The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary

Vitakka [vi+takka] reflection, thought, thinking; "initial application" (Cpd. 282). -- Defd as "vitakkana'
vitakko, (hanan ti vutta' hoti" at Vism 142 (with simile on p. 143, comparing vitakka with vic!ra:
kumbhak!rassa da*.a -- ppah!rena cakka' bhamayitv!, bh!jana' karontassa upp")ana -- hattho viya
vitakko (like the hand holding the wheel tight), ito c' ito sañcara*ahattho viya vic!ro: giving vitakka the
characteristic of fixity & steadiness, vic!ra that of movement & display). -- D ii.277 ("pre -- occupation"
trsln: see note Dial. ii.311); iii.104, 222, 287 (eight Mah!purisa˚); M i.114 (dvidh! -- kato v.), 377; S i.39,
126, 186, 203; ii.153; iv.69, 216; A ii.36; iii.87 (dhamma˚); iv.229 (Mah!purisa˚), 353 (˚upaccheda); Sn 7,
270 sq., 970, 1109; J i.407 (Buddha˚, Sangha˚, Nibb!na˚); Nd1 386, 493, 501 (nine); Nd2 s. v. takka; Ps
i.36, 136, 178; Pv iii.58; Pug 59, 68; Vbh 86, 104 (r(pa˚, sadda˚ etc.), 228 (sa˚), 362 (akusala˚); Dhs 7, 160,
1268; Tikp 61, 333, 353; Vism 291 (˚upaccheda); Miln 82, 309; DhsA 142; DhA iv.68; VbhA 490; PvA
226, 230. -- k!ma˚, vihi's!˚, vy!p!da˚ (sensual, malign, cruel thought): D iii.226; S ii.151 sq.; iii.93; A
i.148, 274 sq.; ii.16, 117, 252; iii.390, 428. Opp. nekkhamma˚, avy!p!da˚, avihi's!˚ A i.275; ii.76; iii.429. -
- vitakka is often combd with vic!ra 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 expls it "vitakka is the directing of concomitant properties towards the
object; vic!ra is the continued exercise of the mind on that object." See also above defn at Vism 142). Both
are properties of the first jh!na (called sa -- vitakka sa -- vic!ra) but are discarded in the second jh!na
(called a˚). See e. g. D. i.37; S iv.360 sq.; A iv.300; Vin iii.4; Vism 85; and formula of jh!na. The same of
p"ti & sam!dhi at Vbh 228, of paññ! at Vbh 323. The same combn (vitakka+vic!ra) at foll. passages: D
iii.219 (of sam!dhi which is either sa˚, or a˚, or avitakka vic!ra -- matta); S iv.193; v.111; A iv.409 sq.,
450; Nett 16; Miln 60, 62; Vism 453. Cp. r(pa -- (sadda -- etc.) vitakka+r(pa (sadda -- etc.) vic!ra A
iv.147; v.360; Vbh 103. -- On term (also with vic!ra) see further: Cpd. 40, 56, 98, 238 sq., 282 (on
difference between v. & manasik!ra); Expos. i.188n; Kvu trsln 2381. -- Cp. pa˚, pari˚. Note. Looking at the
combn vitakka+vic!ra in earlier and later works one comes to the conclusion that they were once used to
denote one & the same thing: just thought, thinking, only in an emphatic way (as they are also semantically
synonymous), and that one has to take them as one expression, like j!n!ti passati, without being able to
state their difference. With the advance in the Sangha of intensive study of terminology they became
distinguished mutually. Vitakka became the inception of mind, or attending, and was no longer applied, as
in the Suttas, to thinking in general. The explns of Commentators are mostly of an edifying nature and
based more on popular etymology than on natural psychological grounds.
Vitakkana
Vitakkana (nt.)=vitakka Vism 142.
Vitakkita
Vitakkita [pp. of vitakketi] reflected, reasoned, argued DA i.121. Cp. pari˚.
Vitakketi
Vitakketi [Denom. fr. vitakka] to reflect, reason, consider S i.197, 202; iv.169; v.156; A ii.36; Miln 311. --
pp. vitakkita.
Vitacchika
Vitacchika at S ii.99=iv.188 read v"taccika (q. v.).
Vitacchik!
Vitacchik! (f.) [cp. *Sk. (medical) vicarcik!] scabies Nd2 3041 (as roga).
Vitacchita