Re: vibhuta in AN 11.10

Dear Ven. Bodhi,

The problem here is that the Pali vocabulary found in the extant texts
is only a subset of Middle Indian as a whole and those who produced the
texts certainly had a much larger vocabulary than that found in the
texts we have. So you need to always look at the evidence from outside
the Pali tradition as well. If you don't do this, the translations will
tend to be reductionist.

It is certainly the case that the meaning 'clarified' does not work well
in the texts you cite. In the expression vibhūtavihārī (describing
wisdom) the sense of 'disappeared' doesn't seem to work, however. And
the commentaries do explain this by forms of pākaṭa 'clear'.But this
expression is found in Paṭis and Nidd; so it can be seen as later. But
vibhāvin at Sn 37 certainly means intelligent. And these meanings are
quite old in Sanskrit.

Actually, the PTS translation of Sn by K.R.Norman does render vibhūta as
'disappeared'. I think he is interpreting the commentaries to Sn in the
same way that you do.

For me however the Sanskrit evidence suggests that the primary meaning
is more likely to be 'transcended' than 'disappeared'. And that is what
the Niddesa comments actually support. They simply give the word
vibhūta, the variant form vibhāvita and then three words that you
rightly translate as 'overcome, surmounted, transcended'.

Anyway, that's my two-pennyworth. I hope you are well. It seems rather
long since we met with Ven. Candavaṇṇa in Washington.

Best Wishes,

Lance Cousins


> Dear Chanida,
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> Since I am one of the translators who translated vibhūta in the sense of “disappeared, vanished, ceased to exist,” etc., I should explain the reason for my choice. The reason is quite simple.
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> In the Aṅguttara anthology “Numerical Discourses of theBuddha,” which I originally prepared for publication in 1997, I must have relied on dictionaries to guide me to occurrences of the word vibhūta (with its variants and compounded forms) in the canonical texts. However, when I made my translation of the complete AṅguttaraNikāya, which was just published a couple of weeks ago, I could take advantage of the computer. I was thus able to use the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipiṭaka’s search facility to seek out every instance of the word vibhūta soley in the mūlatexts of the Suttapiṭaka. My search through the root texts did not turn up a single instance of the word being used in the sense of “clarified, made clear, illuminated,” etc., apart from the questionable occurrence at AN 11.10. All other uses in the root texts (which are not many) unambiguously suggest the meaning “disappeared, ceased to exist.” It thus seems to me that the meaning “clarified” that i
s ascribed to vibhūta is of later origin and isnot discernible in the Nikāyas.
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> Further, the meaning “disappeared, ceased,” etc., is supported by the Mahāniddesa and Cūlaniddesa when explaining vibhūta (and variants) in the Suttanipāta. Thus the Mahāniddesa (at VRI ed. 203 = Ee 2.278), commenting on rūpe vibhūte na phusanti phassa (Sn 872), says: Rūpe vibhūte vibhāvite atikkante samatikkante vītivatte pañca phassā na phusanti – cakkhusamphasso, sotasamphasso, ghānasamphasso, jivhāsamphasso, kāyasamphassoti – rūpe vibhūte na phusantiphassā. I would translate: “When form has disappeared, beeneliminated, been overcome, been surmounted, been transcended, the five contacts do not contact—(namely) eye-contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact—when form has disappeared, contacts do not contact.”
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> In the next verse, Sn 873, the question is posed: kathaṃ sametassa vibhoti rūpaṃ. Mahāniddesa (VRI ed. 203 = Ee 2.278-79) here glosses vibhoti with: vibhāvīyati atikkamīyati samatikkamīyati vītivattīyati = “is eliminated, overcome, surmounted, transcended.” Again, this supports the second of the two ways of understanding vibhūta at AN 11.10 that you present.
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> Sn 1113 reads: Vibhūtarūpasaññissa sabbakāyapahāyino. The Cūḷaniddesa (VRI  ed.150) explains vibhūtarūpasaññissa thus: arūpasamāpattiyo paṭiladdhassa rūpasaññā vibhūtā honti vigatā atikkantā samatikkantā vītivattāti – vibhūtarūpasaññissa. I would translate: “For one who has obtained the formless meditative attainments perceptions of form have disappeared, vanished, been overcome, been surmounted, been transcended.” This further supports the second understanding of vibhūta in your dichotomy of meanings.
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> But we need not rely on the Suttanipāta and the Niddesas to support this conclusion. The conclusion should follow from other suttas of the same type that occur in the Aṅguttara Nikāya in the Tens andElevens. To take but one example (they are all similar), at AN 11.7 (V 318), the Buddha says: “Siyā, ānanda, bhikkhuno tathārūpo samādhipaṭilābho yathā neva pathaviyaṃ pathavisaññī assa ...”  = “There can be, Ānanda, such an attainment of samādhi by a monk such that he is not percipient of earth in relation to earth...” and so forth. The idea suggested here squares more readily with the idea that “the perception of earth has disappeared in regard to earth,”etc., than it does with the idea of the perception of earth being clarified in regard to earth, etc.
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> I hope that establishes my case. If anyone has found the word vibhūta being used unambiguously in the Nikāyas in the sense of “clarified,” please cite the source.
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> Sincerely,
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> Bhikkhu Bodhi
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