Indriyasaÿvara

Abstract

This article attempts to analyze the concept of Indriyasaˇvara that appears in the Buddhist scriptures.  According to the term Indriyasaˇvara, it means the restraint of the senses or sense-control.

The study revealed that Indriyasaˇvara refers to the restraint of the six senses. According to the Buddhist scriptures, the ‚yatana refers to the sense-fields or sense-spheres which are divided into two types viz. internal and external sense-fields. The internal sense-fields are the six natural connections that exist within human beings; they are the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body and the mind. Regarding the external sense-fields, it refers to the six connections that exist naturally outside of human beings; they are visible objects, sound, smell, taste, tangible objects and mind-objects. When the two types of sense-fields come together, it causes a perception process called phassa or contact. That is to say, feelings will be arisen from the six contacts i.e. visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, bodily and mental.

All things in the world are exited from the Five Aggregates; corporeality, sensation, perception and consciousness. The internal sense-fields contact with external sense-fields or things that give rise to feelings. This is the beginning of what is a human problem in everyday life, which is the process of perceiving emotions in the world and it is the most important in daily life. Therefore, human beings need to develop their mind in order to control the internal and external sense-fields for the sake of achieving the Nibb‡na: Unconditioned State or the Ultimate Goal of life.