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# Cattāro Sammappadhānā

#### The Four Commendable[1] (Consummate, Best, Right) Efforts,

Here beggars, a beggar generates desire, exerts his heart, seeks out the energy and self-control to prevent the arising of bad, unskillful things not yet arisen;
generates desire, exerts his heart, seeks out the energy and self-control to let go of bad, unskillful things that have arisen;
generates desire, exerts his heart, seeks out the energy and self-control to give rise to skillful things not yet arisen;
generates desire, exerts his heart, seeks out the energy and self-control for the non-confusion, increased standing, and completely fulfilled development of skillful things that have arisen.
These then beggars, are the four commendable efforts.
— [AN 4.13 - Olds]

References:
AN 4.13 Effort
AN 4.14 Restraint
DN 33.4.2

Pāḷi | MO | Hare | Horner | Punnaji | Bodhi | Nanamoli | Rhys Davids | (Mrs)Rhys Davids | Thanissaro | Upalavana | Walshe | Woodward | Warren
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Cattāro Sammappadhānā | Four Commendable Efforts [AN 4.13], Four Consummate Efforts [DN 33.4.2] | Four Right Efforts [AN 5.15] | Four Right Strivings [MN 77] | Harmonious Practice | Four Right Strivings [AN 10.90], Four Right Kinds of Striving [MN 77] | Four Right Kinds of Striving [MN 77] | Four Supreme Efforts [DN 33.4.2] | Four Supreme Efforts [DN 33.4.2] |  | The Fourfold Rightful Endeavours [MN 77] | Four Great Efforts [DN 33.4.2] | The Four Best Efforts [AN 10.90], Right Efforts [AN 4 13] [SN 5.49 ~] |

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

Padhāna. (nt.) [from pa+dhā, cp. padahati] exertion, energetic effort, striving, concentration of mind D III.30, 77, 104, 108, 214, 238; M II.174, 218; S I.47; II.268; IV.360; V.244 sq.; A III.65-67 (5 samayā and 5 asamayā for padhāna), 249; IV.355; V.17 sq.; Sn 424, 428; It 30; Dh 141; J I.90; Nd2 394 ( = viriya); Vbh 218 (citta-samādhi p- etc.); Nett 16; DA I.104; DhA I.85 (mahā-padhānaṁ padahitvā); ThA 174; PvA 134. Padhāna is fourfold, viz. saṅvara-, pahāna-, bhāvana-, anurakkhaṇā- or exertion consisting in the restraint of one's senses, the abandonment of sinful thoughts, practice of meditation and guarding one's character. These 4 are mentioned at D III.225; A II.16; Ps I.84; II.14 sq., 56, 86, 166, 174; Ud 34; Nd1 45, 340; Sdhp 594. Very frequently termed sammappadhāna [cp. BSanskrit samyak-pradhāna MVastu III.120; but also samyakprahāṇa, e. g. Divy 208] or "right exertion," thus at Vin I.22; S I.105; III.96 (the four); A II.15 (id.); III.12; IV.125; Nd1 14; Ps I.21, 85, 90, 161; SnA 124; PvA 98. - As padahana at Ps I.17, 21, 181.

A Dictionary of the Pāḷi Language
Robert Caesar Childers
[EDITED ENTRY]

Padhānaṁ A king's chief companion or minister; exertion, energetic effort, striving. ... Padhānabhūmi, a cloister in a monastery for monks to walk in who are striving to attain Arhatship. The four Padhānas or Exertions are saṁvarapadhānaṁ, pahānapadhānaṁ, bhāvanāpadhānaṁ, anurakkhanāpadhānaṁ, i.e. those efforts which result in the restraint of the senses, in the abandonment of sinful thoughts (vitakka), in the attainment of the Bojjhaṅgas, and in the preservation of the nimmitta necessary to the ecstatic meditation. When Gotama Buddha renounced the world, he spent six years in the practice of all sorts of austerities and religious exercises, and these efforts resulted in his attainment of Buddhahood. This period of wrestling with the flesh is called Mahāpadhānaṁ "the great Exertion." Padhāna in Pāli as a technical term means only "exertion,"...

[1] Sammappadhānāni. Samma not Sammā. PED gives 'Hail' but suggests a relationship to Sammā.

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