Mātsarya (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

;

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

: ''macchariya''; Tibetan phonetic: ''serna'') is a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

term translated as "stinginess" or "miserliness". It is defined as being incapable of enjoying one’s own possessions and other material objects, clinging to them and being unwilling to part with them or share them with others.Guenther (1975), Kindle Locations 893-894.Kunsang (2004), p. 25. It is identified as: * One of the twenty subsidiary unwholesome mental factors within the Mahayana

Abhidharma The Abhidharma are ancient (third century BCE and later) Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist ''sutras''. It also refers to the scholastic method itself as well as the f ...

teachings. * One of the fourteen unwholesome mental factors within the Theravada

teachings. * One of the

ten fetters In Buddhism, a mental fetter, chain or bond ( Pāli: ''samyojana'', Sanskrit: संयोजना, ''saṃyojana'') shackles a sentient being to sasāra, the cycle of lives with dukkha. By cutting through all fetters, one attains nibbāna ( ...

in the Theravada tradition (according to the Dhammasangani)

Definitions

Theravada

The

Atthasālinī Atthasālinī (Pali) is a Buddhist text composed by Buddhaghosa in the Theravada Abhidharma tradition. The title has been translated as "The Expositor"van Gorkom (2009)Preface or "Providing the Meaning". In the ''Atthasālinī'', Buddhaghosa expla ...

(II, Book I, Part IX, Chapter II, 257) gives the following definition of avarice (meanness): : It has, as characteristic, the concealing of one's property, either attained or about to be attained; the not enduring the sharing of one's property in common with others, as function; the shrinking from such sharing or niggardliness or sour feeling as manifestation; one's own property as proximate cause; and it should be regarded as mental ugliness.Gorkom (2010)
Definition of macchariya
/ref>

Mahayana

The Abhidharma-samuccaya states: :What is matsarya? It is an over-concern with the material things in life stemming from over-attachment to wealth and honor, and it belongs to passion-lust. Avarice functions as the basis for not letting up in one's concern for the material things of life. Alexander Berzin explains: :Miserliness (ser-sna) is a part of longing desire (Sanskrit:

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

) and is an attachment to material gain or respect and, not wanting to give up any possessions, clings to them and does not want to share them with others or use them ourselves. Thus, miserliness is more than the English word stinginess. Stinginess is merely unwillingness to share or to use something we possess. It lacks the aspect of hoarding that miserliness possesses.

In Literature

Avadānaśataka

In the '' Avadānaśataka'' it is stated that ''mātsarya'' gives rise to "faults" (''dosa'') if it is practised, developed and cultivated. These faults manifest in wrong action and the thought that these actions are just arises. If one embraces the ignoble ''

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

'', the unjust vision of justice, it leads to a faulty logic that results in perverse conclusions. They start to shift the blame away from themselves. The people who begin to cultivate more and more ''mātsarya'' can be reborn in the hungry ghost realm. One reason why ''mātsarya'' and hungry ghosts where associated with one other could be that the writer thought of those who embraced mātsarya being so mentally twisted by their faults that they are as deficient as hungry ghosts. Two ways to avoid ''mātsarya'' is to abandon it and the other is to be charitable. Giving gifts and making offerings are two good ways to stop ''mātsarya t''o take hold of thoughts and avoid a rebirth as an hungry ghost. Rotman (2021): 28.

References

{{reflist

Sources

* Berzin, Alexander (2006)
''Primary Minds and the 51 Mental Factors''
* Goleman, Daniel (2008). ''Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama''. Bantam. Kindle Edition. * Guenther, Herbert V. & Leslie S. Kawamura (1975), ''Mind in Buddhist Psychology: A Translation of Ye-shes rgyal-mtshan's "The Necklace of Clear Understanding"''. Dharma Publishing. Kindle Edition. * Kunsang, Erik Pema (translator) (2004). ''Gateway to Knowledge, Vol. 1''. North Atlantic Books.

External links

Definition of macchariya, Nina van Gorkom
Unwholesome factors in Buddhism Sanskrit words and phrases