is its near enemy, because it is of the same kind in seeing failure. Harming is its far enemy because it is disparate from what is of the same kind. Therefore compassion can be cultivated fearlessly with respect to it. For that someone should practice compassion and yet injure another with the hand or otherwise is impossible.
For the divine abode of sympathetic joy, house-based glad feeling that comes in this way—“Regarding visible forms cognizable by the eye that are wished for . . . and so on as stated at length above . . . connected with worldly acquisitions: when such forms are obtained, or when their obtainment is regarded as such, or when forms formerly obtained that have now passed, ceased, and changed are recollected, glad feeling arises. Such glad feeling is called house-based glad feeling”—is its near enemy, because it is of the same kind in seeing success. Discontent is its far enemy because it is disparate from what is of the same kind. Therefore sympathetic joy can be cultivated fearlessly with respect to it. For that someone should possess sympathetic joy and yet become weary in remote lodgings or with respect to higher wholesome qualities is impossible.
For the divine abode of equanimity, house-based ignorant equanimity that comes in this way—“On seeing a visible form with the eye, equanimity arises in an ordinary person who is foolish and deluded, who has not conquered limitations, has not conquered results, does not see danger, and is untaught. Such equanimity does not transcend visible form; therefore that equanimity is called house-based”—is its near enemy, because it is of the same kind through failing to distinguish danger and good qualities. Attachment and aversion are its far enemies because they are disparate from what is of the same kind. Therefore equanimity can be practiced fearlessly with respect to them. For that someone should practice equanimity and yet become attached and become averse is impossible.
§5 Beginning, Middle, and End; Expansion of the Object; Equanimity as the Outflow of the First Three 〔CSCD §266–267〕
Furthermore, for all these divine abodes, desire to act (chanda) is the beginning, suppression of the hindrances and the rest is the middle,³ and absorption is the end. The object is one sentient being or many sentient beings established by way of the concept (paññatti). Expansion of the object (ārammaṇavaḍḍhana) occurs when access or absorption has been attained.⁴
Here the order of expansion is as follows. Just as a skilled farmer first delimits the place to be plowed and then plows it, so at the outset the meditator should delimit a single dwelling and cultivate goodwill toward the sentient beings there in such a way as “May the sentient beings in this dwelling be free from enmity.” Having made the mind pliant and workable there, the meditator should delimit two dwellings. Thereafter, in sequence, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten; one street, half a village, one village, one district, one kingdom, one direction—thus up to an entire world-system, or beyond it—and cultivate goodwill toward the sentient beings in each place. Compassion and the others are developed in the same way. This is the order of expansion of the object here.
Furthermore, just as the immaterial attainments are the outflow (nissanda)⁵ of the kasiṇas, the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception is the outflow of concentration, fruition attainment is the outflow of insight, and cessation attainment is the outflow of serenity and insight, so here the divine abode of equanimity is the outflow of the first three divine abodes. For just as rafters cannot be placed in midair without first erecting pillars and setting the framework of beams upon them, so the fourth jhāna cannot be cultivated in these practices without the third jhāna in the first three.
§6 Why They Are Called Divine Abodes; Why There Are Only Four; Their Sequence; Why They Are Called Immeasurables 〔CSCD §268–269〕
Here someone might ask: Why are goodwill, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity called divine abodes? Why are there only four? What is their sequence? And why are they called immeasurables (appamaññā) in the Abhidhamma? The answer is this. First, their nature as divine abodes should be understood by the meaning of supremacy and by their faultless nature. For these are supreme abodes in rightly practicing toward sentient beings. And just as brahmās dwell with faultless minds, so meditators associated with these states dwell having become equal to brahmās. Therefore they are called divine abodes by the meaning of supremacy and by their faultless nature.
As for the questions beginning “Why are there only four?” this is the answer:
They are four by way of paths of purity and the rest;
their sequence follows the modes of welfare and the rest;
and they occur in an immeasurable domain,
therefore they are called immeasurables.
For among these, goodwill is the path of purity for someone with abundant ill will,⁶ compassion for someone with abundant harming, sympathetic joy for someone with abundant discontent, and equanimity for someone with abundant attachment. Furthermore, attention toward sentient beings occurs in only four ways: bringing welfare, removing what is harmful, rejoicing in their success, and non-involvement. Again, just as a mother has four sons—one young, one ill, one in the prime of youth, and one attending to his own affairs—and wishes the young one to grow, wishes the ill one’s illness to be removed, wishes the one in the prime of youth to retain the success of youth for a long time, and does not involve herself in any way in the affairs of the son attending to his own business, so too someone dwelling in the immeasurables should relate to all sentient beings through goodwill and the rest. Thus, by way of paths of purity and the rest, there are only four immeasurables.
Furthermore, a person who wishes to cultivate these four should first proceed toward sentient beings through the occurrence of the mode of welfare—and goodwill has the occurrence of the mode of welfare as its characteristic. Next, on seeing, hearing, or surmising that sentient beings for whom welfare has been wished are overwhelmed by suffering, the meditator should proceed through the occurrence of the mode of removing suffering—and compassion has the occurrence of the mode of removing suffering as its characteristic. Then, on seeing the success of those for whom welfare and freedom from suffering have been wished, the meditator should proceed by rejoicing in their success—and sympathetic joy has gladness as its characteristic. After that, because nothing remains to be done, the meditator should proceed in the mode of neutrality called the nature of a person who looks on—and equanimity has the occurrence of the mode of neutrality as its characteristic. Thus their sequence follows the modes of welfare and the rest: goodwill is stated first, then compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. This is how the sequence should be understood.
Furthermore, all these occur in an immeasurable domain: the sentient beings that constitute their domain are immeasurable. Nor is any measure taken in the form “Goodwill and the rest should be cultivated toward one sentient being, or within an area this large”; they occur only through complete pervasion. Therefore it is said:
They are four by way of paths of purity and the rest;
their sequence follows the modes of welfare and the rest;
and they occur in an immeasurable domain,
therefore they are called immeasurables.
§7 The Jhānas to Which They Belong and the Objection from the Book of Eights 〔CSCD §270–272〕
Thus, although these practices have one characteristic in taking an immeasurable domain, the first three belong exclusively to the three-and-four jhānas.⁷ Why? Because they are not dissociated from glad feeling. Why are they not dissociated from glad feeling? Because they are the escape from ill will and the other states that originate in grief. The last, however, belongs exclusively to the one remaining jhāna. Why? Because it is associated with equanimous feeling. For the equanimity of a divine abode, which occurs toward sentient beings in the mode of neutrality, does not occur apart from equanimous feeling.
But if someone says: “Because in the Book of Eights the Blessed One said of all four immeasurables without distinction, ‘Bhikkhu, after that you should cultivate this concentration with thought and examination; you should cultivate it without thought and with examination only; you should cultivate it without thought and without examination; you should cultivate it with rapture; you should cultivate it without rapture; you should cultivate it accompanied by the agreeable; and you should cultivate it accompanied by equanimity’—therefore the four immeasurables belong to the jhānas of the fourfold and fivefold schemes,” that person should be told: “Do not say that.” For if this were so, contemplation of the body and the others would also belong to the jhānas of the fourfold and fivefold schemes, whereas in contemplation of feeling and the rest there is not even the first jhāna, much less the second and the others. Therefore do not take merely the shadow of the wording and misrepresent the Blessed One. The Buddha’s word is profound; it must be received according to its intent after attending upon teachers.
For the intent there is as follows. It is said that the bhikkhu who requested a teaching in these words—“Venerable sir, may the Blessed One teach me the Dhamma in brief, so that after hearing the Blessed One’s Dhamma I might dwell alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, and resolute”—had previously heard the Dhamma but simply remained where he was and did not go to practice the duties of a recluse. Therefore the Blessed One first rebuked him: “Just so, some foolish men here merely question me; when the Dhamma has been taught, they think only that they should follow me.” Then, because he was endowed with the decisive support (upanissaya)⁸ for arahantship, the Blessed One instructed him: “Bhikkhu, therefore you should train thus: ‘My mind will be established internally, well established; arisen evil unwholesome qualities will not remain consuming my mind.’ Bhikkhu, you should train thus.”
By this instruction, he was taught the root concentration (mūlasamādhi) that is merely unification of mind by way of what is internal to himself. Then, to show, “Do not become satisfied with only this much; this same concentration should be increased in the following way,” the Blessed One said: “Bhikkhu, when your mind is established internally, well established, and arisen evil unwholesome qualities do not remain consuming your mind, then, bhikkhu, you should train thus: ‘My mind-deliverance of goodwill will be cultivated, made much of, made a vehicle, made a basis, established, accumulated, and well initiated.’ Bhikkhu, you should train thus.” Having stated the cultivation by way of goodwill in this manner, he then said: “Bhikkhu, when this concentration has thus been cultivated and made much of, then, bhikkhu, you should cultivate this root concentration with thought and examination . . . and so on as stated at length above . . . and you should cultivate it accompanied by equanimity.”
The meaning is this: Bhikkhu, when this root concentration has thus been cultivated by way of goodwill, you should not be satisfied even with that much. You should also bring this root concentration on other objects to the jhānas of the fourfold and fivefold schemes, and cultivate it in the ways beginning “with thought and examination.”
Having said this, to show, “You should also cultivate the jhānas of the fourfold and fivefold schemes on other objects, with compassion and the remaining divine abodes as forerunners,” he further said: “Bhikkhu, when this concentration has thus been cultivated and made much of, then, bhikkhu, you should train thus: ‘My mind-deliverance of compassion . . .’”
