Mindfulness of breathing: an evolving approach to translation (MN118)

Essays
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Since my recent essay on the future tense in mindfulness of breathing, I have revisited my approach to the translation. As always, my primary concern is to translate the text in a way that accurately captures the meaning in idiomatic English, so that a reader does not require notes or further explanation for comprehension. It is my job as translator to do the hard yakka, so the reader can ignore the form of the text and understand the point of it.

One of the difficulties, which is always a struggle, is to reconcile idiomatic translation with consistency. In the case of breath meditation, there are a number of technical terms that are clearly explained elsewhere in the suttas, but which are highly obscure if rendered literally. In this translation I try to rephrase some key phrases so as to bring out their meaning more clearly. This will create problems when I try to implement this consistently, so we will see how that goes.

The main changes I have made to my former renderings are as follows:

  1. An idiomatic approach to the future tense clauses. It seems to me that when we use the English word “practice” it implies something of the historical future mode found in the Pali. If I’m a guitar player and sit down to practice my arpeggios (what? it happened!) it is implied that I have already had (in the past) an idea of what should be done (in the future), and I am now actually doing that. And this is all that is really implied in the historical future idiom, so that should serve.
  2. The phrases kāyasaṅkhāra and cittasaṅkhāra are especially tricky. They literally mean “physical process” and “mental process”, but the suttas explain them as the breath, and the rapture and bliss. I try to capture this more idiomatically using “motion” and “emotion”. Since the “emotions” are meant to refer back to the rapture and bliss only, not emotions in general, I make that explicit.
  3. Rather than the unidiomatic “long” and “short”, and my previous choice “deep” and “shallow”, I use “heavy” and “light” in the first two steps. “Heavy” and “light” effectively conveys that we are moving towards a better, more subtle form of breathing, whereas “shallow” breath is usually felt to be worse than “deep”.

And what is mindfulness of breathing? It’s when a mendicant has gone to a wilderness, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut. They sit down in the meditation posture, with their body erect, and establish mindfulness in the present.

Ever mindful, they breathe in. Mindful, they breathe out.

Breathing in heavily they know: ‘I’m breathing in heavily.’

Or breathing out heavily they know: ‘I’m breathing out heavily.’

Breathing in lightly they know: ‘I’m breathing in lightly.’

Or breathing out lightly they know: ‘I’m breathing out lightly.’

They practice breathing in experiencing the whole body.

They practice breathing out experiencing the whole body.

They practice breathing in stilling the body’s motion.

They practice breathing out stilling the body’s motion.

They practice breathing in experiencing rapture.

They practice breathing out experiencing rapture.

They practice breathing in experiencing bliss.

They practice breathing out experiencing bliss.

They practice breathing in experiencing these emotions.

They practice breathing out experiencing these emotions.

They practice breathing in stilling these emotions.

They practice breathing out stilling these emotions.

They practice breathing in experiencing the mind.

They practice breathing out experiencing the mind.

They practice breathing in gladdening the mind.

They practice breathing out gladdening the mind.

They practice breathing in converging the mind.

They practice breathing out converging the mind.

They practice breathing in freeing the mind.

They practice breathing out freeing the mind.

They practice breathing in observing impermanence.

They practice breathing out observing impermanence.

They practice breathing in observing fading away.

They practice breathing out observing fading away.

They practice breathing in observing cessation.

They practice breathing out observing cessation.

They practice breathing in observing letting go.

They practice breathing out observing letting go.

This is called mindfulness of breathing.

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Good stuff. I do appreciate the challenge and like the results.

The only issue I have is with the term emotion. It is a relatively new concept (the current sense dates from the early 19th century) and seem to cover a very broad range of things:

Emotion, in everyday speech, is any relatively brief conscious experience characterized by intense mental activity and a high degree of pleasure or displeasure.
Scientific discourse has drifted to other meanings and there is no consensus on a definition. Emotion is often intertwined with mood, temperament, personality, disposition, and motivation

Source: Emotion - Wikipedia

1.an affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness.
2.any of the feelings of joy, sorrow, fear, hate, love, etc.
3. any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc., and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat or respiration, and often overt manifestation, as crying or shaking.

Source: EMOTION Definition & Usage Examples | Dictionary.com

A strong feeling deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.
Instinctive or intuitive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge.

Source: Oxford Languages | The Home of Language Data

I do understand that having placed the term emotion after the explicit mention of rapture and bliss you are using the term as a catch all word for both things.

