Manasi and Manasikāra

Explore the ancient language of the Tipitaka and Theravāda commentaries
Post Reply
User avatar
Ceisiwr
Posts: 22382
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:36 am
Location: Wales

Manasi and Manasikāra

Post by Ceisiwr »

What is the relationship between manasi and manasikāra? I know that manasi is the locative of mano, but are manasi and manasikāra referring to the same thing i.e. attention? For example, here
“Siyā, ānanda, bhikkhuno tathārūpo samādhipaṭilābho yathā na cakkhuṁ manasi kareyya, na rūpaṁ manasi kareyya, na sotaṁ manasi kareyya, na saddaṁ manasi kareyya, na ghānaṁ manasi kareyya, na gandhaṁ manasi kareyya, na jivhaṁ manasi kareyya, na rasaṁ manasi kareyya, na kāyaṁ manasi kareyya, na phoṭṭhabbaṁ manasi kareyya, na pathaviṁ manasi kareyya, na āpaṁ manasi kareyya, na tejaṁ manasi kareyya, na vāyaṁ manasi kareyya, na ākāsānañcāyatanaṁ manasi kareyya, na viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ manasi kareyya, na ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ manasi kareyya, na nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ manasi kareyya, na idhalokaṁ manasi kareyya, na paralokaṁ manasi kareyya, yampidaṁ diṭṭhaṁ sutaṁ mutaṁ viññātaṁ pattaṁ pariyesitaṁ anuvicaritaṁ manasā, tampi na manasi kareyya;
manasi ca pana kareyyā”ti.
https://suttacentral.net/an11.8/en/suja ... ript=latin
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
ssasny
Posts: 379
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2020 10:03 pm

Re: Manasi and Manasikāra

Post by ssasny »

The compound manasikāra is interesting as it includes the inflected form of manas, in the locative, as you say.
'kāra' is an noun form of the verb karoti, to make or do, kāra has the sense of action or deed. So, literally 'the making in the mind'. Often translated as 'attention'.

In the sutta you cited, the verb karoti appears in the optative form, kareyya, giving the sense of 'might be', 'may be' , etc, and it's negated.

So, as Ven. Sujāto translates, "wouldn’t be aware of" for
na X manasi kareyya, the X being all the things listed.
User avatar
Ceisiwr
Posts: 22382
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:36 am
Location: Wales

Re: Manasi and Manasikāra

Post by Ceisiwr »

ssasny wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 3:59 pm The compound manasikāra is interesting as it includes the inflected form of manas, in the locative, as you say.
'kāra' is an noun form of the verb karoti, to make or do, kāra has the sense of action or deed. So, literally 'the making in the mind'. Often translated as 'attention'.

In the sutta you cited, the verb karoti appears in the optative form, kareyya, giving the sense of 'might be', 'may be' , etc, and it's negated.

So, as Ven. Sujāto translates, "wouldn’t be aware of" for
na X manasi kareyya, the X being all the things listed.
Thank you.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
ToVincent
Posts: 1839
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2016 6:02 pm

Re: Manasi and Manasikāra

Post by ToVincent »

ssasny wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 3:59 pm The compound manasikāra is interesting as it includes the inflected form of manas, in the locative, as you say.
'kāra' is an noun form of the verb karoti, to make or do, kāra has the sense of action or deed. So, literally 'the making in the mind'. Often translated as 'attention'.

In the sutta you cited, the verb karoti appears in the optative form, kareyya, giving the sense of 'might be', 'may be' , etc, and it's negated.

So, as Ven. Sujāto translates, "wouldn’t be aware of" for
na X manasi kareyya, the X being all the things listed.
If only kṛ had this meaning (make or do), and nothing more — this translation would be perfect — However, there is always those uncivilised ritual sacrificers of the old Veda, that are always there to remind the folks, that their language (the "language of the folks"), should be quite broaden — if only to understand yoniso.
.
.
In this world, there are many people acting and yearning for the Mara's world; some for the Brahma's world; and very few for the Unborn.
Post Reply