After showing cultivation through the jhānas of the fourfold and fivefold schemes with goodwill and the others as forerunners, to show cultivation with contemplation of the body and the others as forerunners, the Blessed One said: “Bhikkhu, when this concentration has thus been cultivated and made much of, then, bhikkhu, you should train thus: ‘I will dwell contemplating the body in the body,’” and so on. Then, with the words, “Bhikkhu, when this concentration has thus been cultivated and well cultivated, then wherever you go, you will go only in comfort; wherever you stand, you will stand only in comfort; wherever you sit, you will sit only in comfort; and wherever you lie down, you will lie down only in comfort,” he concluded the teaching at the summit of arahantship. Therefore it should be understood that goodwill and the others belong exclusively to the three-and-four jhānas, while equanimity belongs exclusively to the one remaining jhāna. This is precisely how they are analyzed in the Abhidhamma as well.
§8 The Four Culminations, the Fulfillment of All Wholesome Qualities, and the Chapter’s Close 〔CSCD §273–274〕
Thus, although these practices stand in two classes by way of the three-and-four jhānas and the one remaining jhāna, the distinction in their respective powers should be understood by way of purity as supreme and the rest. For in the Haliddavasana Sutta they are distinguished by purity as supreme and the rest. As it is said: “Bhikkhus, I declare the mind-deliverance of goodwill to have purity as supreme. Bhikkhus, I declare the mind-deliverance of compassion to have the base of infinite space as supreme. Bhikkhus, I declare the mind-deliverance of sympathetic joy to have the base of infinite consciousness as supreme. Bhikkhus, I declare the mind-deliverance of equanimity to have the base of nothingness as supreme.”
Why are they spoken of in this way? Because each is the decisive support for that attainment. First, for someone who dwells in goodwill, sentient beings are not repellent. Then, through familiarity with non-repulsiveness, when that practitioner directs the mind toward non-repellent blue and the other kasiṇas of purified color, the mind leaps into them without difficulty. Thus goodwill is the decisive support for the liberation of purity, and not for anything beyond it; therefore it is said to have purity as supreme.
For someone who dwells in compassion, compassion occurs when the practitioner observes suffering that has come with visible-form signs such as being struck with a stick, and thereby the danger in form is fully understood. Then, because the danger in form has been fully understood, when the practitioner removes one among the earth kasiṇa and the other kasiṇas and directs the mind toward space as the escape from form, the mind leaps into it without difficulty. Thus compassion is the decisive support for the base of infinite space, and not for anything beyond it; therefore it is said to have the base of infinite space as supreme.
For someone who dwells in sympathetic joy, sympathetic joy occurs when the practitioner observes the consciousness of sentient beings in whom joy has arisen through this or that cause for gladness, and thereby the mind becomes familiar with apprehending consciousness. Then, after transcending the base of infinite space attained in sequence, when the practitioner directs the mind toward consciousness whose domain is the sign of space, the mind leaps into it without difficulty. Thus sympathetic joy is the decisive support for the base of infinite consciousness, and not for anything beyond it; therefore it is said to have the base of infinite consciousness as supreme.
For someone who dwells in equanimity, because there is no attention of the form “May sentient beings be happy, or be freed from suffering, or not lose the happiness they have attained,” and because the mind has turned away from grasping ultimate realities such as pleasure and pain, the mind finds it difficult to grasp what does not exist. Then, after the mind has become familiar with turning away from grasping ultimate realities and finds it difficult to grasp what does not exist as an ultimate reality, it transcends the base of infinite consciousness attained in sequence. When the practitioner directs the mind toward the absence of consciousness—consciousness being an ultimate reality, while its absence is nonexistent by intrinsic nature—the mind leaps into it without difficulty. Thus equanimity is the decisive support for the base of nothingness, and not for anything beyond it; therefore it is said to have the base of nothingness as supreme.
Having thus understood their powers by way of purity as supreme and the rest, it should further be understood that all these divine abodes fulfill every wholesome quality beginning with giving. For great beings, because they intend welfare toward sentient beings, cannot bear their suffering, wish the distinction of success already attained to remain for a long time, and direct the mind equally toward all sentient beings without partiality, make no discrimination such as “This person should be given to; that person should not.” Instead, they give gifts that are the cause of happiness for all sentient beings. Avoiding harm to those sentient beings, they undertake virtue. To fulfill virtue, they resort to renunciation. To avoid confusion about what benefits and harms sentient beings, they purify wisdom. For the welfare and happiness of sentient beings, they constantly arouse energy. Even after attaining heroism through the highest energy, they endure the many kinds of offenses committed by sentient beings. They do not break promises made in such words as “We will give you this; we will do this for you.” They possess an unshakable determination for the welfare and happiness of sentient beings. They act first toward them with unshakable goodwill. Through equanimity they do not expect anything in return. In this way they fulfill the perfections and, in due course, every wholesome quality divided into the ten powers, the four grounds of self-confidence, the six kinds of knowledge not shared with others, and the eighteen qualities of a Buddha. Thus these four divine abodes fulfill every wholesome quality beginning with giving.
Thus, in the Path of Purity, composed to bring joy to good people,
in the Division on the Cultivation of Concentration,
the chapter named “The Exposition of the Divine Abodes”
is the ninth.
Notes
¹ Characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause (lakkhaṇa・rasa・paccupaṭṭhāna・padaṭṭhāna) form the treatise’s fixed fourfold formula for explaining a quality: characteristic is the mark of its own nature, function is what it does, manifestation is the aspect in which it appears, and proximate cause is its nearest cause. The fourfold formula is established in the preceding chapter.
² The Chinese term rendered “escape” in this unit translates two Pāli originals: here nissaraṇa, escape from a particular quality, and later nekkhamma, renunciation of sense desire. Their meanings are distinguishable from context.
³ The five hindrances and the method for suppressing them are established in Chapter 4, in the earth-kasiṇa unit. The present unit only borrows the fixed expression.
⁴ Access concentration (upacāra-samādhi) is a level of concentration in which the hindrances have been suppressed but absorption has not yet been entered; in absorption concentration (appanā-samādhi), the mind enters the object fully and remains unmoved.
⁵ Outflow (nissanda): a later quality that flows from the force and operation of a preceding quality. Here, the divine abode of equanimity is said to flow from the cultivation of the first three divine abodes.
⁶ Here “path of purity” is an ordinary noun phrase, meaning a path of purity practiced by each particular kind of person; it shares the same Pāli form with the title Path of Purity at the end of the chapter but functions differently.
⁷ Three-and-four jhānas (tikacatukkajjhāna) is the collective designation for the first three jhānas in the fourfold scheme and the first four in the fivefold scheme—not “the third and fourth jhānas.”
⁸ Decisive support (upanissaya) is a powerful supporting condition: a preceding quality serves as the strong support for the arising of a subsequent one. It occurs four times in this unit, each in the fixed expression “is the decisive support for . . . and not for anything beyond it.”
四刀合說：語義・診斷表・次第・禪之所屬
大局 — 通論之位
前四單元各修一刀；本單元是論主的四刀合說：語義與相味現起（白話 §1–§2）、共通與不共之用（§3）、近敵遠敵診斷表（§4——全品最該背下來的一頁）、次第與增大與等流（§5–§6）、所屬之禪與八集之難（§7）、最勝與圓滿（§8）。
§01 語義與四行之相味現起 → 白話 §1–§2
先是四名各自的語義（白話 §1）：慈（mettā）二釋——潤澤之義、於友之行相；悲（karuṇā）三釋——他苦時令善人心動、除他苦、以苦者為所依而散；喜（muditā）三釋——具喜者由此喜、自喜、唯是喜；捨（upekkhā）之語源——捨「願彼無怨」等之造作、入於中庸之觀。
再是十六格（白話 §2）逐行認貨：慈以利益行相之轉起為相、引利益為味、調伏瞋恚為現起、見有情可意為近因；悲以除苦行相之轉起為相、不堪他苦為味、不害為現起、見苦者無依為近因；喜以欣悅為相、不嫉為味、破除不樂為現起、見有情成就為近因；捨以中庸行相之轉起為相、見有情平等為味、止息瞋恚與貪著為現起、見業自作性為近因。與之成對的成・失：慈以瞋恚之止息為成、以生愛著為失；悲以害之止息為成、以生憂為失；喜以不樂之止息為成、以生戲笑為失；捨以貪瞋之止息為成、以生無智之世俗捨為失。讀法：相味現起是「認貨」的格子，成失是「用壞了」的警訊——兩表合用，才成一張可操作的診斷底稿。
§02 共通之用與四出離 → 白話 §3
四行共通之用＝觀之樂與有之成就（帶入觀之安樂、成滿善趣之有）；不共之用＝各自之對破：慈破瞋、悲破害、喜破不樂、捨破貪——四出離一刀一鎖，論主以經證釘之（「瞋之出離者，即是慈心解脫」等）。
§03 破執 — 近敵那頁，全品最該背下來〔解碼者的讀法〕 → 白話 §4
