asubha

'impurity', loathsomeness, foulness. -

In Vis.M. VI, it is the cemetery contemplations (sīvathika) that are called 'meditation-subjects of impurity' (asubha-kammatthāna; s. bhāvanā).

In the Girimananda Sutta (A. X., 50), however, the perception of impurity (asubha-saññā) refers to the contemplation of the 32 parts of the body (s. kāya-gatā-sati).

The contemplation of the body's impurity is an antidote against the hindrance of sense-desire (s. nīvarana) and the mental perversion (vipallāsa) which sees what is truly impure as pure and beautiful.

See S. XLVI, 51; A. V. 36, Dhp. 7, 8; Sn. 193ff. -

The Five Mental Hindrances (WHEEL 26), pp. 5ff.