User Tools

Site Tools


Translations of this page?:
en:dictionary:kulaputta



kulaputta {pi}


Pāḷi; √ kulaputta
gender:
type:
alt. sp.: IPA: kuləput̪t̪ə, Velthuis: kulaputta, readable: kulaputta, simple: kulaputta
translation ~:
skr.:
khmer: កុលបុត្ត
thai: กุลปุตฺต
sinhal.: කුලපුත්ත
burm.: ကုလပုတ္တ
appears:



kulaputta.jpg

[dic] kulaputta

kulaputta: Description welcome. Info can be removed after imput.

ATI Glossary

— —

 

Buddhist Dictionary

by late Ven. Nyanalokita Thera:

— —

 

PTS Dictionary

by the Pali Text Society:

 

Glossary Thanissaro

— —

 

Illustrated Glossary of Pāli Terms

by Ven. Varado Maha Thera:

Renderings
Introduction

Kulaputta: sonship, youth, and high social background

DOP says kulaputta means either

  • 1) the son of a good or noble family
  • 2) a noble youth.

So -putta does not necessarily mean ‘son.’ We will see that it more often indicates ‘youth.’ In some cases it indicates a high social background (‘of the genteel classes’). That -putta indicates youth but not boyhood is our next point.

Kulaputta: youth not boyhood, part 1

Although -putta means youth, it does not mean boyhood. For example, when Venerable Anuruddha is called kulaputta at MN i 205, he would have been at least 35 years old for the following reasons:

  • 1) At that time he was an arahant (MN i 205).
  • 2) Tha 904 says it took him 30 years to overcome torpor (middhaṁ samūhataṁ), which is therefore when he attained arahantship, because only arahants have completely abandoned lethargy and torpor (thīnamiddhanīvaraṇaṁ, SN v 327).
  • 3) His age at ordination is uncertain, but given that his brother informed him of the duties that would fall to him if he remained a layperson, he was likely between 5-20 years old (Vin.2.180-1).

Kulaputta: youth not boyhood, part 2

That kulaputta means youth not boyhood is also obvious in the Licchavikumāra Sutta, which says this:

• Mahānāma, in whatever kulaputta five qualities are found―whether he is a consecrated noble king, a country gentleman, an army general, a village headman, a guildmaster, or someone who exercises personal authority over various families―only growth [in spiritually wholesome factors] is to be expected for him, not a falling away [from them]. What five?

Yassa kassaci mahānāma kulaputtassa pañcadhammā saṁvijjanti yadi vā rañño khattiyassa muddhābhisittassa yadi vā raṭṭhikassa pettanikassa yadi vā senāya senāpatikassa yadi vā gāmagāmikassa yadi vā pūgagāmaṇikassa ye vā pana kulesu paccekādhipaccaṁ kārenti vuddhiyeva pāṭikaṅkhā no parihāni. Katame pañca? . (AN iii 76)

If army generals and village headmen are kulaputtas, then kulaputta does not mean boyhood. We also see that kulaputta is associated with the gentry, which suggests the rendering ‘noble young man.’

Kulaputto: of noble ancestry

Although Ambaṭṭha considered himself a brahman, the Buddha said he was in fact descended from a slavegirl (dāsiputto DN i 92). Ambaṭṭha’s friends initially defended him, saying he was of pure ancestry (sujāto) and a kulaputto. But on discovering the truth, they said he was of impure ancestry (dujjāto), an akulaputto, descended from a slave (dāsiputto).

So, according to brahmans, kulaputto was an exalted term associated with the most prestigious members of their group, the sujāto, and incompatible with slavish forebears. Kulaputta therefore means ‘of noble ancestry.’

The significance of sujāto can be seen in the following conversation, where it is the first quality expected of a brahman who is a master of threefold Vedic knowledge:

• ’In what way, brahman, do brahmans declare a brahman to be a master of threefold Vedic knowledge?’

Yathākathaṁ pana brāhmaṇa brāhmaṇā brāhmaṇaṁ tevijjaṁ paññāpentī ti?

• In this regard, Master Gotama, a brahman is of pure ancestry (sujāto hoti) on both sides of his family, of pure descent, unimpeachable and irreproachable with respect to birth as far back as the seventh generation.

Idha pana bho gotama brāhmaṇo ubhato sujāto hoti mātito ca pitito ca saṁsuddhagahaṇiko yāva sattamā pitāmahāyugā akkhitto anupakkuṭṭho jātivādena. (AN i 166)

Kulaputto: member of the gentry

Related to noble ancestry is gentility. When Venerable Upananda asked a certain great merchant (aññataro seṭṭhiputto) to give him one of his two robes, the man replied:

• But, bhante, for us who are members of the gentry, it is awkward to walk around with only one piece of cloth.

Amhākaṁ kho bhante kulaputtānaṁ kismiṁ viya ekasāṭakaṁ gantuṁ. (Vin.3.211)

Comment:

We call seṭṭhiputto ‘great merchant’ not ‘son of a great merchant,’ taking -putto as pleonastic.

Kulaputto: sons of genteel families

Related to noble ancestry and gentility is a delicate upbringing. For example, Anuruddha the Sakyan had three palaces. When his brother invited him to become a bhikkhu, he complained:

• But I have been delicately nurtured, I am not able to go forth from the household life into the ascetic life.

