Grammatical Analysis
Vedanā: [f.] feeling; sensation; affective tone. From root vid (to experience, feel, know). Doctrinally, it means the raw affective quality of an experience.
Orthodox Definition
Vedanā is the second of the five aggregates (vedanākkhandha) and is classified in the Abhidhamma as a universal mental factor (sabbacittasādhāraṇa-cetasika). It is not “emotion” (which is a complex construct belonging to the formations aggregate), but rather the immediate affective tone of an experience.
The commentaries note that the characteristic of vedanā is being felt (anubhavana-lakkhaṇā). It operates on three primary tracks:
- Sukha-vedanā: Pleasant or agreeable feeling.
- Dukkha-vedanā: Painful, unpleasant, or disagreeable feeling.
- Adukkhamasukha-vedanā: Neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling (neutral equanimity).
In Dependent Origination, vedanā is conditioned directly by contact (phassa-paccayā vedanā) and serves as the immediate trigger for craving (vedanā-paccayā taṇhā). Insight meditation targets this exact junction, training the mind to note vedanā objectively without reacting with attachment to pleasure or aversion to pain.
Textual References
- Sutta: Salla Sutta (SN 36.6) – Illustrating how an untutored worldling is struck by two arrows (physical pain followed by mental aversion), whereas an instructed noble disciple experiences only the first arrow.
- Canonical: Samyutta Nikaya (Vedanā-saṃyutta) – An entire collection of discourses clarifying the nature of feeling tones.
- Commentary: Atthasālinī – Explaining how feeling experiences the flavor of an objective field like a king enjoying a banquet.