Thursday, December 6, 2018

The Pali word 'saṅkhārā' in Dependent Origination plural because it is the crossroad.

Dependent origination is the cycle of the happening event. Each event has only one decision. There are 2 saṅkhāra for each decision: wholesome and unwholesome. Wholesome saṅkhāra gives good resultants. Unwholesome saṅkhāra gives bad resultants. So, viññāna to vedanā which are the resultants of saṅkhāra must be singular, because it's just the resultants of one decision. Jāti and jarāmaraṇaṃ are same. Wholesome karmma-bhavo gives good resultants. Unwholesome karmma-bhavo gives bad resultants. So, jāti and jarāmaraṇaṃ must be singular because of the same reason.

Above explanation explained clearly in abhidhamma vibhaṅga paccayākāravibhaṅga and it's atthakathā. It separates each event to singular as "saṅkhāro". That's why no direct explaination in any atthakathā, included path of purification. However, it's used widely in difference context such as in VN.A. Introduction.

And this is the example of what I wrote "it's used widely":

Kusalattika: kusalā dhammā, akusalā dhammā, abyākatā dhammā.

The "wholesome" triad: wholesome phenomena, unwholesome phenomena, not both phenomena

The Path of Purification detailedly exposited the dependent origination follow to 'the "wholesome" triad':

jarāmaraṇaṃ = not both phenomena

jati = not both phenomena

bhavo = not both phenomena

upādānaṃ = unwholesome phenomena

taṇhā = unwholesome phenomena

vedanā = not both phenomena

phasso = not both phenomena

saḷāyatanaṃ = not both phenomena

nāmarūpaṃ = not both phenomena

viññāṇaṃ = not both phenomena

saṅkhārā = 1. wholesome phenomena, 2. unwholesome phenomena

avijjā = unwholesome phenomena

You can see whether saṅkhārā are separated into 2 events.

Above quote is my own conclusion. To read it, the reader needs to understand in advance of chapter XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, and some part of chapter I, III. Also, it requires Abhidhamma knowledge in advance, as well.

Path of Purification, CH. XVII, THE SOIL OF UNDERSTANDING—CONCLUSION, DEPENDENT ORIGINATION, III. Detailed Exposition page 547-608.

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