vitakkā

reflection, thought, thinking; “initial application” (Cpd. 282)
■ defined as “vitakkanaṃ vitakko, ūhanan ti vuttaṃ hoti” at Vism.142 (with simile on p. 143, comparing vitakka with vicāra kumbhakārassa daṇḍa-ppahārena cakkaṃ bhamayitvā bhājanaṃ karontassa uppīḷana-hattho viya vitakko (like the hand holding the wheel tight), ito c’ ito sañcaraṇahattho viya vicāro: giving vitakka the characteristic of fixity & steadiness,; vicāra that of movement display)
■ DN.ii.277 (“pre-occupation” translation: see note dial. ii.311); DN.iii.104, DN.iii.222, DN.iii.287 (eight Mahāpurisa˚) MN.i.114 (dvidhā-kato v.), MN.i.377; SN.i.39, SN.i.126, SN.i.186, SN.i.203 SN.ii.153; SN.iv.69, SN.iv.216; AN.ii.36; AN.iii.87 (dhamma˚); AN.iv.229 (Mahāpurisa˚), AN.iv.353 (˚upaccheda); Snp.7, Snp.270 sq., Snp.970 , Snp.1109; Ja.i.407 (Buddha˚, Sangha˚, Nibbāna˚); Mnd.386 Mnd.493, Mnd.501 (nine); Cnd. s.v. takka; Pts.i.36, Pts.i.136, Pts.i.178; Pv.iii.5#8; Pp.59, Pp.68; Vb.86, Vb.104 (rūpa˚, sadda˚ etc.), Vb.228 (sa˚), Vb.362 (akusala˚); Dhs.7, Dhs.160, Dhs.1268; Tikp.61 , Kp.333, Kp.353; Vism.291 (˚upaccheda); Mil.82, Mil.309; Dhs-a.142; Dhp-a.iv.68; Vb-a.490; Pv-a.226, Pv-a.230
■ kāma˚ vihiṃsā˚, vyāpāda˚; (sensual, malign, cruel thought) DN.iii.226; SN.ii.151 sq.; SN.iii.93; AN.i.148, AN.i.274 sq.; AN.ii.16, AN.ii.117 AN.ii.252; AN.iii.390, AN.iii.428. Opp. nekkhamma˚, avyāpāda˚ avihiṃsā˚; AN.i.275; AN.ii.76; AN.iii.429
■ vitakka is often combined with vicāra or “initial & sustained application Mrs. Rh. D.; Cpd. 282; “reflection & investigation Rh. D.; to denote the whole of the mental process of thinking (viz. fixing one’s attention and reasoning out or as Cpd. 17 explains it “vitakka is the directing of concomitant properties towards the object; vicāra is the continued exercise of the mind on that object.” See also above defⁿ at Vism.142). Both are properties of the first jhāna (called sa-vitakka sa-vicāra) but are