Vyāpāda

vyāpāda [alt. byāpāda] (T. gnod sems གནོད་སེམས་; C. chen 瞋) is translated as "ill-will", "harmful intention", "malice," etc. It is described as "the wish to injure."

"When there is ill-will, there is no loving-kindness, no compassion..."

Vyapada is identified in the following contexts:

• one of the ten unwholesome actions
• one of the five hindrances
• one of the ten fetters

Definitions

Pali tradition

"When there is ill-will, there is no loving-kindness, no compassion..."

The Buddhist Dictionary states:

vyāpāda is a synonymm of dosa...and paṭigha.

Sanskrit tradition

Vyapada is "ill-will", "maliciousness", "the wish to injure"

Within the five hindrances

The hindrance of ill will (vyapada) is latching onto thoughts or feelings based on anger, resentment, hostility, bitterness, etc.

Pali tradition

Ajahn Brahmavamso states:

"Ill will refers to the desire to punish, hurt or destroy. It includes sheer hatred of a person, or even a situation, and it can generate so much energy that it is both seductive and addictive. At the time, it always appears justified for such is its power that it easily corrupts our ability to judge fairly. It also includes ill will towards oneself, otherwise known as guilt, which denies oneself any possibility of happiness. In meditation, ill will can appear as dislike towards the meditation object itself, rejecting it so that one's attention is forced to wander elsewhere."

Sanskrit tradition

Traleg Kyabgon states:

"The second hindrance is ill will; it is the opposite of the first hindrance, being brought about by aversion rather than attraction. Ill will refers to all kinds of thought related to wanting to reject, feelings of hostility, resentment, hatred and bitterness. When they arise, we should take note of them, not necessarily suppressing them, but seeing how they arise."

Alternate translations

• ill will (Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000), Harvey (2007), Thanissaro (2000), Walshe (1995))
• malice,
• harmful intention,
• malicious thoughts,
• vindictiveness
• aversion (Gethin, 1998)

See also

• Five_hindrances#Ill_will_(vyapada)

Sources

• Nyanatiloka Thera (2019), Nyanaponika Thera, ed., Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines, Pariyatti Publishing 
• gnod_sems, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
• "gnod sems" (84000 glossary)
• Vyapada (Wisdom Library)
• Traleg Kyabgon (2001), The Essence of Buddhism, Shambhala 

External links

• gnod_sems, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
• gnod_sems, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
• Vyapada, Wisdom Library