Buddhist Studies Review ISSN (print) 0256-2897

Buddhist Studies Review ISSN (online) 1747-9681

Do the Arahant and the Buddha Experience

Dukkha and Domanassa?

Ashin Sumanacara

Mahidol University

Skartala@yahoo.com

The Pāli Nikāyas describe a range of painful feelings that are experienced by
human beings. The painful feelings are primarily divided into the categories
of dukkha and domanassa. In its broader sense, dukkha covers a complete range
of different types of painful or unpleasant feeling. But when it appears within
a compound or together with domanassa successively within a passage, its
meaning is primarily limited to physical pain while domanassa refers to men-
tal pain. This article investigates the question of whether or not the Arahant
and the Buddha experience mental pain as well as physical pain. My analysis
of doctrinal explanations demonstrates that the Arahant and the Buddha are
subject to experience physical pain and physical disease but not mental pain.
This article also clarifies why and to what degree the Pāli tradition sees them
as experiencing physical pain and disease.

Introduction
Among human beings, the degree of painful feelings in an ordinary person (puthu-
jjana), and in an Arahant is said to be different from one another.1 The Saṃyutta-
nikāya (S IV 206–08) states that both of them experience pleasant feeling (sukhā
vedanā), painful feeling (dukkhā vedanā), and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling
(adukkhamasukhā vedanā). However, the basic differences between them are that
when an ordinary person experiences a painful (physical) feeling, he is said to expe-
rience successively two kinds of feeling, physical then mental. On the other hand,
an ‘instructed noble disciple’ (ariya-sāvaka) is said to experience the physical feeling
only.2 The Arahant and the Non-returner (anāgāmi) are probably what are meant here
as they both have overcome aversion (paṭigha) and hatred (dosa) (see Spk III 76–77).
The question is whether or not the Arahant experiences domanassa.
1. A puthujjana is one who has not yet reached the path to stream-entry (sotāpatti-magga). On the
other hand, an Arahant is a fully enlightened person who has freed himself from clinging to the
five aggregates and fully understands the true nature of things, as they really are (see S III 161).
2. Painful physical feeling (kāyikā vedanā) refers to the painful experiences of the body, whereas
painful mental feeling (cetasikā vedanā) refers to the painful experiences of the mind. These
two feelings correspond to painful physical feeling (dukkhā vedanā) and painful mental feeling
(domanassā vedanā), respectively. For a detailed analysis, see D II 306; S IV 209–10.
Keywords: Arahant, Buddha, dukkha, domanassa, roga

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54 Do the Arahant and the Buddha Experience Dukkha and Domanassa?

Diseases can be seen as causes of dukkha. The Rogā Sutta of the Aṅguttara Nikāya
distinguishes two kinds of disease: physical disease (kāyika roga) and mental disease
(cetasika roga) (A II 142–43). According to this sutta, the Arahant is the only per-
son with complete mental health, as he is completely free from the defilements of
the mind, such as attachment, aversion, and delusion. This sutta also discusses the
mental diseases, such as strong desire, discontent, longing, and cunningness. These
mental diseases could be better seen as mental defilements that give rise to dukkha.
Some diseases can be seen as a dukkha in the sense of involving painful feeling
(though some diseases in their early stages lack any felt symptoms). Domanassa is
specifically painful mental feeling. The Pāli Nikāyas narrate a few cases of those
who were frustrated at not attaining Arahantship and thus killed themselves. The
Buddha declared some of them, after their death, as Arahants, saying that ‘they had
attained final Nibbāna’ (M III 266; S I 122; III 124). These incidents will help us to
examine the question of whether the Arahants are considered to have experienced
both physical pain and mental pain.
The Buddha is said to have experienced physical pain and physical disease on
several occasions (see Vin II 210; D II 99; M I 354). According to the Dīgha-nikāya
(D I 156), one can end the experience of dukkha and reach Arahantship by destroy-
ing all the fetters (saṃyojanas). If so, why did the Buddha experience physical pain
and physical disease, if he, on his becoming a Buddha, destroyed all defilements?
Through textual analysis of Pāli sources, this article will attempt to find the answers
to the above questions.
The meanings of dukkha and domanassa
Dukkha itself is a very broad topic and is central to comprehending the Buddha’s
teaching. Etymologically, the term dukkha (Skt. duḥkha) comes from the prefix du
(= dur) and kha. The prefix du (Skt. duḥ) denotes ‘bad’, ‘evil’, ‘difficult’, and ‘hard’,
while kha denotes ‘a hole’, ‘empty’, and ‘a space’ (see Cone 2001, 742 and 2010, 408).
The etymological derivation of the word suggests ‘bad space’. Dukkha as a noun
means pain that can be either physical or mental in nature — which of course can be
influenced by other physical or mental experiences. As an adjective it means (men-
tally or physically) painful, i.e. that which is associated with painful or unpleasant
feeling. Peter Harvey comments: ‘Dukkha as an adjective of course qualifies things
which are not (in most cases) themselves forms of mental or physical pain, but
which are experienced in way which brings mental or physical pain’ (Harvey 2009,
214). Dukkha as an adjectival noun can also refer to ‘the painful’, which includes the
phenomena that are not unpleasant or painful feeling but are associated with it.
However, the term ‘dukkha’, as a noun, has two simple senses, i.e. may mean either
(a) physical pain, when it is contrasted with domanassa or (b) any kind of painful
feeling, physical or mental.
The word sukha is an antonym of the word dukkha. It is stated that pleasing is
happiness (sukha) that pleases both body and mind, or annihilates physical and
mental afflictions (Abhidh-s-ṭ 64).3 Yet, every phenomenon, even the feeling of
3. Though in the fivefold vedanā, sukha refers to pleasant physical feeling only (see S V 209).

