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Pratyekabuddha
A pratyekabuddha or paccekabuddha (Sanskrit and Pali, respectively), literally "a lone buddha",
"a buddha on their own", "a private buddha", or "a silent buddha", is one of three types of enlightened
beings according to some schools of Buddhism. The other two types of enlightened beings are the
arhat and the sammāsambuddha (Sanskrit samyaksambuddha).

Contents
Characteristics
General overview
In the Abhidharmasamuccaya
In the Jewel Ornament of Liberation
In the Jātakas
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Characteristics

General overview

The yāna or "vehicle" by which pratyekabuddhas achieve enlightenment is called the

pratyekabuddhayāna in Indian Buddhist tradition.

Pratyekabuddhas are said to achieve enlightenment on their own, without the use of teachers or
guides, according to some traditions by seeing and understanding dependent origination. They are
said to arise only in ages where there is no Buddha and the Buddhist teachings (Sanskrit: dharma;
Pāli: dhamma) are lost. "The idea of a Paccekabuddha … is interesting, as much as it implies that even
when the four truths are not preached they still exist and can be discovered by anyone who makes the
necessary mental and moral effort".[1] Many may arise at a single time.

According to the Theravada school, paccekabuddhas ("one who has attained to supreme and perfect
insight, but who dies without proclaiming the truth to the world")[2] are unable to teach the Dhamma,
which requires[3] the omniscience and supreme compassion of a sammāsambuddha, and even he
hesitates to attempt to teach.[4] Paccekabuddhas give moral teachings but do not bring others to
enlightenment. They leave no sangha as a legacy to carry on the Dhamma.

In the Abhidharmasamuccaya

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In the fourth-century Mahayana abhidharma work, the Abhidharma-samuccaya, Asaṅga describes

followers of the Pratyekabuddhayāna as those who dwell alone like a rhinoceros or as solitary
conquerors (Skt. pratyekajina) living in small groups.[5] Here they are characterized as utilizing the
same canon of texts as the śrāvakas, the Śrāvaka Piṭaka, but having a different set of teachings, the
"Pratyekabuddha Dharma".[6]

A very early sutra, the Rhinoceros Sutra, uses the exact metaphor of Asaṅga. The Rhinoceros Sutra is
one of the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, which are the oldest Buddhist texts known.[7] This text is also
present in the Pāli Canon; in the Sutta Pitaka, a Pali Rhinoceros Sutta is the third sutta in the
Khuddaka Nikaya's Sutta Nipata's first chapter (Sn 1.3).[8]

In the Jewel Ornament of Liberation

In the work written by Gampopa (1074-1153 C.E.), "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, The Wish-
fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings", the ‘Pratyekabuddha family’ are characterized as secretive
about their teachers, live in solitude, are afraid of Samsara, yearn for Nirvana and have little
compassion. They are also characterized as arrogant.

They cling to the idea that the unsullied meditative absorption they experience is Nirvana, when it's
more like an island to find rest on the way to their actual goal. Rather than feel discouraged, the
Buddha taught the Sravaka and Pratyekabuddha paths for rest and recuperation. After finding rest in
states of meditative absorption, they are encouraged and awakened by the Buddha's body speech and
mind to reach final Nirvana. Inspired by the Buddha, they then cultivate Bodhicita and practice the
Bodhisattva path.[9]

In the Jātakas
Pratyekabuddhas (e.g. Darīmukha J.378, Sonaka J.529) appear as teachers of Buddhist doctrine in
pre-Buddhist times in several of the Jataka tales.

See also
Mushi-dokugo

References
1. Charles Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism (https://archive.org/details/hinduismandbuddh15255gut), 3
Volumes, London, 1922, I 344–5
2. http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/pa/pacceka_buddha.htm
3. Kloppenborg , Ria (1983). The Paccekabuddha: A Buddhist Ascetic (http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh3
05-p.html) - A Study of the Concept of the Paccekabuddha in Pali Canonical and Commentarial
Literature, The Wheel Publication No. 305–7, Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society
4. Ayacana Sutta: The Request (SN 6.1) (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn06/sn06.001.th
an.html) translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu @ Access to Insight (http://www.accesstoi
nsight.org)
5. Boin-Webb, Sara (tr). Rahula, Walpola (tr). Asanga. Abhidharma Samuccaya: The Compendium of
Higher Teaching. 2001. pp. 199-200

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6. Boin-Webb, Sara (tr). Rahula, Walpola (tr). Asanga. Abhidharma Samuccaya: The Compendium of
Higher Teaching. 2001. pp. 199-200
7. Salomon, Richard; Glass, Andrew (2000). A Gāndhārī Version of the Rhinoceros Sūtra: British
Library Kharoṣṭhī Fragment 5B (https://books.google.com/books?id=cTmN8Xs9xBkC). University
of Washington Press. p. 10,13. ISBN 978-0-295-98035-5.
8. Thanissaro Bhikkhu 1997.
9. Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche, "Jewel Ornament of Liberation." 1998, pp. 51-53

Further reading
Kloppenborg, Ria (1974). The Paccekabuddha: A Buddhist Ascetic, Brill, Leiden, Netherlands
Anālayo, B. (2010). Paccekabuddhas in the Isigili-sutta and its Ekottarika-àgama Parallel (https://w
eb.archive.org/web/20120423090855/http://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/fileadmin/pdf/
analayo/Paccekabuddhas.pdf), Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies 6, 5-36

External links
The Paccekabuddha: A Buddhist Ascetic (http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh305-p.html) A Study of the
Concept of the Paccekabuddha in Pali Canonical and Commentarial Literature by Ria
Kloppenborg
Solitary & silenced is the Pacceka-Buddha! (http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/PACCEKABUDD
HA.htm) by Samahita Thera @ What-Buddha-Said.net (http://What-Buddha-Said.net)
Pacceka Buddha in Dictionary of Pali Proper Names (http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_name
s/pa/pacceka_buddha.htm)
Piyadassi Thera (1999–2012), MN 116: Isigili Sutta (https://web.archive.org/web/20120315113033/
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.116.piya.html) "The Discourse at Isigili", as
published on Access to Insight

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