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CHAPTER VI

FOULNESS AS A MEDITATION SUBJECT

(Asubha-kammaṭṭhāna-niddesa)

[GENERAL DEFINITIONS]

[178] Now, ten kinds of foulness, [as corpses] without consciousness, were

listed next after the kasiṇas thus: the bloated, the livid, the festering, the cut up,
the gnawed, the scattered, the hacked and scattered, the bleeding, the worm
infested, a skeleton (III.105).

The bloated: it is bloated (uddhumāta) because bloated by gradual dilation and

swelling after (uddhaṃ) the close of life, as a bellows is with wind. What is
bloated (uddhumāta) is the same as “the bloated” (uddhumātaka). Or alternatively,
what is bloated (uddhumāta) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is
“the bloated” (uddhumātaka). This is a term for a corpse in that particular state.

The livid: what has patchy discolouration is called livid (vinīla). What is

livid is the same as “the livid” (vinīlaka). Or alternatively, what is livid (vinīla) is
vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is “the livid” (vinīlaka).1 This is a
term for a corpse that is reddish-coloured in places where flesh is prominent,
whitish-coloured in places where pus has collected, but mostly blue-black (nīla),
as if draped with blue-black cloth in the blue-black places.

3. The festering: what is trickling with pus in broken places is festering (vipubba).
What is festering is the same as “the festering” (vipubbaka). Or alternatively,
what is festering (vipubba) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is
“the festering” (vipubbaka). This is a term for a corpse in that particular state.

4. The cut up: what has been opened up2 by cutting it in two is called cut up
(vicchidda). What is cut up is the same as “the cut up” (vicchiddaka). Or alternatively,
what is cut up (vicchidda) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is
“the cut up” (vicchiddaka). This is a term for a corpse cut in the middle. [179]

5. The gnawed: what has been chewed here and there in various ways by dogs,
jackals, etc., is what is gnawed (vikkhāyita). What is gnawed is the same as “the
gnawed” (vikkhāyitaka). Or alternatively, what is gnawed (vikkhāyita) is vile

It is not possible to render such associative and alliterative derivations of meaning

into English. They have nothing to do with the historical development of words, and
their purpose is purely mnemonic.
2.

Apavārita—“opened up”: not in PED.

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(kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is “the gnawed” (vikkhāyitaka). This
is a term for a corpse in that particular state.

6. The scattered: what is strewed about (vividhaṃ khittaṃ) is scattered (vikkhittaṃ).
What is scattered is the same as “the scattered” (vikkhittaka). Or alternatively,
what is scattered (vikkhitta) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is
“the scattered” (vikkhittaka). This is a term for a corpse that is strewed here and
there in this way: “Here a hand, there a foot, there the head” (cf. M I 58).

The hacked and scattered: it is hacked, and it is scattered in the way just

described, thus it is “hacked and scattered” (hata-vikkhittaka). This is a term for
a corpse scattered in the way just described after it has been hacked with a knife
in a crow’s-foot pattern on every limb.

The bleeding: it sprinkles (kirati), scatters, blood (lohita), and it trickles here

and there, thus it is “the bleeding” (lohitaka). This is a term for a corpse smeared
with trickling blood.

9. The worm-infested: it is maggots that are called worms (puḷuva); it sprinkles
worms (puḷuve kirati), thus it is worm-infested (puḷuvaka). This is a term for a
corpse full of maggots.

10.

A skeleton: bone (aṭṭhi) is the same as skeleton (aṭṭhika). Or alternatively,

bone (aṭṭhi) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is a skeleton (aṭṭhika).
This is a term both for a single bone and for a framework of bones.

11. These names are also used both for the signs that arise with the bloated,
etc., as their support, and for the jhānas obtained in the signs.

[THE BLOATED]

12. Herein, when a meditator wants to develop the jhāna called “of the bloated”
by arousing the sign of the bloated on a bloated body, he should in the way
already described approach a teacher of the kind mentioned under the earth
kasiṇa and learn the meditation subject from him. In explaining the meditation
subject to him, the teacher should explain it all, that is, the directions for going
with the aim of acquiring the sign of foulness, the characterizing of the
surrounding signs, the eleven ways of apprehending the sign, the reviewing of
the path gone by and come by, concluding with the directions for absorption.
And when the meditator has learnt it all well, he should go to an abode of the
kind already described and live there while seeking the sign of the bloated.

13. Meanwhile, when he hears people saying that at some village gate or on
some road or at some forest’s edge or at the base of some rock or at the root of
some tree [180] or on some charnel ground a bloated corpse is lying, he should
not go there at once, like one who plunges into a river where there is no ford.

14.

Why not? Because this foulness is beset by wild beasts and non-human

beings, and he might risk his life there. Or perhaps the way to it goes by a village
gate or a bathing place or an irrigated field, and there a visible object of the
opposite sex might come into focus. Or perhaps the body is of the opposite sex;
for a female body is unsuitable for a man, and a male body for a woman. If only
recently dead, it may even look beautiful; hence there might be danger to the life

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of purity. But if he judges himself thus, “This is not difficult for one like me,”
then he can go there.

15. And when he goes, he should do so only after he has spoken to the senior
elder of the Community or to some well-known bhikkhu.

