In Buddhism, vitarka (; ; ), "applied thought,"(initial) inquiry," and vicÃÂra ( and ; ), "investigating what has been focused on by vitakka, are qualities or elements of the first dhyÃÂna or jhÃÂna.
In the Pali canon, Vitakka-vicÃÂra form one expression, which refers to directing one's thought or attention on an object (vitarka) and investigating it (vicÃÂra), "breaking it down into its functional components" to understand it [and] distinguishing the multitude of conditioning factors implicated in a phenomenal event."
The later Theravada commentarial tradition, as represented by Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga, interprets vitarka and vicÃÂra as the initial and sustained application of attention to a meditational object, which culminates in the stilling of the mind. According to Fox and Bucknell vitarka-vicÃÂra may also refer to "the normal process of discursive thought," which is quieted through absorption in the second jhÃÂna.
Vitarka (Sanskrit: à ¤µà ¤¿à ¤¤à ¤°à ¥Âà ¤ ) - "thoughts," "applied thought," "applied attention," "inquiry," "initial inquiry," "initial mental application, or initial intellectual investigative intent." Its roots are:
Vitarka may refer to mental activities that are manifest both in normal consciousness and in the first stage of dhyana. According to Buswel and Lopez, in general, it means "thought," "applied thought," or "distracted thoughts." According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, "In the Suttas, the word Vittaka is often used in the loose sense of thought, but in the Abhidhamma it is used in a precise technical sense to mean the mental factor that mounts or directs the mind towards an object."
VicÃÂra (Sanskrit: à ¤µà ¤¿à ¤Âà ¤¾à ¤°) - "investigation," "subsequent discursive reasoning and thought, i.e., investigating what has been focused on by vitakka." Its roots are:
Vitarka investigates things roughly, while vicÃÂra investigates things exactly. According to Dan Lusthaus, it is "subsequent discursive reasoning and thought, i.e., investigating what has been focused on by vitakka."
Vitarka and vicÃÂra are two of the mental factors (cetasika) present during the first dhyÃÂna (Pali: jhÃÂna), and which are absent in the higher jhanas. According to Shankman, "two distinct meanings are suggested [...] one indicating mental activities such as thinking, reflecting, and so on, and the other referring to the mental activity of connecting and sustaining the attention on a meditation object."
According to Dan Lusthaus, vitarka-vicÃÂra is analytic scrutiny, a form of prajna. It "involves focusing on [something] and then breaking it down into its functional components" to understand it, "distinguishing the multitude of conditioning factors implicated in a phenomenal event."
According to Polak, in the Pali Canon vitarka and vicÃÂra are mostly related to thinking about the sense-impressions, which give rise to further egoistical thought and action. The stilling of this thinking fits into the Buddhist training of sense-withdrawal and right effort, culminating in the equanimity and mindfulness of dhyana-practice.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Ulrich Timme Kragh explains vitarka (discernment) and vicÃÂra (discursiveness), as understood by the YogÃÂcÃÂrabhà «mi-à ÂÃÂstra, thus: discernment is "the cognitive operation that is responsible for ascertaining what is perceived by the senses by initially labeling it with a name", while discursiveness is "the subsequent conceptual operation of deciding whether the perceived sense-object is desirable and what course of action one might want to take in relation to it".
According to Naichen, in Mahayana Buddhism, "SamÃÂdhi with general examination and specific in-depth investigation means getting rid of the not virtuous dharmas, such as greedy desire and hatred, to stay in joy and pleasure caused by nonarising, and to enter the first meditation and fully dwell in it."
According to Stuart-Fox, the Abhidhamma separated vitarka from vicÃÂra, and ekaggatÃÂ (onepointedness) was added to the description first jhÃÂna to give an equal number of five hindrances and five antidotes. The commentarial tradition regards the qualities of the first jhÃÂna to be antidotes to the five hindrances, and ekaggatÃÂ may have been added to the first jhÃÂna to give exactly five anti-dotes for the five hindrances.
While initially simply referring to thought, which is present at the onset of dhyÃÂna, the terms vitarka and vicÃÂra were re-interpreted by the developing Abhidharma and commentarial tradition. In TheravÃÂda, vitarka is one of the mental factors that apprehend the quality of an object. It is the "initial application of attention" or the mind to its object, while vicÃÂra is the sustained application of the mind on an object. Vitarka is regarded in the TheravÃÂda tradition as an antidote for thina-middha (sloth and torpor), one of the five hindrances.
According to Roderick S. Bucknell, "vitakka-vicÃÂra, the factor that particularly characterizes the first jhÃÂna, is probably nothing other than the normal process of discursive thought, the familiar but usually unnoticed stream of mental imagery and verbalization".
Martin Stuart-Fox explains, referring to Rhys Davids and Stede, when vitarka-vicÃÂra are mentioned in tandem, they are one expression, "to cover all varieties of thinking, including sustained and focused thought. It is thinking in this inclusive sense that the meditator suppresses through concentration when he attains one-ness of mind and thus moves from first to second jhÃÂna".
The Yogacara term manas means both "intentionality" or 'self-centered thinking', and "discriminative thinking" (vikalpa). The process of meditation aims at "non-thinking," stopping both these cognitive processes.
The Vitarka mudrÃÂ, "mudra of discussion," expresses vitarka, joining the tips of the thumb and the index together, and keeping the other fingers straight. This mudra has a great number of variants in MahÃÂyÃÂna Buddhism, and is also known as ' and VyÃÂkhyÃÂna mudrÃÂ ("mudra of explanation"). The Vitarka mudrÃÂ is thought to symbolize teaching and instruction and is associated with significant moments in the Buddha's life, such as his first discourse on the Four Noble Truths and the miracle at Sravasti, where he revealed his divine form. Initially depicted with the right hand, since the 8th century CE, it has also been represented using the left hand.
MahÃÂyÃÂna tradition:
TheravÃÂda tradition: