What does "appamada" mean?

What exactly does “appamada” mean?

At Savatthi. As he was sitting to one side, King Pasenadi Kosala said to the Blessed One: “Is there, lord, any one quality that keeps both kinds of benefit secure — benefits in this life & benefits in lives to come?”

“There is one quality, great king, that keeps both kinds of benefit secure — benefits in this life & benefits in lives to come.”

“But what, lord, is that one quality…?”

“Heedfulness, great king. Just as the footprints of all living beings with legs can be encompassed by the footprint of the elephant, and the elephant’s footprint is declared to be supreme among them in terms of its great size; in the same way, heedfulness is the one quality that keeps both kinds of benefit secure — benefits in this life & benefits in lives to come.”

That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-Gone, the Teacher, said further:

For one who desires long life, health, beauty, heaven, & noble birth, — lavish delights, one after another — the wise praise heedfulness in performing deeds of merit. When heedful, wise, you achieve both kinds of benefit: benefits in this life, & benefits in lives to come. By breaking through to your benefit, you’re called enlightened, wise.
Appamada Sutta: Heedfulness
Appamada Sutta: Heedfulness


The most nuanced answer that I came across was that it is a multi-valent word with multiple meanings such as:

  1. without delay (non-procrastination, proactivity)
  2. without confusion (non-confusion, clarity)
  3. practice (perhaps the practice of the Dhamma or Dhamma-Vinaya?)

The reason why I am still confused is because might have been that person’s thesis topic.
Thus, they seem to have provided me a good, nuanced, complex, but “academic” answer.

In this discourse, Pasenadi asks for literally “one quality” only - he didn’t ask for three.

In a different sutta, he was told about three qualities that arise for the harm of others
(Loka Sutta: (Qualities of) the World).
So if the Buddha meant to say three different qualities, he seems like he would have directly specified three separate qualities.

Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi offered the following explanation:
This is a commentarial definition of appamada:
“Working carefully, working consistently, working persistently, for the development of wholesome qualities; doing one’s duty, not relinquishing desire, not relinquishing the task….”

Buddha’s last words seem to be:
vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā”ti.
Conditions fall apart. Persist with diligence(?).’”
https://suttacentral.net/dn16/en/sujato#dn16:5.30.10

Diligence, heedfulness, etc. are all synonyms with different connotations.
I.e. not exactly the same word.

Saying that there is no exact English translation may be correct, but it is not helpful either.
Perhaps it would be more helpful to explain what exactly the word “appamada” means in the context of these discourses in as many words as is necessary to convey the meaning.

What exactly does “appamada” mean?
What exactly is this one and only one quality?


Is it possible to choose the one most suitable English translation that the Buddha might have told Pasenadi in just one word and one word only had he spoken in English?

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In one of the discourses the name of which I do not remember, the Buddha uses the simile of a man whose hair is on fire to convey the the significance of appamada.
That is, the Buddha says, the fire on hair can be extinguished later but practice the path now.
Whatever the English words are used to describe appamada the meaning the Buddha attaches to the word is urgency to practice the path.
With Metta

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Literally, the term is a negation of negligence, carelessness, or similar negative ideas. English doesn’t typically use a negation for a positive things like other languages do, so we end up picking words like heedfulness and diligence as a translation. I’ve thought sometimes “carefulness” or “taking care” is a good translation in some passages because the term means not being inattentive or unmindful of the precepts, etc.

The old Chinese translation was fairly literal, 不放逸 or 無放逸, where 不 means “not” and 無 means “no.” 放逸 originally meant “wayward” or “willful” (like a willful child). So, “non-wayward” was the literal meaning.

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Get up
Sit up
What’s your need for sleep?
And what sleep is there for the afflicted,
pierced by the arrow,
oppressed?

Get up
Sit up
Train firmly for the sake of peace,
Don’t let the king of death,
— seeing you heedless —
deceive you,
bring you under his sway.

Cross over the attachment
to which human & heavenly beings,
remain desiring
tied.
Don’t let the moment pass by.
Those for whom the moment is past
grieve, consigned to hell.

Heedless is
dust, dust
comes from heedlessness
has heedlessness
on its heels.
Through heedfulness & clear knowing
you’d remove
your own sorrow.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.2.10.than.html

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Wayward is refractory ,obstinate .

放 is set , release , let off .
逸 is escaping , leisurely , relaxed .
放逸 is overly lax , slack , slovenly .


放逸 = excessively lax , undisciplined,profligate .
(不以規矩行事,太過閒暇、浪蕩、隨便)

:arrow_forward: 《雜寶藏經·龍王偈緣》:「何故應當爲一生,而可放逸作惡行。」

:arrow_forward: 又《帝釋問事緣》:「世尊告言:‘善哉!善哉!憍屍迦:若汝不放逸,當得斯陀含。’」

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Wayward means more than obstinate, but sometimes it’s used just to mean that. It’s more like self-centered or rebellious. Being independent-minded in a bad way. It can imply the person is perverse, or just goes against social norms. The wayward child is the one that didn’t mind their parents and now they’re never-do-wells. They should have just gone to medical school like they were told, but they didn’t.

The modern Chinese Buddhist understanding of 放逸 would be negligence or undisciplined, I agree. Modern Chinese dictionaries tend to connect 不放逸 with right effort.

I was just commenting on the old classical usage that would match Pali pamada or Skt. pramada when the translators chose it. It meant self-indulgent or wayward according to Gakken, which implies the person isn’t diligent or productive, I guess. See 放逸 or 放恣.

BTW, Monier-Williams says apramāda means “careful, cautious, care, vigilance.”

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Even though the Buddha seems to convey one and only one quality, there seem to be more than one interpretation of what appamada actually (literally?) means.

