- Hetu-paccaya: The Relation by Way of Root
- Hetu-paccaya: The Relation by Way of Root
What is the hetu-relation?
It is greed (lobha),
hate (dosa), delusion (moha), and their respective opposites: non-greed or dispassionateness (alobha), non-hate or amity (adosa) and non-delusion or intelligence (amoha). All are hetu relations.
What are the things that are related by these hetu relations?
Those classes of mind and of mental qualities that are in coexistence along with greed, hate, delusion, dispassionateness, amity and intelligence, as well as the groups of material qualities which coexist with the same—these are the things that are so related. All these are called hetu-paccayuppanna-dhamma, since they arise or come into existence by virtue of the hetu-relation.
In the above exposition, by “the groups of material qualities which co-exist with the same” are meant the material qualities produced by kamma at the initial moment of the hetu-conditioned conception of a new being, as well as such material qualities as may be produced by the hetu-conditioned mind during the lifetime.
Here by “the moment of conception” is meant the nascent instant of the rebirth-conception,
and by “the lifetime” is meant the period starting from the static instant of the rebirth conception right on to the moment of the dying-thought.
In what sense is hetu to be understood? And in what sense paccaya?
Hetu is to be understood in the sense of root (mūlattha); and paccaya in the sense of assisting in (upakārattha) the arising, or the coming to be,
of the paccayuppanna-dhamma of these two the first is the state of being a root pertaining to the root greed and so on, as shown in the Mūla-yamaka.
We have illustrated this point in the Mūlayamaka Dīpanī by the simile of a tree. However, we shall deal with it here again.
Suppose a man is in love with a woman.
Now, so long as be does not dispel the lustful thought, all his acts, words and thoughts regarding this woman will be cooperating with lust (or greed), which at the same time has also under its control the material qualities produced by the same thought.
We see then that all these states of mental and material qualities have their root in lustful greed for that woman.
Hence, by being a hetu (for it acts as a root) and by being a paccaya (for it assists in the arising of those states of mind and body) greed
is hetu-paccaya.
The rest may be explained and understood in the same manner—i.e. the arising of greed by way of desire for desirable things; the arising of hate by way of antipathy against hateful things; and the arising of delusion by way of lack of knowledge respecting dull things.
Take a tree as an illustration. We see that the roots of a tree, having firmly established themselves in the ground, draw up sap from the soil and water, and carry that sap right up to the crown of the tree; thus the tree develops and grows for a long time.
In the same way, greed, having firmly established itself in desirable things, draws up the essence of pleasure and enjoyment from them and conveys that essence to the concomitant mental elements, till they burst into immoral acts and words. That is to say, greed brings about transgression as regards moral acts and words.
The same is to be said of hate, which by way of aversion draws up the essence of displeasure and discomfort, and also of delusion, which by way of lack of knowledge nurtures the growth of the essence of vain thought on many an object.
Transporting the essence thus, the three elements—greed, hate, and delusion—operate upon the component parts, so that they become happy (so to speak) and joyful at the desirable objects, etc.
The component parts also become as they are operated upon,
while the co-existent material qualities share the same effect.
Here, from the words “it conveys that essence to the concomitant mental elements,” it is to be understood that greed transports the essence of pleasure and enjoyment to the concomitant elements.
Coming now to the bright side—suppose the man sees danger in sensual pleasure and gives up that lustful thought for the woman. In doing so, dispassionateness (alobha) as regards her
arises in him.
Before this, there took place impure acts, words and thoughts having delusion (moha) as their root,
but for the time being these are no longer present and in their place there arise pure acts, words and thoughts having their root in dispassionateness.
Moreover, renunciation, self-control, jhāna-exercise or higher ecstatic thoughts also come into being.
Dispassionateness, therefore, is known as hetu-paccaya; it being a hetu because it acts as a root, while it is a paccaya because it assists in the arising of the concomitants.
The same explanation applies to the remainder of dispassionateness and also to amity and intelligence, which three are the opposites of greed, hate and delusion respectively.
Here, just as the root of the tree stimulates the whole stem and its parts, so it is with nongreed. It dispels the desire for desirable things and having promoted the growth of the essence of pleasure void of greed, it nurtures the concomitant elements with that essence till they become so happy and joyful that they even reach the height of jhānic path, or fruition-pleasure.
Similarly, amity and intelligence respectively dispel hate and delusion with regard to hateful and dull or delusive things, and promote the growth of the essence of pleasure void of hate and delusion.
Thus the operation of the three elements (alobha, adosa and amoha) lasts for a long time, making their mental concomitants happy and joyful.
The concomitant elements also become as they are operated upon,
while the co-existent groups of material qualities are affected in the same way.
Here the word lobha-viveka-sukha-rasa is a compound of the words lobha, viveka, sukha and rasa. Viveka is the state of being absent.
Lobha-viveka is that which is absent from greed, or the absence
of greed.
Lobha-viveka-sukha
is the pleasure which arises from the absence of greed.
Hence the whole compound is defined thus: Lobha-viveka-sukha-rasa is the essence of pleasure derived from the absence of greed.
What has just been expounded is the Law of Paṭṭhāna in the Abhidhamma.
Turning to the Law of Suttanta, the two elements of delusion and greed, which are respectively termed nescience (avijjā) and craving (taṇhā), are the sole roots of all the three rounds of misery.
Footnote: The three rounds of misery are: the round of defilements (kilesa-vaṭṭa), the round of kamma (kamma-vaṭṭa) and the round of kamma-result (vipāka-vaṭṭa), See Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), tr. Ñāṇamoli, Ch. XVII, para 298.
Hate, being the incidental consequence of greed, is only a root of evil.
The two elements of intelligence and dispassionateness, which are respectively termed wisdom and the element of renunciation, are the sole roots for the dissolution of the rounds of misery.
Amity, being the incidental consequence of non-greed, is only a root of good.
Thus the six roots become the causes of all the states of mind and body, which are either co-existent or non-co-existent.
Now, what has been said is the Law of Suttanta.
End of the Hetu-relation.