The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary

as that intellectual element which inheres in & accompanies its manifestations; i. e. thought. In this wise
citta denotes both the agent & that which is enacted (see kamma II. introd.), for in Indian Psychology citta
is the seat & organ of thought (cetas! cinteti; cp. Gr. frh/n, although on the whole it corresponds more to
the Homeric qumo/s). As in the verb (cinteti) there are two stems closely allied and almost inseparable in
meaning (see § III.), viz. cit & cet (citta & cetas); cp. ye should restrain, curb, subdue citta by ceto, M
i.120, 242 (cp. attan! coday' att!na' Dhp 379 f.); cetas! citta' samannesati S i.194 (cp. cetas! citta'
samannesati S i.194). In their general use there is no distinction to be made between the two (see § III.). --
The meaning of citta is best understood when explaining it by expressions familiar to us, as: with all my
heart; heart and soul; I have no heart to do it; blessed are the pure in heart; singleness of heart (cp. ekagga);
all of which emphasize the emotional & conative side or "thought" more than its mental & rational side (for
which see manas & viññ!*a). It may therefore be rendered by intention, impulse, design; mood,
disposition, state of mind, reaction to impressions. It is only in later scholastic lgg. that we are justified in
applying the term "thought" in its technical sense. It needs to be pointed out, as complementary to this
view, that citta nearly always occurs in the singular (=heart), & out of 150 cases in the Nik!yas only 3
times in the plural (=thoughts). The substantiality of citta (cetas) is also evident from its connection with
kamma (heart as source of action), k!ma & the senses in general. On the whole subject see Mrs. Rh. D.
Buddh. Psych. Eth. introd. & Bud. Psy. ch. II. II. Cases of citta (cetas), their relation & frequency (enumd
for gram. purposes). -- The paradigma is (numbers denoting %, not including cpds.): Nom. citta'; Gen.
(Dat.) cetaso (44) & cittassa (9); Instr. cetas! (42) & cittena (3); Loc. citte (2) & cittamhi (2). -- Nom. citta'
(see below). Gen. cittassa only (of older passages) in c˚ upakkileso S iii.232; v.92; A i.207; c˚ damatho Dh
35 & c˚ vasena M i.214; iii.156. Instr. cittena only in S i. viz. cittena n"yati loko p. 39; upakkili&&ha˚ p. 179;
asall"nena c˚ p. 159. Loc. citte only as loc. abs. in sam!hite citte (see below) & in citte vy!panne
k!yakammam pi v. hoti A i.162; cittamhi only S i.129 & cittasmi' only S i.132. -- Plural only in Nom.
citt!ni in one phrase: !savehi citt!ni (vi) mucci'su "they purified their hearts from intoxications" Vin i.35;
S iii.132; iv.20; Sn p. 149; besides this in scholastic works=thoughts, e. g. Vbh 403 (satta citt!ni). III. Citta
& cetas in promiscuous application. There is no cogent evidence of a clear separation of their respective
fields of meaning; a few cases indicate the rôle of cetas as seat of citta, whereas most of them show no
distinction. There are cpds. having both citta˚ & ceto˚ in identical meanings (see e. g. citta -- sam!dhi &
ceto˚), others show a preference for either one or the other, as ceto is preferred in ceto -- khila & ceto --
vimutti (but: vimutta -- citta), whereas citta is restricted to combn w. upakkilesa, etc. The foll. sentences
will illustrate this. Viva&ena cetas! sappabh!sa' citta' bh!veti "with open heart he contemplates a radiant
thought" S v.263=D iii.223=A iv.86; cetas! citta' samannesati vippamutta' "with his heart he scrutinizes
their pure mind" S i.194; vigatâbhijjhena cetas! is followed by abhijj!ya citta' parisodheti D iii.49;
anup!rambhacitto bhabbo cetaso vikkhepa' pah!tu' A v.149; cetaso v(pasamo foll. by v(pasanta -- citto A
i.4; sam!hite citte foll. by ceto -- sam!dhi D i.13#; citta' padu&&ha' foll. by ceto -- padosa A i.8; cp. It. 12,
13; cetaso tato citta' niv!raye "a desire of his heart he shall exclude from this" S iv.195. IV. Citta in it7
relation to other terms referring to mental processes. 1. citta#hadaya, the heart as incorporating man's
personality: hadaya' phaleyya, cittavikkhepa' p!pu*eyya (break his heart, upset his reason) S i.126; citta'
te khipiss!mi hadayan te ph!less!mi id. S i.207, 214; Sn p. 32; k!mar!gena citta' me pari.ayhati S
i.188>nibb!pehi me hadaya -- pari)!ha' Miln 318 ("my heart is on fire"); cp. abhinibbutatto Sn
343=apari.ayham!na -- citto SnA 347; citta' adhi&&hahati to set one's heart on, to wish DhA i.327. 2. c. as
mental status, contrasted to (a) physical status: citta>k!ya, e. g. kilanta˚ weary in body & mind D
i.20=iii.32; !tura˚ S iii.2 -- 5; nika&&ha˚ A ii.137; &hita˚ steadfast in body & soul (cp. &hitatta) S v.74;
˚passaddhi quiet of body & soul S v.66. The Commentators distinguish those six pairs of the
sankh!r!kkhandha, or the cetasikas: citta -- k!ya -- passaddhi, -- lahut!, etc. as quiet, buoyancy, etc., of (a)
the viññ!*akkhandha (consciousness), (b) the other 3 mental khandhas, making up the n!ma -- k!ya (DhsA
150 on Dhs. 62: Compendium of Phil. 96, n. 3); passaddha˚ D iii.241, 288. -- (b) intellectual status:
citta>manas & viññ!*a (mind>thought & understanding). These three constitute the invisible energizer of
the body, alias mind in its manifestations: yañ ca vuccati cittan ti v! mano ti v! viññ!*an ti v!: (a) aya' att!
nicco dhuvo, etc., D i.21; (b) tatr' assutav! puthujjano n' âla' nibbinditu', etc. S ii.94; (g) ta' rattiy! ca
divasassa ca añña -- d -- eva uppajjati añña' nirujjhati S ii.95, cf. ThA. 1 on 125. -- Under !desan! --
p!&ih!riya (thought reading): evam pi te mano ittham pi te mano iti pi te citta' (thus is your thought & thus
your mind, i. e. habit of thinking) D i.213 =iii.103; A i.170. -- nicca' ida' c. nicca' ida' mano S i.53;
cittena niyyati loko "by thoughts the world is led" S i.39=A ii.177 (cp. KS 55); apati&&hita -- citto !d"na --
manaso avy!pa*nacetaso S v.74; vy!panna -- citto padu&&ha -- manasankappo S iii.93; padu&&ha --
citto=padu&&ha -- manaso PvA 34, 43.