What does the Sanskrit word apatrapya mean in Buddhist psychology?
Apatrapya means avoiding what is objectionable in the eyes of others. This definition anchors the concept in social observation rather than internal feeling alone.
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Apatrapya means avoiding what is objectionable in the eyes of others. This definition anchors the concept in social observation rather than internal feeling alone.
Herbert V. Guenther translated this term as decorum while Erik Pema Kunsang chose shame for his 2004 translation of Gateway to Knowledge. The Rangjung Yeshe Wiki lists consideration and propriety as additional valid translations found within Buddhist scholarship.
Erik Pema Kunsang released Gateway to Knowledge Vol. 1 via North Atlantic Books in 2004. These translations made complex Abhidharma concepts accessible to modern English readers.
Abhidharma-samuccaya defines apatrapya as avoiding what is objectionable in the eyes of others. The text specifies that shunning unwholesome actions occurs specifically to prevent reproach from people of good character.
Apatrapya differs by requiring avoidance of reproach from others instead of internal moral judgment. One path flows inward while the other looks outward toward community standards.