________
.
All the suttas below have parallels in Chinese, Sanskrit or Tibetan.
.
“How many days can one practise the ascetic life
If one does not rein in one’s mind?
One would founder with each step
Under the control of one’s intentions.
Katihaṃ careyya sāmaññaṃ,
cittañce na nivāraye;
Pade pade visīdeyya,
saṅkappānaṃ vasānugoti.
“Drawing in the mind’s thoughts
As a tortoise draws its limbs into its shell,
Independent, doing harm to none, fully quenched,
A bhikkhu would not dispute with anyone.”
Kummova aṅgāni sake kapāle,
Samodahaṃ bhikkhu manovitakke;
Anissito aññamaheṭhayāno,
Parinibbuto nūpavadeyya kañcī”ti.
SN 1.17
________
.
“The world is tightly fettered by delight;
Thought is its means of investigating (making concrete representation?*).
Craving is what one must forsake
In order to say, ‘Nibbāna.’”
“Nandīsaṃyojano loko,
vitakkassa vicāraṇaṃ;
Taṇhāya vippahānena,
nibbānaṃ iti vuccatī”ti.
SN 1.64
* added translation.
________
.
"Just now, lord, while I was alone in seclusion, this train of thought arose in my awareness (mind).
Idha mayhaṃ, bhante, rahogatassa paṭisallīnassa evaṃ cetaso parivitakko udapādi.
SN 3.4 (also SN 3.5/3.6/3.18 - SN 4.1 - SN 11.7 - SN 36.11 - SN 45.30)
Note: Example of parivitakko:
Th(ese) trains of thought arose in my awareness (mind):
- "Who have themselves protected, and who leave themselves unprotected?".
- "Few are those people in the world who, ... , don't become intoxicated & heedless ...".
- "The Blessed One's Teaching is well proclaimed ...".
- "I am indeed freed from that gruelling asceticism!".
- "Though someone may be my sworn enemy, I should not transgress even against him."
- "Three feelings have been spoken of by the Blessed One."
- "Five cords of sensual pleasure have been spoken of by the Blessed One.?".
________
.
Then Mara the Evil One, having known with his own mind the reflection in the Blessed One’s mind.
Atha kho māro pāpimā bhagavato cetasā cetoparivitakkamaññāya yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami.
SN 4.20 (also SN 6.1/2).
________
.
Tranquil in body, in mind well liberated,
Not generating, mindful, homeless,
Knowing Dhamma, meditating thought-free,
He does not erupt, or drift, or stiffen.
Passaddhakāyo suvimuttacitto,
Asaṅkharāno satimā anoko;
Aññāya dhammaṃ avitakkajhāyī,
Na kuppati na sarati na thino.
SN 4.25
________
.
Alas, though I am one who has renounced,
Gone from home into homelessness,
These thoughts still run over me,
Impudent thoughts from the Dark One.
Nikkhantaṃ vata maṃ santaṃ,
agārasmānagāriyaṃ;
Vitakkā upadhāvanti,
pagabbhā kaṇhato ime.
SN 8.1
________
.
Having abandoned discontent and delight
And household thoughts entirely,
One should not nurture lust towards anything;
The lustless one, without delight,
He is indeed a bhikkhu.
Aratiñca ratiñca pahāya,
Sabbaso gehasitañca vitakkaṃ;
Vanathaṃ na kareyya kuhiñci,
Nibbanatho arato sa hi bhikkhu.
SN 8.2
________
.
"Had you already thought out these verses, Vangisa, or did they occur to you spontaneously?"
"I had not already thought out these verses, venerable sir; they occurred to me spontaneously."
"In that case, Vangisa, let some more verses, not already thought out, occur to you."
"Yes, venerable sir," the Venerable Vailgisa replied. Then he extolled the Blessed One with some more verses that had not been previously thought out.
Kiṃ nu te, vaṅgīsa, imā gāthāyo pubbe parivitakkitā, udāhu ṭhānasova taṃ paṭibhantī”ti? “Na kho me, bhante, imā gāthāyo pubbe parivitakkitā, atha kho ṭhānasova maṃ paṭibhantī”ti. “Tena hi taṃ, vaṅgīsa, bhiyyoso mattāya pubbe aparivitakkitā gāthāyo paṭibhantū”ti. “Evaṃ, bhante”ti kho āyasmā vaṅgīso bhagavato paṭissutvā bhiyyoso mattāya bhagavantaṃ pubbe apariviakkitāhi gāthāhi abhitthavi.