16.

Why? Because if all his limbs are seized with shuddering at the charnel

ground, or if his gorge rises when he is confronted with disagreeable objects
such as the visible forms and sounds of non-human beings, lions, tigers, etc., or
something else afflicts him, then he whom he told will have his bowl and robe
well looked after in the monastery, or he will care for him by sending young
bhikkhus or novices to him.

17. Besides, robbers may meet there thinking a charnel ground a safe place for
them whether or not they have done anything wrong. And when men chase
them, they drop their goods near the bhikkhu and run away. Perhaps the men
seize the bhikkhu, saying “We have found the thief with the goods,” and bully
him. Then he whom he told will explain to the men “Do not bully him; he went
to do this special work after telling me,” and he will rescue him. This is the
advantage of going only after informing someone.

18. Therefore he should inform a bhikkhu of the kind described and then set
out eager to see the sign, and as happy and joyful as a warrior-noble (khattiya)
on his way to the scene of anointing, as one going to offer libations at the hall of
sacrifice, or as a pauper on his way to unearth a hidden treasure. And he should
go there in the way advised by the Commentaries.

19.

For this is said: “One who is learning the bloated sign of foulness goes

alone with no companion, with unremitting mindfulness established, with his
sense faculties turned inwards, with his mind not turned outwards, reviewing
the path gone by and come by. In the place where the bloated sign of foulness
[181] has been left he notes any stone or termite-mound or tree or bush or creeper
there each with its particular sign and in relation to the object. When he has
done this, he characterizes the bloated sign of foulness by the fact of its having
attained that particular individual essence. (see §84) Then he sees that the sign
is properly apprehended, that it is properly remembered, that it is properly
defined, by its colour, by its mark, by its shape, by its direction, by its location, by
its delimitation, by its joints, by its openings, by its concavities, by its convexities,
and all round.

20.

“When he has properly apprehended the sign, properly remembered it,

properly defined it, he goes alone with no companion, with unremitting
mindfulness established, with his sense faculties turned inwards, with his mind
not turned outwards, reviewing the path gone by and come by. When he walks,
he resolves that his walk is oriented towards it; when he sits, he prepares a seat
that is oriented towards it.

21.

“What is the purpose, what is the advantage of characterizing the

surrounding signs? Characterizing the surrounding signs has non-delusion
for its purpose, it has non-delusion for its advantage. What is the purpose, what
is the advantage of apprehending the sign in the [other] eleven ways?

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Apprehending the sign in the [other] eleven ways has anchoring [the mind] for
its purpose, it has anchoring [the mind] for its advantage. What is the purpose,
what is the advantage of reviewing the path gone by and come by? Reviewing
the path gone by and come by has keeping [the mind] on the track for its purpose,
it has keeping [the mind] on the track for its advantage.

22. “When he has established reverence for it by seeing its advantages and by
perceiving it as a treasure and so come to love it, he anchors his mind upon that
object: ‘Surely in this way I shall be liberated from ageing and death.’ Quite
secluded from sense desires, secluded from unprofitable things he enters upon
and dwells in the first jhāna … [seclusion]. He has arrived at the first jhāna of the
fine-material sphere. His is a heavenly abiding and an instance of the meritorious
action consisting in [meditative] development.” (Source untraced.)

23. So if he goes to the charnel ground to test his control of mind, let him do so
after striking the gong or summoning a chapter. If he goes there mainly for
[developing that] meditation subject, let him go alone with no companion, without
renouncing his basic meditation subject and keeping it always in mind, taking
a walking stick or a staff to keep off attacks by dogs, etc., [182] ensuring
unremitting mindfulness by establishing it well, with his mind not turned
outwards because he has ensured that his faculties, of which his mind is the
sixth, are turned inwards.

24. As he goes out of the monastery he should note the gate: “I have gone out in
such a direction by such a gate.” After that he should define the path by which he
goes: “This path goes in an easterly direction … westerly … northerly … southerly
direction” or “It goes in an intermediate direction”; and “In this place it goes to the
left, in this place to the right”; and “In this place there is a stone, in this a termite-
mound, in this a tree, in this a bush, in this a creeper.” He should go to the place
where the sign is, defining in this way the path by which he goes.

25. And he should not approach it upwind; for if he did so and the smell of
corpses assailed his nose, his brain3 might get upset, or he might throw up his
food, or he might repent his coming, thinking “What a place of corpses I have
come to!” So instead of approaching it upwind, he should go downwind. If he
cannot go by a downwind path—if there is a mountain or a ravine or a rock or a
fence or a patch of thorns or water or a bog in the way—then he should go
stopping his nose with the corner of his robe. These are the duties in going.

26. When he has gone there in this way, he should not at once look at the sign
of foulness; he should make sure of the direction. For perhaps if he stands in a
certain direction, the object does not appear clearly to him and his mind is not
wieldy. So rather than there he should stand where the object appears clearly
and his mind is wieldy. And he should avoid standing to leeward or to windward
of it. For if he stands to leeward he is bothered by the corpse smell and his mind
strays; and if he stands to windward and non-human beings are dwelling there,

This does not imply what we, now, might suppose. See the description of “brain”

in VIII.126 and especially VIII.136. What is meant is perhaps that he might get a cold
or catarrh.