近／遠敵表，是這品的核心診斷工具。讀法：遠敵告訴你「別往那邊」，近敵告訴你「小心你以為自己在這邊」。 修慈最常出的錯不是變瞋恨（那一眼看得出不對），而是把對某人「黏著的偏愛」當成慈。慈是「願你安樂，且不依賴你屬於我」；貪愛是「我要你好，因為你是我的」。體溫相近，方向相反。
近敵難破，因為它是加法的贗品：給你一份溫熱的好感覺，你捨不得放，便留下當成就。破它不是再加一層更用力的慈去壓，而是看穿這溫度裡有沒有「黏」與「我的」，一見即鬆手。到第 20 品「十觀染」，你會看見同一結構在更高階位重演（光明、智、喜被誤認為證悟）——四梵住的近敵，是那堂課的入門版。
一句可背的判準（自譯）：「願你安樂」是慈；「願你安樂因為你是我的」是它的近敵。
白話 §4 之表：慈之近敵貪（同見「可愛」之同分）遠敵瞋；悲之近敵依家之憂、遠敵害；喜之近敵依家之悅、遠敵不樂；捨之近敵無智之世俗捨、遠敵貪與瞋——近敵以「同分」相混，遠敵以「異分」相斥，故一近一遠、防法各異。
§04 次第・增大・等流——捨不是冷漠〔讀法〕 → 白話 §5–§7
白話 §6 的次第有道理：慈為底，悲喜立其上，捨最後把前三從「還帶我在用力」提煉成「平等而不費力」。捨不是冷漠，是前三成熟後的溫度——像父母對已成年、各自過得好的子女：關切仍在，不再焦慮介入。
白話 §7 那條「慈悲喜到三禪、捨從四禪起」，對你有一個實用處：若你修慈某天忽然「很平很淡、不再有溫熱的願樂」，那未必是退步，可能是心在往捨那側挪——別急著把溫度逼回來。
正文另二事（白話 §5–§6）。始中終：欲作之欲為始、鎮伏諸蓋為中、安止為終。所緣：施設面為一有情或多有情；增大唯在得近行或安止之後——住處式自一屋起，一屋純熟乃二屋，次第至街、村、國、方，乃至一輪圍界；不取地域之量，於無量有情而修。捨為前三之等流：如柱樑之立於基。並讀「梵住」之得名（最勝義・無過義）、「何以唯四」（四類清淨道與四種作意之配）、母對四子之譬（幼子・病子・盛年之子・自營之子——慈如母之於幼子、悲之於病子、喜之於盛年、捨之於自營者）、慈悲喜捨逐次之因與「何以名無量」（於無量有情轉起）——次第之理方全。
§05 所屬之禪與八集之難 → 白話 §7
慈悲喜依三禪（四分法）／四禪（五分法），捨唯第四（五分法第五）禪。《增支部》八集之難：經文說慈心解脫「有尋有伺」乃至「與捨俱」，豈非慈亦有四禪之位？論主通之：彼是依根本定而轉至其餘所緣之說——非謂慈自身直入捨俱之禪。帳面上最技術的一段，白話 §7 錄其問答之全。
§06 最勝與圓滿・品末 → 白話 §8
四之最勝各有其配：慈於淨解脫、悲於空無邊處、喜於識無邊處、捨於無所有處——逐項有其所以然（悲者見色之過而順於空、喜者取識之悅而順於識、捨者於所緣無執而順於無所有），四者各為其上位之親依。收束是十波羅蜜行相：依四梵住於有情與諸行而施、持戒、出離、修慧、精進、忍、真實、決意、行慈、行捨——十項逐一承四梵住而轉。梵住不是四種好情緒的並列，是能載一切善法的底盤。品末四行為論主之自標（書名・部・品名・第九品之記），非偈頌。
一句話收束：四梵住不是四種好情緒，是四把手術刀，各拆一種煩惱；最難的功夫，是認出那把長得跟刀一模一樣的贗品，然後鬆手。
The Four Scalpels Taken Together: Meanings, Diagnostic Table, Sequence, and Jhāna Assignment
The Big Picture — The Place of the General Discussion
Each of the preceding four units cultivates one scalpel; this unit is the author’s joint discussion of all four scalpels: meanings and characteristic-function-manifestation (Vernacular §1–§2), common and distinctive purposes (§3), the diagnostic table of near and far enemies (§4—the page in the entire chapter most worth committing to memory), sequence, expansion, and outflow (§5–§6), jhāna assignment and the objection from the Book of Eights (§7), and culminations and fulfillment (§8).
§01 Meanings and the Characteristic-Function-Manifestation of the Four Practices → Vernacular §1–§2
First come the meanings of the four names themselves (Vernacular §1). Goodwill (mettā) has two explanations: the sense of moistening and the mode associated with a friend. Compassion (karuṇā) has three: making good people’s hearts tremble when another suffers, removing another’s suffering, and spreading with those who suffer as its basis. Sympathetic joy (muditā) has three: the person possessing it rejoices through it, it rejoices itself, or it is simply joy. The derivation of equanimity (upekkhā) is abandoning the activity expressed in “May they be free from enmity” and the rest and entering the contemplation of neutrality.
Next are sixteen cells (Vernacular §2) for recognizing each practice. Goodwill has the occurrence of the mode of welfare as characteristic, bringing welfare as function, removing ill will as manifestation, and seeing sentient beings as agreeable as proximate cause. Compassion has the occurrence of the mode of removing suffering as characteristic, inability to bear another’s suffering as function, non-harming as manifestation, and seeing the helplessness of those who suffer as proximate cause. Sympathetic joy has gladness as characteristic, non-envy as function, destroying discontent as manifestation, and seeing the success of sentient beings as proximate cause. Equanimity has the occurrence of the mode of neutrality as characteristic, seeing equality among sentient beings as function, the subsiding of ill will and attachment as manifestation, and seeing ownership of kamma as proximate cause. Paired with these are success and failure: goodwill succeeds when ill will subsides and fails when attachment arises; compassion succeeds when harming subsides and fails when grief arises; sympathetic joy succeeds when discontent subsides and fails when merriment arises; equanimity succeeds when attachment and aversion subside and fails when worldly ignorant equanimity arises. The reading rule is this: characteristic, function, and manifestation are cells for recognizing the genuine article; success and failure are warning signs that it has been misused. Only when both tables are used together do they become an operative diagnostic template.
§02 Common Purpose and the Four Escapes → Vernacular §3
The common purpose of the four practices is the happiness of insight and success in existence—bringing ease into insight and completing fortunate existence. Their distinctive purposes are their respective counteractions: goodwill counters ill will, compassion counters harming, sympathetic joy counters discontent, and equanimity counters attachment. The author fixes these four escapes, one scalpel to one lock, with scriptural evidence: “The escape from ill will is precisely the mind-deliverance of goodwill,” and so forth.
§03 Breaking the Fixation — The Page on Near Enemies, the Most Important in the Chapter to Memorize 〔The Decoder’s Reading〕 → Vernacular §4
The table of near and far enemies is this chapter’s central diagnostic tool. The reading rule is: the far enemy tells you, “Do not go over there”; the near enemy tells you, “Take care—you may only think you are over here.” The most common failure in cultivating goodwill is not turning hateful, since that is visibly wrong at once, but mistaking a “sticky partial fondness” for goodwill. Goodwill says, “May you be happy, without depending on your belonging to me.” Attachment says, “I want you to be well because you are mine.” Their temperatures are close, but their directions are opposite.
The near enemy is difficult to break because it is an additive counterfeit: it gives you an extra warm feeling, which you are reluctant to release and therefore keep as an attainment. Breaking it does not mean adding a still more forceful layer of goodwill to suppress it; it means seeing whether this warmth contains stickiness and ‘mine,’ and releasing it as soon as it is seen. In Chapter 20, in the “ten corruptions of insight,” you will see the same structure repeated at a higher level: illumination, knowledge, and rapture are mistaken for awakening. The near enemies of the divine abodes are the introductory version of that lesson.
One criterion worth memorizing, in this edition’s own rendering: “May you be happy” is goodwill; “May you be happy because you are mine” is its near enemy.
The table in Vernacular §4 is as follows. Goodwill’s near enemy is attachment—of the same kind in seeing something “dear”—and its far enemy is ill will. Compassion’s near enemy is house-based grief and its far enemy is harming. Sympathetic joy’s near enemy is house-based glad feeling and its far enemy is discontent. Equanimity’s near enemy is worldly ignorant equanimity and its far enemies are attachment and aversion. Near enemies are confused through “sameness of kind,” whereas far enemies repel through “disparity of kind.” The former is near and the latter far, so their respective safeguards differ.
§04 Sequence, Expansion, and Outflow—Equanimity Is Not Indifference 〔Reading〕 → Vernacular §5–§7
The sequence in Vernacular §6 has a rationale: goodwill is the foundation, compassion and sympathetic joy stand upon it, and equanimity finally refines the first three from “I am still exerting myself” into “impartial and effortless.” Equanimity is not indifference; it is the temperature reached after the first three mature—like parents relating to their grown children who are doing well on their own: care remains, but anxious intervention does not.
The statement in Vernacular §7 that “goodwill, compassion, and sympathetic joy reach the third jhāna, while equanimity begins with the fourth” has a practical use. If goodwill suddenly becomes “very even and very quiet, without the former warmth of wishing well,” that need not be regression. The mind may be shifting toward equanimity—do not rush to force the warmth back.
The body states two further matters (Vernacular §5–§6). Beginning, middle, and end: desire to act is the beginning, suppression of the hindrances the middle, and absorption the end. Object: on the conceptual level it is one sentient being or many; expansion occurs only after access or absorption has been attained. The dwelling formula begins with one dwelling; once one is mastered, it proceeds to two, then in sequence to street, village, kingdom, direction, and an entire world-system. No geographic measure is taken; cultivation proceeds toward immeasurable sentient beings. Equanimity is the outflow of the first three, as pillars and beams establish the basis for rafters. Read alongside this the derivation of “divine abode” from supremacy and faultlessness, “why only four” through the pairing of four paths of purity with four modes of attention, the simile of a mother and four sons—young, ill, in the prime of youth, and attending to his own affairs, corresponding respectively to goodwill, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity—the reason for the successive order of goodwill, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, and why they are called immeasurables because they occur toward immeasurable sentient beings. Only then is the rationale of the sequence complete.
