ottappa
Moral dread
[ OHT-tup-pa ]
Seeing it in life
Ottappa is wholesome fear of wrong-doing and its results; complements hiri.
In short
Shrinking from evil out of regard for consequences and others.
The analysis
Ottappa is wholesome fear of wrongdoing and its consequences — complementing hiri's self-respect-based restraint with a concern oriented toward outcome and others' regard. Together, hiri and ottappa are the 'guardians of the world.'
Where it sits
Ottappa's direct opposite is anottappa, present in every unwholesome citta. As one of the twenty-five beautiful cetasikas, ottappa is universal to wholesome consciousness.
The specific hesitation that considers what a poor decision might cost — trust, consequence, the discomfort of having acted against one's values — before acting, is ottappa.
Commonly mistaken for
Anxiety or fearfulness generally. Ottappa is a specific wholesome factor tied to moral consequence, not a general disposition toward worry.
Fear of punishment from an external authority alone. It includes concern for karmic consequence and eroded values, not only social repercussion.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha II; Hiri-Ottappa Sutta (AN 2.9).
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