SN 8.8
________
.
Now on that occasion, while that bhikkhu had gone for his day's abiding, he kept on thinking evil unwholesome thoughts connected with the household life.
Tena kho pana samayena so bhikkhu divāvihāragato pāpake akusale vitakke vitakketi gehanissite.
SN 9.1 (also SN 9.11)
________
.
Lust and hatred have their source here;
From this spring discontent, delight, and terror;
Having arisen from this, the mind's thoughts
[Toss one around] as boys toss up a crow.
Rāgo ca doso ca itonidānā,
Aratī ratī lomahaṃso itojā;
Ito samuṭṭhāya manovitakkā,
Kumārakā dhaṅkamivossajanti.
SN 10.3
________
.
Apart from faith, apart from personal preference, apart from oral tradition, apart from reasoned reflection, apart from acceptance of a view after pondering it, does the Venerable Musīla have personal knowledge thus.
Saddhāya aññatra ruciyā aññatra anussavā aññatra ākāraparivitakkā aññatra diṭṭhinijjhānakkhantiyā atthāyasmato musilassa paccattameva ñāṇaṃ.
Note: Ākāra，[a + karoti，kṛ] “the （way of） making”.
SN 12.68
________
.
Bhikkhus, sensual thought arises with a source, not without a source; thought of ill will arises with a source, not without a source; thought of harming arises with a source, not without a source.
Sanidānaṃ, bhikkhave, uppajjati kāmavitakko, no anidānaṃ; sanidānaṃ uppajjati byāpādavitakko, no anidānaṃ; sanidānaṃ uppajjati vihiṃsāvitakko, no anidānaṃ.
SN 14.12
________
.
Bhikkhus, in dependence on an element there arises a perception, there arises a view, there arises a thought.
Dhātuṃ, bhikkhave, paṭicca uppajjati saññā, uppajjati diṭṭhi, uppajjati vitakko”ti.
SN 14.13
________
.
Bhikkhus, to whatever extent I wish, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I enter and dwell in the first jhana, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion.
Ahaṃ, bhikkhave, yāvade ākaṅkhāmi vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṃ savicāraṃ vivekajaṃ pītisukhaṃ paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharāmi.
SN 16.9 (also 10 & 11)
________
.
Then, friends, with the subsiding of thought and examination, I entered and dwelt in the second jhana, which … has rapture and happiness born of concentration. While I dwelt therein, perception and attention accompanied by thought assailed me.
Tassa mayhaṃ, āvuso, iminā vihārena viharato vitakkasahagatā saññā manasikārā samudācaranti.
SN 21.1
________
.
There are, bhikkhus, these three kinds of unwholesome thoughts: sensual thought, thought of ill will, thought of harming.
Tayome, bhikkhave, akusalavitakkā — kāmavitakko, byāpādavitakko, vihiṃsāvitakko.
SN 22.80
________
.
Now on that occasion a reflection arose in the mind of a certain bhikkhu thus: “How should one know, how should one see, for the immediate destruction of the taints to occur?”
Tena kho pana samayena aññatarassa bhikkhuno evaṃ cetaso parivitakko udapādi: “kathaṃ nu kho jānato kathaṃ passato anantarā āsavānaṃ khayo hotī”ti?
SN 22.81
________
.
Now on that occasion the following reflection arose in the mind of a certain bhikkhu: “So it seems that form is nonself, feeling is nonself, perception is nonself, volitional formations are nonself, consciousness is nonself. What self, then, will deeds done by what is nonself affect?”
Tena kho pana samayena aññatarassa bhikkhuno evaṃ cetaso parivitakko udapādi: “iti kira bho rūpaṃ anattā, vedanā … saññā … saṅkhārā … viññāṇaṃ anattā; anattakatāni kammāni kathamattānaṃ phusissantī”ti.
SN 22.82
________
.
“It would be better, bhikkhus, to sleep—for sleep, I say, is barren for the living, fruitless for the living, insensibility for the living—than to think such thoughts as would induce one who has come under their control to bring about a schism in the Saṅgha.
Varaṃ, bhikkhave, sottaṃ. Sottaṃ kho panāhaṃ, bhikkhave, vañjhaṃ jīvitānaṃ vadāmi, aphalaṃ jīvitānaṃ vadāmi, momūhaṃ jīvitānaṃ vadāmi, na tveva tathārūpe vitakke vitakkeyya yathārūpānaṃ vitakkānaṃ vasaṃ gato saṅghaṃ bhindeyya. Imaṃ khvāhaṃ, bhikkhave, vañjhaṃ jīvitānaṃ ādīnavaṃ disvā evaṃ vadāmi.
