masculine · vitakka 1 · vitakka 2
reflection; thought
Vitakka [vi + takka] reflection, thought, thinking; "initial application" ( Cpd. 282). — Defined as "vitakkanaṃ vitakko, ūhanan ti vuttaṃ hoti" at Vism 142 (with simile on page 143, comparing vitakka with vicāra: kumbhakārassa daṇḍa-ppahārena cakkaṃ bhamayitvā, bhājanaṃ karontassa uppīḷana-hattho viya vitakko (like the hand holding the wheel tight), ito c'ito sañcaraṇahattho viya vicāro: giving vitakka the characteristic of fixity and steadiness, vicāra that of movement and display). — D II 277 ("pre-occupation" translation: see note D.B. II 311); III 104, 222, 287 (eight Mahāpurisa°); M I 114 (dvidhā-kato v.), 377; S I 39, 126, 186, 203; II 153; IV 69, 216; A II 36; III 87 (dhamma°); IV 229 (Mahāpurisa°), 353 (°upaccheda); Snp 7, 270 f., 970, 1109; Ja I 407 (Buddha°, Saṅgha°, Nibbāna°); Nidd I 386, 493, 501 (nine); Nidd II sub voce takka; Paṭis I 36, 136, 178; Pv III 5 8 ; Pp 59, 68; Vibh 86, 104 (rūpa°, sadda° etc.), 228 (sa°), 362 (akusala°); Dhs 7, 160, 1268; Tikap 61, 333, 353; Vism 291 (°upaccheda); Miln 82, 309; As 142; Dhp-a IV 68; Vibh-a 490; Pv-a 226, 230. — kāma°, vihiṃsā°, vyāpāda° (sensual, malign, cruel thought): D III 226; S II 151 f.; III 93; A I 148, 274 f.; II 16, 117, 252; III 390, 428. Opposite nekkhamma°, avyāpāda°, avihiṃsā° A I 275; II 76; III 429. — vitakka is often combined with vicāra or "initial and sustained application" Mrs. Rh.D.; Cpd. 282; "reflection and investigation" Rh.D.; to denote the whole of the mental process of thinking (viz. fixing one's attention and reasoning out, or as Cpd. 17 explains it "vitakka is the directing of concomitant properties towards the object; vicāra is the continued exercise of the mind on that object." See also above definition at Vism 142). Both are properties of the first jhāna (called sa-vitakka sa-vicāra) but are discarded in the second jhāna (called a°). See e.g. D. I 37; S IV 360 f.; A IV 300; Vin III 4; Vism 85; and formula of jhāna. The same of pīti and samādhi at Vibh 228, of paññā at Vibh 323. The same combination (vitakka + vicāra) at following passages: D III 219 (of samādhi which is either sa°, or a°, or avitakka vicāra-matta); S IV 193; V 111; A IV 409 f., 450; Nett 16; Miln 60, 62; Vism 453. Cf. rūpa° (sadda° etc.) vitakka + rūpa (sadda° etc.) vicāra A IV 147; V 360; Vibh 103. — On term (also with vicāra) see further: Cpd. 40, 56, 98, 238 f., 282 (on difference between v. and manasikāra); Expositor I 188 n; PtsC. 2381. — Cf. pa°, pari°. Note: Looking at the combination vitakka + vicāra in earlier and later works one comes to the conclusion that they were once used to denote one and the same thing: just thought, thinking, only in an emphatic way (as they are also semantically synonymous), and that one has to take them as one expression, like jānāti passati, without being able to state their difference. With the advance in the Saṅgha of intensive study of terminology they became distinguished mutually. Vitakka became the inception of mind, or attending, and was no longer applied, as in the Suttas, to thinking in general. The explanations of commentators are mostly of an edifying nature and based more on popular etymology than on natural psychological grounds. [BD]: Note: V+V used to denote one and the same thing only in an emphatic way. Similar to the exact repetiton of certen terms for extra emphasis used here and there in the suttas.
【陽】 沈思，思考。~na,【中】 沈思。
(masc, masc, from vitakketi) thought; reflection; pondering reflection, thought Construction: vi + √takk + a
(masc, masc, from vitakketi) (abhi) application of mind; initial application of attention; (comm) mounting initial application Construction: vi + √takk + a
(nt, nt, from vitakketi) thought; reflection; pondering Construction: vi + √takk + a