I just wonder if using “mental states”, or even “feelings” instead would be equivalent and not bring in a concept which cannot be matched to the vocabulary and classification of mental things used back in the time of Buddha?

Last but not least, after all said, I really think that the Portuguese translation of this will sound very beautiful and definitely touch people’s heart in terms of indicating that there is an interesting transition from the coarse bodily to the subtle mind aspects of experience inherent in Buddha’s instructions on breathing mindfully.

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Thanks for the comments on emotion. It seems to me that the first definition captures pretty well what this means:

And again the idea that it is relatively brief is also correct, in that such emotions last no more than hours; they are not long term mental dispositions.

But in any case, it will probably evolve further. I have to say, though, for the first time I am feeling good about this approach to the 16 steps in general.

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On the semantic difference between heavy/light, versus long/short, I have the impression that “heavy” is coarse and undesirable while “light” is more refined and desirable. Whereas with long and short, if anything, “long” would strike me as more refined, “short” more strained and uneasy. Meaning the sequence of refinement is opposite to heavy/light. But my first impression for long and short is more neutral, I don’t immediately place a value judgement on it the way I would with heavy/light.

By having an implied value judgement for heavy/light, I’m less likely to interpret steps one and two as being commands to actually breathe heavy and breathe light. AFAIK , most EBT and Theravada orthodox commentary traditions interpret steps 1 and 2 simply as instructions to keep our mindfulness anchored to the breath continuously so that we can differentiate whether it was long or short, not to actually create a long breath first, then a short breath on the next breath.

I know the “practice” on step 3 is suppose to make the distinction clear, but just reading [quote=“sujato, post:1, topic:4202”]
Breathing in heavily they know: ‘I’m breathing in heavily.’
[/quote]

still sounds like a command to practice it. I know using “shallow, short, long” has the same problem.

if it’s universally agreed in theravada that steps 1 and 2 are not commands, could we idiomatically translate it something like:

[If] breathing in heavily, they know: ‘I’m breathing in heavily.’

Regarding motion and emotions, I have to think about that for a while. Nothing strikes me immediately to find any potential difficulties with it. After all, nobody knows what breathing in experiencing mental fabrications and bodily fabrications means either.

If there are any concerns it would be if motion and emotion do exclude things in kāya and citta sankhāra.

So what exactly does kāya sankhāra include in the EBT? The only thing I know for sure that is defined as such is in and out breath. From patisambhidamagga and Vism., they have a list that includes some other things like posture. This makes sense, as Ven. Mahākappina in SN 54.7 uses 16 APS (anapana) to stop body and mind shaking. Does the EBT have other definitions of kaaya sankhara besides the in/out breath ?

Similar question for citta sankhara. I know it’s defined as sañña and vedana (perceptions and feelings) in some suttas, but does it include anything else?

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If I understand, the following are the major processes in the 16 steps:

.
I will take - breathing in - as a sample.

BODY:

Breathing in heavily they know: ‘I’m breathing in heavily.’
Dīghaṃ vā assasanto dīghaṃ assasāmīti pajānāti.

They practice breathing in experiencing the whole body.
Sabbakāyapaṭisaṃvedī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

They practice breathing in stilling the body’s motion.
Passambhayaṃ kāyasaṅkhāraṃ assasissāmīti sikkhati.

FEELING:

They practice breathing in experiencing rapture.
Pītipaṭisaṃvedī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

They practice breathing in experiencing these emotions.
Cittasaṅkhārapaṭisaṃvedī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

MIND:

They practice breathing in experiencing the mind.
Cittapaṭisaṃvedī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

They practice breathing in gladdening the mind.
Abhippamodayaṃ cittaṃ assasissāmīti sikkhati.

PHENOMENA:

They practice breathing in observing impermanence.
Aniccānupassī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

Body > Breathing in heavily they know: ‘I’m breathing in heavily.’ Dīghaṃ vā assasanto dīghaṃ assasāmīti pajānāti.

If I understand the above quote, they have to discern which type of breathing they are doing.

They practice breathing in experiencing the whole body.
Sabbakāyapaṭisaṃvedī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

A bit of Sanskrit Sanskrit:

√ विद् vid
to know | to understand | to have the feel of, to be conscious of | to see.

प्रतिसंविद् pratisaṃvid f. An accurate knowledge of the particulars of anything.

