Definition: Citta names the cognising, feeling, volitional centre of a being — the mind or heart taken as a single stream of experience. In the suttas it is used nearly interchangeably with mano and viññāṇa; in the Abhidhamma these three are distinguished as different aspects of the same underlying phenomenon (Dhs 6).
Canonical usage
Dhp 33 (dhp33:1–33:4)
Phandanaṁ capalaṁ cittaṁ, dūrakkhaṁ dunnivārayaṁ;
Ujuṁ karoti medhāvī, usukārova tejanaṁ.
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English (Sujato): The mind quivers and shakes, hard to guard, hard to curb. The discerning straighten it out, like a fletcher straightens an arrow.
Dhp 35 (dhp35:3–35:4)
Cittassa damatho sādhu, cittaṁ dantaṁ sukhāvahaṁ.
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English (Sujato): It's good to tame the mind; a tamed mind leads to bliss.
Dhp 42 (dhp42:3–42:4)
Micchāpaṇihitaṁ cittaṁ, pāpiyo naṁ tato kare.
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English (Sujato): A wrongly directed mind would do more harm [than any enemy].
Nuances and translation notes
English has no single word that covers citta's range:
- As a unit of mental experience → "mind" / "consciousness" (the Abhidhamma usage)
- As the seat of emotion and motivation → "heart" (e.g. mettācitta = "a mind/heart of loving-kindness")
- As a specific thought-moment or intention → "mental state" / "thought"
The suttas use citta and mano largely synonymously; the Abhidhamma narrows the usage:
- citta — the bare act of cognising an object
- mano — the cognising faculty / mind-base (manāyatana)
- viññāṇa — consciousness as one of the five aggregates, distinguished by sense-door
Translators:
- Sujato: "mind" (Dhammapada) / sometimes "heart" in mettā contexts
- Buddharakkhita: "mind"
- Bodhi: distinguishes "mind" (citta) from "intellect/mentality" (mano) in technical contexts
- de Zoysa (Sinhala): සිත (sita, direct cognate)
Related concepts
- mano — cognate mental term; near-synonym in sutta usage
- viññāṇa — consciousness as aggregate (pending)
- cetasika — the mental factors that accompany citta in Abhidhamma analysis
- hadaya vatthu — the "heart-base" physical locus of citta in later Abhidhamma (pending)
- cetanā — volition, the kammic mental factor (pending)
Related pages
- dhammapada 03 cittavagga — the whole vagga centres on this term
- dhammapada 01 yamakavagga — Dhp 1–2 use the parallel term mano
- consciousness citta — Abhidhamma schema page for citta as the central consciousness-event
- mental causation mano pubbangama — the concept developed out of Dhp 1–2 (pending)