§05 Jhāna Assignment and the Objection from the Book of Eights → Vernacular §7
Goodwill, compassion, and sympathetic joy depend on the first three jhānas in the fourfold scheme and the first four in the fivefold scheme; equanimity belongs only to the fourth in the fourfold scheme and the fifth in the fivefold. The objection from the Book of Eights in the Aṅguttara Nikāya asks: the discourse describes the mind-deliverance of goodwill as “with thought and examination” through “accompanied by equanimity,” so does goodwill itself not also occupy the fourth jhāna? The author resolves it as a statement about turning the root concentration toward other objects, not a claim that goodwill itself directly enters a jhāna accompanied by equanimity. This is the most technical passage on the ledger; Vernacular §7 records its question and answer in full.
§06 Culminations, Fulfillment, and the Chapter’s Close → Vernacular §8
Each practice has its own culmination: goodwill in the liberation of purity, compassion in the base of infinite space, sympathetic joy in the base of infinite consciousness, and equanimity in the base of nothingness. Each pairing has a reason: compassion sees the danger in form and inclines toward space, sympathetic joy takes up the consciousness of joyful sentient beings and inclines toward consciousness, and equanimity releases grasping at its object and inclines toward nothingness. Each practice is the decisive support for its higher attainment. The conclusion gives the modes of the ten perfections: grounded in the four divine abodes toward sentient beings and formations, great beings give, undertake virtue, practice renunciation, cultivate wisdom, arouse energy, endure, keep truth, resolve, act through goodwill, and act through equanimity. Each of the ten proceeds through the four divine abodes. The divine abodes are not a list of four good emotions; they are the platform capable of bearing every wholesome quality. The four lines at the chapter’s end are the author’s own designation of the book title, division, chapter title, and ninth-chapter number, not a verse.
In one sentence: the four divine abodes are not four good emotions but four surgical scalpels, each dismantling a particular defilement; the hardest work is recognizing the counterfeit that looks exactly like the scalpel and then letting it go.
考據Apparatus
一、科判定位
譯底 本單元之譯底＝CSCD（內用不上站）。本層一切巴利逐字取自本單元原典欄之譯底，
定位一式：〔CSCD §NN〕式對譯底欄逐字可核。本品《總覽》movement 表所載之章§皆為
位次之記而無節數，本層不代補、不外推，故一概不繫章§；二系不明對映，本欄不推估、
不換算。本品無自家對頁之巴利，故頁域一概不記。
篇名 本篇之小節題作 ### Pakiṇṇakakathā——雜論。本篇為本品之末篇，四行之篇既訖，
乃就四梵住之通義而論；品末之自標落在本篇之末。
段號域 譯底欄之段號自〔CSCD §263〕至〔CSCD §274〕，實落段號 12 個，其中無缺。
然本篇之開篇一段有文而無號——本篇小節題後、〔CSCD §263〕前之一段（開篇二句之偈
與四梵住之語義釋），譯底欄於其處未落段號（其位當作 [§262] 而標記不在，詳目三）；
其前之號〔CSCD §261〕落在捨之篇，本篇之首號逕作〔CSCD §263〕。
本欄不補號、不引未落之號；該段之文一律以其位指之。
不默示號序連續。該無標段之幅為 678 位元組。
小節 譯底欄自帶 ### 小節 1 個，即本篇之題。本篇之幅為 17,183 位元組，
於本品五篇中居第二，約當四行四篇之和（45,399 位元組）之三分之一強。
前接點 前承捨之篇〔CSCD §261〕；四行之篇各以「此是某某修習之詳論」收，
本篇則不用其式，而以偈起——Brahmuttamena kathite, brahmavihāre ime iti viditvā;
（無標段）——自標其為四行既說之後所應更知者。
品末之自標 譯底欄之末四行作 Iti sādhujanapāmojjatthāya kate visuddhimagge／
Samādhibhāvanādhikāre／Brahmavihāraniddeso nāma／Navamo paricchedo.
——論自繫本品為《清淨道論》定修習一部之第九品。此四行式與第四品之品末同構。
二、詞義與譯語
本目只記本篇用法與其定位；名相定讀以規範詞表為準，詞表所未定者，本目不代定。 前品與本品四行之篇已立之讀不重解——本篇所涉之既立詞為 lakkhaṇa／rasa／ paccupaṭṭhāna／padaṭṭhāna（相／味／現起／近因）·Pakiṇṇaka-kathā（雜論）· paricchedo（品）·somanassa（悅）·domanassa（憂）·appanā（安止）· ārammaṇa（所緣）·ceto-vimutti（心解脫）·tikacatukkajjhāna（三四之禪）。 以下唯列本篇新出者。
四行之語義〔無號〕 論於此以語源之式逐一釋四名；四行之篇皆不作此釋，故此為 四名之義之唯一出處。
| 巴利〔逐字〕 | 本編用語 | 論自釋之要 |
|---|---|---|
mejjatīti mettā, siniyhatīti attho | 慈 | 以「潤澤」釋之 |
Mitte vā bhavā, mittassa vā esā pavattītipi mettā | 慈（第二釋） | 於友而有，或友之所轉 |
Paradukkhe sati sādhūnaṃ hadayakampanaṃ karotīti karuṇā | 悲 | 他苦在時令善人心動 |
Kiṇāti vā paradukkhaṃ hiṃsati vināsetīti karuṇā | 悲（第二釋） | 破他之苦 |
Kiriyati vā dukkhitesu pharaṇavasena pasāriyatīti karuṇā | 悲（第三釋） | 於苦者以遍滿而伸展 |
Modanti tāya taṃsamaṅgino, sayaṃ vā modati, modanamattameva vā tanti muditā | 喜 | 三釋並出：令具者喜・自喜・唯喜 |
''Averā hontū''tiādibyāpārappahānena majjhattabhāvūpagamanena ca upekkhatīti upekkhā | 捨 | 捨「願彼無怨」等之營為而至中庸 |
四相與其成失〔CSCD §263〕
| 行 | 相・味・現起・近因〔逐字〕 | 成就・失壞 |
|---|---|---|
| 慈 | hitākārappavattilakkhaṇā mettā, hitūpasaṃhārarasā, āghātavinayapaccupaṭṭhānā, sattānaṃ manāpabhāvadassanapadaṭṭhānā | Byāpādūpasamo etissā sampatti, sinehasambhavo vipatti |
| 悲 | Dukkhāpanayanākārappavattilakkhaṇā karuṇā, paradukkhāsahanarasā, avihiṃsāpaccupaṭṭhānā, dukkhābhibhūtānaṃ anāthabhāvadassanapadaṭṭhānā | Vihiṃsūpasamo tassā sampatti, sokasambhavo vipatti |
| 喜 | Pamodanalakkhaṇā muditā, anissāyanarasā, arativighātapaccupaṭṭhānā, sattānaṃ sampattidassanapadaṭṭhānā | Arativūpasamo tassā sampatti, pahāsasambhavo vipatti |
| 捨 | Sattesu majjhattākārappavattilakkhaṇā upekkhā, sattesu samabhāvadassanarasā, paṭighānunayavūpasamapaccupaṭṭhānā | Paṭighānunayavūpasamo tassā sampatti, gehasitāya aññāṇupekkhāya sambhavo vipatti |
捨之近因獨長，論以業自作性之見立之：kammassakā sattā, te kassa … ruciyā sukhitā vā bhavissanti, dukkhato vā muccissanti, pattasampattito vā na parihāyissantī ——此即
evaṃ pavattakammassakatādassanapadaṭṭhānā。
通義諸名
| 巴利 | 本編用語 | 本篇用法之要 | 定位 |
|---|---|---|---|
| sampatti・vipatti | 成就・失壞 | 四行各一對；四之失壞逐一異名——愛著・憂愁・戲笑・無智之捨 | 〔CSCD §263〕 |
| sādhāraṇappayojana・āveṇika | 共通之用・不共 | vipassanāsukhañceva bhavasampatti ca sādhāraṇappayojanaṃ；Byāpādādipaṭighāto āveṇikaṃ | 〔CSCD §264〕 |
| nissaraṇa | 出離 | 所引聖典之定型：慈為瞋之出離，悲為害之出離，喜為不樂之出離，捨為貪之出離 | 〔CSCD §264〕 |
| āsannapaccatthika | 近敵 | Ekekassa cettha āsannadūravasena dve dve paccatthikā——一行各二敵。慈之近敵為貪，悲為依家之憂，喜為依家之悅，捨為依家之無智捨 | 〔CSCD §265〕 |
| dūrapaccatthika | 遠敵 | 慈之遠敵為瞋，悲為害，喜為不樂，捨為貪與瞋 | 〔CSCD §265〕 |
| gehasita domanassa・gehasita somanassa | 依家之憂・依家之悅 | 二者皆自所引之聖典取名，論並錄其全定義句 | 〔CSCD §265〕 |
| gehasitā aññāṇupekkhā | 依家之無智捨 | 捨之近敵；dosaguṇāvicāraṇavasena sabhāgattā——以不辨過德故與捨同分 | 〔CSCD §265〕 |
| ādi・majjha・pariyosāna | 始・中・終 | kattukāmatā chando ādi, nīvaraṇādivikkhambhanaṃ majjhaṃ, appanā pariyosānaṃ | 〔CSCD §266〕 |
| ārammaṇavaḍḍhana | 所緣之增大 | 自一住處而二而三，乃至一輪圍或過之 | 〔CSCD §266〕 |
| nissanda | 等流 | purimabrahmavihārattayanissando ettha upekkhābrahmavihāro——捨為前三之等流；論並舉遍之等流為無色等四例為比 | 〔CSCD §267〕 |
| seṭṭhaṭṭha・niddosabhāva | 最勝之義・無過之性 | 「梵住」一名之二由：seṭṭhaṭṭhena tāva niddosabhāvena cettha brahmavihāratā veditabbā | 〔CSCD §268〕 |
| visuddhimagga（普通名詞位） | 清淨之道 | mettā byāpādabahulassa … visuddhimaggo——四行各為一類人之清淨之道。同一詞於品末之自標作書名之處格 visuddhimagge，二用異位（見目五） | 〔CSCD §269〕 |
