Yamaka, the Sixth Book of the Abhidhamma

The Sixth Book of the Abhidhamma is the ’Yamaka’, the Book of Pairs. This book and its commentary have not been translated into English. Venerable Nyanatiloka renders a summary of it in his “Guide through the Abhidhamma Piṭaka”. This book consists of questions and answers about subjects such as the roots (mūla), the khandhas, the āyatanas, the dhātus, the four noble truths, the conditions and the anusayas, latent tendencies. These questions and answers can correct misunderstandings that may arise about the terms used in the scriptures. For instance, one may think that with regard to the first noble Truth, the Truth of dukkha, dukkha is the same as unhappy feeling. Dukkha is often translated as sorrow and this is misleading. We learn that the Truth of dukkha does not only refer to painful feeling but to all phenomena that arise because of conditions and fall away. Since they are impermanent they cannot be of any refuge and are therefore dukkha. The text of this book is rather compact and therefore it is most helpful to study it together with its commentary. We shall see that the subjects of this book are not theoretical but that they pertain to daily life. When we, for example, read about the latent tendencies, there are short lists, but the commentary goes very deeply into this subject, it is most revealing. As we have seen, the latent tendencies are sense desire, aversion, conceit, wrong view, doubt, craving for existence and ignorance. In the text we read: “ Where does the bias of sensuous craving adhere? To the two feelings”. These are happy feeling and indifferent feeling. The commentary states: “When the latent tendency of sense desire arises it is conascent with unwholesome pleasant feeling or indifferent feeling, and it can also take these two feelings as object. It can also take as object the feelings that accompany kusala citta, vipākacitta and kiriyacitta of the sense-sphere.” We read in the commentary:

“When the latent tendency of sense desire arises...”

We should know that the word “arisen” (uppanna) has several meanings. In the context of the latent tendencies, it is said:

“arisen” in the sense of “having obtained a soil” (bhumiladdhuppanna), which means: not cut off. “Arisen in the sense of having obtained a soil” refers to the defilements which have not been eradicated and which have obtained a soil. Thus, the latent tendencies do not arise with the citta, they condition the arising of akusala citta.

We also read in the commentary:

“Surely, the latent tendency of sense desire that adheres to an object, does not merely adhere to these two feelings and to the dhammas that are conascent with them. It also adheres to visible object that is desirable, and so on.

The Buddha taught in the ‘Book of Analysis’ (Ch 16, Analysis of Knowledge, 816, And what is the latent tendency of beings?):

“That which in the world is a lovely thing, pleasant thing (piyarūpaṃ , sātarūpaṃ), the latent tendency of sense desire of beings adheres to this...”

Thus, desirable nāma dhammas and rūpa dhammas can be the objects of sense desire. When sense desire arises and has as object desirable nāmas and rūpas, the accumulation of the latent tendency of sense desire continues. Whenever there is a pleasant object sense desire clings. We can verify this in daily life. The only dhammas that are not objects of clinging are the nine lokuttara dhammas of nibbāna and the eight lokuttara cittas.