Buddhahood and the Buddha’s Bad Kamma: A Theravāda Perspective

Abstract

This article examines the contentious relationship between the absoluteness of kamma and the perfection of Buddhahood in the case of Gotama Buddha. It seeks to determine whether, and to what extent, the residue of unwholesome past actions could compromise his state of enlightenment. Following an analysis of early Theravāda interpretations, three interconnected hypotheses are proposed: first, that Buddhahood constitutes a universal truth realized by the Buddha rather than an intrinsic source of his qualities; second, that kamma is defined psychologically as a sequence of volitional impulses governed by intention; and third, that Buddhahood is the ontological result of causal processes occurring mechanically, independent of the Buddha’s immediate volition. The findings based on these three hypotheses indicate that: first, Buddhahood did not imply absolute perfection in a metaphysical sense, but rather a profound accessibility to the Dhamma; second, the absoluteness of kamma signifies the definiteness of the intentional cluster, which is the consistency of the intentional process within the stream of consciousness; and third, Buddhahood is the natural effect of profound wholesome actions, not a dispositional fruit derived from intention. It is the culminating effect of the law of causation, representing a mechanical consequence of proper actions rather than a kammic residue. Buddhahood is thus a natural effect (phala), not a kammic fruit (vipāka). These findings lead to the conclusion that the Buddha’s past unwholesome kamma, while manifesting as physical suffering in his final life, does not blemish or render his attained Buddhahood incomplete.