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Ashin Sumanacara 55

happiness, is viewed as dukkha, in the sense of unsatisfactory due to its imperma-

nent nature. Hence, it is said that ‘whatever is impermanent is unsatisfactory’ (yad
aniccaṃ taṃ dukkhaṃ) (S III 44–45). The momentary nature of happiness points
directly to the prevailing truth of dukkha. Whatever beings desire to grasp, that
thing gradually passes away and the passing away of it is its impermanence and
unsatisfactoriness. Hence, all formations (saṅkhāras) are viewed as unsatisfactory
(dukkha) and impermanent (anicca) (Dhp v. 278). In this way, dukkha is used to char-
acterise all conditioned phenomena or things as unsatisfactory.
Now we will investigate whether dukkha is either wholly physical, wholly mental,
or includes both. In the Pāli canon, dukkha and domanassa appear in a compound in
the analysis of the first noble truth of dukkha (dukkha-sacca). The Saṃyutta-nikāya,
for instance, explains dukkha-sacca as follows:
Birth (jāti) is painful, ageing (jarā) is painful, disease (vyādhi) is painful, death (maraṇa)
is painful; sorrow (soka), lamentation (parideva), physical pain (dukkha), mental pain
(domanassa), and despair (upāyāsa) are painful; association with something one dis-
likes (appiyehi sampayogo) is painful, parting from something one likes (piyehi vip-
payogo) is painful, not getting something one wishes for (yam p’icchaṃ na labhati
tam pi) is painful. In brief, the five aggregates, [when] connected with clinging
(pañc’upādānakkhandhā), are painful. (S V 421)
The above description of dukkha-sacca suggests dukkha, as ‘the painful’, refers, in
its broader sense, to all types of thing that are painful. As is explicitly stated in the
above passage, when dukkha appears in a compound or successively with domanassa,
its meaning is limited to physical pain — as is explicitly said at D III 306, in its expla-
nation of the above passage.
The term dukkha also appears in the threefold and the fivefold classification of
vedanā. In relation to its affective quality, vedanā is commonly referred to as three-
fold: pleasant feeling (sukhā vedanā), painful feeling (dukkhā vedanā), and neither-
painful-nor-pleasant feeling (adukkhamasukhā vedanā) (M I 302). According to the
Majjhima-nikāya, ‘whatever is experienced physically or mentally as painful and
unpleasant is painful feeling’ (M I 302–03). In this way, in the threefold classifica-
tion of vedanā, dukkhā vedanā denotes equally physical and mental painful feelings.
However, in the fivefold vedanā, dukkha refers to painful physical feeling (kāyika
dukkha vedayita) only, as the Saṃyutta-nikāya states:
Whatever physical pain (kāyikaṃ dukkhaṃ) there is, monks, physically unpleas-
ant (kāyikaṃ asātaṃ), the painful unpleasant feeling resulting from physical contact
(kāyasamphassajaṃ dukkham asātaṃ vedayitaṃ): this, monks, is called the faculty of
(physical) pain (dukkhindriyaṃ). (S V 209)
Here, we can see that dukkha is restricted to physical pain, which is born of physi-
cal contact.
Any sensation of physical pain or disease is painful, yet it is the source for mental
pain too. It stands for anything from the trivial physical discomfort, such as nau-
sea, aches, a sore throat, stiffness, etc. to severe physical pain caused by injury or
illness. It is an unpleasant painful experience in the body.

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56 Do the Arahant and the Buddha Experience Dukkha and Domanassa?

The Pāli term domanassa denotes ‘distress’, ‘dejection’, ‘unhappiness’, and ‘ill-
humour’ (Cone 2010, 442). Domanassa reflects Sanskrit daurmanasya.4 The Sanskrit
term daurmanasya is a compound made up of dur (bad) and manas (mind), to which
the suffix ya is added.5 The literal meaning of daurmanasya therefore is something
like ‘bad (sad) state of mind’, as is experienced as a central aspect of an ‘agitated
state of mind’ or ‘depressed state of mind’. The Saṃyutta-nikāya explains domanassa
thus:
Whatever mental pain (cetasikaṃ dukkhaṃ) there is, monks, mentally unpleasant
(cetasikaṃ asātaṃ), the painful unpleasant experience resulting from mental contact
(manosamphassajaṃ dukkham asātaṃ vedayitaṃ): this, monks, is called the faculty of
unhappiness (domanassindriyaṃ). (S V 209)
This definition suggests that domanassa is a painful mental feeling, which arises out
of mental contact. It is the state (bhāvo) of a sad or irritated mind (dummanassa bhāvo
domanassaṃ) (Vibh-a 136). It indicates a state of mental painful feeling. Among the
twelve unwholesome consciousnesses, the two consciousnesses rooted in aversion
(paṭigha) are said to be accompanied by domanassa (Dhs 83, 85; Abhidh-s 1). A mind
which is devoid of mental happiness (or even equanimity) is an ‘unhappy mind’.
When one becomes unhappy or sad, it is because a mind rooted in aversion arises,
thereby bringing about mental pain. According to the Dhammasaṅgaṇī, it distresses
the mind through the association with aversion (paṭigha) or ill will (byāpāda) (Dhs
83). The commentary on the Abhidhammatthasaṅgaha explains domanassa thus:
‘Unhappy mind’ (dummano) means an irritated mind or someone who has that; that
is, the consciousness [itself] or the person with that consciousness. The state of that
[consciousness or person] is unhappiness (domanassa). It is a term for unpleasant
mental feeling. (Abhidh-s-ṭ 61; Wijeratne and Gethin 2007, 16)
Though domanassa itself afflicts the mind, it brings physical oppression too.
However, it is called mental pain as it brings oppression through the mind (Dhs
83). According to the commentary on the Dhammasaṅgaṇī, it has the characteris-
tics of experiencing an unpleasant object, its function is to distress the mind, and
it is manifested as mental affliction (cetasikābādha) (As 257; cf. Vism 504). It arises
not merely because of hatred or aversion but also as a consequence of taking con-
sciousness as self or as being a permanent entity. Fully enlightened persons are
those who are referred to as vidomanassā, ‘who have no mental pain’ (Vibh-a 105).
Dukkha and domanassa both oppress the body and the mind. These two painful
feelings are forms of dukkha, as implied by ‘birth is painful’ (see Vibh-a 105). Birth
in any existence is a condition for dukkha, as the Saṃyutta-nikāya states: ‘Birth con-
ditions aging-and-death (jarāmaraṇaṃ); sorrow, lamentation, physical-and-mental-pain,
and despair (soka-parideva-dukkha-domanass’upāyāsā)’ (S II 1). Birth, ageing, disease,
and death are the four facts of life common to all sentient beings. Harvey says
that these four types of dukkha are ‘basic biological aspects of being alive, each of
4. The Sanskrit au monophthongizes to Pāli ‘o’; the final consonant ‘r’ is eliminated, and ‘y’ (of the
suffix ya) is assimilated to the preceding consonant ‘s’.
5. The vowel ‘u’ (of dur) is strengthened by vṛiddhi to au.

