The word gati or realm of rebirth
signifies
"the place where one goes.
Abhidharmakosabhasyam-Vol-2-Vasubandhu-Poussin-Pruden-1991
Definition of Ananatarya 680 2.
Their Sphere 680
C Schism 681 D. Conditions for Moral Transgressions 685 1. Volitional Intention 686 2. Mortal Transgression and Detachment 687
E. The Relative Gravity of the Mortal
Transgressions and their Results 688 1. The Best of Good Moral Aaions 689 2. Mortal Transgressions and Rebirth in Hell 689 3. Killing a Bodhisattva 690
VI. The Bodhisattva 690 A. When is One a Bodhisattva? 690 B. His Cultivation 690 C His Marks 691 D. The Buddhas that He Met 692 E. The Paramitas
? VII. The Three Meritorious Actions
A. Definition of Meritorious Action 694 B. Giving 695
1. Its Results 696 2. Giving Different Objects 697 3. Different Recipients 698 4. The Highest Form of Giving 698 5. The Eight Gifts 699 6. Non-Aryan Fields of Merit 700 7. The Karma of Giving 700
a. The Six Causes 700 b. Aaion Done versus Aaion Accumulated 701 c Offerings Made to a Caitya 702 d A Gift Made to a Bad Field of Merit 703
C The Meritorious Aaions of the Precepts 703 D. The Meritorious Aaions of Absorption 705 E. "Brahmin Merit" 706 F. The Gift of the Dharma 706 G. The Three Types of Good 706
VIII. Miscellaneous Discussions
A. The Value of Writing, Carving,
Eloquence, Poetry, and Calculation B. Synonyms of Various Dharmas
707 707
? CHAPTER THREE
The World
v / m . Homage to the Buddha.
The author wishes to explain the diverse topics of mind that are
produced in Kamadhatu, Rupadhatu, and Arupyadhatu, the realms of desire, physical matter, and no physical matter (ii. 66-73).
What are these three realms?
la-c. Kamadhatu consists of hell, the Pretas, animals, humans,
l
and six gods.
Kamadhatu consists of four complete realms of rebirth (gati, iii. 4) and one part of the heavenly realm of rebirth, namely the six groups of gods, the Caturmaharajikas, the TrayastrimSas, the Yamas, the Tusitas, the Nirmanaratis, and the Paranirmitavasavartins; plus the physical world (bhajanaloka, iii. 45) that contains these beings.
How many places {sthana) are there in Kamadhatu?
lc-d. Twenty, through the division of the hells and the differences in the continents.
The twenty places are eight hells (iii. 58): Samjiva, Kalasutra, Samghata, Raurava, Maharaurava, Tapana, Pratapana, and Avici; four continents (iii. 53): Jambudvlpa, Purvavideha, Avaragodaniya, and Uttarakuru; and six heavenly abodes as above (iii. 64). And the Pretas and animals. Hence, from Avici hell up to the heaven of the Paranirmitavasavartins, there are twenty places which constitute, with the physical world which rests on the circle of wind (iii. 45), Kamadhatu.
2a-b. Above is Rupadhatu, of seventeen places
The seventeen places of Rupadhatu are above Kamadhatu,
? 2b-d. made up of dhyanas which are each of three stages. But the 2
Each of the dhydnas contains three stages or spheres, with the exception of the fourth.
The First Dhyana is made up of the Brahmakayikas, the Brahma- purohitas, and the Mahabrahmanus.
The Second Dhyana is made up of the Parittabhas, the Aprama-
3 nabhas, and the Abhasvaras.
The Third Dhyana is made up of the Parltta? ubhas, the Aprama- nasubhas, and the Subhakrtsnas.
The Fourth Dhyana is made up of the Anabhrakas, the Punya- prasavas, the Brhatphalas, [and the five Suddhavasikas:] Avrhas, Atapas, Sudrsas, Sudarsanas, Akanisthas. These seventeen places
4
But the Kasmirians say that Rupadhatu is made up of only sixteen
5
places. In the heaven of the Brahmapurohitas there rises, they say, a
6 loftydwellingwhichisnamedtheHeavenofBrahma, inhabitedbya
78
single ruler --such as a terrace or a high place --but which does not
constitute a stage (bhumi).
