Ñāṇa wrote:Elsewhere this non-abiding mind is designated as "unestablished consciousness" (appatiṭṭha viññāṇa).
Hi Geoff
Where may I encounter this consciousness that is unestablished?
I looked at SN 12.38 and there's a reference to -
Ārammaṇe asati patiṭṭhā viññāṇassa na hoti
When there is no basis, there is no support for the establishing of consciousness - per BB
Clearly, this is not a junction between an adjective and its noun, since both are declined differently.
I looked also at SN 12.64 which speaks of
... atthi rāgo atthi nandī atthi taṇhā, patiṭṭhitaṃ tattha viññāṇaṃ virūḷhaṃ. Yattha patiṭṭhitaṃ viññāṇaṃ virūḷhaṃ, atthi tattha nāmarūpassa avakkanti.
...if there is lust, if there is delight, if there is craving, consciousness becomes established there and comes to growth. Where consciousness becomes established and comes to growth, there is the descent of name and form.
Again, I do not see any suggestion that the above reference to "consciousness becomes established" could be grammatically transformed by a negation to be an adjective-noun junction that is appatiṭṭha viññāṇa.
How did you derive appatiṭṭha viññāṇa, as I could not find this term in the Canon? BB points to a variant "...appatitthena vinnanena ... parinibbuto" but that simply works out be being "...with consciousness unestablished ... has attained final Nibbana". The term is clearly a verb and a noun in conjunction, not an adjective and a noun in a junction. The context also reveals this, as the question that prompted the Buddha to answer in this manner was Mara's query "Where has the consciousness of the clansman Godhika been established?" per SN 4.23.
I'm not sure if we need to papancize a simple case of "no consciousness because there was no establishment" to become "an unestablished consciousness [is]"