Anantarika-karma

Amitabha Buddha (pictured) discusses the Ānantarika kamma in his Original Vow.

Ānantarya karma (Sanskrit) or Ānantarika kamma (Pāli)[1] are the most serious offences in Buddhism that, at death, through the overwhelming karmic strength of any single one of them, bring immediate disaster.[2][3] Both Buddhists and non-Buddhists must avoid them at all costs. Such offenses prevent perpetrators from attaining any of the stages of enlightenment[4] and from ordaining into the Sangha. Those who have committed any of the five acts of Ānantarika kamma are said to be reborn in the naraka of Avīci, the very lowest of all the Hells of Buddhism. The Ānantarika kamma are:[5][6][7]

  1. Killing one's mother (matricide)
  2. Killing one's father (patricide)
  3. Killing an Arahant
  4. Wounding a Tathāgata
  5. Creating division in the Sangha

Etymology

Ānantarika or ānantariya derives from na, an, and antara.

An in this context refers to the "seed" of karma and antara means in storage, or waiting to germinate or bear fruit. These two words combined create anantara, which means a karma seed waiting to germinate. Na means "not", and therefore, ānantarika means "not stored to germinate/mature" or "brings vipāka (karmic consequence) immediately".[8]

Ānantarika kamma in Mahayana Buddhism

Amitabha Buddha, one of the primary buddhas in Mahayana and the most widely-worshipped Buddhist deity in East Asian Buddhism[9] discusses the Ānantarika kamma in his Original Vow. His vow reads:[10]

If I attain Buddhahood and a sentient being aspires with faith and joy to be reborn in my Sukhavati Pure Land: if they recite my name just ten times and, in spite of this, are not reborn there, then may I myself not attain enlightenment [in the first place]. Two exceptions to this solemn promise are in respect of, firstly, those who have committed the five terrible offences [Ānantarika kamma] and, secondly, of those who have vilified the Sublime Dharma because such people cannot be reborn in Sukhavati.

— Amitabha Buddha

See also

References

  1. ^ "SuttaCentral". SuttaCentral. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
  2. ^ Gananath Obeyesekere (1990), The Work of Culture: Symbolic Transformation in Psychoanalysis and Anthropology, University of Chicago, ISBN 978-0-226-61599-8
  3. ^ Walters, Jonathan S. (1990). "The Buddha's Bad Karma: A Problem in the History of Theravâda Buddhism". Numen. 37 (1): 70–95. doi:10.2307/3269825. JSTOR 3269825.
  4. ^ Nakamura, Hajime (1991). Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples: India, China, Tibet, Japan. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 285. ISBN 978-8120807648.
  5. ^ "The Sutra Preached by the Buddha on the Total Extinction of the Dharma". buddhism.org. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  6. ^ Nyanatiloka (1980), Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines, Buddhist Publication Society, ISBN 978-955-24-0019-3
  7. ^ Triplegem glossary Archived 2006-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Ānantarika Kamma – Connection to Gandhabba". puredhamma.net. Retrieved Nov 28, 2025.
  9. ^ Williams (2008), p. 238.
  10. ^ "The Amitabha Sutra as discoursed by the Buddha" (PDF). Fo Guang Shan International Translation Center. 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2022.

Further reading

  • Silk, Jonathan A. (2007). Good and Evil in Indian Buddhism: The Five Sins of Immediate Retribution, Journal of Indian Philosophy 35 (3), 253–286
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