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which can be painful and traumatic’ (Harvey 1990, 47). Birth in any realm of exist-
ence can be unsatisfactory. It is the supporting condition for all types of dukkha in
the present life.

Does the Arahant experience dukkha and domanassa?

The Arahant is one of the eight kinds of ariya-sāvaka. The ariya-sāvakas are those who
have achieved one of the following eight stages of attainment: the path of stream-
entry (sotāpatti-magga), i.e. the path that leads to becoming a Stream-enterer, the
fruition of stream-entry (sotāpatti-phala), i.e. the state of being a Stream-enterer,
the path of once-returning (sakadāgāmi-magga), the fruition of once-returning
(sakadāgāmi-phala), the path of non-returning (anāgāmi-magga), the fruition of non-
returning (anāgāmi-phala), the path of arahantship (arahatta-magga), i.e. the path
that leads to becoming an Arahant, and the fruition of arahantship (arahatta-phala),
i.e. the state of being an Arahant (D III 255; Vibh 335). The four main ariya-sāvakas
comprise the following: the Stream-enterer (sotāpanna) who has the fruition of
stream-entry, the Once-returner (sakadāgāmi) who has the fruition of once-return-
ing, the Non-returner (anāgāmi) who has the fruition of non-returning, and the
Arahant who has the fruition of arahantship (D III 227; M I 63–64). Among them, an
Arahant is a fully awakened person who has destroyed all the fetters and attained
Nibbāna (A I 234–35).6
Now the question is, does the Arahant really experience physical pain and mental
pain? The answer can be seen in the following account of the Saṃyutta-nikāya, which
states that ‘when the learned ariya-sāvaka is touched by a painful feeling (dukkhāya
vedanāya puṭṭho), he does not grieve, sorrow, or lament; he does not weep beating his
chest, and fall into delusion. He thus experiences one feeling — a physical one, not a
mental one’ (S IV 209). In this regard, the commentary on the Saṃyutta-nikāya states:
And among the ariya-sāvakas, here the one (Arahant) who is free from the burden of
the cankers (khīṇāsavo) is the foremost, the Non-returner is not fit, they say (ariya-
sāvakesu ca khīṇāsavo ettha dhuraṃ anāgāmi na vaṭṭatī ti vadanti).7 (Spk III 77)

6. The ten fetters are: the view on the transitory collection (sakkāya-diṭṭhi), skeptical doubt
(vicikicchā), attachment to discipline and vows (sīlabbata-parāmāsa), desire for sense pleasures
(kāmacchanda), ill will (vyāpāda), attachment to the form-sphere (rūpa-rāga), attachment to the
formless-sphere (arūpa-rāga), conceit (māna), restlessness (uddhacca) and ignorance (avijjā) (D III
234). It is to be noted that in some suttas (e.g. D I 156), ill will is replaced by hatred or aversion.
These three terms are synonymous and mostly occur together with domanassa.
7. The PTS edition is followed here. The Burmese edition reads Ariyasāvakesu ca khīṇāsavo ettha
dhuraṃ, anāgāmīpi vaṭṭatīti vadanti. It is to be noted that the notion of ‘I’ is perceived through the
perception (saññā): ‘I am’ or ‘self-conceit’, which is caused by fetters and based on latent disposi-
tions (anusayas) (see A IV 351). The latent dispositions continuously lie dormant in the mental
continuum (of the unenlightened beings) and they are likely to occur again when a cause pres-
ents itself. The Saṃyutta-nikāya (S III 130) states that ‘even though a Non-returner has abandoned
the first five lower fetters, still, in relation to the five aggregates subject to clinging, there lingers in him
a residual conceit “I am”, a desire “I am”, an underlying tendency “I am” that has not yet been uprooted’
(see Bodhi 2000, 945). The whole dilemma of being in this world begins with grasping the notion of
‘I am’. Therefore, among the latent dispositions, the notion of ‘I am’ can be considered either the latent
disposition of conceit (mānānusaya), or the latent disposition of view (diṭṭhānusaya), or even the
latent disposition of ignorance (avijjānusaya). Though a Non-returner has destroyed ill will or

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58 Do the Arahant and the Buddha Experience Dukkha and Domanassa?

Here, khīṇāsavo, in fact, refers to the Arahant in whom all mental defilements are
extinct. Thus, the Pāli sources suggest that though an Arahant experiences pain-
ful physical feeling, he does not experience any painful mental feeling as he is free
from all cankers.
It is said that the Arahant who is free from the burden of the cankers has aban-
doned compliance (anurodha) and opposition (virodha) (Spk-pṭ V 60). Hence, he does
not experience any mental pain. On the other hand, an ordinary person’s liking and
dislike are connected with compliance and opposition. P. D. Premasiri suggests that
‘anurodha (compliance) and virodha (antipathy) are natural psychological effects of
the way in which the psycho-physical organism and the objects of the external world
interact’ (Premasiri 2008, 4). Almost in every situation, the ordinary person encoun-
ters one or other of these two emotions. The Pāli sources suggest that when an ordi-
nary person experiences a pleasant feeling, he develops attachment to it. But when
he experiences a painful feeling, he develops an aversion towards it and habitually
tries to get rid of that painful experience by resisting it. However, due to the unsatis-
factory nature of all things, he cannot permanently fulfil his desires. When he fails to
get the expected sense pleasures or the little he gets fades away, he becomes unhappy
and dissatisfied. Being unhappy and dissatisfied, he experiences both physical pain
and mental pain (see M I 85; S IV 208–09; Spk III 77). In this way, the ordinary person
who does not know or understand the true nature of things — not only the unpleas-
ant things but also the pleasant things — generates physical pain and mental pain.
This is how an ordinary person is caught up in compliance and opposition. His painful
physical experience is interconnected with his painful mental experience.
On the other hand, the Arahant has achieved a balanced state of mind, which
abandons both compliance and opposition. C. W. Gowans points out that ‘the ara-
hant does not have desires and feelings in the way we ordinarily do, in a way that
is often personally troubling, that involves craving, clinging, attachment, and the
like’ (Gowans 2003, 141). His mind is neither attached nor resistant to any pleasant
feeling or painful feeling, even if he is touched by a pleasant feeling, or by a painful
feeling, his mind will not be agitated. The Arahant has freed himself from clinging
to the aggregates. Though the five aggregates of an Arahant are still present, he
does not regard them as ‘mine’ or ‘self ’. Hence, he does not experience any mental
pain. Though he is subject to experiencing some physical pain, he does not suffer
from painful mental feeling.
The Saṃyutta-nikāya (S IV 209) narrates that if an ariya-sāvaka is struck by any
physical pain or injury, he will experience physical feeling (kāyikā vedanā) only, with-
out any mental reaction. In this passage, ariya-sāvaka refers only to the Arahant and to
a large extent the Non-returner, who is free from aversion and sensual desire (Spk III
76–77, and see note 7). The point here is that when the Arahant experiences a painful
physical feeling, it is not followed successively by a painful mental feeling. According
to the Saṃyutta-nikāya (S IV 209), it is like being pierced by single dart only. In the
simile of the two darts, the first dart refers to painful physical feeling, while the
aversion, he may still experience physical pain as well as very small degree of mental pain due
to the above-mentioned remaining latent dispositions and the last five, higher, fetters.

