”karmically wholesome” or ”profitable”, salutary, morally good, (skillful) Connotations of the term, according to Com. (Atthasa^lini), are: of good health, blameless, productive of favourable karma-result, skillful. It should be noted that Com. excludes the meaning ”skillful”, when the term is applied to states of consciousness.
It is defined in M. 9 as the 10 wholesome courses of action (s. kammapatha). In psychological terms, ”karmically wholesome” are all those karmical volitions (kamma-cetana^) and the consciousness and mental factors associated therewith, which are accompanied by 2 or 3 wholesome roots (s. múla), i.e. by greedlessness (alobha) and hatelessness (adosa), and in some cases also by non-delusion (amoha: wisdom, understanding). Such states of consciousness are regarded as ”karmically wholesome” as they are causes of favourable karma results and contain the seeds of a happy destiny or rebirth. From this explanation, two facts should be noted: (1) it is volition that makes a state of consciousness, or an act, ”good” or ”bad”; (2) the moral criterion in Buddhism is the presence or absence of the 3 wholesome or moral roots (s. múla).
The above explanations refer to mundane (lokiya, q.v.) wholesome consciousness. Supermundane wholesome (lokuttara-kusala) states, i.e. the four paths of sanctity (s. ariyapuggala), have as results only the corresponding four fruitions; they do not constitute karma, nor do they lead to rebirth, and this applies also to the good actions of an Arahat (Tab. I, 73-80) and his meditative states (Tab. 1, 81-89), which are all karmically inoperative (functional; s. kiriya).
Kusala belongs to a threefold division of all consciousness, as found in the Abhidhamma (Dhs.), into wholesome (kusala), unwholesome (akusala) and karmically neutral (avya^kata), which is the first of the triads (tika) in the Abhidhamma schedule (ma^tika^); s. Guide, pp. 4ff., 12ff; Vis.M. XIV, 83ff.