If jhana is total absorption without physical sensation, why is pain only abandoned in the fourth jhana?

[Brahmali]

@kumara

It’s hard to understand how the meaning of a word should be different because of the number.

@Sunyo

But it is not “because of” the number that the meaning changes. It is because of the context. The number is just an extra indication we can use in this particular case of kāma.

I’d like to chime in with a couple of points that I hope haven’t been made by anyone! I have only read bits and pieces of this thread.

An important indication of the meaning of kāma is that other Pali words for desire, such as taṇhā, rāga, lobha, and chanda, are almost always found in the singular. With kāma it’s the other way around: the plural form is the predominant one. Kāma in the singular corresponds to the other words for desire, whereas kāma in the plural must refer to something else, that is, the five senses.

Moreover, there are a number of compounds that make much better sense if we understand kāma in the plural as the five senses. Here are some:

• Kāmacchanda: desire regarding the five senses (not desire for sensual desire)
• Kāmarāga: lust in regard to the five senses (not lust for desire)
• Kāmupapatti: rebirth in realm of the five senses (not rebirth in the realm of sensual desire)
• Kāmupādāna: grasping in relation to the five senses (not grasping of sensual desire)

@kumara

Apart from those in the Aj Brahm school of thought and those who go by the Visuddhimagga’s idea of jhana, I don’t know of anyone who accepts that plural definition kama in Margaret Cone’s dictionary.

What about the entire Pali commentarial tradition?

@Ceisiwr

It’s freedom from sensual pleasures, not the 5 senses.

The five senses are interesting only in so far as they provide pleasure. Freedom from sensual pleasure means freedom from the five senses. These things are given up together.