SN 35.235
________
.
For one who has attained the second jhana, thought and examination have been tranquillized.
Dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ samāpannassa vitakkavicārā paṭippassaddhā honti.
SN 36.11
________
.
And what, bhikkhus, is spiritual rapture? Here, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the first jhana, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion.
Katamā ca, bhikkhave, nirāmisā pīti? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṃ savicāraṃ vivekajaṃ pītisukhaṃ paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati. Vitakkavicārānaṃ vūpasamā ajjhattaṃ sampasādanaṃ cetaso ekodibhāvaṃ avitakkaṃ avicāraṃ samādhijaṃ pītisukhaṃ dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati. Ayaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave, nirāmisā pīti.
SN 36.31
________
.
In-breathing and out-breathing, householder, are the bodily formation; thought and examination are the verbal formation; perception and feeling are the mental formation.
Assāsapassāsā kho, gahapati, kāyasaṅkhāro, vitakkavicārā vacīsaṅkhāro, saññā ca vedanā ca cittasaṅkhāro”ti.
---
In-breathing and out-breathing are bodily, these things are dependent upon the body ; that is why in-breathing and out-breathing are the bodily formation. First one thinks and examines, then afterwards one breaks into speech; that is why thought and examination are the verbal formation. Perception and feeling are mental, these things are dependent upon the mind; that is why perception and feeling are the mental formation.
Assāsapassāsā kho, gahapati, kāyikā. Ete dhammā kāyappaṭibaddhā, tasmā assāsapassāsā kāyasaṅkhāro. Pubbe kho, gahapati, vitakketvā vicāretvā pacchā vācaṃ bhindati, tasmā vitakkavicārā vacīsaṅkhāro. Saññā ca vedanā ca cetasikā. Ete dhammā cittappaṭibaddhā, tasmā saññā ca vedanā ca cittasaṅkhāro'ti.
SN 41.6
________
.
"Well, venerable sir, to whatever extent I wish, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I enter and dwell in the first jhana, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion.
Then, to whatever extent I wish, with the subsiding of thought and examination, I enter and dwell in the second jhana ... . Then, to whatever extent I wish, with the fading away as well of rapture .. . I enter and dwell in the third jhana ... . Then, to whatever extent I wish, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain ... I enter and dwell in the fourth jhana. "Since I know and see thus, venerable sir, in what other ascetic or brahmin need I place faith regarding the claim that there is a concentration without thought and examination, a cessation of thought and examination? "
Ahaṃ kho, bhante, yāvadeva ākaṅkhāmi, vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṃ savicāraṃ vivekajaṃ pītisukhaṃ paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharāmi. Ahaṃ kho, bhante, yāvadeva ākaṅkhāmi, vitakkavicārānaṃ vūpasamā … pe … dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharāmi. Ahaṃ kho, bhante, yāvadeva ākaṅkhāmi, pītiyā ca virāgā … pe … tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharāmi. Ahaṃ kho, bhante, yāvadeva ākaṅkhāmi, sukhassa ca pahānā … pe … catutthaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharāmi. Na so khvāhaṃ, bhante, evaṃ jānanto evaṃ passanto kassa aññassa samaṇassa vā brāhmaṇassa vā saddhāya gamissāmi? Atthi avitakko avicāro samādhi, atthi vitakkavicārānaṃ nirodho”ti.
SN 41.8
________
.
"In these thirty years, householder, have you attained any superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones, any dwelling in comfort?"
"How could I not, venerable sir? For to whatever extent I wish, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I enter and dwell in the first jhana, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. Then, to whatever extent I wish, with the subsiding of thought and examination, I enter and dwell in the second jhana .. .. Then, to whatever extent I wish, with the fading away as well of rapture ... I enter and dwell in the third jhana ... .
Then, to whatever extent I wish, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain ... I enter and dwell in the fourth jhana. Further, if I were to die before the Blessed One does, it would not be surprising if the Blessed One were to declare of me: 'There is no fetter bound by which Citta the householder could return to this world. "'
SN 41.9
________
.
And what, bhikkhus, is the path leading to the unconditioned?
Concentration with thought and examination.
Savitakko savicāro samādhi.
Concentration without thought, with examination only.
Avitakko vicāramatto samādhi.
Concentration without thought and examination.
