Meaning of apariṇatabhojī

The term appears only in AN 5.125 & 126:

“pañcime, bhikkhave, dhammā anāyussā. katame pañca? asappāyakārī hoti, sappāye mattaṃ na jānāti, apariṇatabhojī ca hoti, akālacārī ca hoti, abrahmacārī ca. ime kho, bhikkhave, pañca dhammā anāyussā.

“pañcime, bhikkhave, dhammā āyussā. katame pañca? sappāyakārī hoti, sappāye mattaṃ jānāti, pariṇatabhojī ca hoti, kālacārī ca hoti, brahmacārī ca. ime kho, bhikkhave, pañca dhammā āyussā”ti.

Ven. Bodhi translates ‘one having poor digestion’. I have no idea where he comes from.

The dictionary suggests that pariṇata means “was transformed into; ripened; matured”. Eating unripe fruits or uncooked (unprocessed/untransformed) food may cause bad digestion, but I don’t see why it should mean that the problem is with the digestion when it seems to be with the type of food itself.

I take it that bhojī means ‘one who eats/partakes’.

Does it make more sense to translate the expression by ‘one eating what is unripe or uncooked’ (knowing that eating raw food, esp. vegetables in very poor countries is often a sure way to get sick)?

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I guess you’re more skilled with the context, but in Skt. pariṇata among other things means ‘digested (as food)’ - but not in the old sources.

In the slightly later sources than the EBT it’s
’set (as the sun)’ in the Mhb and ‘advanced’ in the Ramayana

i.e. rather in the third sense of the PTS 'ripened, matured, hatched, ripe’
So I’d say you’re totally right with ‘unripe’.

Nynatiloka translates so too in German:
“Unreifes (oder nicht Gares) zu sich nehmen” --> ‘unreif’ = un-ripe

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I had previously followed Ven Bodhi in this, but I think you’re right, it should be “eating unripe or uncooked food.”

For this passage, Critical Pali Dict has:

not ripened; in the cpd. °-bhoji(n), mfn., eating unripe things; m. ~ī, AN III 145,5

The commentary on this passage is silent. Elsewhere in the suttas, bhojī always seems to mean “eater of” thus “eater of the unripe” rather than “eater with poor digestion”.

The only problem is rendering: the term would be a generic phrase for food that is unfit for eating, including unripe, uncooked, or otherwise ill-prepared food. Perhaps simply “unfit” or “improperly prepared” would do.

Anyway, thanks for the correction!

Doing what is unsuitable, not knowing moderation in what is suitable, eating improperly prepared food, activity at unsuitable times, and unchastity.

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Bhante, it’s such a short sutta can you post your entire translation? I want to see how you translate other terms that I find confusing in B.Bodhi’s.

576“Bhikkhus, there are these five things that reduce vitality. What five? One does what is harmful; one does not observe moderation in what is beneficial; one has poor digestion; one walks [for alms] at an improper time;1126"" one is not celibate. These are the five things that reduce vitality.

:diamonds: 125. “pañcime, bhikkhave, dhammā anāyussā. katame pañca? asappāyakārī hoti, sappāye mattaṃ na jānāti, apariṇatabhojī ca hoti, akālacārī ca hoti, abrahmacārī ca. ime kho, bhikkhave, pañca dhammā anāyussā.

To me what the whole sutta is saying is these 5 actions will decrease your life span, the quality of one’s health, one’s vital internal energy. So apariṇata-bhojī as “improperly prepared food” makes a lot more sense, since that’s an action you can avoid. Whereas someone with “poor digestion” is just screwed, he can’t suddenly make a choice to do or not do.

I think lifespan is different from vital energy. The latter isn’t a concept I have come across, AFAIK.

with metta

“Mendicants, these five things impede longevity. What five? Doing what is unsuitable, not knowing moderation in what is suitable, eating food unfit for consumption, activity at unsuitable times, and unchastity. These are the five things that impede longevity.

These five things promote longevity. What five? Doing what is suitable, knowing moderation in what is suitable, eating food fit for consumption, activity at suitable times, and chastity. These are the five things that promote longevity.”

So a few points here.

I’ve adjusted the translation of aparinaṭa to the more general “unfit for consumption”. It really is too broad to be just “raw”, “unripe”, or even “improperly prepared” (what’s an improperly prepared banana?).

Ven Bodhi has “walking for alms at an improper time”. The text says nothing about alms. It is true, there is another passage where akālacārī does mean this. But it seems hard to understand how that would apply here. Why would walking for alms in the afternoon be bad for your health? I think it means more generally, activity done at the wrong time, such as hard labor in the heat of the day.

Finally, for āyussa Ven Bodhi has “vitality”. But both CPD and Cone’s DOP agree that the meaning here should be “longevity”. This is supported by the commentary:

anāyussāti āyupacchedanā, na āyuvaḍḍhanā
Anāyussa means: it cuts life short, it doesn’t make life grow.

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Surely eating food fit for consumption is better for longevity?
Am I missing something?

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No, that would just be mega-clutzoid over here. I’ll fix it here and in my translation, thank you…

Whoever thought it was a good idea for me to do these translations? Oh, right, that would be me.

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We are all appreciative of your mammoth efforts. This is why you have proof readers.
Years ago I nearly sent my recipe book to the printers with a pumpkin pie recipe that had no pumpkin in the ingredients.

