Dhammasaṅgaṇī


The Dhammasaṅgaṇī, also known as the Dhammasaṅgaha, is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. It is the first of the seven texts of the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
The book begins with a matika, which is a list of classifications of dhammas, variously translated as ideas, phenomena, states, patterns etc. The text lacks a nidana, though the commentaries record that attempts were made at creating one that depicted the Buddha preaching the Abhidhamma in one of the heavenly realms. Theravada tradition attributes the Dhammasaṅgaṇī to Sariputra, who is held to have recited the Abhidhamma as part of the sutta texts at the First Buddhist Council, and regards it as one of the canonical teachings that Mahinda brought to Sri Lanka from the empire of Asoka. Its title is abbreviated 'Dhs' in Pāli scholarship.

Format

Following the matika, the main body of the book is in four parts, as follows.
  • The first part deals with states of mind, listing and defining factors present in them.
  • The second deals with material phenomena, classifying them numerically, by ones, twos etc.
  • The third part applies the material in the first two to explaining the classifications in the matika.
  • The fourth does likewise, but in a different and sometimes more detailed way, and omitting the sutta method 2-fold classifications. This fourth part is mostly omitted from the old translation, only a few extracts being included. The new translation is complete.
Rhys Davids divisions of the text are as follows:
Book I.
The Genesis
of Thoughts
Part I.
Good States
of Consciousness
Ch. I. The Eight Main Types of Thought relating to the Sensuous Universe


Ch. II. Good in relation to the Universe of Form

Ch. III. Good in relation to the Universe of the Formless

Ch. IV. Degrees of Efficacy in Good relating to the Three Realms

Ch. V. Thought engaged upon the Higher Ideal
Book I.
The Genesis
of Thoughts
Part II.
Bad States
of Consciousness
Ch. VI. The Twelve Bad Thoughts
Book I.
The Genesis
of Thoughts
Part III.
Indeterminate States
of Consciousness
Ch. I. On Effect, or Result : A. Good Karma. B. Bad Karma

Ch. II. Action-thoughts
Book II.
Form

Ch. I. Exposition of Form under Single Concepts

Ch. II. Categories of Form under Dual Aspects — positive and negative

Ch. III. Categories of Form under Triple Aspects

Ch. IV. Categories of Form under Fourfold Aspects

Ch. V. Category of Form under a Fivefold Aspect

Ch. VI. Category of Form under a Sixfold Aspect

Ch. VII. Category of Form under a Sevenfold Aspect

Ch. VIII. Category of Form under an Eightfold Aspect

Ch. IX. Category of Form under a Ninefold Aspect

Ch. X. Category of Form under a Tenfold Aspect

Ch. XI. Category of Form under an Elevenfold Aspect
Book III.
The Division
Entitled
'Elimination'
Part I.

Ch. I. The Group of Triplets

Ch. II. The Group on Cause

Ch. III. The Short Intermediate Set of Pairs

Ch. IV. The Intoxicant Group

Ch. V. The Group of the Fetters

Ch. VI. The Group of the Ties

Ch. VII. The Group of the Floods

Ch. VIII. The Group of the Bonds

Ch. IX. The Group of the Hindrances

Ch. X. The Group on Contagion

Ch. XI. The Great Intermediate Set of Pairs

Ch. XII. The Group on Grasping

Ch. XIII. The Group on the Corruptions

Ch. XIV. The Supplementary Set of Pairs
Book III.
The Division
Entitled
'Elimination'
Part II.
The Suttanta
Pairs of Terms

Translations

Several English translations are available, including:
  • The Dhammasangani, edited by Edward Müller, 1885, published for the Pali Text Society, by H. Frowde in London
  • A Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics, tr C. A. F. Rhys Davids, Royal Asiatic Society, 1900; reprinted with corrections, Pali Text Society, Bristol
  • Dhammasaṅgaṇī: Enumeration of the Ultimate Realities, tr U Kyaw Khine, Department for the Promotion and Propagation of the Sasana, Rangoon, ?1996; reprinted by Sri Satguru Pubns, Delhi, 2 volumes