Pali Vocabulary

戒

Virtue / Ethical Conduct / Morality

neuter noun (a-stem)

The first of the three trainings (sikkhā) and the foundation of the Buddhist path. Sīla encompasses all ethical restraints — refraining from harmful speech, action, and livelihood. For lay practitioners, sīla typically means the Five Precepts (pañca-sīla); for monks and nuns, the Vinaya (bhikkhu: 227 rules; bhikkhunī: 311 rules). Sīla purifies the foundation of the mind for samādhi to develop.

五戒

Five Precepts

compound: pañca (five) + sīla (virtue)

The five ethical training rules undertaken by lay Buddhists: (1) Pāṇātipātā veramaṇī — abstaining from taking life; (2) Adinnādānā veramaṇī — abstaining from taking what is not given; (3) Kāmesumicchācārā veramaṇī — abstaining from sexual misconduct; (4) Musāvādā veramaṇī — abstaining from false speech; (5) Surāmeraya-majja-pamādaṭṭhānā veramaṇī — abstaining from fermented/distilled intoxicants leading to heedlessness.

業

Action / Karma (intentional action)

neuter noun (an-stem): from karoti (to do/act)

Intentional action — physical, verbal, or mental — that produces results (vipāka) in this or future lives. The Buddha defined kamma specifically as cetanā (volition/intention): 'Cetanāhaṃ, bhikkhave, kammaṃ vadāmi' — 'It is intention, monks, that I call kamma.' Kusala kamma (wholesome action) produces pleasant results; akusala kamma (unwholesome action) produces painful results. Kamma is the law of moral causation that drives saṃsāra.