We can look at several suttas to draw an inference from.Sam Vara wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 2:48 pmSure. There have over the years been lots of discussions here along the lines of the "two darts" analogy, or that the Buddha felt pain, but did not thereby suffer. That's different from your claim in the OP.
You make an inference about thīna arising from the pain, which is fine, but the word doesn't seem to appear in the suttas.
Here the Buddha explains the difference between the lions posture and the Buddha's lying down posture..
https://suttacentral.net/an4.246/en/sujatoAnd how does a lion lie down? The lion, king of beasts, lies down on the right side, placing one foot on top of the other, with his tail tucked between his thighs. When he wakes, he lifts his front quarters and checks his hind quarters. If he sees that any part of his body is disordered or displaced, he is displeased. But if he sees that no part of his body is disordered or displaced, he is pleased. This is called the way a lion lies down.
And how does a Realized One lie down? It’s when a Realized One, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first absorption … second absorption … third absorption … fourth absorption. This is called the way a Realized One lies down.
This infers that the Buddha lies down to preserve jhanas, he doesn't lie down for no reason. When we speak of Jhanas we automatically also speak of the 5 hindrances and their absence. Thus one can infer the hindrances by inferring jhanas.
The Buddha instructs that one watches their own mind 24/7 for the 5 hindrances to prevent them from arising.
"If, on examination, a monk knows, 'I usually remain covetous, with thoughts of ill will, overcome by sloth & drowsiness, restless, uncertain, angry, with soiled thoughts, with my body aroused, lazy, or unconcentrated,' then he should put forth extra desire, effort, diligence, endeavor, relentlessness, mindfulness, & alertness for the abandoning of those very same evil, unskillful qualities. Just as when a person whose turban or head was on fire would put forth extra desire, effort, diligence, endeavor, relentlessness, mindfulness, & alertness to put out the fire on his turban or head; in the same way, the monk should put forth extra desire, effort, diligence, endeavor, relentlessness, mindfulness, & alertness for the abandoning of those very same evil, unskillful qualities.
"But if, on examination, a monk knows, 'I usually remain uncovetous, without thoughts of ill will, free of sloth & drowsiness, not restless, gone beyond uncertainty, not angry, with unsoiled thoughts, with my body unaroused, with persistence aroused, & concentrated,' then his duty is to make an effort in maintaining those very same skillful qualities to a higher degree for the ending of the effluents."
And how is a bhikkhu intent on wakefulness? Here, during the day, while walking back and forth and sitting, a bhikkhu purifies his mind of obstructive qualities. In the first watch of the night, while walking back and forth and sitting, he purifies his mind of obstructive qualities. In the middle watch of the night he lies down on the right side in the lion’s posture, with one foot overlapping the other, mindful and clearly comprehending, after noting in his mind the idea of rising. After rising, in the last watch of the night, while walking back and forth and sitting, he purifies his mind of obstructive qualities. It is in this way that a bhikkhu is intent on wakefulness.
Thus the lying down posture is the last case final resort a monk resorts to prevent sloth from arising.
“Sleepiness, sloth, and yawning,
discontent, and grogginess after eating:
because of this the noble path
doesn’t shine for creatures here.”
“Sleepiness, sloth, and yawning,
discontent, and grogginess after eating:
when this is energetically fended off,
the noble path is purified.”