English
shows the Buddha's conduct in accordance with worldly convention; "wisdom arose as desired in all knowable phenomena" shows his not overstepping convention. For when the nature of all phenomena is not understood, one oversteps convention and grasps, "There is a being, a soul." And of all the Buddha's qualities, compassion is the beginning, being their origin; wisdom is the end, there being nothing further to be done after it. By showing the beginning and the end, all the Buddha's qualities are indeed shown. By the mention of compassion, the aggregate of concentration, preceded by the aggregate of virtue, is shown. For virtue is rooted in compassion, thence arises abstention from killing and so on, and that is conjoined with the three absorptions. By the word "wisdom," the aggregate of wisdom. And virtue is the beginning of all Buddha's qualities, concentration the middle, wisdom the end; thus, all the Buddha's qualities, beautiful in the beginning, middle, and end, are shown. 2. Having thus briefly praised the Blessed One with all the Buddha's qualities, he who wishes to elaborate on it, in order to praise that teaching of Abhidhamma, which is unique among others, says, "by that compassion," and so on. And to show the origin and source of that teaching, "by that compassion," and so on, is said. The origin is twofold: internal and external. The internal is compassion, the external is the teacher. This is a commentary on the exposition of wisdom. There, showing the internal cause, it is said, "with a mind inspired by that compassion for beings." There, "compassion" means karuṇā. For, inspired by that, he set forth the path of Abhidhamma discourse. "By that"—this word "that" refers back to what was previously stated. And in the previous verse, wisdom was indicated as primary, and compassion as its qualifier. For it, being a secondary indicator of that, qualifies it and turns it back; therefore, it does not deserve the reference "by that." And the primary wisdom is the origin of the exposition, not the inspirer; so, a reference to it is not appropriate. It is well said that a reference to wisdom is not appropriate, but a reference to compassion is not inappropriate, due to the appositional nature of the two words "by that compassion." For two words in apposition, like "form aggregate," have the relationship of qualifier and qualified. The word "form," when used to exclude other aggregates, is a qualifier, and the word "aggregate," being a common term for what is to be excluded and included, is qualified. Similarly here, in "by that compassion," due to the appositional nature of the two words sharing the same case ending, there is a relationship of qualifier and qualified. There, compassion is the inspirer, so it is primary, and it is a common term for what is to be excluded and included. Therefore, "by compassion" is the qualified term, and how "by that" is its qualifier, so its referential nature should be understood. For, if it refers to wisdom, the word "that" is not a qualifier of compassion, but it is if it refers to compassion. And excluding the primary wisdom, this word "that," when connected with "by compassion," can be a reference to the secondary compassion. This is the meaning here: by which compassion he was inspired, it is not just any compassion, but the great compassion that is an indicator of omniscience, inspired by that... is established. How is compassion to be known as "dayā" (sympathy/pity)? Was it not said in the commentary to "dayāpanno" (endowed with sympathy) (Dī. Ni. Aṭṭha. 1.8) "endowed with a mind of loving-kindness"? Therefore, it would be fitting that dayā is loving-kindness, not compassion. If so, it was said in the commentary to "adayāpanno" (devoid of sympathy) "endowed with mercilessness," and thus dayā as loving-kindness would not be fitting. Therefore, wherever the word dayā occurs, it should be understood according to its intent. For the word dayā, when used with the meaning of protection implicitly contained, is used for both loving-kindness and compassion, and this is not unfitting. For in this way, there is no contradiction among the commentaries. And compassion is stated as the cause of the teaching, not loving-kindness, as in "For at that time the Blessed One dwelt entirely in the dwelling of compassion" (Dī. Ni. Aṭṭha. 1.1; Ma. Ni. Aṭṭha. 1.1 Mūlapariyāyasuttavaṇṇanā; Saṃ. Ni. Aṭṭha. 1.1.1; A. Ni. Aṭṭha. 