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The corpus record — Pali

rukkhaṁ

Rukkha

a tree. In the rukkha-mūlik’ anga (see below) Bdhgh at Vism.74 gives a list of trees which are not to be selected for the practice of “living at the root of a tree.” These are sīmantarika-rukkha, cetiya˚, niyyāsa˚ phala˚, vagguli˚, susira˚, vihāra-majjhe ṭhita˚, or a tree standing right on the borde

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Where it lives

  • Dhammapada 1 · 1.9/10k
  • Digha Nikaya 4 · 0.28/10k

What it meant — PTS Pali–English Dictionary

a tree. In the rukkha-mūlik’ anga (see below) Bdhgh at Vism.74 gives a list of trees which are not to be selected for the practice of “living at the root of a tree.” These are sīmantarika-rukkha, cetiya˚, niyyāsa˚ phala˚, vagguli˚, susira˚, vihāra-majjhe ṭhita˚, or a tree standing right on the border, a sacred tree, a resinous tree, a fruit t., a tree on which bats live, a hollow tree a tree growing in the middle of a monastery. The only one which is to be chosen is a tree “vihāra-paccante ṭhita,” or one standing on the outskirt of the Vihāra He then gives further advice as to the condition of the tree
Various kinds of trees are given in the defn of r. at Vism.183, viz. assattha, nigrodha, kacchaka kapitthaka; ucca, nīca, khuddaka, mahanto; kāḷa seta
A very complete list of trees mentioned in the Saṃyutta Nikāya is to be found in the Index to that Nikāya (vol. vi. p. 84, 85). On rukkha in similes see J.P.T.S. 1907, pp. 128–⁠130
See also the foll. refs. AN.i.137; AN.ii.109, AN.ii.207; AN.iii.19, AN.iii.200, AN.iii.360; AN.iv.99, AN.iv.336 AN.v.4 sq., AN.v.314 sq.; Snp.603, Snp.712; Ja.i.35 (nāga˚); Vism.688 (in simile: mahārukkhe yāva kapp’ âvasānā bījaparamparāya rukkha-paveṇiṃ santāyamāne ṭhite) Vb-a.165 = Vism.555 (rukkha phalita); Vb-a.196 (in compound: jātassa avassaṃ jarā-maraṇaṃ, uppannassa rukkhassa patanaṃ viya), Vb-a.334 sq. (as garu-bhaṇḍa) Snp-a.5 (“pathavi-ras’ ādim iva rukkhe”: with same simile as at Vism.688, with reading kappâvasānaṃ and santānente); Dhp-a.iii.207 (amba˚); Vv-a.43 (rāja˚), Vv-a.198 (amba˚); Dhp-a.iv.120 (dīpa˚); Pv-a.43.

-antara the inside of a tree Pv-a.63. -koṭṭaka (-sakuṇa) the wood-pecker Ja.iii.327 (= java sakuṇa) -gahana tree-thicket or entanglement AN.i.154 (so for ˚gahaṇa). -devatā a tree spirit, dryad, a yakkha inhabiting a tree (rukkhe adhivatthā d. Vin.iv.34; Ja.ii.385; kakudhe adhivatthā d. Vin.i.28) Ja.i.168, Ja.i.322 Ja.ii.405, Ja.ii.438 sq. (eraṇḍa˚), Ja.ii.445; Ja.iii.23; Ja.iv.308 (vanajeṭṭhaka-rukkhe nibbatta-devatā); Dhp-a.ii.16; Pv-a.5 (in a Nigrodha tree), Pv-a.43 (in the Vindhya forest). They live in a Nigrodha tree at the entrance of the village (Ja.i.169), where they receive offerings at the foot of the tree (cp. iv.474), and occasionally one threatens them with discontinuance of the offerings if they do not fulfil one’s request. The trees are their vimānas (Ja.i.328, Ja.i.442; Ja.iv.154), occasionally they live in hollow trees (Ja.i.405; Ja.iii.343) or in tree to

In the wild

Pali text and translations from SuttaCentral (Bilara), dedicated to the public domain (CC0). PTS Pali–English Dictionary entries, public domain.