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second dart refers to any additional painful mental feeling that occurs due to the
mental reaction or volitional response to physical pain. As the Arahant has already
removed the root causes of mental pain, he no longer experiences any painful men-
tal feeling. He feels one feeling caused by the single dart only: a physical one, not a
mental one. However, he is liable to experience some physical pain as the causes,
proximate or remote, of physical pain may continue (see Mil 44).
Even though an Arahant is subject to experiencing painful physical feeling, his
reaction to the painful feeling is different from the ordinary person. The Udāna (Ud
40), for instance, narrates that when a demon (yakkha) strikes the head of Sāriputta,
he tells Moggallāna that his head hurts a little: ‘I am bearing up, friend Moggallāna,
I am finding sustenance, friend Moggallāna; yet this head of mine is a fraction duk-
kha [me sīsaṃ thokaṃ dukkhan ti]’ (Masefield 1997, 69). This incident suggests that a
powerful blow, which could have killed an ordinary person, had only a slight impact
on an enlightened person. In this regard, L. de Silva notes, ‘Perhaps because the
psychological factors which predispose a person to the experience of sensations are
perfectly well under control in an arahant, he experiences only those sensations
that are felt purely physically by an animate organism’ (de Silva 1996, 3). Sāriputta
made use of his meditative skill to lessen the impact of the blow and that is why
he experienced only slight physical pain. Unlike the ordinary person, the Arahant
does not react to physical pain, but sometimes sought to transcend it by entering
the ‘signless concentration of mind’ (animitta-ceto-samādhi). Animitta-samādhi is con-
sidered as a ‘pain-transcending samādhi’ (see Harvey 1986, 27). Sometimes, when an
Arahant is in much pain, he transcends his physically painful feeling by entering and
dwelling in the signless concentration of mind. He only experiences painful physical
feeling without showing any negative mental reactions. Even if he experiences some
physical pain, it does not lead him to mental pain. This means that the Arahant is
not mentally affected by any sort of physical pain.
We can understand better why the Arahant does not experience mental pain
upon further examination of the following statement of the Saṃyutta-nikāya, which
states:
The noble disciple neither harbours aversion towards painful feeling nor rejoices in
sensual pleasure as a way to escape from that painful feeling. As a result, the latent
disposition of aversion (paṭighānusayo) for painful feeling and the latent disposition of
lusting (rāgānusayo) for pleasant feeling do not lie dormant (in his mind). He understands
and contemplates the true nature of these feelings. Consequently, the latent disposition
of ignorance (avijjānusayo) for neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling does not lie dormant
(in his mind).8 (S IV 209)
The above analysis suggests that the Arahant does not have any physical or mental feel-
ing connected with the unwholesome mentalities. When he experiences a painful physical
feeling, such painful feeling does not agitate his mind. Hence, his mind is not also afflicted
with a mental pain.
8. According to the Majjhima-nikāya (M III 285), pleasant feeling has a tendency to stimulate the latent
disposition of lusting, whereas painful feeling has a tendency to stimulate the latent disposition of
aversion.

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60 Do the Arahant and the Buddha Experience Dukkha and Domanassa?

To examine further whether the Arahant experiences physical pain and men-
tal pain, we need to discuss the types of Nibbāna. Nibbāna is explained in the com-
mentaries as meaning ‘being away from craving (taṇhā)’ which is ‘weaving’ (vāṇa)
(Spk III 178). The elimination of craving is the cessation of the key cause of dukkha.
Therefore, Nibbāna refers to the complete cessation of craving that fuels the samsaric
existence and causes dukkha. There are two types of Nibbāna: ‘Nibbāna with a residue
of the clung to’ (Sa-upādisesa Nibbāna) and ‘Nibbāna without a residue of the clung to’
(anupādisesa-nibbāna) (It 38). Sa-upādisesa Nibbāna is attained by the complete extinc-
tion of the cankers together with the extinction of unwholesome roots, but with
groups of existence remaining. Anupādisesa Nibbāna is attained when the Arahant
passes into Parinibbāna with the dissolution of the five aggregates, without any rem-
nant as the aggregates are extinguished completely (see It 38; Gethin 1998, 74).
As the body is comprised of skin, flesh, nerves, bones, marrow, kidneys, and so on,
almost every being in the world experiences physical pain or disease in some way.
The Pāli Nikāyas suggest that an enlightened person (a living Arahant) is still subject
to experiencing physical pain and physical disease as long as his aggregates remain
functioning (see S I 174–75; V 81; A IV 359). The Itivuttaka (It 38) states that the five
faculties (i.e. senses) still remain, by which, as they have not been annihilated,
the Arahant experiences pleasing (manāpa) and displeasing (amanāpa), pleasure
(sukha) and (physical) pain (dukkha). This suggests that unless the Arahant attains
anupādisesa Nibbāna, he may experience physical pain in some circumstances. With
the destruction of feelings, he is said to attain anupādisesa Nibbāna (see M III 244–45;
It 46). This means that his physically painful feeling, as well as any other kind of
feeling, will come to cease with the attainment of Parinibbāna.
Now it is said that ‘whatever is experienced, that is painful’ (yam kiñci vedayitaṃ
taṃ dukkhasminti) (S II 53). Since formations are affected by pain, all feelings are
by nature painful: even pleasant feelings are painful in the sense of being unsat-
isfactory. Ajahn Brahm has suggested that the dukkha that remains is ‘the main
cause for their parinibbāna, or complete extinction’ (Ajahn Brahm 2006, 247). Fully
enlightened persons may pass away due to old age or sickness, though they do not
actively seek Parinibbuto due to any remaining physical pain.
The Pāli Nikāyas narrate some incidents about the monks who committed suicide
(particularly Godhika, Vakkali, Channa) (see M III 263–66; S I 120–22; III 119–24).
A detailed investigation of these incidents will also help us to assess whether or
not the Arahant was considered to have experienced mental pain as well as physi-
cal pain. The Godhika Sutta of the Saṃyutta-nikāya (S I 122) describes how Godhika
decides to kill himself with a knife after strenuously attempting, but failing to main-
tain the freedom of thought (ceto-vimutti) due to his sickness.9 The Buddha, knowing
the incident, declares: ‘Having drawn out craving with its root, Godhika has attained
final Nibbāna’ (Bodhi 2000, 214; S I 121). How had he attained Arahantship? He is