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they may get annoyed and do him a mischief. So he should move round a little
and not stand too much to windward. [183]

27. Then he should stand not too far off or too near, or too much towards the
feet or the head. For if he stands too far off, the object is not clear to him, and if he
stands too near, he may get frightened. If he stands too much towards the feet or
the head, not all the foulness becomes manifest to him equally. So he should
stand not too far off or too near, opposite the middle of the body, in a place
convenient for him to look at it.

28. Then he should characterize the surrounding signs in the way stated thus:
“In the place where the bloated sign of foulness has been left he notes any stone
… or creeper there with its sign” (§19).

29.

These are the directions for characterizing them. If there is a rock in the

eye’s focus near the sign, he should define it in this way: “This rock is high or
low, small or large, brown or black or white, long or round,” after which he
should observe [the relative positions] thus: “In this place, this is a rock, this is
the sign of foulness; this is the sign of foulness, this is a rock.”

30. If there is a termite-mound, he should define it in this way: “This is high or
low, small or large, brown or black or white, long or round,” after which he
should observe [the relative positions] thus: “In this place, this is a termite-
mound, this is the sign of foulness.”

31. If there is a tree, he should define it in this way: “This is a pipal fig tree or
a banyan fig tree or a kacchaka fig tree or a kapittha fig tree; it is tall or short, small
or large, black or white,” after which he should observe [the relative positions]
thus: “In this place, this is a tree, this is the sign of foulness.”

32. If there is a bush, he should define it in this way: “This is a sindi bush or a
karamanda bush or a kaṇavīra bush or a koraṇḍaka bush; it is tall or short, small or
large,” after which he should observe [the relative positions] thus: “In this place,
this is a bush, this is the sign of foulness.”

33. If there is a creeper, he should define it in this way: “This is a pumpkin creeper
or a gourd creeper or a brown creeper or a black creeper or a stinking creeper,” after
which he should observe [the relative positions] thus: “In this place, this is a creeper,
this is the sign of foulness; this is the sign of foulness, this is a creeper.”

34.

Also with its particular sign and in relation to the object was said (§19); but

that is included by what has just been said; for he “characterizes it with its
particular sign” when he defines it again and again, and he “characterizes it in
relation to the object” when he defines it by combining it each time in pairs thus:
“This is a rock, this is the sign of foulness; this is the sign of foulness, this is a
rock.”

35.

Having done this, again he should bring to mind the fact that it has an

individual essence, its own state of being bloated, which is not common to
anything else, since it was said that he defines4 it by the fact of its having attained

4. Reference back to §19 requires sabhāvato upalakkhati rather than sabhāvato vavaṭṭhāpeti,
but so the readings have it.

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that particular individual essence. The meaning is that it should be defined
according to individual essence, according to its own nature, as “the inflated,5
the bloated.”

Having defined it in this way, he should apprehend the sign in the following six
ways, that is to say, (1) by its colour, (2) by its mark, (3) by its shape, [184] (4) by its
direction, (5) by its location, (6) by its delimitation. How?

36. (1) The meditator should define it by its colour thus: “This is the body of one
who is black or white or yellow-skinned.”

37. (2) Instead of defining it by the female mark or the male mark, he should
define it by its mark thus: “This is the body of one who was in the first phase of
life, in the middle phase, in the last phase.”

38. (3) By its shape: he should define it only by the shape of the bloated thus:
“This is the shape of its head, this is the shape of its neck, this is the shape of its
hand, this is the shape of its chest, this is the shape of its belly, this is the shape
of its navel, this is the shape of its hips, this is the shape of its thigh, this is the
shape of its calf, this is the shape of its foot.”

39. (4) He should define it by its direction thus: “There are two directions in this
body, that is, down from the navel as the lower direction, and up from it as the
upper direction.” Or alternatively, he can define it thus: “I am standing in this
direction; the sign of foulness is in that direction.”

40. (5) He should define it by its location thus: “The hand is in this location, the
foot in this, the head in this, the middle of the body in this.” Or alternatively, he
can define it thus: “I am in this location; the sign of foulness is in that.”

41.

(6) He should define it by its delimitation thus: “This body is delimited

below by the soles of the feet, above by the tips of the hair, all round by the skin;
the space so delimited is filled up with thirty-two pieces of corpse.” Or
alternatively, he can define it thus: “This is the delimitation of its hand, this is the
delimitation of its foot, this is the delimitation of its head, this is the delimitation
of the middle part of its body.” Or alternatively, he can delimit as much of it as he
has apprehended thus: “Just this much of the bloated is like this.”

42.

However, a female body is not appropriate for a man or a male one for a

woman; for the object, [namely, the repulsive aspect], does not make its
appearance in a body of the opposite sex, which merely becomes a condition
for the wrong kind of excitement.6 To quote the Majjhima Commentary: “Even

Vaṇita—“inflated”: glossed by Vism-mhṭ with sūna (swollen). Not in PED in this sense.

