Good or Skilful? Kusala in Canon and Commentary

L. S. Cousins

University of Manchester

Abstract

Kusala

Damien Keown comments that:

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

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

He goes on to point out:

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

Kusala in the commentarial sources

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There are a number of passages which refer to someone who is (not) applying insight (vipassaka) to skilful dhammas.(47) Sometimes this probably refers to a type of insight meditation.(48) However, it also merges into contexts where skilful dhammas or the skilful is simply the object of doubt or wisdom.(49) We also have the idea of the monk who abides in the measureless mental concentration (ceto-samaadhi) even as he enjoys the four requisites. It is not easy to measure the amount of pu~n~na, of the skilful, of pleasant results, etc. which will flow from this.(50) The same comment is made in relation to, for example, daana to a noble disciple. So this brings us to the other major cluster of concepts associated with the skilful i.e. those concerned with future results.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ku"sala in Sanskritic sources

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buddhaghosa too seems to extend the meaning of pu~n~na to results of kamma.(71)

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

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

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

By reason of the undertaking of skilful dhammas, monks, in this way this good fortune increases (kusalaana.m bhikkhave dhammaana.m samaadaana-hetu eva.m ida.m pu~n~na.m pava.d.dhatii ti

Semantic development

1. An original meaning of "intelligent" or "wise";
2. Expert in magical and sacrificial ritual (in the Braahma.nas); for brahmins, of course, this would precisely constitute wisdom.
3. • Skilled in meditational/mystical (/ascetic?) practices (in the early Pali sources and, no doubt, in other contemporary traditions), including skilled in the kind of behaviour which supports meditation, etc. i.e. siila, etc.
   • Skilled in performing daana and ya~n~na, now interpreted in terms of Buddhist ethical concerns; and associated with keeping the precepts and so on.
4. Kusala in later Buddhist and Jain sources becomes generalized to refer to something like wholesome or good states.

Bibliography

Notes

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

2 Sv III 883. Return

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

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

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

6 Buddhaghosa has Baahiya-suttanta, but this is probably an error in view of the .tiikaas. The Muula.tiikaa (Ce 1938) 21 and Sp- A4 to Sp II 489 (Mahidol CD), however, interpret the Baahiitika-sutta as illustrating kusala in the sense of health.Return

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

8 The only commentarial passage where it is used to explain kusala is: Vibh-a 14, but it is given by Mahaanaama in a different context (to explain upasama and asaaraddha) at Pa.tis-a I 96; II 483.Return

9 But cf. Spk III 141.Return

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

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

12 Sp V 1391; VII 1360 (~naa.napaaramippatta); Pj II 574; Nidd-a II 284; Pa.tis-a III 549 (~naa.na); JA III 210; cp. V 66.Return

13 e.g. Ps III 244ff.; Mp II 45ff.; Dhs-a 405f.; Vibh-a 289ff.; Pj II 503; cf. JA I 275; II 22; Muula.tiikaa (Ce 1938) 21; cf. R.M.L. Gethin, The Buddhist Path to Awakening. A Study of the Bodhi-Pakkhiyaa Dhammaa, Leiden, 1992, p. 75.Return

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

15 Dhs-a 62-3; cf. Moh 6. Return

16 Dhs-a 38ff.Return

17 Abhidh-av v. 11; Pa.tis-a I 129; 205-6; Bv-a 49. At Pj II 503 we have the same number of senses, but with i.t.tha-phalain place of sukhavipaaka and kosalla-sambhuuta instead of cheka.Return

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

19 e.g. Dhs-a 38.Return

20 See for example U Naarada's discussion: Naarada, U, Conditional Relations (Pa.t.taana), Vol. I, London, 1969, pp. cviii-cix.Return

21 Vism-mh.t (Be 1977) II 113f. But note that this text adds na ...kosalla-sambhuuta.m in the immediately following exegesis of akusala.Return

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

23 Dhs-a 39; Abhidh-av v. 9 (p A4 and A4); Vism-mh A4 (Be 1977) II 113f.; cp. Abhidh-k-vy I 29: kutsitaa"s chalitaa gataa apakraantaa iti ku"salaa; praj~naa 85 vaa ku"sa iva tiik.s.neti ku"sa.h, ta.m laanti aadadata iti ku"salaa.Return

24 Ibid.Return

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

26 Vin I 182 3D A III 375.Return

27 M I 178ff.Return

28 M I 395f.Return

29 M II 94f.Return

30 S V 149-52.Return

31 A I 112f.Return

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

33 S III 264-77; A III 311; IV 34; Th 1183; Pa.tis I 48f.Return

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

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

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

37 M I 93; II 215; 217; A V 17-21; 26-29; 96-98; 99ff.; 123-28; Pa.tis II 70; note too passages where siila or adhisiila is defined as the mukha.m pamukha.m kusalaana.m dhammaana.m samaapattiyaa: Vin I 103; Nidd I 39; 148; 270; 348; cf. 365; Vibh 246 and compare S V 143; 165; 187; 188.Return

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

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

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

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

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

43 M III 94; cp. A I 43f.Return

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

51 A I 263.Return

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

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

54 D II 28f.; cp. (without the last two items) S I 101f.; V 456. Note that by the rule of "waxing syllables" pu~n~na-kiriyaa is out of place.Return

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

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

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

58"Sat. Br. 11.4.2.1, 4, 13; Chaand. Up. 1.8.1; Ka.tha. Up. 2.7; Paa.n. 2.3.40 (refs from Tedesco).Return

59 op. cit., p. 133.Return

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

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

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

63N.H. Samtani, ed. The Arthavini"scaya-suutra & its Commentary (Nibandhana), Tibetan Sanskrit Works Series Vol. XIII, Patna, 1971, p.108.Return

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

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

66 cp. Dhaatup p. 19: pu.na kammani subhe; and Dhaatum p. 41: pu.no subhakriye. Also Amg-D Vol. 5 p. 661ff.Return

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

68 Vibh-a 142 (DD I 174): "it fulfills the (store of good) inclination". So too Vism-mh.t (Be 1977) II 258 and Pa.tis-a III 633.Return

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

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

71 e.g. Ps II 283: aayati.m vipaaka-kkhandhaa ti attho.Return

72 The Mahidol CD (Budsir 4.0) counts 150 word forms beginning with pu~n~na- in the tipi.taka (211 from pu~n~n-) as against 323 beginning with kusal-. In total some 1,285 occurrences are listed for pu~n~na-, as against 7,526 for kusal-. The latter figure is inflated by references in the Abhidhamma-pi.taka, but kusal- is still more frequent in the earlier texts. For example kusala.m occurs 105 times in Vin, as against 12 times for pu~n~n.am, and 191 times in the first four nikaayas, as against 119. Pu~n~n-, however, is more frequent in the Khuddaka-nikaaya, if Pa.tis is excluded (as being an abhidhamma text).Return

73 e.g. Vin I 182.Return

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

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

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

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