清淨道論 天隨念Visuddhimagga · Recollection of Deities

I. Placement in the Outline

Chapter title　Chapter 7, “The six recollections,” is Cha-anussati-niddesa in Pāli 〔Vism VII〕. This unit is section 6 of the chapter’s seven sections, Devatānussati, recollection of deities; in the construal outline it falls under “recollection of virtue, generosity, and deities.”

Section and page range　This section covers pp.225–226, namely [V i 225]–[V i 226]; the full chapter covers pp.197–228, namely [V i 197]–[V i 228]. At four section boundaries, adjacent sections share a leaf (sections 1 and 2 both begin or end at [V i 213], sections 2 and 3 at [V i 218], sections 3 and 4 at [V i 221], and sections 6 and 7 at [V i 226]); in every case, the text turns to the next section within a single leaf and is not duplicated. Two boundaries do not share a leaf: section 4 ends at [V i 222] while section 5 begins at [V i 223], and section 5 ends at [V i 224] while section 6 begins at [V i 225].

Subdivision　This section has no subsections (the body is already within the target size), so it appears as a single row, section 6, in the subdivision table. See this unit’s Overview and the chapter Overview for the row-by-row record.

Connections before and after　This is the sixth of the chapter’s seven sections. It follows section 5, Cāgānussati, recollection of generosity, and precedes section 7, Pakiṇṇaka-kathā, Miscellany Discussion. The chapter’s preceding and following connections are recorded verbatim in the “Connection to the Previous Chapter” paragraph of section 1 and the “Connection to the Following Chapter” paragraph of section 7. The links and subdivisions of all seven sections are recorded individually in the chapter Overview.

II. Terms and Renderings

This heading records only how terms function and are located in this chapter. The normative glossary governs the reading of terms; this heading does not decide terms not settled there. Where an earlier construal reading differs from the normative glossary, the difference is recorded at the end of this heading.

Rules shared across the chapter

(Chapter-level common rows—applicable throughout the six recollections and repeated in every unit)

Five qualities in the recollection of generosity and five in the recollection of deities 〔sections 5 and 6〕

Four places where an earlier construal reading differs from the normative glossary　The vernacular in this chapter follows the normative glossary. All four differences occur only in the earlier construal: for acchiddāni, the earlier construal has “unbroken,” while the normative glossary binds “untorn”; for asabalāni, the earlier construal has “unstained,” while the normative glossary binds “unspotted”; for akālika, the earlier construal has “timeless / without delay,” while the normative glossary binds “immediate”; for samādhisaṃvattanikāni, the earlier construal has “capable of inducing concentration,” while the normative glossary binds “leading to concentration.” All four are entered in this edition’s glossary and settled word by word.

III. Variant Readings

Two materials only　(1) the PTS apparatus blocks preserved in the chapter’s Pāli base text (the footnote/apparatus block at the end of each section, preserving the source verbatim); (2) the CSCD collation extracts, read but not reproduced in full, with only variant points recorded. The record does not decide between readings.

A. Complete survey of the PTS apparatus blocks　The chapter’s apparatus contains 171 notes in all; three notes on p.213 are repeated at the end of section 1 and the beginning of section 2 and have been deduplicated. Of these, 126 record manuscript variants; the remaining 45 are canonical references or editorial explanations and belong under Heading Four. The 126 variant notes divide by the forms actually recorded into 98 word-form variants, 22 presence-or-absence variants, and 6 annotation variants, where the recorded material is not a word form but a title, source, or edition note.

A. Record by locus　The following table reproduces every item exactly as it appears, including the original emphasis marks in the apparatus. The “Class” column categorizes only the form recorded and does not choose among readings.

IV. The Commentator’s Citations

Every citation made by the author is attached to a page anchor. Only sources explicitly named in the body or recorded in the chapter’s apparatus are included; this edition does not identify them independently. Text in the “Apparatus Record” column is reproduced verbatim.

A. Scriptural and commentarial citations

B. Number of citation formulas　Measured within this chapter, the author’s self-citation formulas occur as follows: Yath' āha 5 times, Yathā 'ha once, Ten' eva c' āha once, Āha c' ettha once, Vuttam h' etaṃ once, Vuttaṃ pi c' etaṃ once, Ten' āhu Porāṇā twice, Sutte pana once, Aṭṭhakathāyaṃ once, and idañ c' ettha suttaṃ vitthāretabbaṃ twice. These counts apply only to this chapter, not to the whole work.

V. Similes and Rhetoric

Verifiable points from observing the rhetoric　(1) The closing formula is uniform across all six sections: the first line is always Tasmā have appamādaṃ kayirātha sumedhaso,; only the recollection’s name changes in the second line; the formula is followed by a close containing vitthārakathāmukhaṃ. Each pattern occurs 6 times. (2) The “does not enter absorption” formula also occurs 6 times, and the reason attached to it follows the same sentence pattern. Five occurrences have gambhīratāya nānappakāraguṇānussaraṇādhimuttatāya vā; the single occurrence in recollection of generosity has nānappakāracāgaguṇānussaraṇādhimuttatāya, with the additional element cāga-. Every count here was measured within this chapter. (3) Body similes appear in only three sections: the Buddha and Dhamma sections use cetiyagharaṃ iva, while the Sangha section uses uposathāgāraṃ; the Virtue, Generosity, and Deities sections have no body simile. (4) The Virtue section concentrates its similes in two groups, cloth and cattle; the Generosity and Deities sections contain no simile and proceed instead by word-by-word explanation. All these counts were measured only within this chapter, not across the whole work.

VII. Transmission

This edition advances no position in its apparatus on questions concerning authorship, textual transmission, or the history of commentaries.