Vipphandana—“wrong kind of excitement”: Vism-mhṭ says here “Kilesa-

paripphandanass’ eva nimittaṃ hotī ti attho (the meaning is, it becomes the sign for
interference by (activity of) defilement” (Vism-mhṭ 170). Phandati and vipphandati are
both given only such meanings as “to throb, stir, twitch” and paripphandati is not in
PED. For the sense of wrong (vi-) excitement (phandana) cf. IV.89 and XIV.132 and note.
There seems to be an association of meaning between vipphāra, vyāpāra, vipphandana,
īhaka, and paripphandana (perhaps also ābhoga) in the general senses of interestedness,
activity, concern, interference, intervention, etc.

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when decaying,7 a woman invades a man’s mind and stays there.” That is
why the sign should be apprehended in the six ways only in a body of the
same sex.

43.

But when a clansman has cultivated the meditation subject under former

Enlightened Ones, kept the ascetic practices, threshed out the great primary
elements, discerned formations, defined mentality-materiality, eliminated the
perception of a being, done the ascetic’s [185] duties, lived the moral life, and
developed the development, when he contains the seed [of turning away from
formations], and has mature knowledge and little defilement, then the
counterpart sign appears to him in the place while he keeps looking. If it does
not appear in that way, then it appears to him as he is apprehending the sign in
the six ways.

44. But if it does not appear to him even then, he should apprehend the sign
again in five more ways: (7) by its joints, (8) by its openings, (9) by its concavities,
(10) by its convexities, and (11) all round.

45. Herein, (7) by its joints is [properly] by its hundred and eighty joints. But
how can he define the hundred and eighty joints in the bloated? Consequently
he can define it by its fourteen major joints thus: Three joints in the right arm,
three in the left arm, three in the right leg, three in the left leg, one neck joint, one
waist joint.

46. (8) By its openings: an “opening” is the hollow between the arm [and the
side], the hollow between the legs, the hollow of the stomach, the hollow of the
ear. He should define it by its openings in this way. Or alternatively, the opened
or closed state of the eyes and the opened or closed state of the mouth can be
defined.

47. (9) By its concavities: he should define any concave place on the body such
as the eye sockets or the inside of the mouth or the base of the neck. Or he can
define it thus: “I am standing in a concave place, the body is in a convex place.”

48. (10) By its convexities: he should define any raised place on the body such
as the knee or the chest or the forehead. Or he can define it thus: “I am standing
in a convex place, the body is in a concave place.”

49. (11) All round: the whole body should be defined all round. After working
over the whole body with knowledge, he should establish his mind thus, “The
bloated, the bloated,” upon any part that appears clearly to him. If it has not
appeared even yet, and if there is special intensity of the bloatedness in the belly,8
he should establish his mind thus, “The bloated, the bloated,” on that.

50.

Now, as to the words, he sees that the sign is properly apprehended, etc., the

explanation is this. The meditator should apprehend the sign thoroughly in
that body in the way of apprehending the sign already described. He should

The Harvard text has ugghāṭita, but Vism-mhṭ (p. 170) reads “ugghāṇitā (not in

PED) pī-tī uddhumātakabhāvappattā pi sabbaso kuthita-sarīrā-pī-ti attho.”
8. “Udara-pariyosānaṃ uparisarīram” (Vism-mhṭ 172). Pariyosāna here means “intensity”
though normally it means “end”; but see PED pariyosita.

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advert to it with well-established mindfulness. He should see that it is properly
remembered, properly defined, by doing that again and again. Standing in a
place not too far from and not too near to the body, he should open his eyes, look
and apprehend the sign. [186] He should open his eyes and look a hundred
times, a thousand times, [thinking], “Repulsiveness of the bloated, repulsiveness
of the bloated,” and he should close his eyes and advert to it.

51.

As he does so again and again, the learning sign becomes properly

apprehended by him. When is it properly apprehended? When it comes into
focus alike whether he opens his eyes and looks or closes his eyes and adverts,
then it is called properly apprehended.

52. When he has thus properly apprehended the sign, properly remembered
it, and properly defined it, then if he is unable to conclude his development on
the spot, he can go to his own lodging, alone, in the same way as described of his
coming, with no companion, keeping that same meditation subject in mind,
with mindfulness well established, and with his mind not turned outwards
owing to his faculties being turned inwards.

53. As he leaves the charnel ground he should define the path he comes back
by thus: “The path by which I have left goes in an easterly direction, westerly …
northerly … southerly direction,” or “It goes in an intermediate direction”; or
“In this place it goes to the left, in this place to the right”; and “In this place
there is a stone, in this a termite-mound, in this a tree, in this a bush, in this a
creeper.”

54. When he has defined the path he has come back by and when, once back,
he is walking up and down, he should see that his walk is oriented towards it
too; the meaning is that he should walk up and down on a piece of ground that
faces in the direction of the sign of foulness. And when he sits, he should prepare
a seat oriented towards it too.

55.

But if there is a bog or a ravine or a tree or a fence or a swamp in that

direction, if he cannot walk up and down on a piece of ground facing in that
direction, if he cannot prepare his seat thus because there is no room for it, then
he can both walk up and down and sit in a place where there is room, even
though it does not face that way; but he should turn his mind in that direction.

