The birth of Abhidhamma

By Sachitra Mahendra

(October 03, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Any Buddha, scripts state, would preach his mother-god. Gothama Buddha followed the tradition by preaching the Abhidhamma to his mother-god Mahamaya.

Abhidhamma is quite long requiring about three months to preach at a stretch. Apparently it is a hard job for the humans to focus on listening for three months, quite unlike celestial beings such as Devas and Brahmas - they could well handle the task owing to the difference in life spans. Following the rain retreat, the Buddha went to the Tavatimsa heavens to preach the Abhidhamma. His mother was in Thusitha heavens, which is superior than Tavatimsa.

He did not approach the Thusitha straight away since if he did then those in Tavatimsa would miss the sublime teachings. All the celestial beings above Tavatimsa descended down to give a divine audience to the Buddha.

Since the preaching took place for three months, the Buddha created a likely figure in the preaching position to go on delivering the Abhidhamma. In the mean time he would descend to the human world to partake of alms and have it at leisure at Anotatta lake.

It is Arhath Sariputta who attended to him during this period, and the Arhath was briefed the preachings everyday.

Anotatta lake on top of Himalayan mountain is legendary, hence many people would take this phenomenon as fictional. Certainly it seems so, since this is beyond the human ken. Just because it is beyond our mind frame, the question arises, will it be right to come to the conclusion that it is fictional.

Anyway Arhath Sariputta made it a habit to come back to the monk retinue and deliver the summary. Remember Sariputta is well known for his preaching skills. Of the seven books, Kathavatthu is said to have been included later on only at the third Buddhist Council by Arhath Moggaliputtatissa.

The Buddha’s mother Queen Maha Maya was the daughter of King Anjana and Queen Yasodhara of the Koliya caste. One night she dreamt deities from four directions taking her to lake Anotatta. She was bathed and donned in heavenly clothes and jewellery.

A white elephant baby entered her body after circling around her three times. As it is famously known, King Sudhodhana’s prophets predicted this as a sign of a great being. The baby was conceived while the queen was on the way to her mother’s.

The queen’s death seven days after the prince’s birth has caused many arguments. Some misunderstand that this took place as a result of the prince’s birth. The prince verified five factors, which included the mother’s age-span. Queen Mahamaya was anyway spanned only up to 40, and when a princely sage is born, the womb is too sacred to accommodate space for another.

The legend says that the Matu Deva Putta - for that is how Mahamaya was known in Thusitha heavens - had lifted his spirits when he was spending six years of hard meditation.

Queen Maha Maya wished to become a Buddha’s mother during Padumuttara Buddha’s period. She spent a number of virtuous lives in the existences before her birth as Queen Maha Maya. Some scholars however do not buy the story of Abhidhamma. They claim Abhidhamma is a later addition.

Abhidhamma pitaka had not been accepted by major schools of Dhamma. Some opine Abhidhamma is strictly Theravada and has little to do with many schools of Dhamma. This is an issue because the Abhidhamma was not listed in the first convocation. www.reference.com refers to Abhidhamma books as follows:

Dhammasangani

This book begins with a matika (matika, literally, matrix), listing classifications of dhammas, variously translated as phenomena, ideas, states, etc. It starts with 22 threefold classifications, beginning with good/bad/unclassified, and follows this with 100 twofold ones according to the abhidhamma method.

Many of these classifications are not exhaustive, and some are not even exclusive. The matika ends with 42 twofold classifications according to the sutta method, which are used only in this book, whereas the other 122 are used also in some of the other books.

The main body of the book is in four parts. The first of these goes through numerous states of mind, listing and defining, by lists of synonyms, factors present in them. The second deals with material form, beginning with its own matika, classifying by ones, twos and so on, explained after. The third explains the book’s matika in terms of the first two parts, as does the fourth, by a different method, and omitting the sutta method.

Vibhanga

This book is in 18 chapters, each dealing with a different topic; for example the first deals with the five aggregates. A typical chapter (there are a number of divergences from this pattern) is in three parts.

The first explains the topic according to the sutta method, often word-for-word the same as in actual suttas. The second is abhidhamma explanation, mainly by lists of synonyms as in the Dhammasangani. The third uses questions and answers, based on the matika: “How many aggregates are good etc?”

Dhatukatha

This book covers both the matika and various topics, mostly from the Vibhanga, relating them to the 5 aggregates, 12 bases and 18 elements. The first chapter is fairly simple: “In how many aggregates etc. are good dhammas etc. included?” The book progressively works up to more complicated questions: “From how many aggregates etc. are the dhammas dissociated from attention etc. dissociated?”

Puggalapannatti

This book starts with its own matika, which begins with some standard lists but then continues with lists of persons grouped numerically from ones to tens. This latter portion of the matika is then explained in the main body of the work. Most of the lists of persons and many of the explanations are also found in the Anguttara Nikaya.

Kathavatthu

This book consists of more than two hundred debates on questions of doctrine. It does not identify the participants. The commentary says the debates are between the Theravada and other schools, which it identifies in each case. These identifications are mostly consistent with what is known from other sources about the doctrines of different schools.

Yamaka

This book consists of ten chapters, each dealing with a different topic; for example, the first deals with roots.

A typical chapter (there are a number of divergences from this pattern) is in three parts. The first part deals with questions of identity:

“Is good root root?”

“But is root good root?” The entire Yamaka consists of such pairs of converse questions, with their answers.

Hence its name, which means pairs. The second part deals with arising: “For someone for whom the form aggregate arises, does the feeling aggregate arise?” The third part deals with understanding: “Does someone who understands the eye base understand the ear base?”

Patthana

This book deals with 24 conditions in relation to the matika: “Good dhamma is related to good dhamma by root condition”, with details and numbers of answers.

Abhidhamma is considered sometimes with more reverence than Sutta and Vinaya. It has various commentaries written. Venerables Prof. Rerukane Chandavimala and Narada Maha Thera are pioneers in introducing Abhidhamma to the masses.

-Sri Lanka Guardian