Avitakko avicāro samādhi.
SN 43.12
See also MN 128:
When, Anuruddha, I understood that doubt is an imperfection of the mind and had abandoned doubt, an imperfection of the mind; when I understood that inattention
is an imperfection of the mind and had abandoned inattention... abandoned sloth and torpor... abandoned fear... abandoned elation... abandoned inertia... abandoned excess of energy... abandoned deficiency of energy... abandoned longing... abandoned perception of diversity... abandoned excessive meditation upon forms, an imperfection of the mind; then I thought:' I have abandoned those imperfections of the mind. Let me now develop concentration in three ways.'
Thereupon, Anuruddha, I developed concentration with vitakka and vicāra; I developed concentration without vitakka but with vicāra only; I developed concentration without vitakka and without vicāra; I developed concentration with rapture; I developed concentration without rapture; I developed concentration accompanied by enjoyment; I developed concentration accompanied by equanimity.
________
.
And what, bhikkhus, is right concentration? Here, bhikkhus, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the first jhana, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion.
Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sammāsamādhi? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṃ savicāraṃ vivekajaṃ pītisukhaṃ paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
SN 45.8
________
.
Dwelling thus withdrawn, one recollects that Dhamma and thinks it over.
Whenever, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu dwelling thus withdrawn recollects that Dhamma and thinks it over, on that occasion the enlightenment factor of mindfulness is aroused by the bhikkhu...
So tathā vūpakaṭṭho viharanto taṃ dhammaṃ anussarati anuvitakketi.
Yasmiṃ samaye, bhikkhave, bhikkhu tathā vūpakaṭṭho viharanto taṃ dhammaṃ anussarati anuvitakketi, satisambojjhaṅgo tasmiṃ samaye bhikkhuno āraddho hoti...
SN 46.3
________
.
Whatever rapture there is accompanied by thought and examination is the enlightenment factor of rapture; whatever rapture there is without thought and examination is also the enlightenment factor of rapture.
Yadapi, bhikkhave, savitakkasavicārā pīti tadapi pītisambojjhaṅgo, yadapi avitakkaavicārā pīti tadapi pītisambojjhaṅgo.
Whatever concentration there is accompanied by thought and examination is the enlightenment factor of concentration; whatever concentration there is without thought and examination is also the enlightenment factor of concentration.
Yadapi, bhikkhave, savitakko savicāro samādhi tadapi samādhisambojjhaṅgo, yadapi avitakkaavicāro samādhi tadapi samādhisambojjhaṅgo.
SN 46.52
________
.
When he directs his mind towards some inspiring sign, gladness is born. When he is gladdened, rapture is born. When the mind is uplifted by rapture, the body becomes tranquil. One tranquil in body experiences happiness. The mind of one who is happy becomes concentrated. He reflects thus: ‘The purpose for the sake of which I directed my mind has been achieved. Let me now withdraw it.’ So he withdraws the mind and does not think or examine. He understands: ‘Without thought and examination, internally mindful, I am happy.’
Tassa kismiñcideva pasādanīye nimitte cittaṃ paṇidahato pāmojjaṃ jāyati. Pamuditassa pīti jāyati. Pītimanassa kāyo passambhati. Passaddhakāyo sukhaṃ vedayati. Sukhino cittaṃ samādhiyati. So iti paṭisañcikkhati: ‘yassa khvāhaṃ atthāya cittaṃ paṇidahiṃ, so me attho abhinipphanno. Handa dāni paṭisaṃharāmī’ti. So paṭisaṃharati ceva na ca vitakketi na ca vicāreti. ‘Avitakkomhi avicāro, ajjhattaṃ satimā sukhamasmī’ti pajānāti.
SN 47.10
________
.
Having known with his own mind the reflection in my mind.
Mama cetasā cetoparivitakkamaññāya.
SN 47.43
________
.
And what, bhikkhus, is the faculty of concentration?
Here, bhikkhus, the noble disciple gains concentration, gains onepointedness of mind, having made release the object. Secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, he enters and dwells in the first jhana, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. With the subsiding of thought and examination, he enters and dwells in the second jhana, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without thought and examination, and has rapture and happiness born of concentration.
Katamañca, bhikkhave, samādhindriyaṃ?
Idha, bhikkhave, ariyasāvako vossaggārammaṇaṃ karitvā labhati samādhiṃ, labhati cittassa ekaggataṃ. So vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṃ savicāraṃ vivekajaṃ pītisukhaṃ paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati. Vitakkavicārānaṃ vūpasamā ajjhattaṃ sampasādanaṃ cetaso ekodibhāvaṃ avitakkaṃ avicāraṃ samādhijaṃ pītisukhaṃ dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
SN 48.10
________
.
