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sīlabbataparāmāso

sīlabbataparāmāsa

masc nom sg of sīlabbataparāmāsa (noun)

1. clinging to precepts and practices; adherence to rites and rituals (as a means of liberation)

Built from

• sīla — root · virtue, precept
  From √śī, the bearing or conduct of oneself; the foundation of moral training in Buddhist ethics.
• bbata — root · vow, observance
  From √vat 'to vow'; represents ascetic observances and rites. Contracted form, likely from abbrahmacariya.
• parāmāsa — stem · clinging, grasping
  Compound of para- (beyond, paramount) and āmāsa (seizing); the act of grasping at something as supreme, hence stubborn adherence. This is the third of the three fetters related to false views (in the Five Lower Fetters framework).

Analysis. sīla + bbata + parāmāsa; a compound: sīla (virtue, precept) + abbata (vow, observance; contraction of abbrahmacariya or related to vata 'vow'), + parāmāsa (grasping, clinging). Together: the grasping after virtue and vows as a deluded means of liberation. In the Suttas, one of the five lower fetters binding to the sensual realm.

Etymology. sīla (root √śī 'to lie, be still', hence conduct, virtue; cognate with Sanskrit śīla and Greek aiolos 'swift, lively'—both from the sense of bearing or demeanor); bbata/vata from √vat 'to vow, wish' (Sanskrit vrata, Greek euthē 'vow'); parāmāsa from parama (supreme, paramount; Sanskrit parama, cognate with Greek peri 'beyond') + āmāsa (grasping, from ā + √mās 'to seize', akin to Sanskrit masati and Latin manus 'hand'). The compound idiomatically labels a fundamental delusion in Buddhist analysis—belief that external ritual purifies the mind.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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