The post being discussed is: “Feelings: Sukha, Dukha, Somanassa, and Domanassa”
One way to separate domanassa and somanassa vedana from sukha and dukha vedana is that the former two have associated “mental factors (cetasika)” generated.
So, they are also called “cetasika sukha or cetasika dukha”. Those do not arise in Arahants and arise due to one’s defilements (getting attached to it becoming joyful or being repelled by it and becoming irritated).
The ear-piercing sound is really a dukha vedana (due to vipaka) that is associated with kaya, not the ears (sota indriya).
– Here we need to think about how the “sota indriya” (which is not the same as the physical ear) works. Air compressions hit the ear drum inside “the physical ear”, and makes it vibrate. Those vibrations are sent to the brain and the brain converts them to a “sound signal” which it then transmits to the “sota pasada rupa” located close to the hadaya vatthu in the mental body (gandhabba); see, “Brain – Interface between Mind and Body“.
- So, the dukha vedana created by an “ear-piercing sound” is actually due to the high perturbation of the ear drum (part of the physical body), a physical sensation. If it is really strong, the ear drum may be damaged and one could feel pain just like due to a wound.
- Of course, one could also generate domanassa vedana due to being irritated by that.
An Arahant would feel the first (physical), but not the second (mental) due to that “ear-piercing sound”.