The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary

S"ra [Vedic s"ra] plough ThA 270 (=nangala).
S"la
S"la (nt.) [cp. Sk. $"la. It is interesting to note that the Dhtp puts down a root s"l in meaning of sam!dhi (No.
268) and upadh!ra*a (615)] 1. nature, character, habit, behaviour; usually as -- ˚ in adj. function "being of
such a nature," like, having the character of . . ., e. g. ad!na˚ of stingy character, illiberal Sn 244; PvA 68
(+maccharin); ki'˚ of what behaviour? Pv ii.913; ke)i˚ tricky PvA 241; damana˚ one who conquers PvA
251; parisuddha˚ of excellent character A iii.124; p!pa˚ wicked Sn 246; bha*ana˚ wont to speak DhA iv.93;
v!da˚ quarrelsome Sn 381 sq. -- duss"la (of) bad character D iii.235; Dhs 1327; Pug 20, 53; Pv ii.82 (noun);
ii.969 (adj.); DhA ii.252; iv.3; Sdhp 338; Miln 257; opp. sus"la S i.141. -- 2. moral practice, good character,
Buddhist ethics, code of morality. (a) The dasa -- s"la or 10 items of good character ( not "commandments")
are (1) p!*âtip!t! verama*", i. e. abstinence from taking life; (2) adinn'!d!n! (from) taking what is not
given to one; (3) abrahmacariy! adultery (o&herwise called k!mesu micch! -- c!r!); (4) mus!v!d! telling
lies; (5) pisuna -- v!c!ya slander; (6) pharusa -- v!c!ya harsh or impolite speech; (7) samphappal!p!
frivolous and senseless talk; (8) abhijjh!ya covetousness; (9) by!p!d! malevolence; (10) micch!di&&hiy!
heretic views. -- Of these 10 we sometimes find only the first 7 designated as "s"la" per se, or good
character generally. See e. g. A i.269 (where called s"la -- sampad!); ii.83 sq. (not called "s"la"), &
sampad!. -- (b) The pañca -- s"la or 5 items of good behaviour are Nos. 1 -- 4 of dasa -- s"la, and (5)
abstaining from any state of indolence arising from (the use of) intoxicants, viz. sur! -- meraya --
majjapam!da -- &&h!n! verama*". These five also from the first half of the 10 sikkha -- pad!ni. They are a
sort of preliminary condition to any higher development after conforming to the teaching of the Buddha
(sara*a'gamana) and as such often mentioned when a new follower is "officially" installed, e. g. Bu ii.190:
sara*âgamane kañci nivesesi Tath!gato kañci pañcasu s"lesu s"le dasavidhe para'. From Pv iv.176 sq. (as
also fr. Kh ii. as following upon Kh i.) it is evident that the sikkh!pad!ni are meant in this connection
(either 5 or 10), and not the s"la', cp. also Pv iv.350 sq., although at the above passage of Bu and at J i.28
as well as at Mhvs 18, 10 the expression dasa -- s"la is used: evidently a later development of the term as
regards dasa -- s"la (cp. Mhvs trsln 122, n. 3), which through the identity of the 5 s"las & sikkh!padas was
transferred to the 10 sikkh!padas. These 5 are often simply called pañca dhamm!, e. g. at A iii.203 sq., 208
sq. Without a special title they are mentioned in connection with the "sara*a' gata" formula e. g. at A
iv.266. Similarly the 10 s"las (as above a) are only called dhamm! at A ii.253 sq.; v.260; nor are they
designated as s"la at A ii.221. -- pañcasu s"lesu sam!dapeti to instruct in the 5 s"las (alias sikkh!pad!ni) Vin
ii.162. -- (c) The only standard enumerations of the 5 or 10 s"las are found at two places in the Sa'yutta and
correspond with those given in the Niddesa. See on the 10 (as given under a) S iv.342 & Nd2 s. v. s"la; on
the 5 (also as under b) S ii.68 & Nd2 s. v. The so -- called 10 s"las (Childers) as found at Kh ii. (under the
name of dasa -- sikkh!pada) are of late origin & served as memorial verses for the use of novices. Strictly
speaking they should not be called dasa -- s"la. -- The eightfold s"la or the eight pledges which are
recommended to the Buddhist layman (cp. Miln 333 mentioned below) are the sikkh!padas Nos. 1 -- 8 (see
sikkh!pada), which in the Canon however do
-- 713 --
not occur under the name of s"la nor sikkh!pada, but as a&&hanga -- samann!gata uposatha (or a&&hangika u.)
"the fast -- day with its 8 constituents." They are discussed in detail at A iv.248 sq., with a poetical setting
of the eight at A iv.254=Sn 400, 401 -- (d) Three special tracts on morality are found in the Canon. The
Cullas"la (D i.3 sq.) consists first of the items (dasa) s"la 1-7; then follow specific injunctions as to practices
of daily living & special conduct, of which the first 5 (omitting the introductory item of b"jag!ma --
bh(tag!ma -- sam!rambha) form the second 5 sikkh!pad!ni. Upon the Culla˚ follows the Majjhima˚ (D i.5
sq.) & then the Mah!s"la D i.9 sq. The whole of these 3 s"las is called s"lakkhandha and is (in the
S!maññaphala sutta e. g.) grouped with sam!dhi -- and paññ!kkhandha: D i.206 sq.; at A v.205, 206 s"la --
kkhandha refers to the Culla -- s"la only. The three (s., sam!dhi & paññ!) are often mentioned together, e.
g. D ii.81, 84; It 51; DA i.57. -- The characteristic of a kaly!*a -- mitta is endowment with saddh!, s"la,
c!ga, paññ! A iv.282. These four are counted as constituents of future bliss A iv.282, and form the 4
sampad!s ibid. 322. In another connection at M iii.99; Vism 19. They are, with suta (foll. after s"la)
characteristic of the merit of the devat!s A i.210 sq. (under devat'ânussati). -- At Miln 333 s"la is classed as: