Studies in Indian Philosophy

SR No.: 001580
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1981
Total Pages: 352
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, Epistemology, & Religion
File Size: 21 MB

Page 54

A note on Attā
asarkhata thing (=nibbāna) which is nicca and sukhu. All these are pon-attā. The distinction between the two is made in the Vinaya : aniccā sabbe samkhārā dukkhanattā ca samkhatā, nibbānañ c'eva paññatti anatıā iti nicchayā, 2• Impermanent are all constructs painful, not self, and constructed, and certainly nibbāna is a description meaning not-self'. 21
The samkhārā are, of course, anattā as is made clear from such statements as sabba-sankhāresu aniccam anattā ti tilakkhaṇam āropetvā, 29 but the possibility of adding the asam. khata nibbāna to the samkhatā samkhārā arises because although nibbāna is neither anicca nor dukkha, it is nevertheless anattā.93
If there had been any other reference in the Pāli canon to the world-attā besides the one in the AS, we might have expected it to be with reference to the samkhārā, but even when referring to these the Buddha's followers seem to have regarded their anattā nature from the ego-centric point of view, i.e. from the point of view of the individual attā. So we find the Buddha stating ayam kayo aniccato dukkhato .. parato .. anat tato samanupassitabbo,24 This body is to be regarded as non-eternal, as unpleasant...as other..as non-self'. The Thera Mahāmoggallāna stated
ye pañca khandhe passanti parato no ca altalo;
ye ca passanti samkhāre parato no ca attato.25 "Who see the five khandhas as other not as self; and who see compounded things as other not as self'.
The commentary upon Mahāmoggallāna's verses makes it clear that there is no effective difference between parato and anattato; parato ti anattato, tassa attaggāha--paţikkhepadassanam hetam 26 These passages which include the word parato offer us help in the problem of deciding how best to translate the word attā. There seems to be no other way of translating parato than 'as other', and we must therefore translate attato as' as self ', since English recognises the opposition between ‘self' and 'other', but not between 'soul