Namarupa

Nāmarūpa is a dvandva compound in Sanskrit and Pali meaning "name (nāma) and form (rūpa)".

Nāmarūpa in Buddhism

This term is used in Buddhism to refer to constituent processes of the human being: nāma is typically considered to refer to psychological elements of the human person, while Rūpa refers to the physical. The Buddhist nāma and rūpa are mutually dependent, and not separable; as nāmarūpa, they designate an individual being.

Psychobio constituents

In the Pali Canon, the Buddha describes nāmarūpa in this manner (English on left, Pali on right):

"And what [monks] is name-&-form? Feeling, perception, intention, contact, & attention: This is called name. The four great elements, and the form dependent on the four great elements: This is called form. This name & this form are [monks] called name-&-form."

Elsewhere in the Pali Canon, nāmarūpa is used synonymously with the five aggregates.

Empty of self

In keeping with the doctrine of anātman/anatta, "the absence of an (enduring, essential) self", nāma and rūpa are held to be constantly in a state of flux, with only the continuity of experience (itself a product of dependent origination) providing an experience of any sort of conventional 'self'.

Part of the cycle of suffering

Nāmarūpa is the fourth of the Twelve Nidānas, preceded by consciousness (Pali: viññāna; Skt.: vijñana) and followed by the six sense bases (Pali: ; Skt: ). Thus, in the Sutta Nipata, the Buddha explains to the Ven. Ajita how samsaric rebirth ceases: :[Ven. Ajita:] ::...name & form, dear sir: ::Tell me, when asked this, :::where are they brought to a halt? : :[The Buddha:] ::This question you've asked, Ajita, ::I'll answer it for you — ::where name & form :::are brought to a halt :::without trace: ::With the cessation of consciousness :::they're brought :::to a halt.

Nāmarūpa in Hinduism

The term nāmarūpa is also used in Hindu thought, nāma describing the spiritual or essential properties of an object or being, and rūpa the physical presence that it manifests. These terms are used similarly to the way that 'essence' and 'accidence' are used in Catholic theology to describe transubstantiation. The distinction between nāma and rūpa in Hindu thought explains the ability of spiritual powers to manifest through inadequate or inanimate vessels - as observed in possession and oracular phenomena, as well as in the presence of the divine in images that are worshiped through pūja.

See also

Pratitya-samutpada (Sanskrit; Pali: paticca-samuppāda; English: dependent arising)

Skandha (Sanskrit; Pali: khandha; English: aggregates)

Bodymind

Notes

Naam Rupatmak Vishva is the Hindu Vedantic term for the manifest Universe viz. The World as we know it. Since every object in this World has a Naam and Rupa,the World is called Naam Rupatmak Vishva. The Paramatma or the Creator is not manifest in this Naam Rupatmak Vishva but is realized by a Sadhaka(a student) by Bhakti(devotion),Karma(duty),Dnyan(knowledge),Yoga or a combination of all of these.

Sources

Ireland, John D. (trans.) (1983). Ajita-manava-puccha: Ajita's Questions (Sn 5.1), from The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82). Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 2007-06-20 from "Access to Insight" (1994) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.5.01.irel.html.

Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society. A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.

Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka Series (SLTP) (n.d.). Buddhavaggo (SN 12.1). Retrieved 2007-06-20 from "METTANET - LANKA" at http://metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/3Samyutta-Nikaya/Samyutta2/12-Abhisamaya-Samyutta/01-Buddhavaggo-p.html.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1994). Ajita-manava-puccha: Ajita's Questions (Sn 5.1). Retrieved 2007-06-20 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.5.01.than.html.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising (SN 12.2). Retrieved 2007-06-20 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/samyutta/sn-12-002-tb0.html.

Category:Buddhist philosophical concepts Category:Sanskrit words and phrases Category:Pāli words and phrases