56. Now, as to the questions beginning with what is the purpose … characterizing
the surrounding signs? The intention of the answer that begins with the words, has
non-delusion for its purpose, is this: If someone goes at the wrong time to the place
where the sign of the bloated is, and opens his eyes for the purpose of
apprehending the sign by characterizing the surrounding signs, then as soon
as he looks the dead body appears [187] as if it were standing up and threatening9
and pursuing him, and when he sees the hideous and fearful object, his mind
reels, he is like one demented, gripped by panic, fear and terror, and his hair
stands on end. For among the thirty-eight meditation subjects expounded in the
texts no object is so frightening as this one. There are some who lose jhāna in
this meditation subject. Why? Because it is so frightening.

There is no sense of ajjhottharati given in PED that fits here. Cf. I.56.

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57.

So the meditator must stand firm. Establishing his mindfulness well, he

should remove his fears in this way: “No dead body gets up and pursues one. If
that stone or that creeper close to it were to come, the body might come too; but
since that stone or that creeper does not come, the body will not come either. Its
appearance to you in this way is born: of your perception, created by your
perception. Today your meditation subject has appeared to you. Do not be afraid,
bhikkhu.” He should laugh it off and direct his mind to the sign. In that way he
will arrive at distinction. The words “Characterizing the surrounding signs
has non-delusion for its purpose” are said on this account.

58. To succeed in apprehending the sign in the eleven ways is to anchor the
meditation subject. For the opening of his eyes and looking conditions the arising
of the learning sign; and as he exercises his mind on that the counterpart sign
arises; and as he exercises his mind on that he reaches absorption. When he is
sure of absorption, he works up insight and realizes Arahantship. Hence it was
said: apprehending the sign in the [other] eleven ways has anchoring [the mind] for its
purpose.

59. The reviewing of the path gone by and come by has keeping [the mind] on the track
for its purpose: the meaning is that the reviewing of the path gone by and of the
path come back by mentioned is for the purpose of keeping properly to the track
of the meditation subject.

60. For if this bhikkhu is going along with his meditation subject and people
on the way ask him about the day, “What is today, venerable sir?” or they ask him
some question [about Dhamma], or they welcome him, he ought not to go on in
silence, thinking “I have a meditation subject.” The day must be told, the question
must be answered, even by saying “I do not know” if he does not know, a legitimate
welcome must be responded to. [188] As he does so, the newly acquired sign
vanishes. But even if it does vanish, he should still tell the day when asked; if he
does not know the answer to the question, he should still say “I do not know,”
and if he does know it, he should explain it surely;10 and he must respond to a
welcome. Also reception of visitors must be attended to on seeing a visiting
bhikkhu, and all the remaining duties in the Khandhakas must be carried out
too, that is, the duties of the shrine terrace, the duties of the Bodhi-tree terrace, the
duties of the Uposatha house, the duties of the refectory and the bath house, and
those to the teacher, the preceptor, visitors, departing bhikkhus, and the rest.

61. And the newly acquired sign vanishes while he is carrying out these too.
When he wants to go again, thinking “I shall go and take up the sign,” he finds
he cannot go to the charnel ground because it has been invaded by non-human
beings or by wild beasts, or the sign has disappeared. For a bloated corpse only
lasts one or two days and then turns into a livid corpse. Of all the meditation
subjects there is none so hard to come by as this.

62. So when the sign has vanished in this way, the bhikkhu should sit down in
his night quarters or in his day quarters and first of all review the path gone by
and come by up to the place where he is actually sitting cross-legged, doing it in

10. Reading ekaṃsena (surely) with Harvard text rather than ekadesena (partly).

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this way: “I went out of the monastery by this gate, I took a path leading in such
and such a direction, I turned left at such and such a place, I turned right at such
and such a place, in one part of it there was a stone, in another a termite-mound
or a tree or a bush or a creeper; having gone by that path, I saw the foulness in
such and such a place, I stood there facing in such and such a direction and
observed such and such surrounding signs, I apprehended the sign of foulness
in this way; I left the charnel ground in such and such a direction, I came back
by such and such a path doing this and this, and I am now sitting here.”

63.

As he reviews it in this way, the sign becomes evident and appears as if

placed in front of him; the meditation subject rides in its track as it did before.
Hence it was said: the reviewing of the path gone by and come by has keeping [the
mind] on the track for its purpose.

64. Now, as to the words, when he has established reverence for it by seeing its
advantages and by perceiving it as a treasure and so come to love it, he anchors
the mind on that object: here, having gained jhāna by exercising his mind on the
repulsiveness in the bloated, he should increase insight with the jhāna as its
proximate cause, and then he should see the advantages in this way: [189]
“Surely in this way I shall be liberated from ageing and death.”

65. Just as a pauper who acquired a treasure of gems would guard and love it
with great affection, feeling reverence for it as one who appreciates the value of
it, “I have got what is hard indeed to get!” so too [this bhikkhu] should guard
the sign, loving it and feeling reverence for it as one who appreciates the value of
it, “I have got this meditation subject, which is indeed as hard to get as a very
valuable treasure is for a pauper to get. For one whose meditation subject is the
four elements discerns the four primary elements in himself, one whose meditation
subject is breathing discerns the wind in his own nostrils, and one whose
meditation subject is a kasiṇa makes a kasiṇa and develops it at his ease, so these
other meditation subjects are easily got. But this one lasts only one, or two days,
after which it turns into a livid corpse. There is none harder to get than this
one.” In his night quarters and in his day quarters he should keep his mind
anchored there thus, “Repulsiveness of the bloated, repulsiveness of the bloated.”
And he should advert to the sign, bring it to mind and strike at it with thought
and applied thought over and over again.