प्रतिसंवेदिन् pratisaṃvedin [prati+saṃ+vedin] - mfn. adjective. being conscious of anything, feeling, experiencing.
vedin: e.g. āyurvedin = expert in ayurveda (medecine).

So, if I understand the above quote, they practice the breathing; experiencing (having an accurate knowledge of - being conscious of - understanding the particulars of) the whole body - which in this case, is the breath.

They practice breathing in stilling the body’s motion.
Passambhayaṃ kāyasaṅkhāraṃ assasissāmīti sikkhati.

Here, if I understand, they practice to still the outcome (the making,) of the two breathes (in & out). Saṅkhāra = saṃ (together,) and the verb karoti (to make).

Feeling

They practice breathing in experiencing rapture.
Pītipaṭisaṃvedī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

Here, they practice the breathing; experiencing (being conscious and understanding the particulars of) the feeling (in this case: rapture).

They practice breathing in experiencing these emotions.
Cittasaṅkhārapaṭisaṃvedī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

Here, they practice breathing; experiencing (being conscious and understanding the particulars of) the making of a citta - viz. the outcome of perceiving this feeling. For in cittasaṅkhāra, there is the pair feeling (vedanā + perception (saññā); and the outcome is a citta.

Note on Saṃjña (saññā):
  • consciousness, clear knowledge or understanding or notion or conception - (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa).
  • to make to be understood or known, cause to understand - (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa).
  • to agree together, be of the same opinion, be in harmony with - (Rig veda - Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa).

The latter expresses the assimilative personal process of saññā. Our saññā (perception,) comes after our feeling - After the feeling in vedanā nidāna (clinging-feeling). As such, it is the appropriation of that feeling, as “agreeing with ourselves”.
However, Buddha says that this is false perception. For it is said that feelings are not ours in SN 22.33. Making these feelings in accord with ourselves is false perception.

Mind

They practice breathing in experiencing the mind.
Cittapaṭisaṃvedī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

Here, they practice breathing; experiencing (being conscious and understanding the particulars of) the citta itself.

They practice breathing in gladdening the mind.
Abhippamodayaṃ cittaṃ assasissāmīti sikkhati.

For instance, they gladden it.
Or they converge it or liberate it.

Phenomena

They practice breathing in observing impermanence.
Aniccānupassī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

Here, if I understand, they practice breathing; observing impermanence, fading away, & cessation about the phenomena.

In other words, if I have understood the all thing:
Having discerned the two breathes (in & out); then having built feelings (rapture, bliss,) mentally from these two breathes, with the binding force of saṅkhāra (ānā + pāna). [BODY] - having been conscious, and having understood the particulars of each feeling; and having stilled them [FEELING] - having built a citta, by the combining force of saṅkhāra; that is to say felt (vedanā) + assimilited (saññā,) that feeling; then the meditator gladdens, converges and frees that mind/citta [MIND] - At last, the meditator observes the phenomena (the citta - the assimilated feeling); and he realizes its impermanence - gets dispassionate about it - and acknowledges its cessation [PHENOMENA].

Have I understood well?

Suci.

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“Perceptions & feelings are mental fabrications” - Culavedalla Sutta (MN 44)

They practice breathing in experiencing these mental factors? or feelings and perceptions?

They practice breathing in stilling these mental processes?

It is at this point the awareness is felt as if it fusing with the object. The ‘water’ of the lake of the mind is drained, and the boat hits the lake bed. The extra mental processes cannot persist due to the strong samadhi at this stage and they are pushed away, temporarily.

Just thinking of some possible options.

with metta,

Matheesha

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Wow. That’s is a change from other translations. The trick is trying to read your translation without me trying to translate in my own mind back to other translations that I’ve read and relied on for so long. Thank you!

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Wonderful!

I’d like “deeply” and “lightly” because both words have a pleasant tone for me, but heavily and lightly is really good. I’ve always thought these instructions were more straightforward than they are usually taught, and this translation brings that out.

My other comment would be that I find the word “converging” awkward - I didn’t even realize it could be used as a transitive verb. I had to look at the Pali to get it. It’s a word I mentally translate as “collecting” - though it’s a bit tantalizing to go with one of the PTS options of “kindling” . I’m sure you have thought about it quite a bit though - probably written an essay on it too!