9. The freedom of thought (from hindrance or canker) (ceto-vimutti) is a meditative concentration

(samādhi), which is achieved temporarily through the advanced stages of meditation (see D I 156;
M I 35). Cone says that it is ‘a state attained temporarily in meditation and permanently with
arahantship’ (Cone 2010, 163). For a detailed analysis, see also de Silva 1978, 118–45.

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said to have suppressed his painful feelings, comprehended the pains (with insight),
set up mindfulness, explored his meditation, and attained Arahantship as a ‘same-
header’ (simultaneously) (samasīsī) (Spk I 183). This clarification suggests that he
had reached Arahantship and entered Parinibbāna simultaneously, at the moment
of his death. The point here is that he was depressed or sad due to his successive
failure to reach to the final attainment. Moreover, he was suffering from sickness,
and his frustration was the result of his sickness too. It means that he suffered from
physical pain as well as mental pain prior to his attainment of Arahantship. He had
killed himself due to his unbearable pain and frustration, but had attained Nibbāna
at the very point of his death.
Another incident of suicide has been reported in the Vakkali Sutta of the Saṃyutta-
nikāya (S III 119–24), which narrates that Vakkali, who was sick and in great pain,
committed suicide by cutting his throat. After his demise, the Buddha declares that
‘Vakkali had attained final Nibbāna (parinibbuto)’ (S III 124). This incident may also
make us wonder whether the Arahant who has uprooted all defilements could com-
mit suicide. When the terminal illness or pain becomes unbearable, it afflicts the
mind to such a great degree that one may decide to kill oneself. The people who
kill themselves suffer from mental pain. It appears odd if an Arahant who is free
from craving, could become so agitated by terminal illness and pain as to commit
suicide. Only a mentally disturbed person who is not free from rebirth and mental
pain could commit suicide.
The above-mentioned episode of Vakkali’s suicide is identical with Channa’s sui-
cide (see M III 266). In both cases, the Pāli commentaries (Ps V 83; Spk II 372) state
that they were still puthujjanas when they killed themselves (not even lower forms
of noble person) but attained Nibbāna at the very point of death. Thus, the Pāli
commentaries hold that the Arahant cannot commit suicide as he has completely
uprooted all defilements; and that this also applies to lesser noble persons, who
have uprooted some but not all defilement. D. Keown discusses the case of Channa
and suggests that ‘Channa’s suicide was — in all significant respects — the suicide of
an unenlightened person’ (Keown 1996, 19). In fact, there would be no reason for an
Arahant to commit suicide, as he is free from all craving or grasping. We read in the
Dīgha-nikāya that the Arahant cannot and does not transgress in: Taking a life, tak-
ing what is not given, sexual misconduct, telling an intentional lie, reserving goods
for sensual gratification, acting wrongly through desire, through hatred, through
delusion, or through fear (D III 133). If he cannot take a life, surely this includes not
killing himself. He does not take delight in birth or death, thus the Theragāthā says:
I do not long for death; I do not long for life;
but I await my time, attentive and mindful. (Th 607; Norman 1969, 60)
An Arahant simply awaits for his time of death, with full awareness. Therefore, we
can say that those incidents of suicide were not the act of Arahants, but the act of
monks who were unable to stand the pain of their suffering. Thus the Theravādin
commentarial interpretation is certainly plausible: Only the person in whom craving
remains, and who experiences mental pain could commit suicide.