66. As he does so, the counterpart sign arises. Here is the difference between
the two signs. The learning sign appears as a hideous, dreadful and frightening
sight; but the counterpart sign appears like a man with big limbs lying down
after eating his fill.

67.

Simultaneously with his acquiring the counterpart sign, his lust is

abandoned by suppression owing to his giving no attention externally to sense
desires [as object]. And owing to his abandoning of approval, ill will is abandoned
too, as pus is with the abandoning of blood. Likewise stiffness and torpor are
abandoned through exertion of energy, agitation and worry are abandoned
through devotion to peaceful things that cause no remorse; and uncertainty
about the Master who teaches the way, about the way, and about the fruit of the
way, is abandoned through the actual experience of the distinction attained. So

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the five hindrances are abandoned. And there are present applied thought with
the characteristic of directing the mind on to that same sign, and sustained
thought accomplishing the function of pressing on the sign, and happiness
due to the acquisition of distinction, and tranquillity due to the production of
tranquillity in one whose mind is happy, and bliss with that tranquillity as its
sign, [190] and unification that has bliss as its sign due to the production of
concentration in one whose mind is blissful. So the jhāna factors become manifest.

68. Thus access, which is the obverse of the first jhāna, is produced in him too
at that same moment. All after that up to absorption in the first jhāna and mastery
in it should be understood as described under the earth kasiṇa.

69.

As regards the livid and the rest: the characterizing already described,

starting with the going in the way beginning “One who is learning the bloated
sign of foulness goes alone with no companion, with unremitting mindfulness
established” (§19), should all be understood with its exposition and intention,
substituting for the word “bloated” the appropriate word in each case thus:
“One who is learning the livid sign of foulness …”, “One who is learning the
festering sign of foulness …” But the differences are as follows.

[THE LIVID]

70.

The livid should be brought to mind as “Repulsiveness of the livid,

repulsiveness of the livid.” Here the learning sign appears blotchy-coloured;
but the counterpart sign’s appearance has the colour which is most prevalent.

[THE FESTERING]

71. The festering should be brought to mind as “Repulsiveness of the festering,
repulsiveness of the festering.” Here the learning sign appears as though
trickling; but the counterpart sign appears motionless and quiet.

[THE CUT UP]

72. The cut up is found on a battlefield or in a robbers’ forest or on a charnel
ground where kings have robbers cut up or in the jungle in a place where men
are torn up by lions and tigers. So, if when he goes there, it comes into focus at
one adverting although lying in different places, that is good. If not, then he
should not touch it with his own hand; for by doing so he would become familiar
with it.11 He should get a monastery attendant or one studying to become an
ascetic or someone else to put it together in one place. If he cannot find anyone
to do it, he should put it together with a walking stick or a staff in such a way
that there is only a finger’s breadth separating [the parts]. Having put it together
thus, he should bring it to mind as “Repulsiveness of the cut up, repulsiveness of
the cut up.” Herein, the learning sign appears as though cut in the middle; but
the counterpart sign appears whole. [191]

11.

“He would come to handle it without disgust as a corpse-burner would”

(Vism-mhṭ 176.).

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[THE GNAWED]

73.

The gnawed should be brought to mind as “Repulsiveness of the gnawed,

repulsiveness of the gnawed.” Here the learning sign appears as though gnawed
here and there; but the counterpart sign appears whole.

[THE SCATTERED]

74.

After getting the scattered put together or putting it together in the way

described under the cut up so that there is only a finger’s breadth, separating
[the pieces], it should be brought to mind as “Repulsiveness of the scattered,
repulsiveness of the scattered.” Here the learning sign appears with the gaps
evident; but the counterpart sign appears whole.

[THE HACKED AND SCATTERED]

75.

The hacked and scattered is found in the same places as those described

under the cut up. Therefore, after going there and getting it put together or
putting it together in the way described under the cut up so that there is only a
finger’s breadth separating [the pieces], it should be brought to mind as
“Repulsiveness of the hacked and scattered, repulsiveness of the hacked and
scattered.” Here, when the learning sign becomes evident, it does so with the
fissures of the wounds; but the counterpart sign appears whole.

[THE BLEEDING]

76. The bleeding is found at the time when [blood] is trickling from the openings
of wounds received on battlefields, etc., or from the openings of burst boils and
abscesses when the hands and feet have been cut off. So on seeing that, it should
be brought to mind as “Repulsiveness of the bleeding, repulsiveness of the
bleeding.” Here the learning sign appears to have the aspect of moving like a
red banner struck by wind; but the counterpart sign appears quiet.

[THE WORM-INFESTED]

77. There is a worm-infested corpse when at the end of two or three days a mass
of maggots oozes out from the corpse’s nine orifices, and the mass lies there like
a heap of paddy or boiled rice as big as the body, whether the body is that of a
dog, a jackal, a human being,12 an ox, a buffalo, an elephant, a horse, a python,
or what you will. It can be brought to mind with respect to anyone of these as
“Repulsiveness of the worm-infested, repulsiveness of the worm-infested.” For
the sign arose for the Elder Cūḷa-Piṇḍapātika-Tissa in the corpse of an elephant’s
carcass in the Kāḷadīghavāpi reservoir. Here the learning sign appears as though
moving; but the counterpart sign appears quiet, like a ball of boiled rice.