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This is nothing personal, but I loathe [square brackets in translations]. They are a convention meant for critical editions, not for readers. If that is what it means, include it, if not, leave it out. Square brackets do nothing but increase the level of inaccuracy. Why? Because it is false precision. We are constantly adding or including things in translations. There is no such thing as a “word for word” translation, nor should there be; apart from anything, words don’t actually exist in language, they’re just an abstraction. Mapping one “word” in one language on another “word” in another language is merely a convenience used by dictionary authors to help language learning. Sprinkling square brackets just gives the reader the entirely misleading impression that outside of such instances the translation is completely “literal”. If you look at the underlying text, the reasons for using square brackets in one case and not another seem entirely arbitrary. </rant>

Anyway, the normal way to express this would be

“When breathing in heavily …”

I like it.

This is my understanding; in the context of breath meditation, it clearly refers back to the pīta and sukha and associated phenomena, for which I think “emotions” is pretty good.

You’re not alone. You may be pleased to know that I go back and forth on this on a regular basis, so it is not fixed.

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Top marks for imagination. I admire your willingness to experiment.

But, surprise, surprise, I still have a couple of issues. I am not sure if I agree with “ever”, as in “ever mindful”. So far as I am concerned we are seeing an evolution in the quality of mindfulness as the practice progresses. “Ever mindful” implies that you have reached a high level from the outset. The alternative, which I use, is “just mindful”. Here “just” is not meant to be a synonym for “ever”, but rather used in the sense of “nothing additional”. The obvious candidate that is not to be added is the will. You are “just mindful”, no manipulation is required. This also relates to the point made by @frankk regarding breath control rather than breath awareness.

The other issue I have is the phrasing, “They practice breathing in (experiencing rapture, etc.)” Here the emphasis of the practice seems to be on the breath, rather than the quality of the experience. For this reason I find these sentences a bit heavy to process: what is actually being practised? What about a slight change such a this: “They practice experiencing rapture while breathing in”, etc.

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Thanks!

You’re right, I’ll change this.

I experimented at length with both these options. In the end, I chose this approach for a few reasons:

  1. It is closer to the syntax of the Pali: “to breath” is the indicative verb.
  2. The rhythm is better. Try reading both versions aloud. By keeping the repetitive phrases at the start, it creates a soothing effect, which echoes the original.
  3. As always in this passage, we have to negotiate the role of will with care. By placing the breath at the beginning, my aim was to “neutralize” this in a sense; to innoculate by repetition so that the activeness is worn away. If the changing thing is the direct object of the verb, my thought was it creates a more active sense of doing each of these things, changing from one to the other, rather than letting them unfold. So the idea was that the focus is on the breathing as these things happen.

But having said this, I think either approach can work. I’ll probably come back to it in a few months and do it all again!

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It’s good to have long and short done away with. I think there’s two major ways to interpret long and short — in space and in time — and I think they go in different directions. Specifically, the breath may become longer in time but shorter in space. ‘Coarse’ and ‘subtle’ are not necessarily ordinary language, but I think the ‘subtle breath’ sounds good and appealing as a phrase, jmo.

I also really like the simplification of language and association of stilling the motions of the bodily activities and the (e)motions of the mental activities. The matryoshka-like process of going inward is made more clear by the repetition in plain language.

For pīti and sukha, would you consider “They practice breathing in sensitive to…”? That would mean the meditator is delicately searching for that rapturous quality in the breath. I could be misunderstanding the instructions though…

On that note, but not intending to start any sort of dhamma war, where do you all think jhāna plays into the mindfulness of breathing meditation?

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Dear Bhante,

Thanks for letting us comment on an important sutta.

I like

But aren’t rassa and digha literally short and long? Why do you think it is idiomatic? Other than just long and short I’d prefer deep and shallow. Heavy breathing sounds like you’re out of breath. :wink:

but but but… you know. :cry: a body among the bodies?

This sounds like you are practising breathing, rather than practicing experiencing bliss. I’d say: Breathing in, they practice experiencing bliss.

(Ow, I see Venerable @Brahmali has the same view.)

You mean they still the pitisukha, is that what you mean? From experience it’s the way you look at the bliss that you still, not the pitisukha itself.

I like this more than concentrating. :thumbsup:

:thumbsup:

I like your translation overall.

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This is how I have translated this passage (have to note that I only translate for myself, so I have a lot more freedom):

And how is alertness of breathing developed and cultivated so it is of great fruit and benefit?

Then you go and sit in the forest, in the shade of a tree, or in an empty hut, where you cross your legs and straighten your body. Then, attending with alertness present, you just breath in alertly and breath out alertly.