“Bhikkhus, do not think evil unwholesome thoughts; that is, sensual thought, thought of ill will, thought of harming. For what reason? These thoughts, bhikkhus, are unbeneficial, irrelevant to the fundamentals of the holy life, and do not lead to revulsion, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna.
Mā, bhikkhave, pāpake akusale vitakke vitakkeyyātha, seyyathidaṃ— kāmavitakkaṃ, byāpādavitakkaṃ, vihiṃsāvitakkaṃ. Taṃ kissa hetu? Nete, bhikkhave, vitakkā atthasaṃhitā nādibrahmacariyakā na nibbidāya na virāgāya na nirodhāya na upasamāya na abhiññāya na sambodhāya na nibbānāya saṃvattanti.
“When you think, bhikkhus, you should think: ‘This is suffering’; you should think: ‘This is the origin of suffering’; you should think: ‘This is the cessation of suffering’; you should think: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’ For what reason? These thoughts, bhikkhus, are beneficial, relevant to the fundamentals of the holy life, and lead to revulsion, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna.
Vitakkentā ca kho tumhe, bhikkhave, ‘idaṃ dukkhan’ti vitakkeyyātha, ‘ayaṃ dukkhasamudayo’ti vitakkeyyātha, ‘ayaṃ dukkhanirodho’ti vitakkeyyātha, ‘ayaṃ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti vitakkeyyātha. Taṃ kissa hetu? Ete, bhikkhave, vitakkā atthasaṃhitā ete ādibrahmacariyakā ete nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṃvattanti.
SN 56.7
________
.
NOTES
________
.
In both vi-takka and vi-cāra, वि VI takes the meaning of:
- asunder, in different directions - with a somewhat meaning of "manifoldness", like in vi+vidha (divers, manifold, mixed).
Vi-takka >> "thinking in different directions" = doubting.
Vi-cāra >> "undertake (mentally) in different directions = indefinite concretization (like in: "the ideas concretized in her mind (in an indefintie way").
----
Vi + Takka:
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Takka:
Sankskrit: तर्क tarka [obj. √ तर्क् tark]
- reasoning , speculation , inquiry (PārGṛS. - KaṭhUp. [Contemporary post Buddhist] - MBh.)
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
वितर्क vitarka [act. vitark]
वितर्क् vitark [vi-√ tark]
- to reflect , ponder , think , believe , suppose , conjecture , consider as or take for (MBh.)
√ तर्क् tark
- to conjecture , guess , suspect , infer , try to discover or ascertain , reason or speculate about (MBh.)
- to reflect , think of , recollect , have in one's mind , intend (MBh.)
- to speak (Dhātup.)
A rare pre-Buddhist reference to vitakka, (coupled with reasoning (praśnaiḥ),) is in the Gopatha Brāhmaṇa:
He who has thought well with reasoning over the appropriate syllable "Om", which consists of knowledge with these questions and answers - he who knows the context or text, becomes strong and expert in all sacred discussions.
Savitarkaṃ jñānamayam ity etaiḥ praśnaiḥ prativacanaiś ca yathārthaṃ padam anuvicintya prakaraṇajño hi prabalo viṣayī syāt sarvasmin vākovākya.
-----------
Vi + Cāra:
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Cāra:
Sanskrit: चार cāra (agt. √ चर् car)
- going , motion , progression , course (ChUp.)
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
विचार vicāra [act. vicar]
विचर् vicar [ vi-√ car ]
- to move in different directions , spread , expand , be diffused (RV. MBh.)
- to rove , ramble about or through , traverse , pervade (RV.)
√ चर् car (v.)
- to wish to act or conduct one's self (ŚBr. - also RV. & AV.)
- to continue performing or being " (ŚBr.)
- to undertake, under go , observe , do or act in general (AV.)
-----------
More generally, the vitakka-vicāra process concerns
1. Vitakka: the doubt born of any "thinking" (mental experience >> feeling+perception = cittasaṅkhāra,) - an abstract thinking.
2. Vicāra: the "thought-concretisation" (the outcome of investigation, pondering & choice, that ensues thinking in different directions) - the "mental" undertaking that results (viz. the wish to act or conduct one's self)- A concrete thinking.
