Rūpā

Pāḷi Text Society
Pāḷi English Dictionary
Edited by T. W. Rhys Davids and William Stede
[EDITED ENTRY]

Rūpa (nt.) [cp. Vedic rūpa, connected etymologically with varpa...form, figure, appearance, principle of form, etc. (lit.) appearance, form, figure (=form either contrasted with what is unseen, or taken for both seen and unseen)...(*-) of such and such a form, like, kind, of a certain condition or appearance. In this appln very frequent and similar to E. -hood, or Ger. -heit, i. e. an abstract formation. Often untranslatable because of the latter character. It is similar to kāya, but not so much with ref. to life and feeling as to appearance and looks. adissamāna- invisible (lit. with invisible form); ummatta- as if mad, under the appearance of madness, like a madman; eva- in such a condition; tapassī- appearing to be an ascetic; tāraka- the (shapes of the) stars; deva- as a deva. Pleonastically e. g. in: anupatta- attaining; taramāna- quickly; yutta- fit; sucitta- variegated. -- Cases ad verbially: citta-rūpaṃ according to intention; cetabba-rūpaṃ fit to be thought upon. -atta-rūpena on my own account S IV.97; godha-rūpena as an iguana -- D. (as philos. t. t.) principle of (material) form, materiality, visibility. -- There are var. groups of psychological and metaphysical systematizations, in which rūpa functions as the material, gross factor, by the side of other, more subtle factors. In all these representations of rūpa we find that an element of moral psychology overshadows the purely philosophical and speculative aspect. 1. rūpa as āyatana or sense object. It is the object of the activity or sphere of the organ of sight (cakkhu). As such it heads the list of the 6 bāhirāni āyatanāni with "cakkhunā rūpaṃ disvā" (the others: sota>sadda, ghāna>gandha, jivhā>rasa, kāya>phoṭṭhabba, mano>dhamma). 2. (metaphysically) as the representative of sensory or material existence: (a) universally as forming the corporeal stratum in the world of appearance or form (rūpa- bhava) as compared with the incorporeal (arūpa-bhava), being itself above, and yet including the kāma-bhava. (The kāmabhava is a subdivision of rūpabhava, which has got raised into a third main division.) This triad is also found in combns with loka or dhātu. A similar sequence rūpa arūpa and nirodha (i. e. nibbāna) in old verses. On indriya-rūpa "faculty as form" see indriya. -- (b) individually in the sphere of saṅsāra as one (i. e. the material quality) of the substrata of sensory individual existence or the khandhas. They are the 5: rūpa-kkhandha, vedanā-, saññā-, sankhārā-, viññāṇa-; otherwise called rūp'ūpādāna-kkhandha etc. (e. g. D III.223, 278; Vism 443). See khandha II. B. -- In this property rūpa consists of 28 subdivisions, viz. the 4 (great) dhātūs (mahābhūtāni or else bhūta-rūpa primary matter) and 24 upādārūpāni; the 24 consist of: cakkhu, sota, ghāna, jivhā, kāya, rūpa, sadda, gandha, rasa, itthindriya, purisindriya, jīvitindriya, hadaya vatthu, kāya-viññatti, vacī-viññatti, ākāsa-dhātu, (rūpassa) lahutā mudutā kammaññatā, upacaya santati jaratā aniccatā, kaba'inkār' --āhāra;...: cātu-mahābhūtikaṃ rūpaṃ catunnaṃ ca mahābhūtānaṃ upādāya rūpassa paññatti. The rūpakkhandha shares with the others the qualities of soullessness, evanescence and ill (anattā, anicca, dukkha). -- (c) in the making up of the individuality as such (nāma-rūpa), where in contrast with nāma (as abstract, logical, invisible or mind-factor) rūpa represents the visible (material) factor, resembling kāya (cp. phrase nāma-kāya in same sense). The foll. are current defns of nāma-rūpa: nāma-(kāya)=vedanā, saññā, cetanā, phassa, manasikāra (otherwise citta-sankhārā), rūpa(-kāya)=cattāro mahā-bhūtā catunnaṃ m-bhūtānaṃ upādāya rūpaṃ (otherwise kāya-sankhārā) S II.4. See also under paṭicca-samuppāda