Verified
Grammatical Analysis
Sammutisacca: [nt.] Conventional Truth; Conceptual Truth. Formed by sammuti (consent, agreement, convention) + sacca (truth).
Orthodox Definition
Sammuti-sacca refers to things that are “true” only because human beings collectively agree upon their definitions through language and conceptual grouping.
Concepts like “man,” “woman,” “tree,” “chariot,” “country,” and “self” are conventional truths. They do not exist in the ultimate sense; they are just mental labels projected onto a collection of ultimate realities (the aggregates). However, conventional truth is not “false” or “a lie.” If someone asks, “Is that a dog?” the correct conventional answer is “Yes,” even though ultimately it is just a fluctuating mass of mind and matter.
The Buddha used conventional truth in the Sutta Piṭaka to teach ethics and practical matters. The commentaries stress that a skilled teacher must know when to use conventional truth and when to use ultimate truth, without confusing the two.
Quote
sammutiñāṇakathāvaṇṇanā
sammutisaccamhīti sammutiṃ anupaviṭṭhe saccamhi.
‘Sammutisaccamhi’ means in the truth that has entered into convention, or it is the locative case for the nominative, meaning conventional truth.
paccatte vā bhummavacanaṃ, sammutisaccanti attho.
The question ‘sammutiñāṇaṃ saccārammaṇaññeva’ (is conventional knowledge only truth as its object?) is by the Sakavādin, and the affirmation is by the other (Paravādin).
sammutiñāṇaṃ saccārammaṇaññevāti pucchā sakavādissa, paṭiññā itarassa.
Then, to rebuke him, saying, ‘If that (conventional knowledge) has truth as its object without distinction, then with that knowledge one would accomplish the full comprehension of suffering, etc.,’ he states ‘tena ñāṇena’ (with that knowledge), etc.
Textual References
- Commentary: Sumaṅgalavilāsinī – Providing the formal definitions separating conventional and ultimate truth.