| appamaññā | 無量 | Appamāṇā hi sattā etāsaṃ gocarabhūtā——以無量有情為境故名。論自標此名出於論藏 | 〔CSCD §269〕 |
| avasesaekajjhānika | 唯餘一禪 | 捨之所屬：Pacchimā pana avasesaekajjhānikāva——前三唯三四之禪，捨唯其餘之一禪 | 〔CSCD §270〕 |
| byañjanacchāyāmatta | 唯文之影 | 斥難之語：byañjanacchāyāmattaṃ gahetvā mā bhagavantaṃ abbhācikkhi——勿唯取文之影而誣世尊 | 〔CSCD §271〕 |
| mūlasamādhi | 根本定 | 論釋所難之經之意趣之樞紐：niyakajjhattavasena cittekaggatāmatto mūlasamādhi vutto | 〔CSCD §272〕 |
| arahattanikūṭa | 阿羅漢果之頂 | arahattanikūṭena desanaṃ samāpesi——論自標彼經以阿羅漢果為頂而結 | 〔CSCD §272〕 |
| subhaparama | 淨最勝 | 慈之極；Iti mettā subhavimokkhassa upanissayo hoti, na tato paraṃ | 〔CSCD §273〕 |
| ākāsānañcāyatanaparama | 空無邊處最勝 | 悲之極；由見色之過而心趣於空 | 〔CSCD §273〕 |
| viññāṇañcāyatanaparama | 識無邊處最勝 | 喜之極；由取有情之識而心習於識 | 〔CSCD §273〕 |
| ākiñcaññāyatanaparama | 無所有處最勝 | 捨之極；由離勝義之執取而心趣於識之無 | 〔CSCD §273〕 |
| upanissaya | 親依 | 上四之定型：upanissayo hoti, na tato paraṃ，本篇實測 4 見 | 〔CSCD §273〕 |
| pāramī | 波羅蜜 | 論不列其名而以十行相出之，終以 evaṃ pāramiyo pūretvā 收（見目五之丙） | 〔CSCD §274〕 |
| dasabala・catuvesārajja・chaasādhāraṇañāṇa・aṭṭhārasabuddhadhamma | 十力・四無所畏・六不共智・十八佛法 | 一複合詞並舉之：dasabalacatuvesārajjachaasādhāraṇañāṇaaṭṭhārasabuddhadhammappabhede | 〔CSCD §274〕 |
規範詞表須併觀之一處 brahmavihāra 規範詞表並列「梵住」與「四無量心」二讀，
而譯底欄於本篇明分二名之由——brahmavihārā 之名依最勝與無過〔CSCD §268〕，
appamaññā 之名依所緣之無量〔CSCD §269〕，且後者論自標為論藏之語。二名不同源，
本目依論自釋分列，不合為一語。誌之不判。
三、異讀
材料之面 本篇無自家對頁之巴利，故無校勘段可錄；可查之面唯譯底欄自身。誌錄不判。
普查之實測 譯底欄全篇逐字普查：異讀括注式（(sī.)・(syā.)・(kaṃ.)・(pī.) 等）
零命中；異誦之標識詞 pāṭho 零命中；方括注唯 [§NN] 段號一式，
無一為異讀之記。全篇之圓括注 7 處，逐一檢之，皆為所引之出處標記，無一載異讀。
查無即記無：譯底欄自身無異讀之記。
段號之一缺——文在而號未落 本篇小節題後、〔CSCD §263〕前之開篇一段（偈二句與
四梵住之語義釋，共 678 位元組），譯底欄於其處未落段號：其位當作 [§262] 而譯底欄
無此標記，下一號逕作 [§263]。此為清檔標號之缺，非文之缺——其文完具，唯號未落。
本欄之處置有三：①不補號；②不引未落之號——該段既不繫其前一篇之號（彼號屬捨之篇），
亦不以推估之號引之，故本層全檔無一處以段號引該段；③該段之文一律以其位指之
（本篇小節題後、〔CSCD §263〕前之無標段）。不默示號序連續。
此為段號之記，非異讀，誌之不改、不補。
本欄自出之一處異形 visuddhimagga 一詞於本篇二用而異其格與義——〔CSCD §269〕
作主格 visuddhimaggo，為普通名詞（四行各為一類人之清淨之道）；品末之自標作處格
visuddhimagge，為書名。同形異用，非異讀，誌之不判。
掃描面之界 本欄之查唯及譯底欄一面；他本之對勘不在本欄之面，本欄不代考定， 亦不以本欄之零命中推斷他本。
四、論主引據
論主自引之處，逐處繫段號錨；出處唯本文自標者記之，不代考定。「本文自標之出處」欄 之括注逐字照錄。
| 位置 | 引式〔逐字〕 | 所引之要 | 本文自標之出處 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〔CSCD §264〕 | Vuttampi cetaṃ –／''Nissaraṇañhetaṃ, āvuso, byāpādassa yadidaṃ mettā cetovimutti. | 四行各為一煩惱之出離 | (dī. ni. 3.326; a. ni. 6.13) |
| 〔CSCD §265〕 | ''cakkhuviññeyyānaṃ rūpānaṃ iṭṭhānaṃ kantānaṃ manāpānaṃ manoramānaṃ lokāmisapaṭisaṃyuttānaṃ appaṭilābhaṃ vā appaṭilābhato samanupassato | 依家之憂之定義 | (ma. ni. 3.307) |
| 〔CSCD §265〕 | ''cakkhuviññeyyānaṃ rūpānaṃ iṭṭhānaṃ…pe… lokāmisapaṭisaṃyuttānaṃ paṭilābhaṃ vā paṭilābhato samanupassato | 依家之悅之定義 | (ma. ni. 3.306) |
| 〔CSCD §265〕 | ''cakkhunā rūpaṃ disvā uppajjati upekkhā bālassa mūḷhassa puthujjanassa | 依家之無智捨之定義 | (ma. ni. 3.308) |
| 〔CSCD §271〕 | 'tato tvaṃ bhikkhu imaṃ samādhiṃ savitakkampi savicāraṃ bhāveyyāsi, | 難者所引——八集之四無量無差別而說四五禪 | (a. ni. 8.63) |
| 〔CSCD §272〕 | Tatheva ca abhidhamme | 論藏之分亦如是 | (dha. sa. 251 ādayo; vibha. 673 ādayo) |
| 〔CSCD §273〕 | Yathāha – ''subhaparamāhaṃ, bhikkhave, mettaṃ cetovimuttiṃ vadāmi. | 四行之極——淨・空無邊處・識無邊處・無所有處 | (saṃ. ni. 5.235) |
經名之自標一處 〔CSCD §273〕論自標上引之經名作 Haliddavasanasuttasmiṃ
——本篇唯此一處自標經名。其漢語定讀本目不代立。
未繫括注之引 〔CSCD §272〕之 ''sādhu me, bhante, bhagavā saṃkhittena dhammaṃ desetu
（比丘請法之語）與其下 ''tasmātiha te bhikkhu evaṃ sikkhitabbaṃ（世尊之誡）等，
皆為上〔CSCD §271〕所引之經之本事，論引之以顯其意趣而未別繫號；其號即前處之括注。
引式之數〔本欄實測〕 Vuttampi cetaṃ 1 處・Yathāha 1 處・Tena vuttaṃ 1 處。
本文自標之圓括注出處 7 處，析為 9 個出處分項，就其標識分：ma. ni. 3・a. ni. 2・
dī. ni. 1・dha. sa. 1・vibha. 1（一括注載二出處以上者，逐項計入）。
本篇之引皆為短引而繫其定義，無本生類——與慈之篇（本生類 8 分項）成對。
此數唯就本篇之域，不及全書。
一處可核之互見 vibha. 673 一號於本品二見：捨之篇繫之於捨之遍滿式，
本篇〔CSCD §272〕繫之於論藏之禪之分。號同而所證異，誌之不判。
五、譬喻·修辭
本目只記本篇譬喻之所在與其所配，不作文學評價。
甲・譬喻
| 位置 | 譬喻 | 所配之義 |
|---|---|---|
| 〔CSCD §265〕 | samīpacāro viya purisassa sapatto | 近敵如人之敵而行於近處——so lahuṃ otāraṃ labhati，故於此當善護 |
| 〔CSCD §265〕 | Pabbatādigahananissito viya purisassa sapatto | 遠敵如人之敵而依山等險處——故於彼可無畏而修 |
| 〔CSCD §266〕 | yathā hi kusalo kassako kasitabbaṭṭhānaṃ paricchinditvā kasati | 增大所緣之次第：如巧農先劃所耕之處而後耕 |
| 〔CSCD §267〕 | Yathā hi thambhe anussāpetvā tulāsaṅghāṭaṃ anāropetvā na sakkā ākāse kūṭagopānasiyo ṭhapetuṃ | 不立柱、不安樑則椽無所託——喻前三無第三禪則第四不可修 |
| 〔CSCD §269〕 | yathā mātā daharagilānayobbanappattasakiccapasutesu catūsu puttesu | 母於幼・病・盛年・自營四子之四心，喻四行之四作意 |
乙・非喻而為類比之一處 〔CSCD §267〕之 Yathā pana kasiṇānaṃ nissando āruppā, samādhinissando nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṃ, vipassanānissando phalasamāpatti, samathavipassanānissando nirodhasamāpatti——四等流之例，論以之立捨為前三之等流。
其式為並列之類推，不作物喻，故別記於此。
丙・修辭之可核觀察 ①近敵遠敵四家之收句一律作「……而……，無有是處」之式，
aṭṭhānametaṃ 本欄實測 4 見，全在〔CSCD §265〕一段之內，四家各一。
②四行之極四家之收句一律作 upanissayo hoti, na tato paraṃ，實測 4 見，
全在〔CSCD §273〕一段之內。③〔CSCD §269〕之四句偈 Visuddhimaggādivasā catasso,
先出以標其答，後出以結其說——同偈二見，為本篇獨有之修辭；本篇之縮排偈行
計 10 行，即此偈八行與開篇二句。④viya 全篇 2 見（詞界），皆在〔CSCD §265〕；
yathā 小寫 2 見〔CSCD §266〕·〔CSCD §269〕，大寫 Yathā 3 見〔CSCD §267〕二見·
〔CSCD §268〕一見。⑤省略式 …pe… 2 見〔CSCD §265〕·〔CSCD §272〕。
⑥kira 1 見〔CSCD §272〕，在轉述彼比丘之本事處。⑦〔CSCD §274〕之十波羅蜜，
論不出其名而以十行相之動詞出之——dānaṃ denti・sīlaṃ samādiyanti・
nekkhammaṃ bhajanti・paññaṃ pariyodapenti・vīriyamārabhanti・aparādhaṃ khamanti・
paṭiññaṃ na visaṃvādenti・avicalādhiṭṭhānā honti・avicalāya mettāya pubbakārino honti・
Upekkhāya paccupakāraṃ nāsīsantī，終以 evaṃ pāramiyo pūretvā 收。
⑧四行之名於本篇之分佈（小寫形）：mettā 23・upekkhā 20・karuṇā 16・muditā 11
——四名之出俱屬本篇之最，與四行之四篇各主一名者異其體。
以上諸數唯就本篇之域實測，不及全書。
六、章內互讀
每指皆帶段號錨；所指之處唯就本篇文中可核之名相立——本篇之段號與章§二系不明對映， 故所指不繫章§，亦不推估換算。不代考定。
| 本篇之處 | 所指 | 可核之由 |
|---|---|---|
無標段之開篇偈 Bhiyyo etesu ayaṃ, pakiṇṇakakathāpi viññeyyā. | 本品四行之四篇 | 論自標本篇為四行既說之後所應更知者 |
| 〔CSCD §263〕 四行之相味現起近因 | 本品四行之四篇 | 四行之相於彼四篇未立，唯此處立之 |
〔CSCD §264〕 vipassanāsukhañceva bhavasampatti ca sādhāraṇappayojanaṃ | 慧之諸品 | 觀之樂為四行之共通之用，其開演不在本品 |
〔CSCD §266〕 nīvaraṇādivikkhambhanaṃ majjhaṃ | 地遍之品 | 五蓋之立與鎮伏在彼 |
〔CSCD §267〕 Yathā pana kasiṇānaṃ nissando āruppā | 遍之諸品・無色之品 | 遍與無色之開演不在本品，此唯借其等流為比 |
〔CSCD §267〕 samathavipassanānissando nirodhasamāpatti | 神變與滅盡定之諸品 | 滅盡定之開演不在本品 |
〔CSCD §270〕 purimā tisso tikacatukkajjhānikāva honti | 慈之篇〔CSCD §253〕·悲之篇〔CSCD §259〕·喜之篇〔CSCD §260〕 | 前三所達之禪於彼三篇既說 |
〔CSCD §270〕 Pacchimā pana avasesaekajjhānikāva | 捨之篇〔CSCD §261〕 | 捨唯第四禪於彼篇既說 |
〔CSCD §273〕 pathavīkasiṇādīsu aññataraṃ ugghāṭetvā rūpanissaraṇe ākāse cittaṃ upasaṃharato | 地遍之品・無色之品 | 除遍而入空之法，其開演不在本品 |
〔CSCD §274〕 dānādīnaṃ sabbakalyāṇadhammānaṃ paripūrikā | 戒之諸品 | 施戒之開演不在本品 |
品末 Samādhibhāvanādhikāre | 定修習一部 | 論自繫本品於定修習一部之下 |