Can anyone provide evidence and explain their reasoning to argue why one particular meaning what what was intended and fits the best, and why other possible interpretations are limited.

I am still curious what the meaning of this word it.

Pasenadi asked about one and only one quality…claiming that appamada can mean more than one thing is this one particular context does not seem to be an true claim. But it begs the question: what is the one and only one mean of appamada in the context of the question posed by Pasenadi to the Buddha?

My understanding of the word is that it refers to mindfulness of danger (usually moral dangers in Buddhist discourse), so I translate it as carefulness. I would say that most English translations are all attempting to express that basic idea. Vigilance, carefulness, heedfulness: We’re just trying to work with the words we have in English.

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According to a Pali Sinhalese dictionary which I use sometimes Appamada means without delay. For me this makes sense because the fact that the Buddha used this word as his departing advice from the death bed shows that he did not want his disciple to slack in their practice.
With Metta

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It’s clear from SN 3.17 that heedfulness can be practiced by laypeople for material ends, and those whose goal is a fortunate rebirth. It is a basic quality of exertion with the goal in mind also for those striving for deliverance:

“Not content …, he exerts himself further in solitude by day or seclusion by night. For him, living thus heedfully, joy arises. In one who has joy, rapture arises. In one who has rapture, the body becomes serene. When the body is serene, one feels pleasure. Feeling pleasure, the mind becomes centered. When the mind is centered, phenomena become manifest. When phenomena are manifest, he is reckoned as one who dwells heedfully.”—SN 55.40

But overly focussing on the goal rather than the conditioned path and present position would not be heedful.

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I can definitely see that most of the words are similar, but they are different enough that I haven’t been able to narrow down to one and only one specific meaning/interpretation. Because of this, it is making it difficult for me understand what exactly the Buddha meant when he identified this one quality that supposedly encompasses all the qualities in the Dhamma.

How can this definition/meaning:

be reconciled with:

since both of these seem to have compelling evidence and reasoning to support it?

good point.

Thank you for sharing.

But why do you translate it as heedful?
To be honest, I have rarely every heard someone say this word out loud in my life, and the meaning of heedful isn’t really clear to me.
The goal-oriented quality that you mention in above seems more like “goal-oriented” or “ambitious” than “heedful.”

What exactly does heedful mean in this context?
Living carefully/cautiously?
Living proactively?
Living with urgency?
Living with awareness of what’s going on around one?

Even if they are related, each of these have different meanings - my question is which one was the Buddha trying to convey and why? Why are the other possible interpretations more limited? Which translation of appamada is most suitable, and why do you think that is so? For example, why heedfulness (and what exactly does this mean), as opposed to the other possibilities raised by others?

I agree that there’s a sense of urgency involved. Carefulness is the weaker translation in that regard.

In many passages that I see in the Agamas, appamada occurs along with other terms like diligence, effort, and energy. They form a set of related synonyms in the original language. Since I translate one of those other terms as more directly meaning “diligence,” I don’t translate appamada as diligence.

That’s the thing about these types of discussions. Words don’t exist in a vacuum. The only way we actually know what a word in an ancient language means is from contextual readings that reveal its meaning. That’s how dictionaries are created. They save us the time of looking up passages and reading all of them.

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Thank you for explaining!

I agree. So what exactly seems to be the meaning of appamada in this following context:

What exactly seems to be the meaning of appamada in this context?

This particular passage doesn’t reveal the meaning of the word. You’ll need to find passages that actually gloss the term to get a sense of its meaning if you want to skip the dictionaries. It’s the better way if you have the time and inclination because the reading time will improve understanding of nuances and the types of passages the word is used in.

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Thank you. I think that this is probably what I will have to end up doing.

Based on you understanding of the word appamada being used in various contexts, what do you think the most direct meaning of the word is and why do you think so? Are you able to rule out other similar, but non-identical meanings and interpretations?

I think misunderstanding or understanding this word can have very profound practical implications.

Like how can I develop this quality directly if I can’t even understand what exactly this one quality is? What exactly is this quality that I am trying to develop? Cases like this seem to highlight just how important it is to study prior to practicing. Without a clear understanding of what exactly it is that one is to practice, it could be like heading off in the wrong direction based on a misunderstanding.

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Usually, it’s used as a common word that adds meaning to other words. It’s not usually defined or discussed like it’s a technical concept in the sutras. An example of a use outside of diligent practice is in MN 140. The Buddha asks, “How does a monk not neglect (nappamada) wisdom?” Then he demonstrates what that means by giving a thorough analysis of the six elements. So, it means in that case something like being thorough and getting your facts right.

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There comes a time, bhikkhus, when the great ocean dries up and evaporates and no longer exists, but still, I say, there is no making an end of suffering for those beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving.

“There comes a time, bhikkhus, when Sineru, the king of mountains, burns up and perishes and no longer exists, but still, I say, there is no making an end of suffering for those beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving.

“There comes a time, bhikkhus, when the great earth burns up and perishes and no longer exists, but still, I say, there is no making an end of suffering for those beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving.
SN22.99

But the Realized One knows that whoever is saved from the world—whether in the past, the future, or the present—all have given up the five hindrances, corruptions of the heart that weaken wisdom. They have firmly established their mind in the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. And they have truly developed the seven awakening factors.

That’s how they’re saved from the world, in the past, future, or present
AN10.95

Heedfulness is the path to the Deathless. Heedlessness is the path to death. The heedful die not. The heedless are as if dead already

Clearly understanding this excellence of heedfulness, the wise exult therein and enjoy the resort of the Noble Ones
Dhp

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I am not sure, but I think the word appamada might mean “carefulness.”
However, if anyone can provide evidence to refute this translation and/or confirm another translation, I am open to considering it!

All the mentions of this particular translation on this thread:

Caveat: