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Grammatical Analysis

Macchariya: [nt.] stinginess; avarice; meanness; possessiveness. Traditionally derived from “macchiya,” meaning “let this be mine alone and not another’s.”

Orthodox Definition

Like its twin factor Envy (issā), Macchariya is an unwholesome mental factor (akusala-cetasika) strictly rooted in hatred/aversion (dosa), arising only in conjunction with mentally painful feeling (domanassa).

While greed (lobha) simply wants to acquire objects, stinginess (macchariya) is the sour, defensive, restrictive anxiety that prevents sharing what one already possesses. The commentaries list five distinct types of stinginess:

  1. Āvāsa-macchariya: Stinginess regarding one’s dwelling.
  2. Kula-macchariya: Stinginess regarding one’s supporting families/sponsors.
  3. Lābha-macchariya: Stinginess regarding gains and material wealth.
  4. Vaṇṇa-macchariya: Stinginess regarding praise or physical beauty.
  5. Dhamma-macchariya: Stinginess regarding knowledge of the Dhamma (hiding teachings from others).

The Visuddhimagga outlines its specific parameters:

  • Lakkhaṇa (Characteristic): Concealing one’s own possessions, whether acquired or to be acquired (laddhānaṃ vā labhitabbānaṃ vā attano sampattīnaṃ nigūhana-lakkhaṇaṃ).
  • Rasa (Function): Not enduring the sharing of those same possessions with others (tāsaṃyeva parehi sādhāraṇabhāva-akkhamana-rasaṃ).
  • Paccupaṭṭhāna (Manifestation): Contraction or the manifestation of bitter stiffness (saṅkoca-paccupaṭṭhānaṃ kaṭukañcukatā-paccupaṭṭhānaṃ vā).
  • Padaṭṭhāna (Proximate Cause): One’s own possessions (atta-sampatti-padaṭṭhānaṃ).

Stinginess is the direct psychological enemy of generosity (dāna), acts as a primary cause for rebirth in the hungry ghost realm (peta-loka), and is fully destroyed at Stream-entry.

Quote

487. Maccharabhāvo macchariyaṃ.

  1. The state of being miserly is macchariya.

Taṃ laddhānaṃ vā labhitabbānaṃ vā attano sampattīnaṃ nigūhanalakkhaṇaṃ, tāsaṃyeva parehi sādhāraṇabhāvaakkhamanarasaṃ, saṅkocanapaccupaṭṭhānaṃ, kaṭukañcukatāpaccupaṭṭhānaṃ vā, attasampattipadaṭṭhānaṃ, cetaso virūpabhāvoti daṭṭhabbaṃ.
It has the characteristic of concealing one’s own possessions, whether acquired or to be acquired; its function is not enduring the sharing of those same possessions with others; its manifestation is contraction or the manifestation of bitter stiffness; its proximate cause is one’s own possessions; and it should be regarded as a deformity of mind.

— Visuddhimagga (du)

Textual References

  • Sutta: Macchariya Suttas (SN 1) – Dissecting the karmic weight of stinginess and how it leads directly to lower rebirths.
  • Abhidhamma: Dhammasaṅgaṇī (Detailed definition within the dosa-rooted structures).
  • Commentary: Atthasālinī – The brilliant analysis differentiating the possessive grasping of greed from the defensive, sour hoarding of stinginess.

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