When you breath in a long breath you know you breath in a long breath, when you breath out a long breath you know you breath out a long breath, when you breath in a short breath you know you breath in a short breath, and when you breath out a short breath you know you breath out a short breath. While you breath in you practice experiencing the whole breath, and while you breath out you practice experiencing the whole breath. While you breath in you practice calming the breathing, and while you breath out you practice calming the breathing.

While you breath in you practice experiencing joy, and while you breath out you practice experiencing joy. While you breath in you practice experiencing pleasure, and while you breath out you practice experiencing pleasure. While you breath in you practice experiencing the mental object, and while you breath out you practice experiencing the mental object. While you breath in you practice calming the mental object, and while you breath out you practice calming the mental object.

While you breath in you practice experiencing the mind, and while you breath out you practice experiencing the mind. While you breath in you practice gladdening the mind, and while you breath out you practice gladdening the mind. While you breath in you practice unifying the mind, and while you breath out you practice unifying the mind. While you breath in you practice liberating the mind, and while you breath out you practice liberating the mind.

While you breath in you practice meditating on temporariness, and while you breath out you practice meditating on temporariness. While you breath in you practice meditating on disappearing, and while you breath out you practice meditating on disappearing. While you breath in you practice meditating on ceasing, and while you breath out you practice meditating on ceasing. While you breath in you practice meditating on giving things up, and while you breath out you practice meditating on giving things up.

That how is alertness of breathing is developed and cultivated so it is of great fruit and benefit.

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Because it is a normal adjective that people in English use to describe the breath.

I know, I know.

Finally, someone who prefers convergence! Now I can forgive all those other terrible things you’ve said … :wink:

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I love contradicting myself.

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I must admit, in a way it reads more natural. Not sure if it is what’s meant, though.

I like illumination even more! …

:smiley:

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Rapture and Bliss are appropriate choices, I thought. Much better than joy and happiness because the latter are more worldly emotions, and Piti and Sukha are felt differently to those.

I thought rapture (Piti) and bliss (sukha) were (generic) Sankhara while ‘Citta sankhara’ were specifically referring to pleasant sensations and perceptions, a lesser ‘evolved’ and more primordial level of sensory processing, than the aforementioned rapture and bliss. When Citta sankhara subsides it is logical that what the meditator will be left with is the mind:

They practice breathing in experiencing the mind.

I don’t know whether any suttas state how to gladden the mind (Abhippamodayaṃ). I searched SC but apart from references to stages of Anapanasati I didn’t find a specific technique. It’s more like a intentional mental smile (rather than a physical one) IMO.

I would personally go with unifying the mind, for samādahaṃ cittaṃ as it feels more ‘wet’ than a convergence.:slight_smile: ‘Sam’ prefix leaves with me that emotion.

Releasing the mind (vimocayaṃ cittaṃ) refers to attaining jhana IMO. Searching the suttas this term only comes up in the Anapanasati steps. It does however state this in the Visuddhimagga:

Ñ(VIII,233): (xii)
Vimocayaṃ cittanti paṭhamajjhānena nīvaraṇehi cittaṃ mocento vimocento,

Liberating the [manner of] consciousness: he both breathes in and breathes out delivering, liberating, the mind from the hindrances by means of the first jhāna,

I think it is a reasonable assumption that this refers to release into the first jhana. There is nothing here to suggest it is immaterial jhana as the usual Rupa jhana steps aren’t stated here. This text actually focuses on important pre-jhana samadhi development which is the main strength of it.

Whether attainment into a jhana is conscious decision or not is a relevant point. Most beginners would be like ‘a cow in mountainous fields’ (example from sutta) wandering in samadhi and they are released into the first jhana. Suttas show however that mastery of when to advert into a jhana, how long to stay etc is possible. The Anapanasati sutta suggests a partial skill in this as the meditator is able to realease his or her mind into the first jhana.

With metta

Matheesha

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Sharing the same root with mudita, and the frequent causal sequence of pamojja->piti->kaaya-passadhi->sukha->samadhi, and the 7sb (bojjhanga).

There are tons of suttas that give ideas that I believe directly apply to abhip-pamodaham cittam if you search for pamojja and piti. I’ve got notes I can post if you wish with lots of excerpts.

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Hi Mat,

As far vimocayaṃ cittaṃ is concerned, you might be interested by two (citta & liberation,) of the four purifications (virtue, citta, view and liberation). Particularly with the factor of striving for purity of liberation.