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An Arahant is not free of physical causes of pain and disease, and while he gen-
erates no new kammic results, he still experiences the results of some past kamma.
The life story of Aṅgulimāla serves an example that even the Arahant is not free
from the consequences of past kamma. The Majjhima-nikāya narrates that while he
was on his morning alms round in Sāvatthi, he was attacked by a mob. Being an
Arahant, he is said to have tolerated his physical pain as penance for his previous
unwholesome deeds. He did not experience any mental pain, as his mind remained
untroubled and unagitated (see M II 104; Dhp v. 39). The consequence of kamma
could affect only the body of an Arahant, not his mind. Thus, in some cases, physi-
cal pain is the fruit of past unwholesome kamma that the Arahants must endure
before their final passing away (Parinibbāna).
The commentary on the Dhammapada (Dhp-a III 67–70) suggests that Arahant
Mahā Moggallāna’s final passing away was the result of a heinous kamma committed
by him in a former existence. That is, he had beaten his blind parents to death in a
previous existence (see also Mil 188–189).10 Killing one’s own mother and father is
considered as heinous kamma that has results even after one’s own enlightenment
(Vin I 90; II 193). As a consequence of this heinous deed, Moggallāna suffered in hell
for many thousands of years, but still had some bad karmic consequences in later
births, too. His passing away suggests that even the Arahant is not exempt from the
consequences of the past evil kamma that entails painful experience in later births.
This story also suggests that old evil kamma could rise up at any time until one
attains Parinibbāna. This shows the direct relationship between kamma and painful
physical feeling of the Arahant. Though the Arahant experiences some physical
pain due to the consequence of previous kamma or any other reason, he does not
identify his pain as ‘mine’, or ‘self’. His mind is not agitated by pain or disease. It is
said that ‘the pain does not overwhelm his mind’ (Wallace 1993, 76).
How does the Arahant endure and reflect on his painful feeling? The Arahant
does not react to physically painful feeling but endures it with detachment and calm.
He regards all kinds of feeling in a detached manner. According to the Majjhima-nikāya
(M III 244), whatever feeling the Arahant has, he understands it as impermanent, with-
out holding to it or rejoicing in it. This suggests that a living Arahant experiences
feelings without any lust, aversion, or ignorance towards them. The Milindapañha
(Mil 254) states that ‘when touched with painful feeling, he takes firmly the percep-
tion of the impermanence of all conditioned phenomena, so fixes his mind as it were
to the post of concentration’. This indicates that an Arahant bears his physically
painful feeling through the contemplation of impermanence. As a result, painful
feeling does not agitate his mind. As his mind is well-trained and well-disciplined,
he endures his physically painful feeling with detachment. He has no attachment or
repugnance to life. He is detached from self, from all clinging and craving.
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the Arahant does not show
any emotion other than equanimity towards his physically painful feeling. As he
has completely freed himself from the fetters, he does not experience mental pain.
10. For a detailed analysis of the life of Mahā Moggallāna Thera, see Nyanaponika Thera and Hecker
2003, 67–101.

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Ashin Sumanacara 63

He may pass away due to ageing or physical disease. As long as he is alive and his five
aggregates remain active, he is bound to sometimes experience physical pain. With
the complete extinction of the five aggregates, his physical pain ceases completely.

Does the Buddha experience dukkha and domanassa?

The Pāli sources suggest that the Buddha was also subject to physical pain and physi-
cal disease. According to the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta of the Dīgha-nikāya, the Buddha
experienced sharp and deadly pains of a severe physical disease. The sharp pains
was so strong that he was about to pass away (D II 99). The above-mentioned Sutta
also narrates that after having eaten Cunda’s meal, the Buddha developed bloody
diarrhoea (dysentery), severe abdominal pains and terminal shock, such as weak-
ness and increased thirst. The fatal disease was so painful and deadly that he felt
like death was approaching him (D II 128). This brief chronic disease probably was
responsible for his demise. Based on medical considerations as well as the descrip-
tion of the symptoms and signs given in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, Mettanando
Bhikkhu discusses several possible causes of the Buddha’s disease and death.
He concludes that ‘the Buddha suffered from mesenteric infarction caused by an
occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery. This was the cause of the pain that almost
killed him a few months earlier during his last rainy-season retreat’ (Mettanando
and von Hinüber 2000, 110). Although it is difficult to determine the exact cause of
the Buddha’s death, we do know some of his symptoms, including severe stomach
pains and acute diarrhoea with blood. Some scholars suggest that the last meal itself
was not the immediate cause of the Buddha’s death, but it may have contributed
indirectly to his death (see Mettanando and von Hinüber 2000, 112).11
In the Majjhima-nikāya — especially in the Ariyapariyesanā Sutta — we find
accounts where the Buddha raises the possibility that weariness (kilamatha) and
vexation (vihesā) could even arise in him (M I 168). On this, D. Webster says:
A ‘thus-gone’ might suffer — the Buddha’s seeing himself as capable of undergoing
‘weariness’ (kilamatha) and what some translate as ‘vexation’ (vihesā) — and, almost
as importantly, not seeming to want to — having a desire to avoid them. (Webster
2005, 17)
However, ‘weariness’ need not be seen as either a mental distress or a feeling of
aversion to anyone. It is more likely to be related to physical distress. Webster
suggests that ‘vexation’ is a form of mental distress (Webster 2005, 20), but it may
merely represent ‘detachment’ from worldly things or matters. Although vexation
is usually associated with the mind, the Awakened One was free from mental vexa-
tion or mental pain.
The Saṃyutta-nikāya (S V 216) narrates that when Ᾱnanda visited the Buddha, he
noticed a great change in his body. His complexion was no longer pure and bright,
his limbs had become flaccid and wrinkled, his body bent forward, and a change

11. The Buddha’s last meal was sūkaramaddava which he had received from Cunda. For a detailed
analysis of the nature of this food, see Mettanando and von Hinüber 2000, 112–117.

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64 Do the Arahant and the Buddha Experience Dukkha and Domanassa?

was seen in his sense faculties.12 These physical changes were associated with age-
ing and disease. On one occasion, the Buddha told Ᾱnanda about his ageing and old
age, and compared his body with a ‘worn-out cart’ (S V 216). The Saṃyutta-nikāya
(S V 81) also narrates that on one occasion the Buddha was sick, afflicted, and
gravely ill. In other occasions, he is said to have experienced headache, backache,
and wind (Vin I 279; II 210; S V 81). The Vinaya-piṭaka (Vin I 279) tells of a disease of
the Buddha for which he had to consult Jīvaka-Komārabhacca, a royal physician.13
The above-mentioned incidents indicate that he was also subject to physical pain
and disease, just like any other living being. Guang Xing notes, ‘The Buddha was
physically like any other human being, subject to the laws of nature which made
him vulnerable to fatigue, illness, ageing, decay and death’ (Xing 2005, 8). In fact,
the Buddha possessed common characteristics of human beings, including physical
pain and physical disease, which occurred naturally before his final passing away.
As we know, disease is the unhealthy state of body or mind. There is no surety
that one will continue to be free from disease in one’s lifetime. Someone who has
never experienced severe physical disease may still experience trivial physical pain
in daily life such as headache, muscle pain, or back pain. In the case of an ordinary
person, whether physical pain or disease is severe or trivial, it can give rise to defile-
ments, and defilements can give rise to mental pain at the same time.
The Buddhist tradition perhaps saw the Buddha as beyond the effects of bad
kamma. Now the question is: why is the Enlightened One said to have experienced
physical pain and physical disease, if he, on his becoming a Buddha, has destroyed
all defilements? To find the answer, we have to understand affliction (ābādha) and
its types.14 The Aṅguttara-nikāya explains eight types of affliction by which many
beings suffer pain. They are:
1. afflictions originating from bile (disorders) (pittasamuṭṭhānā ābādhā),
2. afflictions originating from phlegm disorders (semhasamuṭṭhānā ābādhā),
3. afflictions originating from wind disorders (vātasamuṭṭhānā ābādhā),
4. afflictions originating from an imbalance of these (bile, phlegm, and wind)
(sannipātikā ābādhā),
5. afflictions produced by (sudden) change of season or weather (utupariṇāmajā
ābādhā),
6. afflictions produced by (morally) careless behaviour (visamaparihārajā
ābādhā),
7. afflictions caused by exertion (opakkamikā ābādhā),