1.1.1) and similar passages. Therefore, here compassion is to be understood as taken by the word dayā. For it is compassion that is inspiring, not loving-kindness; loving-kindness, however, proceeds with the movement of wisdom. Why is "sattesu" (towards beings) said in this way? Was not compassion towards beings already taken by the word "tāyā" (by that)? No, it was not taken. In the previous verse, however, "compassion towards beings proceeded as desired" stated all compassion, both specified and unspecified regarding beings. Here, however, to take the unspecified aspect towards beings, "sattesu" is shown as being unspecified towards beings. By that, inspired by compassion towards all beings, he set in motion the path of Abhidhamma discourse for the devas, not only for the devas. Therefore, the meaning is shown that he set in motion the path of Abhidhamma discourse for the welfare of all beings, not only for the welfare of the devas. Or, "sattesu" is not an indication of the object of dayā, but rather the sphere of inspiration is shown by this. For the Blessed One, out of compassion for setting in motion the path of Abhidhamma discourse, not only among the devas, aroused, but aroused in all beings capable of awakening, acting for the benefit of all. Therefore, "with a mind aroused in beings" means with a mind aroused, or with a mind directed, towards beings as its object or sign. Having thus shown the internal cause, to show the external cause, it begins with "at the conclusion of the miracle." To show the time when the Buddha commenced the discourse on Abhidhamma, it is said, "residing at the conclusion of the miracle." According to the saying, "residing in the Tāvatiṃsa heaven at the conclusion of which," the twin miracle performed at the foot of the mango tree, at the conclusion of which he resided in the Tāvatiṃsa heaven, is here called "the miracle," not the miracle performed at the foot of the Bodhi tree, etc., nor the miracle of instruction or admonition. It should be understood that this one is taken because it is well-known and recent. The etymological meaning of the word "pāṭihāriya" (Udāna Commentary 1; Itivuttaka Commentary, Nidāna-vaṇṇanā) is said to be "a miracle because it removes opponents, because it removes defilements like lust." However, the Buddha has no opponents like lust that need to be removed. Even for ordinary people, the power of psychic abilities manifests in a mind free from defilements, endowed with the eight qualities, and with opponents vanquished. Therefore, it is not possible to use "miracle" here with the meaning of that usage. If, however, the defilements of those to be trained by the greatly compassionate Buddha are considered opponents, and it is called "miracle" because it removes them, then this is appropriate. Alternatively, the opponents of the Buddha and his teaching are the sectarians. It is a miracle because it removes them. For they are removed and dispelled by psychic power, instruction, and admonition, by removing their views and by their inability to propagate their views. Alternatively, the word "paṭi" signifies the meaning of "after," as in "when he had entered that, another brahmin came" and so on (Sutta Nipāta 985; Cūḷaniddesa, Pārāyanavagga, Vatthugāthā 4). Therefore, in a concentrated mind, free from defilements, and that which is to be carried out later by one who has done what is to be done, is to be set in motion, that is a wonder. Or, the later carrying away of one's own defilements by the paths of the fourth jhāna is a wonder. The powers of psychic potency, mind-reading, and instruction are to be set in motion again for the welfare of beings by one who is free from defilements and has done what is to be done. And when one's own defilements are carried away, the carrying away of the defilements of other beings occurs, thus they are wonders. A wonder itself is a miracle. Or, in the collection of psychic potency, mind-reading, and instruction, each individual one that exists is called a miracle. Or, the fourth jhāna and the path are wonders because they carry away the opposing forces. That which arises there, or in that which is a sign, or that which comes from there, is a miracle. A miracle itself is here called "pāṭihīra." "Dwelling at the end" indicates the time by these words. For the time of setting in motion the Abhidhamma discourse is delimited by the end of performing miracles and by dwelling in the abode of the thirty-three gods. "In the abode of the thirty-three gods" indicates the place. For that is the place where the Abhidhamma discourse was set in motion, because it was set in motion by one dwelling there. 3. There too, to show the specific place, "at the foot of the Pāricchattaka tree," etc., is said. "On Yugandhara" means one of the cold mountains, forty-two thousand yojanas high, and the sun travels at that height. The meaning is that he was seated, shining as he would shine on Yugandhara, if it were possible. 4-5. Now, pointing out the individuals who received the Dhamma, he says, "from thousands of world-systems," etc. "From all sides" means having come from all directions, from all sides, or the intention is from ten thousand world-systems arranged all around, not from all ten thousand world-systems by tens of thousands. If so, it would mean that they came from forty thousand world-systems or more, and this is not intended. Or it should be connected with "seated all around." "Seated all around" means seated properly, or seated well, without obstructing each other,