AN 4.194 (extracts)

CITTA:
Katamañca, byagghapajjā, cittapārisuddhipadhāniyaṅgaṃ?
“And what, Byagghapajjas, is the factor of striving for purity of citta?

Idha, byagghapajjā, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi … pe … catutthaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati. Ayaṃ vuccati, byagghapajjā, cittapārisuddhi…
Here, reserved from sensual pleasures and evil conditions, a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the fourth jhana. This is called purity of mind…

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

LIBERATION:
Katamañca, byagghapajjā, vimuttipārisuddhipadhāniyaṅgaṃ?
Byaggapajjas, what is the factor of exertion for purity of release?

Sa kho so, byagghapajjā, ariyasāvako iminā ca sīlapārisuddhipadhāniyaṅgena samannāgato iminā ca cittapārisuddhipadhāniyaṅgena samannāgato iminā ca diṭṭhipārisuddhipadhāniyaṅgena samannāgato
Here Byaggapajjas, the noble disciple endowed with this factor of exertion for the purification of virtues, with this factor of exertion for the purification of citta, with this factor of exertion for the purification of of view,

rajanīyesu dhammesu cittaṃ virājeti, vimocanīyesu dhammesu cittaṃ vimoceti.
stops his citta from being enamoured (virajjati - Skt: √rañj - MBh.) with the things that cause attachment; and liberates his citta by means of things that bring liberation.

So rajanīyesu dhammesu cittaṃ virājetvā, vimocanīyesu dhammesu cittaṃ vimocetvā sammāvimuttiṃ phusati.
So doing, he reaches right liberation.

Ayaṃ vuccati, byagghapajjā, vimuttipārisuddhi.
This is called Byaggapajjas, purity of liberation.

The question is:
Why would someone gladden (abhippamodaya) and converge (samādaha) that mind to arrive to liberation?

Abhippamoda & Samāda in Vedic/Sanskrit **(Abhi)/p/pamoda** ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

Vedic Pramoda:

Extreme joy.
One of Sāṃkhya’s eight perfections.

√ मुद् mud
To be joyful, to rejoy.
Can go as far as being intoxicated.

To be merry or glad or happy, rejoice, delight in.
joy, delight, gladness, happiness.
Ṛg veda.

To gladden, give pleasure, exhilarate.
Mahābhārata.

Samāda¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

√ धा dhā:

To direct or fix the mind or attention (cintām-, manas-, matim-, samādhim-etc.) upon, think of, fix or resolve upon; to destine for, bestow on, present or impart to, etc.
Ṛg veda - Brāhmaṇa - Mahābhārata.

To destine for, bestow on, present or impart to.
Ṛg veda - Brāhmaṇa - Mahābhārata

To appoint, establish, constitute.
Ṛg veda - Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa

To make, produce, generate, create, cause, effect, perform, execute.
Ṛg veda - Taittiriya Brāhmaṇa

To seize, take hold of, hold, bear, support, wear, put on (clothes)
Ṛg veda

To accept, obtain, conceive (especially in the womb), get, take
Ṛg veda - Brāhmaṇa

To assume, have, possess, show, exhibit, incur, undergo
Ṛg veda

To take or bring or help to
Ṛg veda

mano dhā: think about (something), meditate upon.

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

समाधा Samādhā [ sam-ā-√ dhā ]

To place or put or hold or fix together.
Mahābhārata - Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa

To compose, set right, repair, put in order, arrange, redress, restore.
Mahābhārata.

To put to, add, put on (especially fuel on the fire).
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa

To kindle, stir (fire).
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa

To place , set , lay , fix , direct , settle , adjust.

  • with [ dṛṣṭim ] , [ cittam ] , [ cetas ] , [ matim ] , [ manas ] , to direct or fix the eyes or mind upon".
  • with [ matim ] , " to settle in one’s mind , resolve " , " make up one’s mind ".
  • with [ ātmānam ] , or [ manas ] , " to collect the thoughts or concentrate the mind in meditation ".
    Ṛg veda

To impose upon.
Mahābhārata

To take to or upon one’s self. conceive (in the womb) , put on (a garment or dress) , assume (a shape), undergo (effort) , show , exhibit , display Lit.
Mahābhārata.

Samādhāna:

Reconciliation.
Mahābhārata.

Fixing the mind in abstract contemplation (as on the true nature of spirit), religious meditation, profound absorption or contemplation
Mahābhārata.

Metta
Suci.