Specifics of the Buddhist concept of bāla (‘the fool’) according to the pāli Dhammapada

Abstract

Within the mark of elaboration of a Ukrainian dictionary of philosophical and religious terminology of Buddhism based on the original texts (in Pāli, Sanskrit, Japanese, Chinese, etc.) this article analyzes the Buddhist concept of bāla, which is commonly translated into Ukrainian as ‘дурень’, ‘дурний’ (in English – ‘a fool’, ‘foolish’). For the purposes of this work 11 verses of the Dhammapada were translated into Ukrainian from the Pāli original: 6 verses from the fifth chapter ‘Bālavaggo’ (‘A Fool’) (verses: No.60, No.62–65, No.70), 4 from the second chapter ‘Appamādavaggo’ (‘Thoughtfulness’) (verses: No.21, No.22, No.26, No.28), 1 verse from the tenth chapter ‘Daṇḍavaggo’ (‘Punishment’) (verse No.136). Based on the analysis of these verses, the specifics of the concept of ‘a fool’ in the Buddhist context are formulated, and its main synonyms and antonyms present in the text of the Dhammapada are also examined. Characterizing the distinctive features of a ‘fool’ (bāla) the Dhammapada emphasizes that his/her crucial problem is the ‘thoughtlessness’ (pamāda), or in other words the absence of ‘thoughtfulness’ (appamāda), which is an important Buddhist virtue and the second chapter of the book bears its name ‘Thoughtfulness’ (‘Appamādavaggo’). Because of the thoughtlessness the mind of the ‘fool’ is unable to comprehend the Dharma, just as a spoon cannot “know” the taste of the soup which is eaten (metaphor from verses No. 64-65). According to the Dhammapada, from the point of view of Buddhist teaching the ‘fool’ (bāla) is characterized by the following features: 1) ignorance of the true Dharma (in particular, the doctrine of ‘no-self’» – Pāli anattā, Skt. anātman), 2) thoughtlessness (Pāli pamāda, Skt. pramāda), 3) self-confidence, arrogance, vanity, 4) causing suffering to others, 5) unconscious causing of suffering to himself, 7) incorrigibility, 8) mortality (in the Buddhist sense).