12. It is said that his wrinkles were very tiny like the size of a hair, and his backache was very trivial
(see Katz 1982, 171). E. W. Adikaram suggests that ‘Ᾱnanda, alone, being a close and personal
attendant of the Buddha, was able to observe these changes’ (Adikaram 2009, 97).
13. Jīvaka was also known as the personal physician to the Buddha. For a detailed analysis of Jīvaka’s
practice of medicine, see Chen and Chen 2002, 88–91.
14. Cone translates the term ābādha as ‘affliction’, ‘pain’, ‘distress’, ‘sickness’ and ‘disease’ (Cone
2001, 311). The Pāli Nikāyas suggest that it is a synonym of unpleasant or painful feeling. For a
detailed analysis, see S IV 231; A II 88.

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8. afflictions produced as a consequence of kamma (kammavipākajā ābādhā)

(A V 110).
These afflictions can affect anyone, at any age, but especially when they are older.
Due to the influence of afflictions, even the Enlightened One may experience even
a severe degree of physical pain. The Milindapañha (Mil 137) suggests that the dys-
entery of the Buddha was caused either by the imbalances (disturbances) of bile
(pitta), phlegm (semha), wind (vāta), or by a combination of these three humours
(dosa) of the body. On the other hand, his backache in old age was probably caused
by severe austerities.15 Otherwise, it was caused by the disturbance of wind.
The Buddha is also said to have experienced physical pain when a splinter of
rock pierced his foot and caused blood to flow (Vin II 194; Ap I 299–01). The Vinaya-
piṭaka (Vin II 194) indicates that the Buddha’s injury and pain was caused by exter-
nal contrivance (anupakkama). However, the Apadāna (Ap I 299–01) maintains that
the Buddha experienced physical pain and disease arising from the ripeness or
consequence of his own previous kamma (kamma-vipāka). This statement is con-
trary to the other Pāli Nikāyas and the Vinaya-piṭaka. The Buddha did not commit
any serious offence or weighty deeds (garuka-kamma) in his previous lives, as far as
is stated in the Jātakas. Hence, it is unlikely that he experienced physical pain due
to his weighty kamma. It is more reasonable to think that some physical pain that
he experienced could be due to external causes.
According to the Milindapañha (Mil 138), whatsoever physical pain or physi-
cal disease befell the Buddha was not the consequence of the previous kamma,
but it arose due to one of the six diseases (except visamaparihārajā ābādhā and
kammavipākajā ābādhā) as mentioned above. The Milindapañha (Mil 135) also sug-
gests that the first six of the above-mentioned eight diseases are related to physi-
cal disease, which acts in the present existence. Therefore, pain or disease that
arises as the consequence of kamma is much less than that which arises from other
causes. In the opinion of Bhikkhu Bodhi, however, ‘Kamma can still be an indirect
cause for the painful feeling directly induced by the first seven causes’ (Bodhi 2000,
1436). This suggests that kamma may result in various painful feelings and diseases,
though the other seven causes can also serve. Whatever the case may be, a shared
pre-supposition of the Pāli Nikāyas is that the Buddha was beyond mental pain.
Nevertheless, he was subject to physical pain that naturally arises out of ageing, or
any of the above-mentioned diseases (excluding visamaparihārajā ābādhā). Through
these different explanations above, we can glean that even the life of the Buddha
was involved in change and decay, which is to say that he was not beyond physical
pain and disease, although he was beyond mental pain.
Even though the Buddha was bound to physical pain and disease, his reactions to
painful feeling certainly was very different from the ordinary person. The Saṃyutta-
nikāya (S III 3–4) suggests that the ordinary person usually considers his pain as
‘my pain’, or that it is ‘I’ who suffers. This self-identity fuels further pain. On the

15. The Buddha is said to have practised severe austerities and self-mortification for six years pre-
ceding his enlightenment (S V 420).

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66 Do the Arahant and the Buddha Experience Dukkha and Domanassa?