[A SKELETON]

78. A skeleton is described in various aspects in the way beginning “As though
he were looking at a corpse thrown onto a charnel ground, a skeleton with flesh

12. Reading manussa with Sinhalese ed.

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and blood, held together by sinews” (D II 296). [192] So he should go in the way
already described to where it has been put, and noticing any stones, etc., with
their surrounding signs and in relation, to the object, he should characterize it
by the fact of its having attained that particular individual essence thus, “This is a
skeleton,” and he should apprehend the sign in the eleven ways by colour and
the rest. But if he looks at it, [apprehending it only] by its colour as white, it does
not appear to him [with its individual essence as repulsive], but only as a variant
of the white kasiṇa. Consequently he should only look at it as ‘a skeleton’ in the
repulsive aspect.

79. “Mark” is a term for the hand, etc., here, so he should define it by its mark
according to hand, foot, head, chest, arm, waist, thigh, and shin. He should
define it by its shape, however, according as it is long, short, square, round, small
or large. By its direction and by its location are as already described (§39–40).
Having defined it by its delimitation according to the periphery of each bone, he
should reach absorption by apprehending whichever appears most evident to
him. But it can also be defined by its concavities and by its convexities according to
the concave and convex places in each bone. And it can also be defined by
position thus: “I am standing in a concave place, the skeleton is in a convex
place; or I am standing in a convex place, the skeleton is in a concave place.” It
should be defined by its joints according as any two bones are joined together. It
should be defined by its openings according to the gaps separating the bones. It
should be defined all round by directing knowledge to it comprehensively thus:
“In this place there is this skeleton.” If the sign does not arise even in this way,
then the mind should be established on the frontal bone. And in this case, just as
in the case of those that precede it beginning with the worm-infested, the
apprehending of the sign should be observed in this elevenfold manner as
appropriate.

80. This meditation subject is successful with a whole skeleton frame and even
with a single bone as well. So having learnt the sign in anyone of these in the
eleven ways, he should bring it to mind as “Repulsiveness of a skeleton,
repulsiveness of a skeleton.” Here the learning sign and the counterpart sign
are alike, so it is said. That is correct for a single bone. But when the learning
sign becomes manifest in a skeleton frame, what is correct [to say] is that there
are gaps in the learning sign while the counterpart sign appears whole. [193]
And the learning sign even in a single bone should be dreadful and terrifying
but the counterpart sign produces happiness and joy because it brings access.

81.

What is said in the Commentaries in this context allows that deduction.

For there, after saying this, “There is no counterpart sign in the four divine
abidings and in the ten kinds of foulness; for in the case of the divine abidings
the sign is the breaking down of boundaries itself, and in the case of the ten
kinds of foulness the sign comes into being as soon as the repulsiveness is seen,
without any thinking about it,” it is again said, immediately next: “Here the
sign is twofold: the learning sign and the counterpart sign. The learning sign
appears hideous, dreadful and terrifying,” and so on. So what we said was well
considered. And it is only this that is correct here. Besides, the appearance of a

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woman’s whole body as a collection of bones to the Elder Mahā-Tissa through
his merely looking at her teeth demonstrates this here (see I.55).

[GENERAL]

82.

The Divine Ruler with ten hundred eyes
Did him with the Ten Powers eulogize,
Who, fair in fame, made known as cause of jhāna
This foulness of ten species in such wise.
Now, knowing their description and the way
To tackle each and how they are developed,
There are some further points that will repay
Study, each with its special part to play.

83. One who has reached jhāna in anyone of these goes free from cupidity; he
resembles [an Arahant] without greed because his greed has been well
suppressed. At the same time, however, this classification of foulness should be
understood as stated in accordance with the particular individual essences
successively reached by the [dead] body and also in accordance with the
particular subdivisions of the greedy temperament.

84. When a corpse has entered upon the repulsive state, it may have reached
the individual essence of the bloated or anyone of the individual essences
beginning with that of the livid. So the sign should be apprehended as
“Repulsiveness of the bloated,” “Repulsiveness of the livid,” according to
whichever he has been able to find. This, it should be understood, is how the
classification of foulness comes to be tenfold with the body’s arrival at each
particular individual essence.

85. And individually the bloated suits one who is greedy about shape since it
makes evident the disfigurement of the body’s shape. The livid suits one who is
greedy about the body’s colour since it makes evident the disfigurement of the
skin’s colour. The festering [194] suits one who is greedy about the smell of the
body aroused by scents, perfumes, etc., since it makes evident the evil smells
connected with this sore, the body. The cut up suits one who is greedy about
compactness in the body since it makes evident the hollowness inside it. The
gnawed suits one who is greedy about accumulation of flesh in such parts of the
body as the breasts since it makes it evident how a fine accumulation of flesh
comes to nothing. The scattered suits one who is greedy about the grace of the
limbs since it makes it evident how limbs can be scattered. The hacked and
scattered suits one who is greedy about a fine body as a whole since it makes
evident the disintegration and alteration of the body as a whole. The bleeding
suits one who is greedy about elegance produced by ornaments since it makes
evident its repulsiveness when smeared with blood. The worm-infested suits one
who is greedy about ownership of the body since it makes it evident how the
body is shared with many families of worms. A skeleton suits one who is greedy
about fine teeth since it makes evident the repulsiveness of the bones in the body.
This, it should be understood, is how the classification of foulness comes to be
tenfold according to the subdivisions of the greedy temperament.

