Overview
Mada (pride, intoxication, or infatuation) is a dangerous mental state where a person becomes blindly obsessed with their current temporary advantages. The young Bodhisatta famously reflected on these three specific infatuations to break his own attachment to his royal life.
The List
- Yobbanamada - Intoxication with youth: The pride of being young, leading an individual to act recklessly, forgetting that aging is inevitable.
- Ārogyamada - Intoxication with health: The pride of being physically robust and disease-free, leading an individual to ignore morality, forgetting that sickness can strike at any moment.
- Jīvitamada - Intoxication with life: The pride and assumption of longevity, leading an individual to procrastinate in spiritual practice, forgetting that death is absolutely certain and can happen today.
Textual References
- Canonical: Sukhumāla Sutta (AN 3.39) – The Buddha recounts his life as a prince and how reflecting on these three forms of intoxication caused all pride to entirely drop away, propelling him to renounce the world.