Asubhakammaṭṭhānaniddesa — Part II: Samādhi (Concentration)
Setting
No narrative setting; the chapter turns from the ten kasinas just completed to an entirely different class of object
Speaker
Buddhaghosa, continuing the systematic survey of the forty meditation subjects previewed in Chapter 3
Form
Ten distinct objects introduced together, paired with practical guidance on obtaining and safely approaching such a sight, and a note on the level of concentration this subject can reach
Length
moderate; shorter than Chapter 4, but includes practical and safety guidance not present in the kasina chapters
Northern parallel
Contemplation of the body's impurity or decay appears widely elsewhere in Buddhist meditation literature as an antidote to bodily attachment; this guide does not assert a specific matching passage
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — the subject matter is vivid, though the chapter itself treats it in a clinical, structured way
Why this chapter
Chapter 3 established that different meditation subjects suit different temperaments, and having just spent two chapters on the ten kasinas, Chapter 6 turns to a subject fitted to a specific situation those kasinas do not directly address: strong attachment to the body's apparent attractiveness. Ten stages of a corpse's visible decay are presented as a direct counterweight to that attachment, continuing the forty-subject survey into its next category while putting the temperament principle from Chapter 3 into concrete use.
Reading guide
Ten stages of decay
The chapter introduces foulness as ten separate meditation subjects, each a distinct stage of a corpse's visible decay: the bloated, the discolored, the festering, the cut-up, the gnawed, the scattered, the hacked-and-scattered, the bleeding, the worm-infested, and finally the bare skeleton. Each of the ten counts as its own entry among the forty subjects previewed in Chapter 3, not as variations of a single practice.
An antidote for a specific temperament
The chapter connects this subject directly back to the sixfold typing of temperament from Chapter 3, presenting sustained, unflinching awareness of decay as a deliberate counterweight for a person whose attachment centers on the body's beauty. It is framed less as a universal prescription than as a targeted remedy for one particular kind of difficulty.
Obtaining the sign
Unlike a kasina disk, which can simply be prepared at will, a subject like this depends on an actual opportunity to observe such a sight, traditionally at a charnel ground or similar site. The chapter treats this dependence on circumstance as a real practical difference from the kasinas, not a minor detail.
Cautions and safeguards
The chapter is notably practical about the genuine dangers and disturbances such a setting can involve, addressing composure, caution, and safety as seriously as it addresses the meditative instruction itself — a level of real-world concern not called for by the kasinas.
A different ceiling on absorption
Where Chapters 4 and 5 described all ten kasinas as capable of reaching full absorption, this chapter treats foulness differently: the vivid, repulsive nature of the object requires a degree of sustained applied thought that does not fully fall away the way it does with a kasina's counterpart sign, so foulness meditation is said to reach only the first level of jhāna, not the deeper levels the kasinas can produce.
What follows
Chapter 7 turns to gentler ground: the first group of six recollections, beginning with recollection of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha.
Key terms
asubha — “foulness” — this chapter's subject, both the general meditation category and, individually, each of its ten forms.
uddhumātaka — the bloated — the first of the ten stages of foulness.
aṭṭhika — the skeleton — the tenth and final stage of foulness.
rāgacarita — the greedy or lustful temperament, one of the six from Chapter 3, for which foulness is prescribed here as a direct antidote.
sīvathikā — cemetery or charnel ground — the traditional setting in which such sights were directly observed.
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
Which temperament from Chapter 3 is foulness meditation specifically prescribed to counter?
Correct: D. Presented as a direct counterweight to attachment centered on the body's apparent attractiveness.
Question 2 of 10
How many stages of foulness does this chapter describe?
Correct: A. Each stage counts as its own separate entry among the forty meditation subjects.
Question 3 of 10
What is the first of the ten stages of foulness?
Correct: B. Uddhumātaka, the earliest visible stage of decay in the chapter's sequence.
Question 4 of 10
What is the tenth and final stage of foulness?
Correct: B. Aṭṭhika, the last of the ten stages the chapter describes.
Question 5 of 10
Where would a practitioner traditionally go to observe such a sight directly?
Correct: A. Unlike a kasina disk, this subject depends on an actual opportunity rather than a device prepared at will.
Question 6 of 10
What practical concern does the chapter address alongside the meditative instruction itself?
Correct: C. A level of real-world concern not called for by the kasinas.
Question 7 of 10
How does the ceiling on absorption for foulness meditation compare to that of the kasinas?
Correct: D. The vivid, repulsive nature of the object keeps a degree of applied thought from fully dropping away.
Question 8 of 10
Why, per this chapter, can foulness meditation not proceed beyond the first jhāna?
Correct: B. Contrasted directly with the kasina's counterpart sign, where that same factor can fall away.
Question 9 of 10
What does Chapter 7 turn to next?
Correct: B. A gentler set of subjects following the vivid material of Chapter 6.
Question 10 of 10
Where can a reader go for Chapter 6's full translated text?
Correct: A. As with every page in this series, since none reproduces the translation itself.
