- Rūpa
:"For the
beetle genus established by Jedkicka in 1935, see "Rupa (beetle) ". "Rupa (wasp) ", established by Jonathan in 1971 for awasp genus, is ahomonym but not yet corrected.In
Hinduism andBuddhism , "rūpa" (Sanskrit ;Pāli ;Devanagari : रुपा;Thai : รูป) generally refers to material objects, particularly in regards to their appearance.Hinduism
According to the Monier-Williams Dictionary (2006), rūpa is defined as::* ... any outward appearance or phenomenon or colour (often pl.) , form , shape , figure RV. &c &c ... :* to assume a form ; often ifc. = " having the form or appearance or colour of " , " formed or composed of " , " consisting of " , " like to " .... [Monier-Williams Dictionary, pp. 885-6, entry for "Rūpa," retrieved 2008-03-06 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/ (using "rUpa" as keyword) and http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0886-rUpakartR.jpg.]
Buddhism
In general, "rūpa" is the BuddhistPancaKhandha|figno=1 Chachakka|figno=2 concept of material form, including both the body and external matter.More specifically, in the
Pali Canon , "rūpa" is contextualized in three significant frameworks: [E.g., see Hamilton (2001), p. 3 and "passim".]
* "rūpa-khandha" – "material forms," one of the five aggregates ("khandha") by which all phenomena can be categorized (see Fig. 1).
* "rūpa-āyatana" – "visible objects," the external sense objects of the eye, one of the six external sense bases ("āyatana") by which the world is known (see Fig. 2).
* "nāma-rūpa" – "name and form" or "mind and body," which in the causal chain of dependent origination ("paticca-samuppāda") arises from consciousness and leads to the arising of the sense bases.In addition, more generally, "rūpa" is used to describe a statue, in which it is sometimes called
Buddharupa ."Rūpa-khandha"
As matter, rūpa is traditionally analysed in two ways: as four primary elements (Pali, "
mahābhūta "); and, as ten or twenty-four secondary or derived elements.Four primary elements
Existing "rūpa" consists in the four primary or underived ("no-upādā") elements:
*earth or solidity
*fire or heat
*water or cohesion
*air or movementDerived matter
In the
Abhidhamma Pitaka and laterPali literature , [Hamilton (2001), p. 6.] "rūpa" is further analyzed in terms of ten or twenty-three or twenty-four types of secondary or derived ("upādā") matter. In the list of ten types of secondary matter, the following are identified:
* eye
* ear
* nose
* tongue
* body [Here, "body" ("kāya") refers to that which senses "touch" ("phoIAST|ṭṭhabba"). In theUpanishad s, "skin" is used instead of "body" (Rhys Davids, 1900, p. 172 "n". 3).]
* form
* sound
* odour
* taste
* touch [The first ten secondary elements are the same as the first five (physical) sense bases and their sense objects (e.g., see Hamilton, 2001, pp. 6-7).]If twenty-four secondary types are enumerated, then the following fifteen are added to the first nine of the above ten:
* femininity
* masculinity or virility
* life or vitality
* heart or heart-basis [According to Vsm. XIV, 60 (Buddhaghosa, 1999, p. 447), the heart-basis provides material support for the mind ("mano") and mind consciousness. In theSutta Pitaka , a material basis for the mind sphere ("āyatana ") is never identified.]
* physical indications (movements that indicate intentions)
* vocal indications
* space element
* physical lightness or buoyancy
* physical yieldingness or plasticity
* physical handiness or wieldiness
* physical grouping or integration
* physical extension or maintenance
* physical aging or decay
* physical impermanence
* food [The list of 24 can be found, for instance, in theVisuddhimagga (Vsm. XIV, 36 ff.) (Buddhaghosa, 1999, pp. 443 ff.; and, Hamilton, 2001, p. 7).]A list of 23 derived types can be found, for instance, in the Abhidhamma Pitaka's
Dhammasangani (e.g., Dhs. 596), which omits the list of 24 derived types' "heart-basis." [Compare Dhs. 596 (Rhys Davids, 2000, p. 172) and Vsm. XIV, 36 (Buddhaghosa, 1999, p. 443).]See also
* Arūpa
*Buddharupa
*Namarupa for the main concept
*Skandhas :vedana ,sanna ,sankhata ,vijnana
*Body ,sensation s,perception s, andconsciousness
*Three marks of existence
*Abhidharma
*Form Notes
ources
*
Buddhaghosa , Bhadantācariya (trans. from Pāli by Bhikkhu ÑāIAST|ṇamoli) (1999). "The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga". Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.* Hamilton, Sue (2001). "Identity and Experience: The Constitution of the Human Being according to Early Buddhism". Oxford: Luzac Oriental. ISBN 1-898942-23-4.
* Monier-Williams, Monier (1899, 1964). "A Sanskrit-English Dictionary". London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-864308-X. Retrieved 2008-03-06 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/index.php?sfx=pdf.
* Rhys Davids, Caroline A.F. ( [1900] , 2003). "Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics, of the Fourth Century B.C., Being a Translation, now made for the First Time, from the Original Pāli, of the First Book of the Abhidhamma-PiIAST|ṭaka, entitled Dhamma-IAST|Saṅgaṇi (Compendium of States or Phenomena)". Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0-7661-4702-9.
External links
*
Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2003). "Maha-hatthipadopama Sutta: The Great Elephant Footprint Simile" (MN 28). Retrieved 2008-03-06 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn028-tb0.html.
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