Ahaṁ kho sukhumālo. Nāhaṁ sakkomi agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajituṁ. (Vin.2.180)

The Buddha helped such individuals by providing them with sufficient clothing. He reflected:

• Even those in this teaching and training system who are sons of genteel families and susceptible to cold, afraid of cold, even these are able to keep themselves going with three robes.

yepi kho te kulaputtā imasmiṁ dhammavinaye pabbajitā sītālukā sītabhīrukā tepi sakkonti ticīvarena yāpetu. (Vin.1.288)

Kulaputto: sons of aristocratic families

In relation to ‘highly distinguished,’ we give kulaputtā the meaning ‘sons of the aristocratic families’:

• Now at that time highly distinguished sons of the aristocratic families of Magadha were living the religious life under the Blessed One.

Tena kho pana samayena abhiññātā abhiññātā māgadhakā kulaputtā bhagavati brahmacariyaṁ caranti. (Vin.1.43)

Kulaputta: spiritual nobility

When Venerables Anuruddha, Nandiya, and Kimbila were living together in the Gosinga Sāla-tree Wood, their utmost harmony was shielded by a zealous gatekeeper who so diligently defended the place against visitors, that when on one occasion the Buddha dared enter uninvited, he was told ‘Do not enter this grove, ascetic! There are three kulaputtas here seeking their Soul. Do not disturb them!’

mā samaṇa etaṁ dāyaṁ pāvisi sant’ettha tayo kulaputtā attakāmarūpā viharanti mā tesaṁ aphāsumakāsī ti, MN i 206).

The gatekeeper would hardly have meant this with social connotations ‘There are three member of the gentry living here,’ and kulaputta here seems to imply spiritual nobility. We have seen above that this sense is not just for bhikkhus. We render it as ‘noble young man.’

Kulaputta versus moghapurisā: noble young man

That the elevated connotations of kulaputto extend to the spiritual sphere can be discerned when the Buddha contrasted kulaputtā and moghapurisā:

• Thus do noble young men (kulaputtā) declare their [attainment of] arahantship. The matter is spoken of without any reference to themselves.

evaṁ kho bhikkhave kulaputtā aññaṁ vyākaronti attho ca vutto attā ca anupanīto.

… Yet there are some worthless men (moghapurisā) here who apparently declare [that they have attained] arahantship for fun.

Atha ca pana idhekacce moghapurisā hasamānakā maññe aññaṁ vyākaronti. (AN iii 359)

Kulaputta versus ‘persons’ (puggalā)

Similarly, Gaṇaka Moggallāna contrasted kulaputtā with puggalā:

a) persons (puggalā) without faith who have gone forth from the household life into the ascetic life merely for the sake of a livelihood

puggalā assaddhā jīvikatthā agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajitā

b) noble young men (kulaputtā) who have gone forth from the household life into the ascetic life out of faith

kulaputtā saddhā agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajitā. (MN iii 6)

Illustrations

kulaputto

kulaputto: (main article see: kulaputta)

Illustration: kulaputto, noble young man

By whatever profession a noble young man makes his living, whether counting, accountancy, calculation, farming, trading, animal husbandry, archery, or in the royal service, or whatever the profession may be, he is exposed to cold and heat.

kulaputto yena sippaṭṭhānena jīvikaṁ kappeti yadi muddāya yadi gaṇanāya yadi saṅkhānena yadi kasiyā yadi gorakkhena yadi issatthena yadi rājaporisena yadi sippaññatarena sītassa purakkhato uṇhassa purakkhato. (MN i 85)

kulaputtānaṁ

kulaputtānaṁ: (main article see: kulaputta)

Illustration: kulaputtānaṁ, noble young men

It is fitting for all you noble young men who have gone forth from the household life into the ascetic life to take delight [in the celibate life].

etaṁ kho anuruddhā tumhākaṁ patirūpaṁ kulaputtānaṁ saddhā agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajitānaṁ yaṁ tumhe abhirameyyātha brahmacariye

As you are still endowed with the blessing of youth, black-haired young men in the prime of life, you could have been indulging in sensuous pleasures.

Yena tumhe anuruddhā bhadrena yobbanena samannāgatā paṭhamena vayasā susu kālakesā kāme paribhuñjeyyātha. (MN i 463)

 

Glossary various Teacher

— —

 

See also

Suttas and Dhammadesanā

— —

Add a reference here or in the list.

 

Info & meta data

[open]

[close]

  • You can add an record of the Pali, and upload it. (The file should be without diacritics, lowcase and mp3. Change diacritics in link to 'readable' characters without diacritics.)
  • You are given to add additional sources/Dictionaries. Consider the use of page_templates if wishing to include a certain dictionary to many pages. Edits of Dictionary content can be made in the paticulary source file.

meta data

—- dataentry metadata —- page ID: en:dictionary:kulaputta pagename: kulaputta file: kulaputta.txt permanent link: http://accesstoinsight.eu/en/dictionary/kulaputta page initially given by: Johann page creation date: 2019-09-17 (recreation) origin author and source: see source_of_dictionaries. source: various, see source_of_dictionaries edits: see source_of_dictionaries edition: scope of gift: This is a gift of Dhamma and given to use for any skilful/wholesome purpose and undertaking but not for any commercial use or other use of exchange for worldly aims. For additional information see Dhamma-Dana and possible details at the source pages for included parts. Much joy in using and share of the merits! owner of this copy: Sublime Sangha of the eight directions. current maintainer: The aramika and monastic disciples on sangham.net dedications of editors: Johann: for the Sublime Saṅgha of the Buddha and those following and interested, and so then benefiting my persons teachers, parents and ancestors, all beings welfare.


en/dictionary/kulaputta.txt · Last modified: 2019/09/25 05:31 by 127.0.0.1