avasatta

Avasatta is a term found in Pali and Sinhalese Buddhist literature that is used to indicate decline, degeneration, or downfall in moral, spiritual, or existential conditions. The sense of the word is not entirely uniform across texts, but it generally conveys a downward state rather than a neutral description.

Etymology and sense: the word is commonly analyzed as ava- meaning “down” or “away” and satta relating to being or life, yielding the notion of a downward or deteriorated state. Translations in English often render avasatta as “downfall,” “decline,” or “degeneration.” In different traditions, the term can denote both personal moral decline and a broader decline within the cycle of samsara, though exact nuances vary by author and school.

Canonical and commentarial usage: in some canonical passages avasatta appears in discussions of ethical risks and consequences, signaling how unwholesome conditions can lead to deterioration of conduct and spiritual progress. In commentaries, the term is used more explicitly to describe the process by which a practitioner may slip from a higher standard of conduct to a lower one, or to describe a general tendency toward moral or doctrinal deterioration.

Regional and scholarly usage: avasatta is more common in Theravāda and Sinhala Buddhist literature, and it also appears in wider Southeast Asian Buddhist discourse. It is not a central doctrinal term like some other concepts, but it remains a useful descriptor for discussions of ethical decline and the fragile nature of spiritual progress in samsaric existence.

See also: Dhamma, Karma, Samsara, Avijjā (ignorance). References are found in standard Pali dictionaries and commentaries that discuss moral decline and spiritual deterioration.