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86. But as regards the tenfold foulness, just as it is only by virtue of its rudder
that a boat keeps steady in a river with turbulent13 waters and a rapid current,
and it cannot be steadied without a rudder, so too [here], owing to the weak hold
on the object, consciousness when unified only keeps steady by virtue of applied
thought, and it cannot be steadied without applied thought, which is why there
is only the first jhāna here, not the second and the rest.

87. And repulsive as this object is, still it arouses joy and happiness in him by
his seeing its advantages thus, “Surely in this way I shall be liberated from ageing
and death,” and by his abandoning the hindrances’ oppression; just as a garbage
heap does in a flower-scavenger by his seeing the advantages thus, “Now I shall
get a high wage,” and as the workings of purges and emetics do in a man
suffering the pains of sickness.

88. This foulness, while of ten kinds, has only one characteristic. For though it
is of ten kinds, nevertheless its characteristic is only its impure, stinking,
disgusting and repulsive state (essence). And foulness appears with this
characteristic not only in a dead body but also in a living one, as it did to the
Elder Mahā-Tissa who lived at Cetiyapabbata (I.55), and to the novice attendant
on the Elder Saṅgharakkhita while he was watching the king riding an elephant.
For a living body is just as foul as a dead one, [195] only the characteristic of
foulness is not evident in a living body, being hidden by adventitious
embellishments.

89.

This is the body’s nature: it is a collection of over three hundred bones,

jointed by one hundred and eighty joints, bound together by nine hundred
sinews, plastered over with nine hundred pieces of flesh, enveloped in the moist
inner skin, enclosed in the outer cuticle, with orifices here and there, constantly
dribbling and trickling like a grease pot, inhabited by a community of worms,
the home of disease, the basis of painful states, perpetually oozing from the nine
orifices like a chronic open carbuncle, from both of whose eyes eye-filth trickles,
from whose ears comes ear-filth, from whose nostrils snot, from whose mouth
food and bile and phlegm and blood, from whose lower outlets excrement and
urine, and from whose ninety-nine thousand pores the broth of stale sweat
seeps, with bluebottles and their like buzzing round it, which when untended
with tooth sticks and mouth-washing and head-anointing and bathing and
underclothing and dressing would, judged by the universal repulsiveness of
the body, make even a king, if he wandered from village to village with his hair
in its natural wild disorder, no different from a flower-scavenger or an outcaste
or what you will. So there is no distinction between a king’s body and an outcaste’s
in so far as its impure stinking nauseating repulsiveness is concerned.

90.

But by rubbing out the stains on its teeth with tooth sticks and mouth-

washing and all that, by concealing its private parts under several cloths, by
daubing it with various scents and salves, by pranking it with nosegays and
such things, it is worked up into a state that permits of its being taken as “I” and

13. Aparisaṇṭhita—“turbulent.” Parisaṇṭhāti (to quiet) is not in PED. Aparisaṇṭhita is
not in CPD.

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“mine.” So men delight in women and women in men without perceiving the
true nature of its characteristic foulness, now masked by this adventitious
adornment. But in the ultimate sense there is no place here even the size of an
atom fit to lust after.

91. And then, when any such bits of it as head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth,
spittle, snot, excrement or urine have dropped off the body, beings will not touch
them; they are ashamed, humiliated and disgusted. But as long as anyone of
these things remains in it, though it is just as repulsive, they take it as agreeable,
desirable, permanent, [196] pleasant, self, because they are wrapped in the murk
of ignorance and dyed with affection and greed for self. Taking it as they do,
they resemble the old jackal who saw a flower not yet fallen from a kiṃsuka tree in
a forest and yearned after it, thinking, “This is a piece of meat, it is a piece of
meat.”

92.

There was a jackal chanced to see
A flowering kiṃsuka in a wood;
In haste he went to where it stood:
“I have found a meat-bearing tree!”

He chewed the blooms that fell, but could,
Of course, find nothing fit to eat;
He took it thus: “Unlike the meat
There on the tree, this is no good.”

A wise man will not think to treat
As foul only the part that fell,
But treats as foul the part as well
That in the body has its seat.

Fools cannot in their folly tell;
They take the body to be fair,
And soon get caught in Evil’s snare
Nor can escape its painful spell.

But since the wise have thus laid bare
This filthy body’s nature, so,
Be it alive or dead, they know
There is no beauty lurking there.

93.

For this is said:

“This filthy body stinks outright
Like ordure, like a privy’s site;
This body men that have insight
Condemn, as object of a fool’s delight.

“A tumour where nine holes abide
Wrapped in a coat of clammy hide
And trickling filth on every side,
Polluting the air with stenches far and wide.