The Dhammasaṅgiṇī, the first book of the Abhidhamma, and the Paṭṭhāna, the last book, are the most important of the seven treatises of Abhidhamma, providing as they do the quintessence of the entire Abhidhamma.
The Dhammasaṅgaṇī enumerates all the dhammas (phenomena) i.e., all categories of nāma, namely, consciousness and mental concomitants; and rūpa, (corporeality). Having enumerated the phenomena, they are arranged into various categories to bring out their exact nature, function and mutual relationship both internally (in our own being) and with the outside world.
The Mātikā
The Dhammasaṅgaṇī begins with a complete list of categories called the Mātikā. The Mātikā serves as a classified table of mental constituents relevant not only to the Dhammasaṅgaṇī but also to the entire system of the Abhidhamma.
The Mātikā consists altogether of one hundred and twenty-two groups, of which the first twenty-two are called the Tikas or Triads (those that are divided under three heads) and the remaining one hundred are called the Dukas or Dyads (those that are divided under two heads).
Examples of Triads are:
(a) Kusala Tika: dhammas that are:
(i) moral (kusala),
(ii) immoral (akusala),
(iii) indeterminate (abyākata);
(b) Vedanā Tika: dhammas that are associated with
(i) pleasant feeling,
(ii) painful feeling,
(iii) neutral feeling.
Examples of Dyads are:
(a) Hetu Duka: dhammas that are:
(i)roots (hetus),
(ii)not roots (na-hetus);
(b) Sahetuka Duka: dhammas that are
(i) associated with the hetus,
(ii) not associated with the hetus.
The Mātikā concludes with a list of the categories of dhamma entitled Suttantika Mātikā made up of forty-two groups of dhamma found in the suttas.
The Four Divisions
Based on these Mātikās of Tikas and Dukas, the Dhammasaṅgaṇī is divided into four divisions:
(i) Cittuppāda Kaṇḍa (division on the arising of consciousness and mental concomitants).
(ii) Rūpa Kaṇḍa (division concerning corporeality).
(iii) Nikkhepa Kaṇḍa (division that avoids elaboration).
(iv) Aṭṭhakathā Kaṇḍa (supplementary digest).
Of the four divisions, the first two, namely: Cittuppāda Kaṇḍa and Rūpa Kaṇḍa, form the main and the essential portion of the book. They set the model of thorough investigation into the nature, properties, function and interrelations of each of the dhammas listed in the Mātikā, by providing a sample analysis and review of the first Tika namely: the Kusala Tika of kusala, akusala and abyākata dhamma. Cittuppāda Kaṇḍa deals with a complete enumeration of all the states of mind that come under the heading of kusala and akusala. The Rūpa Kaṇḍa is concerned with all the states of matter that come under the heading of abyākata. Mention is also made of Asaṅkhata Dhātu (nibbāna) without discussing it.
The Nikkhepa Kaṇḍa, the third division, gives, not too elaborately nor too briefly, the summary of distribution of all the Tikas and Dukas, so that their full contents and significance will be become comprehensible and fully covered.
Aṭṭhakathā Kaṇḍa, the last division of the book, is of the same nature of the third division, giving a summary of the dhammas under the different heads of the Tika and Duka groups. However it is in a more condensed form, thus providing a supplementary digest to the first book of the Abhidhamma for easy memorizing.
Order and Classification of the Types of Consciousness as discussed in the Cittuppāda Kaṇḍa.
The Cittuppāda Kaṇḍa gives a statement of the types of consciousness arranged under the three heads of the first Tika, namely:
(i) Kusala dhamma (i.e. meritorious consciousness and its concomitants),
(ii) Akusala dhamma (i.e. demeritorious consciousness and its concomitants),
(iii) Abyākata dhamma ( i.e. indeterminate consciousness and its concomitants).
The list of mental concomitants for each dhamma is fairly long and repetitive.
The statement of the types of consciousness is followed by identification of the particular type (e.g. kusala dhamma), in the form of question and answer, with regard to the plane and sphere (bhūmi) of consciousness: kāmāvacara (sensuous plane); rūpāvacara (plane of forms); arūpāvacara (plane of no-form); tebhūmaka (pertaining to all the three planes); or lokuttara (supramundane, not pertaining to all the three planes).
The type of consciousness of each plane is further divided into various categories. For example there are eight kinds of kusala dhamma for the sensuous plane (first kusala citta, second kusala citta etc.); twelve kinds of akusala citta; eight kinds of ahetuka kusala vipāka citta and eight kinds of sahetuka vipāka citta under the heading of Abyākata Dhamma.
Then these various categories are further analysed according to:
(i) Dhamma Vavatthāna Vāra (e.g. the particular quality, whether accompanied by joy etc.- i.e. somanassa, domanassa, sukha, dukkha or upekkhā).
(ii) Kotthāsa Vāra (the grouping of dhamma). There are twenty-three categories of dhammas which result from synthetical grouping of dhammas into separate categories such as khandhas, āyatanas, dhātus etc.
(iii) Suññata Vāra, which lays stress on the fact that there is no "self", (atta) or jīva behind all these dhammas; they are only composites, causally formed and conditioned, devoid of any real substance.
The same method of treatment is adopted for the akusala and abyākata types of consciousness.
Rūpa Kaṇḍa
Because Dhammasaṅgaṇī treats all the dhammas (nāmas as well as the rūpas) in the same uniform system of classification, Rūpa Kaṇḍa is only a continuation of the distribution of the dhamma under the categories of the first Tika, which begins in the first division, Cittuppāda Kaṇḍa. In the Cittuppāda Kaṇḍa, the enumeration of the dhamma under the head "Abyākata" has been only partially done, because the abyākata category of dhamma includes not only the states of mind which are neither meritorious nor demeritorious but also all states of matter and the asaṅkhata dhātu or nibbāna. The portion of dhamma under the heading of abyākata, which has been left out from the Cittuppāda Kaṇḍa, is attended to in this kaṇḍa.
The method of treatment here is similar, with the difference that instead of mental concomitants, the constituents of matter (i.e. the four primary elements and the material qualities derived from them with their properties and their relationships) are analysed and classified.
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