3a. Arupyadhatu is not a place.
In fact non-material dharmas do not occupy a place: likewise the material dharmas when they are past or future, avijnapti and the nonmaterial dharmas, do not occupy a location. But
3b. It is fourfold through its mode of existence.
Akasanantyayatana, Vijnanantyayatana, Akimcanyayatana, and Naivasamjnanasamjnayatana (or Bhavagra) constitute Arupyadhatu which is thus of four types. "Existence** means the appearance of the skandhas in a new existence by reason of aaion: it is not through one and the same aaion that one obtains these different ayatanas that are superior to one another. But this superiority does not imply difference of stage. Where a person exists who possesses an absorption [which produces an existence in Arupyadhatu], here the existence in question begins; here too, at the end of this existence, the intermeditate being who is called to take up a new existence will be formed [in Kamadhatu
fourth is of eight stages.
constitute Rupadhata
9
? or Rupadhatu] (See below, note 36). ***
The mental series, the mind and mental states (pitta and caitta, ii. 23) of material beings is supported on physical matter, rilpa, and in this way can exist. What is the support of the mental series of beings in Ariipyadhatu?
3c-d. Here the mental series exists supported by the nikaya and 40
According to the Abhidharmikas, the mental series of beings in
Ariipyadhatu has for its support two dharmas disassociated from the
mind, nikayasabhagata, genre or genus, an&fivitendriyay the vital organ
(ii-45).
1x
The mental series of material beings is not supported by these two dharmas, because they lack force; but the mental series of nonmaterial beings possess the necessary force, because they proceed from an absorption from whence the idea of physical matter has been eliminated.
But, one would say, genre and the vital organ of material beings is supported by physical matter: but what is the support of genre and the vital organ for nonmaterial beings?
These two support one another. Among material beings, genre and the vital organ do not have the force necessary to support one another, but they have this force among nonmaterial beings, because they proceed from a certain absorption.
According to the Sautrantikas, the mental series, mind and mental states, does not have, among nonmaterial beings, any support which is external to it. This series is strong and can serve as a support.
Or rather, we say that the mind is supported by the mental states, and the mental states by the mind, in the way that you say that genre and the vital organ support one another.
The series of minds of a new existence is "projected" by a certain cause (action-defilement, karma-klesa)\ if this cause is not free from attachment to physical matter, the mind will be reborn with matter, and its series will be supported by matter; if this cause is free from
the vital organ.
ine worm 00/
? attachment to physical matter--as in the case for absorption which is the cause which projects an existence in Arupyadhatu--the mind will be reborn and will exist without relation to physical matter.
***
12 What is the meaning of these terms, Kamadhatu, etc. ,
13
Dhdtu is that which carries (dadhdti) a svalaksana (namely the
kdmas9 etc); or dhatu signifies gotta as has been explained above (i. 20a, English trans, p. 78).
1. Kamadhatu can be understood as "a dhdtu associated with kamas" by ommitting the middle word "assocated with" (samprayukta), as we say "diamond ring" (vajravdlakd) for "a ring decorated with diamonds" {vajrena samprayukto'nguliyakah), or "pepper potion" {maricapdnaka) for "a potion mixed with pepper. "
In the same way Rupadhatu signifies "a dhdtu associated with matter. "
We have the adjective arupa or "free from matter," from whence the 14
abstract noun arupya, absence of matter.
Or rather rupa is that which is susceptible to being struck (rupana),
to resistance (i. 24, English trans, p. 85); arupa, by absence of rupa; arupya, the faa of being such. Arupyadhatu is that which is associated with arupya.
2. Or rather these terms are compounds the first term of which is a genitive: Kamadhatu, the receptacle oidhdtu of the kamas; Rupadhatu, the receptacle of matter; Arupyadhatu, the receptacle of arupya.
What is kdma}
Concupiscence, the desire to eat by mouthfuls (kavadikarahdra, iii. 39) and sexual desire. [Kama does not signify the object of desire, which is called more exactly kdmaguna, but "that which desires," kdmyata aneneti kdmah]. We will see this by the following stanzas.