other hand, the Enlightened One, the Buddha did not identify his physically painful
experience as ‘my pain’, or ‘this is I who experiences physical pain’. The Buddha,
being an enlightened person, did not show any negative mental reactions to his
physically painful feeling. He experienced some physical pain only, but such pain
did not lead him into any mental pain.
How did the Buddha bear his physically painful feeling? According to the Dīgha-
nikāya (D II 99), the Buddha endured his physically painful feeling with ‘mind-
fulness and full awareness’ (sati-sampajañña), ‘without suffering much hardship’
(avihaññamāna).16 However, as explicitly stated at D II 128–29, during the Buddha’s
final illness, he felt very thirsty (pipāsita), and had to ask venerable Ānanda three
times to immediately fetch him some water. An increase in thirst during his illness
indicates that thirst continues even after enlightenment. However, thirst is a natu-
ral feeling, which usually arises from a lack of fluids, and need not be seen as a form
of unwholesome desire.  Hunger and thirst can reasonably be said to be an intrinsic
part of life since living beings cannot survive without food and water. The desire
for food and water is said to be the result of the physical need felt in the systems of
the body. An enlightened person would still experience hunger and thirst, without
any craving desire for food or water. So, even a living Buddha or an Arahant would
get very thirsty in response to dehydration and illness. 
The Buddha is also said to have endured his disease through the practice of
energy (viriya), having resolved on the life force (jīvitasaṅkhāra) (D II 99; S V 152).17
Energy as a powerful enlightenment factor helped the Buddha to deal with his phys-
ical weakness and disease. Furthermore, he took his physically painful feeling as a
non-self phenomenon and bore it mindfully, without clinging to his body (D II 100).
As a result, his mind remained unmoved and unshaken, and he did not experience
mental pain at all. This shows that mindfulness has a unique feature because of its
particular value to healing. The Dīgha-nikāya (D II 100) also indicates that on some
occasions when the Buddha experienced any pain of his final disease, he entered
‘the signless concentration of mind’ (animitta ceto-samādhi) in order to transcend
the physical pain and comfort the body. He endured the pain of his disease through
fixing his mind in the ‘signless concentration’. This was a kind of skilful reaction to
his physically painful experience, a type of self-compassion. Harvey suggests that
in the signless concentration, ‘the mind attends to the signless, Nirvana’ (Harvey
2015, 17). With regard to the healing power of signless concentration, Bhikkhu
Anālayo notes, ‘Signless concentration features either as what led to the actual
overcoming of the disease, or else as part of a description given by the Buddha of
his aging condition, where with the help of this concentrative attainment he can
dwell at ease’ (Anālayo 2015, 23). What appears from the above analysis is that the
16. The term avihaññamāna can also be translated as ‘without becoming agitated’ or ‘without
becoming distressed’ (see Bodhi 2000, 1636).
17. Jīvitasaṅkhāra can also be understood as ‘will to live’. The Buddha’s ‘will to live’ helped him to
endure physical pain and disease. The Saṃyutta-nikāya (S V 262) states that when his ‘impetus
for life’ or ‘vital principle’ (āyusaṅkhāra) was about to come to an end, he gave up that same ‘will
to live’ (jīvitasaṅkhāra). For a detailed analysis of jīvitasaṅkhāra and āyusaṅkhāra, see Bodhi 2000,
1941, n. 254; Anālayo 2012, 114–15.

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Buddha mostly used mindfulness, concentration, and energy to endure his physi-
cal pain and disease.
The Saṃyutta-nikāya (S V 81) narrates that when the Buddha experienced sharp
pains of a physical disease, he asked Venerable Mahācunda to recite the factors of
enlightenment (bojjhaṅgas). At the end of the recitation, he recovered from that
disease. This suggests that some paritta-chants have a curative effect, though they
may just lessen the sharp pains (see Harvey 2015, 17). Elsewhere, it is stated that
the meditative attainment of fruition (phala-samāpatti), is capable of prolonging
life and suppressing the pain (Paṭis I 62). Henepola Gunaratana (1985, 185) suggests
that such attainment of fruition is a transcendent jhāna (lokuttara-jhāna), having
Nibbāna as its object of attention. It is accessible only to the noble persons and the
Buddha. According to the Saṃyutta-nikāya (S V 152–53), the Buddha suppressed his
illness, so he could live on for some months. The Buddha is said to have done this
with firm energy, and with the pain suppressed by the attainment (S V 152–53).
Thus, he mostly dealt with his physical pain through a state of clear awareness and
by entering a state that was probably fruition-attainment.

Conclusion
This article has clarified the question of whether the Arahant and the Buddha are
considered to have experienced physical pain and mental pain. It has pointed out
that according to the Pāli Nikāyas, the Arahant and the Buddha are subject to expe-
riencing some physical pain. However, their responses to physically painful feel-
ing are different from that of the ordinary person because they neither cling to the
aggregates nor regard them as ‘mine’ or ‘self’. They experience some physical pain
without showing any emotional reactions other than equanimity. They do not expe-
rience any mental pain as they have already eliminated all fetters and attained Nibbāna.
According to the Pāli Nikāyas, an Arahant is free from compliance and opposi-
tion. As he has abandoned both of these, he neither rejoices at nor is averse to any
feelings. Furthermore, with a disciplined and trained in mind, the Enlightened One,
the Arahant, neither reacts to physically painful feeling nor takes his pain as ‘mine’
or ‘self’, but bears it with equanimity and serenity. Although he experiences physical
pain, it does not lead him to mental dukkha, but he does take appropriate steps to
avoid continuing to experience it.
According to the Pāli Nikāyas, the Arahant or the Buddha who has not yet attained
anupādisesa Nibbāna experiences some physical pain. Such physical pain may arise due
to ageing, or disease, or as a consequence of the past kamma. Even an Enlightened
One is not free from the effect of his past evil kamma, and that kamma could produce
results at any moment until anupādisesa Nibbāna is attained. Therefore, kamma can
be considered as an indirect cause of physical pain and disease of the Buddha and
the Arahant, though it is not an adequate cause of all types of dukkha. In this way,
this article has clarified that the Arahant and the Buddha do not experience any
mental pain, though they may sometimes experience some physical pain.

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68 Do the Arahant and the Buddha Experience Dukkha and Domanassa?

Acknowledgments
I am indebted to Professor Peter Harvey and an anonymous reviewer for their edi-
torial comments and helpful suggestions. I am also indebted to Sanjeewa Vijitha
Kumara for comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this article.

Abbreviations

A Aṅguttara-nikāya
Abhidh-s Abhidhammatthasaṅgaha
Abhidh-s-ṭ Abhidhammatthavibhāvinī-ṭīkā
Ap Apadāna
As Atthasālinī
D Dīgha-nikāya
Dhp Dhammapada
Dhp-a Dhammapada commentary
Dhs Dhammasaṅgaṇī
It Itivuttaka
M Majjhima-nikāya
Mil Milindapañha
Paṭis Paṭisambhidāmagga
Ps Majjhima-nikāya commentary (Papañca-sūdanī)
S Saṃyutta-nikāya
Spk Saṃyutta-nikāya commentary (Sārattha-ppakāsinī)
Spk-pṭ Saṃyutta-nikāya sub-commentary (Sārattha-ppakāsinī-purāṇa-ṭīkā)
Th Theragāthā
Ud Udāna
Vibh Vibhaṅga
Vibh-a Sammohavinodanī (Vibhaṅga-aṭṭhakathā)
Vin Vinaya-piṭaka
Vism Visuddhimagga

References to Pāli texts are to the Pāli Text Society editions; references from
the Saṃyutta-nikāya sub-commentary are taken from Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyanā Tipiṭaka,
Vipassana Research Institute.

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Ashin Sumanacara 69

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