七、傳本
作者、傳本與注疏源流諸問題，本編不於考據內立說。
I. Placement in the Outline
Base text This unit’s base is CSCD (internal, not for publication). Every Pāli passage in this layer is copied verbatim from the base in this unit’s source column.
There is one form of location: 〔CSCD §NN〕, byte-verifiable against the base column. Every chapter-and-section entry in this chapter’s Overview movement table records
position only and has no section number; this layer neither supplies nor extrapolates one, so no chapter-and-section locus is attached. The mapping between the two systems is unknown; this apparatus neither estimates
nor converts it. This chapter has no in-house page-matched Pāli, so no page range is recorded.
Unit title The unit heading is ### Pakiṇṇakakathā—the Miscellany Discussion. This is the last unit in the chapter; the four individual practice units have ended,
and the common meanings of the four divine abodes are now discussed. The chapter’s own closing designation occurs at the end of this unit.
Paragraph-number range The paragraph numbers in the base column run from 〔CSCD §263〕 through 〔CSCD §274〕; twelve paragraph numbers are actually present, with no gap among them.
The opening paragraph of this unit, however, has text but no number—the paragraph after the unit subheading and before 〔CSCD §263〕, containing the opening two-line verse
and the explanations of the meanings of the four divine abodes. The base column supplies no paragraph number there (its position would be [§262], but that marker is absent; see Heading III).
The preceding number, 〔CSCD §261〕, occurs in the equanimity unit, and the first number in this unit is directly 〔CSCD §263〕.
This apparatus neither supplies a number nor cites one that is not present, and always identifies the paragraph by its position.
No continuity of numbering is implied. The unnumbered paragraph occupies 678 bytes.
Subheadings The base column carries one ### subheading: the title of this unit. The unit occupies 17,183 bytes,
making it the second largest of the chapter’s five units and slightly more than one third the combined size of the four practice units, which occupy 45,399 bytes.
Connection before The equanimity unit precedes at 〔CSCD §261〕. Each of the four practice units closes with “This is the detailed discussion of the cultivation of such-and-such,”
whereas this unit does not use that formula but begins with a verse—Brahmuttamena kathite, brahmavihāre ime iti viditvā;
(unnumbered paragraph)—which itself marks this unit as something further to be known after the four practices have been stated.
The chapter’s own closing designation The final four lines of the base column read Iti sādhujanapāmojjatthāya kate visuddhimagge／
Samādhibhāvanādhikāre／Brahmavihāraniddeso nāma／Navamo paricchedo.
The treatise itself thus assigns this chapter as Chapter 9 within the Division on the Cultivation of Concentration in the Path of Purity. The four-line formula has the same structure as the closing designation in Chapter 4.
II. Terms and Renderings
This heading records only how terms function and are located in this unit. The normative glossary governs their reading, and this heading does not decide terms not settled there. Readings already established in the preceding chapter and in this chapter’s four practice units are not re-explained: lakkhaṇa／rasa／ paccupaṭṭhāna／padaṭṭhāna (characteristic／function／manifestation／proximate cause), Pakiṇṇaka-kathā (Miscellany Discussion), paricchedo (chapter), somanassa (glad feeling), domanassa (grief), appanā (absorption), ārammaṇa (object), ceto-vimutti (mind-deliverance), and tikacatukkajjhāna (three-and-four jhānas). Only terms new to this unit are listed below.
Meanings of the four practices 〔No number〕 Here the treatise explains each of the four names through formulas of derivation. None of the four individual practice units gives these explanations, so this is the sole source for the meanings of the four names.
| Pāli 〔verbatim〕 | This Edition’s Term | Essential Point in the Treatise’s Own Explanation |
|---|---|---|
mejjatīti mettā, siniyhatīti attho | goodwill | explained by “moistening” |
Mitte vā bhavā, mittassa vā esā pavattītipi mettā | goodwill (second explanation) | existing in a friend or being a friend’s activity |
Paradukkhe sati sādhūnaṃ hadayakampanaṃ karotīti karuṇā | compassion | making the hearts of good people tremble when another suffers |
Kiṇāti vā paradukkhaṃ hiṃsati vināsetīti karuṇā | compassion (second explanation) | breaking another’s suffering |
Kiriyati vā dukkhitesu pharaṇavasena pasāriyatīti karuṇā | compassion (third explanation) | being extended among those who suffer by way of pervasion |
Modanti tāya taṃsamaṅgino, sayaṃ vā modati, modanamattameva vā tanti muditā | sympathetic joy | three explanations together: making the person endowed with it rejoice・rejoicing itself・being simply joy |
''Averā hontū''tiādibyāpārappahānena majjhattabhāvūpagamanena ca upekkhatīti upekkhā | equanimity | abandoning the activity expressed in “May they be free from enmity” and the rest and proceeding to neutrality |
The four characteristics and their success and failure 〔CSCD §263〕
| Practice | Characteristic, Function, Manifestation, and Proximate Cause 〔verbatim〕 | Success and Failure |
|---|---|---|
| goodwill | hitākārappavattilakkhaṇā mettā, hitūpasaṃhārarasā, āghātavinayapaccupaṭṭhānā, sattānaṃ manāpabhāvadassanapadaṭṭhānā | Byāpādūpasamo etissā sampatti, sinehasambhavo vipatti |
| compassion | Dukkhāpanayanākārappavattilakkhaṇā karuṇā, paradukkhāsahanarasā, avihiṃsāpaccupaṭṭhānā, dukkhābhibhūtānaṃ anāthabhāvadassanapadaṭṭhānā | Vihiṃsūpasamo tassā sampatti, sokasambhavo vipatti |
| sympathetic joy | Pamodanalakkhaṇā muditā, anissāyanarasā, arativighātapaccupaṭṭhānā, sattānaṃ sampattidassanapadaṭṭhānā | Arativūpasamo tassā sampatti, pahāsasambhavo vipatti |
| equanimity | Sattesu majjhattākārappavattilakkhaṇā upekkhā, sattesu samabhāvadassanarasā, paṭighānunayavūpasamapaccupaṭṭhānā | Paṭighānunayavūpasamo tassā sampatti, gehasitāya aññāṇupekkhāya sambhavo vipatti |
Equanimity alone has a lengthy proximate cause. The treatise establishes it through seeing ownership of kamma: kammassakā sattā, te kassa … ruciyā sukhitā vā bhavissanti, dukkhato vā muccissanti, pattasampattito vā na parihāyissantī—this is precisely
evaṃ pavattakammassakatādassanapadaṭṭhānā.