Sariputra said to an Ajivika, "The fine things of this world are not kamas; kdma is the desire that the imagination nourishes among humans. The objects of the universe are of little importance: the sage overcomes all desire with regard to them. " The Ajivika answered, "If the fine things of this world are not kamas, if kdma is the desire that is nourished by the imagination, the same Bhiksu would be a 'taster of the kamas when he produces bad imaginations. " Sariputra answered, "If the
? fine things of this world are kdmas, if kdma is not desire which the imagination nourishes, then the Master himself would be a taster of the
15 kdmas when he sees objects. "
#**
Should one consider as "intergral" to one Dhatu [= as being of the 16
domain of a Dhatu], all the dharmas that are produced in this Dhatu? No, but merely thedharma with regard to which there develops, and
in which there resides craving (rdga) proper to this Dhatu, craving of Kamadhatu, Rupadhatu, and AArupyadhatu.
What is the craving proper to each Dhatu?
The craving that develops, that resides in the dharmas of this Dhatu. This is the example of the tether: "To whom does this tether
belong? " "To the owner of this horse. " "To whom does this horse belong? " "To the owner of this tether. " This answer does not teach us anything.
We have enumerated the places that constitute Kamadhatu. "Craving proper to Kamadhatu" is the craving of the being who is not detached from this place, who has not rejected craving with regard to the dharmas of this place. The same for the other two Dhatus.
Or rather, "craving proper to Kamadhatu" is the craving of a being who is not absorbed (samdhita); "craving proper to Rupadhatu, to Arupyadhatu" is craving relative to the absorption of dhydna, to the absorptions of arupya.
**#
17
The mind by which one creates magical objects in the sphere of
Kamadhatu is the result of a dhyana.
But this mind is produced only among beings detached from
Kamadhatu.
How can one say that this mind is of the sphere of Kamadhatu? In
fact this mind is not produced among a being not detached from Kamadhatu, and, when this mind is produced among a being detached from Kamadhatu, it cannnot be for him the object of a aaving of the order of Kamadhatu. This mind is hence of the sphere of Kamadhatu
loe worta Toy
? 5/u Lbapter ltoree
without there being, with regard to it, any craving of the order of Kamadhatu: this is a difficulty that contradicts your definition of the Dhatus.
This mind is of the sphere of Kamadhatu because a craving of the order of Kamadhatu is produced with regard to it in a person who intends to speak of this mind as belonging to another, or who remembers having possessed it previously, or who sees magic creations. Or rather because this mind creates some odors or tastes: now a mind of the sphere of Rupadhatu cannot create odors or tastes because beings in Rupadhatu are detached from both of these.
***
18
The triple Dhatus are infinite, like space; although there has not
been any production of new beings, and although innumerable Buddhas
convert innumerable beings and cause them to obtain Nirvana, the
19 beings of innumerable Dhatus are never exhausted
***
How are the three Dhatus arranged?
20 21 22 Horizontally, as the Sutra proves, "as when the cloud Isadhara
rains, there is no interval or discontinuity of the drops of water that fall from space, so too towards the East there is no interval or discontinuity of universes (lokadhatus) in a state of creation and of dissolution; as towards the East, the same towards the South, the West and the North. " The Sutra does not add "toward the zenith and the nadir. "
23
According to another opinion, the universe superimposes itself
24 toward the zenith and the nadir, for, according to other Sutras, the
universes are arranged towards the ten cardinal points. There is then a
25 Kamadhatu above Akanistha and an Akanistha below Kamadhatu.
#**
Whoever is detached from one Kamadhatu is detached from the Kamadhatus of all the universes; the same for the other two Dhatus.
Is this triple Dhatu unique?
? Whoever produces the abhijna or higher knowledge of magical power in the First Dhyana, creates a magical being that can only be the Brahmaloka of the universe wherein the creator of this magical being is born; not in the other universes (vii. 50b).
***
4a-b. In these Dhatus, there are five realms of rebirth that have
26 been designated by their names.
