Virtue

Bala (Spiritual Power)

Paramita Virtues

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

India. 1

Origin of the Name

Sanskrit 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 / Compiler

Systematized 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

Language

Sanskrit 1

Status

Status Within the Tradition

Standard teaching, not formally defined 1

Doctrinal Status Detail

The 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 Source

The settled strength and capacity to act on right judgment without hesitation, the ninth of the ten Mahayana paramitas. 1

Disputed

Origin Period

The 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

Connections