The prefix vi in both processes, denotes something done in a scattered, confused, doubtful way.
All this vacisaṅkhara, being the precursor of a verbal (word) outcome ("naming").
The concretization appears quite well in AN 6.52, with the example of the woman.
And the practical (though scattered) meaning of this concretization is given in SN 22.81, when Buddha says:
That’s how I’ve taught the Dhamma practically. [that is to say, in a concrete manner; through different processes]
Evaṃ vicayaso desito, bhikkhave, mayādhammo.
-----------
See https://justpaste.it/130k4
________
.
Pre & post/contemporary Buddhist, Vedic references
.
1. √ तर्क् tark
(a) The syllable "om" is Ātma, healing of the self, salvation of the self.
(b) Having stopped the anxiety about creatures, the only union, he should think about Ātma.
(c) Having studied the Vedas, he attains full fruit of the inner Ātma, this is the purpose of the syllable "Om".
(d) He who has thought well with reasoning (praśnaiḥ) over the appropriate syllable "Om", which consists of knowledge with these questions and answers, he who knows the context or text, becomes strong and expert in all sacred discussions. Thus says a Brāhmaṇa text.
(a) adhyātmam ātmabhaiṣajyam ātmakaivalyam oṃkāraḥ_
(b) ātmānaṃ nirudhya saṅgamamātrīṃ bhūtārthacintāṃ cintayet_
(c) atikramya vedebhyaḥ sarvaparam adhyātmaphalaṃ prāpnotītyarthaḥ
(d) savitarkaṃ jñānamayam ity etaiḥ praśnaiḥ prativacanaiś ca yathārthaṃ padam anuvicintya prakaraṇajño hi prabalo viṣayī syāt sarvasmin vākovākya iti brāhmaṇam
GopBr. 1.1.30
This (Self), if taught by an inferior person, is not easily comprehended, for It is variously thought of. Unless taught by another (who is a perceiver of non-difference) there is no way (of comprehending It), for It is not arguable and is subtler than subtlety.
na nareṇāvareṇa proktā eṣa suvijñeyo bahudhā cintyamānaḥ: ananya-prokte gatir atra nāsty aṇīyān hy atarkyam aṇupramānāt.
KaṭhUp. 1.2.8
This (knowledge of the Self) attained by thee cannot be had through speculation (verbal argument). O dearest, this doctrine, only if taught by some teacher (other than a logician), leads to right knowledge. O, thou art rooted in truth. May a questioner be ever like thee, O Nachiketas.
naiṣā tarkeṇa matir āpaneyā, proktānyenaiva sujñānāya preṣṭha: yāṁ tvam āpas satyadhritir batāsi; tvādṛṅ no bhῡyān naciketaḥ praṣṭā.
KaṭhUp. 1.2.9
Tarkeṇa = {i. sg. m.} तर्क tarka [obj. tark]
2. √ चर् car
Make glad with songs that Ram whom many men invoke, worthy of songs of praise, Indra, the sea of wealth;
Whose gracious deeds for men spread like the heavens abroad: sing praise to him the Sage, most liberal for our good.
abhi tyam meṣam puruhūtam ṛgmiyam indraṁ gīrbhir madatā vasvo arṇavam |
yasya dyāvo na vicaranti mānuṣā bhuje maṁhiṣṭham abhi vipram arcata ||
RV. 1.51.1
Who for the worshipper scatters forth ample wealth, even though buried, piled in heaps:
May Indra, Lord of Bay Steeds, fair-helmed Thunderer, act at his pleasure, as he lists.
sudevāḥ stha kāṇvāyanā vayo-vayo vicarantaḥ |
aśvāso na caṅkramata ||
RV. 8.55.4
Send forth the rapture-giving wave, O Rivers, which Indra drinks, which sets the Twain in motion;
The well that springeth from the clouds, desirous, that wandereth triple-formed, distilling transport.
taṁ sindhavo matsaram indrapānam ūrmim pra heta ya ubhe iyarti |madacyutam auśānaṁ nabhojām pari tritantuṁ vicarantam utsam ||
RV. 10.30.9
Note that in the three above cases (and in other occurences as well), vicar means to wander or spread or scatter; but it does also involve some sort of concretism.
E. g. spreading gracious deeds; scattering ample wealth; etc.
Vicāra in Pali doesn't seem to imply just a wandering or a scattered thinking, but it does also involve some concretism as well. Even a wish to act or conduct one's self (through words - naming process; as Vitakka-Vicāra is a vacīsaṅkhāro).
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