Verified
Grammatical Analysis
Māna: [m.] conceit; pride; arrogance; measuring. Derived from root mā (to measure, compare). Literally signifies the psychological act of measuring oneself against others.
Orthodox Definition
In the Abhidhamma, Māna is a highly destructive, unwholesome mental factor (akusala-cetasika) that arises exclusively in conjunction with greed-rooted consciousness dissociated from views (diṭṭhivippayutta-lobhamūla-citta). It is the eighth of the ten fetters (saṃyojana).
The commentaries emphasize that māna is fundamentally an act of comparison. It operates in three basic ways:
- Seyya-māna: Thinking “I am better than them” (superiority complex).
- Sadisa-māna: Thinking “I am equal to them” (equality conceit).
- Hīna-māna: Thinking “I am worse than them” (inferiority complex).
Even the feeling of low self-esteem is classified as conceit because it still involves the ego “measuring” itself against external objects. While identity view (sakkāya-diṭṭhi)—the intellectual belief in a soul—is broken at Stream-entry, the subtle, lingering, ego-centric feeling of “I am” (asmi-māna) is so deeply ingrained that it is only completely eradicated at the final stage of Arahatship.
Quote
Māno panettha aniyato hoti.
“Here, however, conceit (māna) is indeterminate.”Ayaṃ viseso, so uṇṇatilakkhaṇo, sampaggaharaso, ketukamyatāpaccupaṭṭhāno, diṭṭhivippayuttalobhapadaṭṭhāno, ummādo viya daṭṭhabbo.
“This is the distinction: it has the characteristic of haughtiness, the function of self-exaltation, appears as desiring to be like a banner, has greed disjoined from wrong view as its proximate cause, and should be understood as a form of madness.”Catutthena dutiye vuttesu ṭhapetvā micchādiṭṭhiṃ avasesā veditabbā.
“With the fourth, from those mentioned in the second, all are to be understood except wrong view.”Etthāpi ca māno aniyatesu hotiyeva.
“Here too, conceit is among the indeterminate mental factors.”Paṭhame vuttesu pana ṭhapetvā pītiṃ avasesā pañcamena sampayogaṃ gacchanti.
“However, from those mentioned in the first, all are conjoined with the fifth, except for joy.”Yathā ca pañcamena, evaṃ chaṭṭhenāpi.
“And just as with the fifth, so too with the sixth.”Sasaṅkhāratā panettha thinamiddhassa ca aniyatabhāvo viseso.
“The distinction here is its being accompanied by volition and the indeterminate nature of sloth and torpor.”Sattamena pañcame vuttesu ṭhapetvā diṭṭhiṃ avasesā veditabbā.
“With the seventh, from those mentioned in the fifth, all are to be understood except (wrong) view.”Māno panettha aniyato hoti.
“Here, conceit is indeterminate.”Aṭṭhamena chaṭṭhe vuttesu ṭhapetvā diṭṭhiṃ avasesā veditabbā.
“With the eighth, from those mentioned in the sixth, all are to be understood except (wrong) view.”Etthāpi ca māno aniyatesu hotiyevāti.
“Here too, conceit is among the indeterminate mental factors.”— Visuddhimagga (du)
Textual References
- Sutta: Khemaka Sutta (SN 22.89) – The profound discourse where Venerable Khemaka explains that even though he sees no self in the aggregates, a lingering scent of “I am” (asmi-māna) still remains, like the residual scent of soap on freshly washed clothes.
- Abhidhamma: Vibhaṅga (Detailed breakdowns of the 3, 7, and 9 types of conceit).
- Commentary: Atthasālinī – Analyzing pride’s characteristic as stiffness or inflation of mind (unnati-lakkhaṇa).