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Paṭṭhāna

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Also known as Patthana, Conditional Relations

The Paṭṭhāna (Pali: , Sanskrit: , Jñāna-prasthāna, Mahā-Pakaraṇa, Paṭṭhāna-Pakaraṇa, "Book of Causal Relationships"; ) is a Buddhist scripture. It is the seventh and final text of the Abhidhamma Pitaka ("Basket of Higher Doctrine"), which is one of the "Tripiṭaka-Three Baskets" of canonical Theravada Buddhist texts collectively known as the Pali Canon.

Key facts

Pali text.type
Canonical text
Pali text.parent
Abhidhamma Piṭaka
Pali text.comment_by
Pañcapakaraṇa-aṭṭhakathā (Paṭṭhānapakaraṇa-aṭṭhakathā)
Pali text.abbrev
Patthana; Paṭṭh
Pali text.subcomment_by
Pañcapakaraṇamūlaṭīkā
Pali text.comment_author
Buddhaghosa
Pali text.attribution
Bhāṇaka
Pali text.sc
patthana
Pali text.prev
Ya
Pali text.subsubcomment_by
Pañcapakaraṇa-anuṭīkā

via Wikipedia infobox

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

7 sections
Contents
  • Etymology
  • Origin
  • 24 conditional relations
  • English translations
  • References
  • Cited works
  • External links

The Paṭṭhāna (Pali: , Sanskrit: , Jñāna-prasthāna, Mahā-Pakaraṇa, Paṭṭhāna-Pakaraṇa, "Book of Causal Relationships"; ) is a Buddhist scripture. It is the seventh and final text of the Abhidhamma Pitaka ("Basket of Higher Doctrine"), which is one of the "Tripiṭaka-Three Baskets" of canonical Theravada Buddhist texts collectively known as the Pali Canon.

The Paṭṭhāna consists of three divisions (Eka, Duka, and Tīka). It provides a detailed examination of causal conditioning, (the Buddhist belief that causality — not a Creator deity — is the basis of existence), analyzing the 24 types of conditional relations (paccaya) in relation to the classifications in the matika of the Dhammasangani. This book emphasizes the point that — apart from nirvana, which is absolute — all other phenomena are relative (dependently arisen) in one way or another.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Paṭṭhāna” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.