Terms in the General Discussion
| Pāli | Rendering | Usage in this unit | Locus |
|---|---|---|---|
| sampatti・vipatti | success・failure | one pair for each practice; the four failures are individually named as attachment, grief, merriment, and ignorant equanimity | 〔CSCD §263〕 |
| sādhāraṇappayojana・āveṇika | common purpose・distinctive | vipassanāsukhañceva bhavasampatti ca sādhāraṇappayojanaṃ; Byāpādādipaṭighāto āveṇikaṃ | 〔CSCD §264〕 |
| nissaraṇa | escape | fixed formula in the cited passage: goodwill is the escape from ill will, compassion from harming, sympathetic joy from discontent, and equanimity from attachment | 〔CSCD §264〕 |
| āsannapaccatthika | near enemy | Ekekassa cettha āsannadūravasena dve dve paccatthikā—two enemies for each practice. Goodwill’s near enemy is attachment, compassion’s house-based grief, sympathetic joy’s house-based glad feeling, and equanimity’s house-based ignorant equanimity | 〔CSCD §265〕 |
| dūrapaccatthika | far enemy | goodwill’s far enemy is ill will, compassion’s harming, sympathetic joy’s discontent, and equanimity’s attachment and aversion | 〔CSCD §265〕 |
| gehasita domanassa・gehasita somanassa | house-based grief・house-based glad feeling | both names come from the cited canonical passages, and the treatise records their full defining sentences | 〔CSCD §265〕 |
| gehasitā aññāṇupekkhā | house-based ignorant equanimity | equanimity’s near enemy; dosaguṇāvicāraṇavasena sabhāgattā—it is of the same kind because it does not distinguish danger and good qualities | 〔CSCD §265〕 |
| ādi・majjha・pariyosāna | beginning・middle・end | kattukāmatā chando ādi, nīvaraṇādivikkhambhanaṃ majjhaṃ, appanā pariyosānaṃ | 〔CSCD §266〕 |
| ārammaṇavaḍḍhana | expansion of the object | from one dwelling to two and three, up to an entire world-system or beyond it | 〔CSCD §266〕 |
| nissanda | outflow | purimabrahmavihārattayanissando ettha upekkhābrahmavihāro—equanimity is the outflow of the first three; the treatise also gives the immaterial attainments as the outflow of the kasiṇas and three further examples for comparison | 〔CSCD §267〕 |
| seṭṭhaṭṭha・niddosabhāva | meaning of supremacy・faultless nature | two grounds for the name “divine abode”: seṭṭhaṭṭhena tāva niddosabhāvena cettha brahmavihāratā veditabbā | 〔CSCD §268〕 |
| visuddhimagga (ordinary-noun position) | path of purity | mettā byāpādabahulassa … visuddhimaggo—each practice is the path of purity for a particular kind of person. At the chapter’s close the same word occurs in the locative visuddhimagge as the book title, in a different position and use (see Heading V) | 〔CSCD §269〕 |
| appamaññā | immeasurable | Appamāṇā hi sattā etāsaṃ gocarabhūtā—the name comes from having immeasurable sentient beings as domain. The treatise itself states that this designation comes from the Abhidhamma | 〔CSCD §269〕 |
| avasesaekajjhānika | belonging only to the remaining single jhāna | assignment of equanimity: Pacchimā pana avasesaekajjhānikāva—the first three belong only to the three-and-four jhānas, equanimity only to the single remaining jhāna | 〔CSCD §270〕 |
| byañjanacchāyāmatta | merely the shadow of the wording | expression dismissing the objection: byañjanacchāyāmattaṃ gahetvā mā bhagavantaṃ abbhācikkhi—do not take merely the shadow of the wording and misrepresent the Blessed One | 〔CSCD §271〕 |
| mūlasamādhi | root concentration | pivot of the treatise’s explanation of the cited discourse’s intent: niyakajjhattavasena cittekaggatāmatto mūlasamādhi vutto | 〔CSCD §272〕 |
| arahattanikūṭa | summit of arahantship | arahattanikūṭena desanaṃ samāpesi—the treatise itself marks that discourse as concluding at the summit of arahantship | 〔CSCD §272〕 |
| subhaparama | purity as supreme | culmination of goodwill: Iti mettā subhavimokkhassa upanissayo hoti, na tato paraṃ | 〔CSCD §273〕 |
| ākāsānañcāyatanaparama | base of infinite space as supreme | culmination of compassion: from seeing the danger in form, the mind inclines toward space | 〔CSCD §273〕 |
| viññāṇañcāyatanaparama | base of infinite consciousness as supreme | culmination of sympathetic joy: from apprehending the consciousness of sentient beings, the mind becomes accustomed to consciousness | 〔CSCD §273〕 |
| ākiñcaññāyatanaparama | base of nothingness as supreme | culmination of equanimity: from leaving behind grasping at ultimate realities, the mind inclines toward the absence of consciousness | 〔CSCD §273〕 |
| upanissaya | decisive support | fixed formula for the four preceding culminations: upanissayo hoti, na tato paraṃ, measured four times in this unit | 〔CSCD §273〕 |
| pāramī | perfection | the treatise does not list their names but expresses them through ten modes of action, closing with evaṃ pāramiyo pūretvā (see C under Heading V) | 〔CSCD §274〕 |
| dasabala・catuvesārajja・chaasādhāraṇañāṇa・aṭṭhārasabuddhadhamma | ten powers・four grounds of self-confidence・six kinds of knowledge not shared with others・eighteen qualities of a Buddha | listed together in one compound: dasabalacatuvesārajjachaasādhāraṇañāṇaaṭṭhārasabuddhadhammappabhede | 〔CSCD §274〕 |
One place to be read together with the normative glossary For brahmavihāra, the normative glossary gives both “divine abode” and “four immeasurables,”
whereas the base column in this unit explicitly gives different grounds for the two names: brahmavihārā from supremacy and faultlessness at 〔CSCD §268〕,
and appamaññā from the immeasurability of the object at 〔CSCD §269〕; the treatise itself further identifies the latter as a term of the Abhidhamma. The two names arise from different grounds.
This heading lists them separately according to the treatise’s own explanations and does not merge them into a single expression. The fact is recorded without adjudication.
III. Variant Readings
Scope of materials This unit has no in-house page-matched Pāli, so there is no collation block to record; the only searchable surface is the base column itself. The record does not adjudicate.
Measured complete survey A byte-level survey of the entire unit in the base column found zero occurrences of parenthetical variant markers such as (sī.), (syā.), (kaṃ.), and (pī.);
zero occurrences of the variant-recitation marker pāṭho; and only one form of square-bracket annotation, the paragraph number [§NN],
none of which records a variant. The entire unit has seven parenthetical annotations; each identifies the source of a citation, and none records a variant.
No finding is recorded as none: the base column itself contains no record of a variant reading.
One missing paragraph number—the text is present but the number is not The opening paragraph after this unit’s subheading and before 〔CSCD §263〕, comprising a two-line verse and
the explanations of the meanings of the four divine abodes and occupying 678 bytes, has no paragraph number in the base column. Its position would be [§262], but the base column
has no such marker; the next number is directly [§263]. This is a missing number in the clean file, not missing text—the text is complete; only the number is absent.
This apparatus handles it in three ways: first, it does not supply the number; second, it does not cite a number that is not present—the paragraph is neither attached to the number in the preceding unit,
which belongs to the equanimity unit, nor cited under an estimated number, so no place in this apparatus cites that paragraph by a paragraph number; third, its text is always identified by position,
as the unnumbered paragraph after this unit’s subheading and before 〔CSCD §263〕. No continuity of numbering is implied.
This is a record of paragraph numbering, not a variant reading; it is recorded without correction or supplementation.
One inflectional distinction arising within this column The word visuddhimagga has two uses in this unit with different case and meaning. At 〔CSCD §269〕,
the nominative visuddhimaggo is an ordinary noun phrase, meaning a path of purity for each of the four practices; in the chapter’s own closing designation, the locative
visuddhimagge is the book title. The same form has different uses; this is not a variant reading and is recorded without adjudication.
Boundary of the scan This survey reaches only the single surface of the base column; collation against other witnesses lies outside its scope, and this apparatus does not determine such readings independently, nor does it infer anything about other witnesses from the zero occurrences in this column.
