Pratigha

See also: Anger

Pratigha (P. paṭigha; T. khong khro ཁོང་ཁྲོ་; C. chen 瞋) is translated as "anger," "aggresion," "hostility," "repugnance," etc. It is defined as a hostile attitude towards sentient beings, towards frustration, and towards that which gives rise to one's frustrations; it functions as a basis for fault-finding, for negative actions, and for not finding a moment of peace or happiness.

Pratigha is identified as:

• one of the six root kleshas within the Abhidharma-samuccaya of the Sanskrit tradition
• one of the six or seven main underlying tendencies of the Sanskrit and Pali traditions
• one of the ten fetters within the Dhammasangani of the Pali Abhidharma tradition

The antidote to anger directed towards other beings is meditatiton on loving kindness (maitrī).

Definitions

Pali tradition

Patigha (Pali) is defined by Pali sources as: anger, repulsion, collision; animosity; irritation; indignation.

The Buddhist Dictionary states:

1. In an ethical sense, it means: 'repugnance', grudge, resentment, anger, and is a synonym of vyāpāda, 'ill-will' (see nīvaraṇa) and dosa, 'hate' (see mūla). It is one of the proclivities (anusaya, q.v.).
2. '(Sense-) reaction'. Applied to five-sense cognition, paṭigha occurs in the following contexts:

(a) as paṭigha-saññā, 'perception of sense-reaction', said to be absent in the immaterial absorptions (see jhāna). Alternative renderings: resistance-perception, reflex-perception;

(b) as paṭigha-samphassa, '(mental) impression caused by fivefold sensorial reaction' (D. 15); see phassa;

(c) as sappaṭigha-rūpa, 'reacting corporeality', and appaṭigha, 'not reacting', which is an Abhidhammic classification of corporeality, occurring in Dhs. 659, 1050. Sappaṭigha are called the physical sense-organs as reacting (or responding) to sense stimuli; and also the physical sense-objects as impinging (or making an impact) on the sense-organs. All other corporeality is appaṭigha, non-reacting and non-impinging. These two terms have been variously rendered as resistant and not, responding and not, with and without impact.

Sanskrit tradition

The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:

What is pratigha? It is ill-will with regard to living beings, with regard to suffering and with regard to things pertaining to suffering. Its function is to produce a basis for unhappy states and bad conduct.

StudyBuddhism states:

[Pratigha is] a root disturbing emotion, aimed at another limited being, one's own suffering, or situations entailing suffering, and which is impatient with them and wishes to get rid of them, such as by damaging or hurting them, or by striking out against them. It is based on regarding its object as unattractive or repulsive by its very nature.

StudyBuddhism identifies dvesha (aversion) as a subcategory of pratigha (anger) that is directed primarily, although not exclusively, at limited beings.

Alternate translations

• Anger (Herbert Guenther, Alexander Berzin)
• Repugnance (Walpola Rahula)

See also

• Anger
• Dvesha

Sources

• Primary Minds and the 51 Mental Factors, StudyBuddhism
• Guenther, Herbert V. & Leslie S. Kawamura (1975), Mind in Buddhist Psychology: A Translation of Ye-shes rgyal-mtshan's "The Necklace of Clear Understanding" Dharma Publishing. Kindle Edition.
• Kunsang, Erik Pema (translator) (2004). Gateway to Knowledge, Vol. 1. North Atlantic Books.
• Walpola Rahula (2007). What the Buddha Taught. Grove Press. Kindle Edition

External links

• Primary Minds and the 51 Mental Factors, StudyBuddhism
• Glossary (definition for anger/khong-khro), StudyBuddhism
• khong_khro, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
• Anger