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Thanks for your translation Bhante. Thanissaro, like B.Bodhi also has “vitality” for ayu. I haven’t seen as many contexts for that word as you have, but in this passage, vitality fits better than longevity. Thanissaro’s definition of “ayu” in footnote at bottom.

MN 43, thanissaro

(Vitality fabrications)

♦ 457. “teva nu kho, āvuso, āyusaṅkhārā, te vedaniyā dhammā udāhu aññe āyusaṅkhārā aññe vedaniyā dhammā”ti?
“Friend, are vitality-fabrications4 the same thing as feeling-states? Or are vitality-fabrications one thing, and feeling-states another?”
“na kho, āvuso, teva āyusaṅkhārā te vedaniyā dhammā. te ca hāvuso, āyusaṅkhārā abhaviṃsu te vedaniyā dhammā, na yidaṃ saññāvedayitanirodhaṃ samāpannassa bhikkhuno vuṭṭhānaṃ paññāyetha. yasmā ca kho, āvuso, aññe āyusaṅkhārā aññe vedaniyā dhammā, tasmā saññāvedayitanirodhaṃ samāpannassa bhikkhuno vuṭṭhānaṃ paññāyatī”ti.
“Vitality-fabrications are not the same thing as feeling-states, friend. If vitality-fabrications were the same thing as feeling-states, the emergence of a monk from the attainment of the cessation of feeling & perception would not be discerned. It’s because vitality-fabrications are one thing and feeling-states another that the emergence of a monk from the attainment of the cessation of perception & feeling is discerned.”
♦ “yadā nu kho, āvuso, imaṃ kāyaṃ kati dhammā jahanti; athāyaṃ kāyo ujjhito avakkhitto seti, yathā kaṭṭhaṃ acetanan”ti?
“When this body lacks how many qualities does it lie discarded & forsaken, like a senseless log?”
♦ “yadā kho, āvuso, imaṃ kāyaṃ tayo dhammā jahanti — āyu usmā ca viññāṇaṃ; athāyaṃ kāyo ujjhito avakkhitto seti, yathā kaṭṭhaṃ acetanan”ti.
“When this body lacks these three qualities—vitality, heat, & consciousness—it lies discarded & forsaken like a senseless log.”
♦ “yvāyaṃ, āvuso, mato kālaṅkato, yo cāyaṃ bhikkhu saññāvedayitanirodhaṃ samāpanno — imesaṃ kiṃ nānākaraṇan”ti?
“What is the difference between one who is dead, who has completed his time, and a monk who has attained the cessation of perception & feeling?”
♦ “yvāyaṃ, āvuso, mato kālaṅkato tassa kāyasaṅkhārā niruddhā paṭippassaddhā, vacīsaṅkhārā niruddhā paṭippassaddhā, cittasaṅkhārā niruddhā paṭippassaddhā, āyu parikkhīṇo, usmā vūpasantā, indriyāni paribhinnāni.
“In the case of the one who is dead, who has completed his time, his bodily fabrications have ceased & subsided, his verbal fabrications… his mental fabrications have ceased & subsided, his vitality is exhausted, his heat subsided, & his faculties are scattered.
yo cāyaṃ bhikkhu saññāvedayitanirodhaṃ samāpanno tassapi kāyasaṅkhārā niruddhā paṭippassaddhā, vacīsaṅkhārā niruddhā paṭippassaddhā, cittasaṅkhārā niruddhā paṭippassaddhā, āyu na parikkhīṇo, usmā avūpasantā, indriyāni vippasannāni.
But in the case of a monk who has attained the cessation of perception & feeling, his bodily fabrications have ceased & subsided, his verbal fabrications… his mental fabrications have ceased & subsided, his vitality is not exhausted, his heat has not subsided, & his faculties are exceptionally clear.
yvāyaṃ, āvuso, mato kālaṅkato, yo cāyaṃ bhikkhu saññāvedayitanirodhaṃ samāpanno — idaṃ nesaṃ nānākaraṇan”ti.
This is the difference between one who is dead, who has completed his time, and a monk who has attained the cessation of perception & feeling.”
3. Vitality (āyu) is the force that determines the length of one’s life. 4. Vitality-fabrications are the intentions to continue living. The Buddha entered total nibbāna three months after abandoning his vitality-fabrications. See DN 16.

Wouldn’t that definition be rendered more accurately by longevity, though?

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Āyu , as in the Āyu sutta SN4.9, here translated as Lifespan sutta, and refers to the number of years etc:

“Long is the life span (ayu) of human beings,
The good man should not disdain it.
One should live like a milk-sucking baby:
Death has not made its arrival.”

See also SN4.10.

with metta

In the context of MN 43, longevity fabrications, life span length fabrications, doesn’t make sense for cessation of S&P attainment variables bound up with heat and consciousness.

I’m not disputing there are plenty of passages where it’s clearly talking about the length of a lifespan, but is not possible āyu also has a second meaning of vitality, good health life force? They both correlate and imply each other. Vitality sure fits AN 5.125 really well.

For example, an average american can be obese, drink a glass of wine every day , smoke cigars 3 times a week, gamble occasionally, and live to be 80 years old lifespan and die with a clear mind (by ordinary standards).

For the sake of argument, let’s say forest monks also have the same average lifespan as average american male. But I guarantee you the forest monk is going to have a quality of mind, memory, sharpness of mind, way beyond the ordinary man at the time of death.

So AN 5.125 with “longevity” doesn’t really capture and express the true benefit of those practices.

Fair point