Attain, obtain and master

Translations
1

In Catut­tha­pā­rāji­ka­sikkhā­pada what are the words for attain, obtain and master and how do they differ? Also how do the different forms of attain change the meaning?

If he lies in full awareness, saying, “I attained the first absorption,” he commits an offense entailing expulsion when four conditions are fulfilled:
Catūhākārehi paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ samāpajjinti sampajānamusā bhaṇantassa āpatti pārājikassa—

If he lies in full awareness, saying, “I obtain the first absorption,” he commits an offense entailing expulsion when three conditions are fulfilled:
Tīhākārehi paṭhamassa jhānassa lābhimhīti sampajānamusā bhaṇantassa āpatti pārājikassa—

If he lies in full awareness, saying, “I master the first absorption,” he commits an offense entailing expulsion when three conditions are fulfilled:
Tīhākārehi paṭhamassa jhānassa vasimhīti sampajānamusā bhaṇantassa āpatti pārājikassa—

attain - samāpajjinti, samāpajjāmīti, samāpannoti
obtain - lābhimhīti
master - vasimhīti

I think master is the 5 masterys: mastery in adverting, mastery in attaining, mastery in resolving (steadying the duration), mastery in emerging, and mastery in reviewing.

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For those who don’t know, the text @Viccagaro is referring to is found at the link below:

SuttaCentral

@Viccagaro, you may want to tag bhante @Brahmali who has recently translated this text.

:anjal:

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Greetings Venerable @Viccagaro and welcome to the Discourse forum of Sutta Central :slightly_smiling_face:
If you need any assistance please just ask or send a message to the moderators.

Metta :slightly_smiling_face:

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Definately sounds like Ajahn @Brahmali would be more than qualified to answer this query. I hope he has some free time to explain the vocabulary for us.

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Hi Venerable,

There is no difference in meaning. The purpose of using the various expressions is to make the point that how you express the claim is irrelevant. What matters is that you make the claim, regardless of how it is expressed.

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Thank you Ajahn Brahmali,

With regard to: attain, obtain and master.

  1. Would we take someone who ‘masters’(vasimhīti?) a certain attainment(e.g. paṭhamassa jhānassa) to have the 5 masterys?

  2. What would likely be the comparative ability of someone who ‘attains’(samāpajjinti, samāpajjāmīti, samāpannoti?)a certain attainment(e.g. paṭhamassa jhānassa)?

e.g. Would they have experienced it just once?

  1. Similarly, what would likely be the comparative ability of someone who ‘obtains’(lābhimhīti?) a certain attainment(e.g. paṭhamassa jhānassa)?

2/3 is where I am the most confused as I don’t quite understand what the difference between attain and obtain is.

Once again thank you for helping to alleviate some of my ignorance and I would really appreciate any further advice you may be able to provide.

Ven. Viccagaro

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At AN 7.40 and AN 7.41 vasa/vasī is used to denote skill in samādhi. More generally, vasa/vasī is used to denote the fact that you are fully in control of something, for example your thoughts, as in MN 20. So yes, “mastery” seems to be a good translation, and it implies easy access and the ability to attain samādhi/jhāna when and as required. It can perhaps be summarised as the five masteries.

In the context of bhikkhu-pārājika one, it probably just means that you have attained jhāna at least once.

I can’t see any difference between lābhī and samāpajjati, at least in this context. I would say they are used synonymously.

Good luck and have fun!

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Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu!

Thank you so much Ajahn @Brahmali, I really appreciate the guidance.

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