Grammatical Analysis
Moha: [m.] delusion; ignorance; bewilderment; infatuation. From root muh (to become confused, bewildered, blind). Signifies the mental cloudiness that obscures the true nature of reality.
Orthodox Definition
Moha is the third of the three unwholesome roots (akusala-mūla). While it is etymologically and doctrinally identical to Avijjā (Ignorance), the term Moha is used within the Abhidhamma to emphasize its role as an ethical root condition coloring consciousness, whereas Avijjā is used in suttas to define the structural matrix of cosmic drifting.
Moha is the most dangerous of all defilements because it serves as the necessary background condition for all unwholesomeness; greed and hatred cannot arise without moha being present to blind the mind first.
Its technical criteria are defined as:
- Lakkhaṇa (Characteristic): Blindness or lack of spiritual vision (andhabhāva-lakkhaṇo).
- Rasa (Function): Non-penetration or concealing the true characteristics of ultimate realities (asampativedha-raso).
- Paccupaṭṭhāna (Manifestation): Absence of correct understanding or spiritual drifting (asammāpaṭipatti-paccupaṭṭhāno).
- Padaṭṭhāna (Proximate Cause): Unwise attention (ayoniso manasikāra).
Textual References
- Sutta: Moha Sutta (Itivuttaka 68) – Where the Buddha states that those blinded by delusion fail to know their own welfare or see the true path.
- Abhidhamma: Dhammasaṅgaṇī (The root status of Moha across all twelve unwholesome cittas).
- Commentary: Visuddhimagga (Chapter XIV) – Defining the specific obscuring qualities of delusion.