Virtues
Bala (Spiritual Power)
Paramita Virtues
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The ninth of the ten Mahayana paramitas: the settled strength and capacity that lets a bodhisattva act on right judgment without hesitation or being turned aside, understood as the maturation of Virya, energetic effort already held on this axis, into an unshakeable capacity rather than an ongoing exertion.
Facts
Origins
Place of Origin Origin of the NameSanskrit bala, power or strength, from a root meaning to be strong; the same word names the five spiritual faculties, indriya, matured into powers, bala, elsewhere in Buddhist doctrinal literature: faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. 1 Attributed Author / CompilerSystematized as the ninth of ten paramitas in the Dasabhumika Sutra's bodhisattva-stage scheme, building on the earlier doctrine of the five spiritual faculties matured into powers. 1 Status
Status Within the TraditionStandard teaching, not formally defined 1 Doctrinal Status DetailThe third of four further perfections the ten-paramita scheme adds beyond the six already held on this axis; distinguished from Virya, effort or diligence, already on this axis, as that effort's mature and settled outcome rather than the exertion itself. 1 Attestation
Meaning in the Attesting SourceThe settled strength and capacity to act on right judgment without hesitation, the ninth of the ten Mahayana paramitas. 1 Disputed
Origin PeriodThe same Mahayana sutra dating difficulty as the scheme's other later additions applies here, while the underlying five-faculties-to-five-powers doctrine it builds on is attested earlier, within the Pali material, than the ten-paramita systematization itself. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Related To
Consecutive perfections in the Dasabhumika Sutra's ten-bhumi scheme.
Consecutive perfections in the Dasabhumika Sutra's ten-bhumi scheme.
Bala is the mature, settled form of Virya, energetic effort, already held on this axis as the fourth paramita.
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