IV. The Commentator’s Citations
Each self-citation by the author is attached to a paragraph-number anchor. A source is recorded only when the body identifies it itself; no source is determined independently. Parenthetical annotations in the “Source Identified by the Body” column are copied verbatim.
| Location | Citation Form 〔verbatim〕 | Essential Point Cited | Source Identified by the Body |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〔CSCD §264〕 | Vuttampi cetaṃ –／''Nissaraṇañhetaṃ, āvuso, byāpādassa yadidaṃ mettā cetovimutti. | each practice is the escape from one defilement | (dī. ni. 3.326; a. ni. 6.13) |
| 〔CSCD §265〕 | ''cakkhuviññeyyānaṃ rūpānaṃ iṭṭhānaṃ kantānaṃ manāpānaṃ manoramānaṃ lokāmisapaṭisaṃyuttānaṃ appaṭilābhaṃ vā appaṭilābhato samanupassato | definition of house-based grief | (ma. ni. 3.307) |
| 〔CSCD §265〕 | ''cakkhuviññeyyānaṃ rūpānaṃ iṭṭhānaṃ…pe… lokāmisapaṭisaṃyuttānaṃ paṭilābhaṃ vā paṭilābhato samanupassato | definition of house-based glad feeling | (ma. ni. 3.306) |
| 〔CSCD §265〕 | ''cakkhunā rūpaṃ disvā uppajjati upekkhā bālassa mūḷhassa puthujjanassa | definition of house-based ignorant equanimity | (ma. ni. 3.308) |
| 〔CSCD §271〕 | 'tato tvaṃ bhikkhu imaṃ samādhiṃ savitakkampi savicāraṃ bhāveyyāsi, | the objector’s citation: the Book of Eights speaks of all four immeasurables without distinction as belonging to the jhānas of both the fourfold and fivefold schemes | (a. ni. 8.63) |
| 〔CSCD §272〕 | Tatheva ca abhidhamme | the Abhidhamma’s analysis is the same | (dha. sa. 251 ādayo; vibha. 673 ādayo) |
| 〔CSCD §273〕 | Yathāha – ''subhaparamāhaṃ, bhikkhave, mettaṃ cetovimuttiṃ vadāmi. | the culminations of the four practices: purity, the base of infinite space, the base of infinite consciousness, and the base of nothingness | (saṃ. ni. 5.235) |
One self-identified discourse title At 〔CSCD §273〕, the treatise identifies the title of the cited discourse as Haliddavasanasuttasmiṃ.
This is the only place in the unit where a discourse title is self-identified. This heading does not independently establish a translated title.
Citations without separate parenthetical annotations At 〔CSCD §272〕, ''sādhu me, bhante, bhagavā saṃkhittena dhammaṃ desetu
(the bhikkhu’s request for a teaching) and ''tasmātiha te bhikkhu evaṃ sikkhitabbaṃ below it (the Blessed One’s instruction), among others,
all belong to the narrative of the discourse cited above at 〔CSCD §271〕. The treatise cites them to clarify its intent without attaching a separate number; their number is the parenthetical annotation at the preceding place.
Number of citation formulas, measured in this column There is one occurrence each of Vuttampi cetaṃ, Yathāha, and Tena vuttaṃ.
The body has seven parenthetical source annotations, containing nine source items. By label, they comprise ma. ni. 3, a. ni. 2,
dī. ni. 1, dha. sa. 1, and vibha. 1; where a single annotation carries more than one source, each item is counted separately.
All the citations in this unit are short and attached to definitions; none belongs to the jātaka class—contrasting with the goodwill unit, which has eight jātaka-class source items.
These counts apply only within this unit, not to the work as a whole.
One verifiable cross-reference The number vibha. 673 occurs twice in this chapter: in the equanimity unit it is attached to the formula for pervasion with equanimity,
while here at 〔CSCD §272〕 it is attached to the Abhidhamma’s analysis of the jhānas. The number is the same and what it supports differs. The fact is recorded without adjudication.
V. Similes and Rhetoric
This heading records only where the unit’s similes occur and what they illustrate; it offers no literary evaluation.
A. Similes
| Location | Simile | Point Illustrated |
|---|---|---|
| 〔CSCD §265〕 | samīpacāro viya purisassa sapatto | the near enemy is like a person’s enemy who moves nearby—so lahuṃ otāraṃ labhati, so the practice must be well guarded against it |
| 〔CSCD §265〕 | Pabbatādigahananissito viya purisassa sapatto | the far enemy is like a person’s enemy sheltering in mountain fastnesses and the like—so the practice can be cultivated fearlessly with respect to it |
| 〔CSCD §266〕 | yathā hi kusalo kassako kasitabbaṭṭhānaṃ paricchinditvā kasati | order of expansion of the object: like a skilled farmer who first delimits the place to be plowed and then plows it |
| 〔CSCD §267〕 | Yathā hi thambhe anussāpetvā tulāsaṅghāṭaṃ anāropetvā na sakkā ākāse kūṭagopānasiyo ṭhapetuṃ | without erecting pillars and setting the beams upon them, rafters have no support—likewise, without the third jhāna in the first three practices, the fourth cannot be cultivated |
| 〔CSCD §269〕 | yathā mātā daharagilānayobbanappattasakiccapasutesu catūsu puttesu | a mother’s four attitudes toward four sons—young, ill, in the prime of youth, and attending to his own affairs—illustrate the four modes of attention in the four practices |
B. One analogy that is not a simile At 〔CSCD §267〕, Yathā pana kasiṇānaṃ nissando āruppā, samādhinissando nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṃ, vipassanānissando phalasamāpatti, samathavipassanānissando nirodhasamāpatti gives four examples of outflow, by analogy with which the treatise establishes equanimity as the outflow of the first three practices.
Its form is a parallel analogy, not a concrete simile, so it is recorded separately here.
C. Verifiable observations on rhetoric First, all four near-and-far-enemy sections close with the formula “that someone should . . . and yet . . . is impossible.”
aṭṭhānametaṃ is measured four times in this column, all within 〔CSCD §265〕, once for each practice.
Second, all four sections on the culmination of the practices close with upanissayo hoti, na tato paraṃ, measured four times,
all within 〔CSCD §273〕. Third, the four-line verse at 〔CSCD §269〕 beginning Visuddhimaggādivasā catasso,
first marks the answer and then returns to conclude the explanation—the same verse occurs twice, a rhetorical feature unique to this unit. The unit has
ten indented verse lines: the eight lines comprising the two occurrences of this verse and the opening two lines. Fourth, viya has two word-bounded occurrences throughout, both at 〔CSCD §265〕;
lowercase yathā occurs twice, at 〔CSCD §266〕 and 〔CSCD §269〕, while capitalized Yathā occurs three times: twice at 〔CSCD §267〕 and
once at 〔CSCD §268〕. Fifth, the abbreviation …pe… occurs twice, at 〔CSCD §265〕 and 〔CSCD §272〕.
Sixth, kira occurs once, in the account of that bhikkhu at 〔CSCD §272〕. Seventh, the ten perfections at 〔CSCD §274〕
are expressed not by name but through ten verbs of action: dānaṃ denti・sīlaṃ samādiyanti・
nekkhammaṃ bhajanti・paññaṃ pariyodapenti・vīriyamārabhanti・aparādhaṃ khamanti・
paṭiññaṃ na visaṃvādenti・avicalādhiṭṭhānā honti・avicalāya mettāya pubbakārino honti・
Upekkhāya paccupakāraṃ nāsīsantī, closing with evaṃ pāramiyo pūretvā.
Eighth, the distribution of the names of the four practices in this unit, in lowercase forms, is mettā 23, upekkhā 20, karuṇā 16, and muditā 11.
Each name appears here more often than in any other unit; the unit’s form thus differs from the four practice units, each of which is centered on one name.
All these counts were measured only within this unit and make no claim about the work as a whole.
VI. Intratextual Cross-Reading
Each connection carries a paragraph-number anchor. The place identified is based only on terms verifiable in the text of this unit. The mapping between this unit’s paragraph numbers and the chapter-and-section system is unknown, so the places referred to carry no chapter-and-section loci, and none are estimated or converted. No identification is made independently.
| Place in This Unit | Refers To | Verifiable Ground |
|---|---|---|
opening verse in the unnumbered paragraph, Bhiyyo etesu ayaṃ, pakiṇṇakakathāpi viññeyyā. | this chapter’s four individual practice units | the treatise itself marks the present unit as something further to be known after the four practices have been stated |
| 〔CSCD §263〕 characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause of the four practices | this chapter’s four individual practice units | the characteristics of the four practices are not established in those four units and are established only here |
〔CSCD §264〕 vipassanāsukhañceva bhavasampatti ca sādhāraṇappayojanaṃ | chapters on wisdom | the happiness of insight is the common purpose of the four practices; its exposition is not in this chapter |
〔CSCD §266〕 nīvaraṇādivikkhambhanaṃ majjhaṃ | earth-kasiṇa chapter | the five hindrances and their suppression are established there |
〔CSCD §267〕 Yathā pana kasiṇānaṃ nissando āruppā | chapters on the kasiṇas・chapter on the immaterial attainments | the exposition of the kasiṇas and the immaterial attainments is not in this chapter; this unit borrows only their relation as outflow for comparison |
〔CSCD §267〕 samathavipassanānissando nirodhasamāpatti | chapters on direct knowledge and cessation attainment | the exposition of cessation attainment is not in this chapter |
〔CSCD §270〕 purimā tisso tikacatukkajjhānikāva honti | goodwill unit 〔CSCD §253〕・compassion unit 〔CSCD §259〕・sympathetic-joy unit 〔CSCD §260〕 | the jhānas reached by the first three practices have already been stated in those three units |
〔CSCD §270〕 Pacchimā pana avasesaekajjhānikāva | equanimity unit 〔CSCD §261〕 | equanimity’s exclusive assignment to the fourth jhāna has already been stated in that unit |
〔CSCD §273〕 pathavīkasiṇādīsu aññataraṃ ugghāṭetvā rūpanissaraṇe ākāse cittaṃ upasaṃharato | earth-kasiṇa chapter・chapter on the immaterial attainments | the method of removing a kasiṇa and entering space is explained outside this chapter |
〔CSCD §274〕 dānādīnaṃ sabbakalyāṇadhammānaṃ paripūrikā | chapters on virtue | the exposition of giving and virtue is not in this chapter |
chapter’s close, Samādhibhāvanādhikāre | Division on the Cultivation of Concentration | the treatise itself places this chapter under the Division on the Cultivation of Concentration |
VII. Transmission
This edition establishes no position in the apparatus on questions of authorship, transmission, or commentarial lineage.