The five gatis or realms of rebirth are hellish beings, animals, Pretas, humans, and gods. In Kamadhatu there are the first four realms of rebirth and a part of the heavenly realm of rebirth; the other parts of the heavenly realm of rebirth exist in the other two Dhatus.
The stanza speaks of "five realms of rebirth" in the Dhatus. Is there then a part of the Dhatus that are not included in the realms of rebirth?
Yes. The good, the bad, the physical world, and intermediate existence are included in the Dhatus. Whereas, as for the five destinies
4b-d. They are undefiled-neutral, they are the world of beings,
27 and they do not include intermediate existence.
The realms of rebirth are undefiled-neutral, being the result of
28
retribution (ii. 57). In the contrary hypothesis, the five realms of
rebirth would be confounded: [in fact, a person can do actions which are repaid through a hellish rebirth, or by a heavenly rebirth: but if action were to be intergal to the realms of rebirth, the humam realm of rebirth would be at one and the same time hellish and heavenly. A being born in Kamadhatu is filled with the defilements of this sphere (bhumi) and can be filled with the defilements of higher spheres. ]
They are saitvakhya (i. lOb), only pertaining to living beings: the physical world is not included within the realms of rebirth.
Intermediate existence is not a realm of rebirth (see below p. 373, line 12; iii. 10).
The nature of the realms of rebirth is illustrated by many texts: 1. The Prajnapti says, "The four wombs (yoni, iii. 8c) exist in the five realms of rebirth; but do the five realms of rebirth contain all four wombs? Intermediate existence, which is an apparitional womb, is not
The World 371
? 372 Chapter Three
included within the five realms of rebirth. "
2. The Dharmaskandha {TD 26, p. 498b23-cll) says, "What is the
eye-element (caksurdhdtu)? Subtle matter derived from the primary elements which, in hell, among animals, among the Pretas, among the gods, among humans, among beings born in an absorption, and among intermediate beings, is eye, eye-organ, eye-source of knowledge, eye-element"
3. The Sutra itself says that intermediate existence is not included
among the realms of rebirth: "There are seven bhavas or existences:
existence in hell, animal, Preta, heavenly, human, plus karmabhava and 29
intermediate existence (antardbhava). " This Sutra indicates the five realms of rebirth (hellish, etc. , existences) with their cause, namely action or karmabhava (iii. 24a), and their access, namely intermediate existence through which a being arrives at a reams of rebirth. At the same time this Sutra shows that the realms of rebirth are undefiled- neutral, since it distinguishes the realms of rebirth (hellish, etc, existences), from the causes of these realms of rebirth, namely action which is non-neutral (=good, bad).
30 4. This last point is again proved by a Sutra which the Ka? mlrians
read: "Sariputra said, 'Venerable One, when the hellish cankers (dsravas) become active, one does and one accumulates actions which should be remunerated by hell. These action of the body, voice, and mind, tortorous, corrupted, 'tainted* (iv. 59) action have for retribution rupa, vedand, samjnd, samskdras and Vijnana in hell. When this retribution is realized, there is what is called hell. Venerable One, outside of these five dharmas, one cannot maintain the existence of any being in hell. " [This says that a being in hell does not exist outside of these five dharmas which are retribution, thus undefiled-neutral).
But how can this thesis accord with the declaration of the
Prakaranagrantha (according to Saeki, this is a summary of TD 26, p.
702a8-711b5): "All the latent defilements (anufayas) reside in and 31
develop in realms of rebirth? "
The answer is that this declaration refers to the initial mind 32
(samdhicitta) of the realms of rebirth, which can be of five types, abandoned through Seeing the Four Noble Truths or through Medita-
33
tion: hence all the latent defilements can reside there. As one says
'village* for 'the confines of the village/ the Prakarana can express itself
? as it does.
#*#
According to another opinion, the realms of rebirth are both good
and defiled In fact, say the followers of this opinion, the argument
quoted from the Sutra ofthe Seven Existences (note 29) does not hold: it
is maintained that action is separate from the five realms of rebirth, but
this does not prove that it is excluded from them. Among the five
corruptions (kasaya) the corruption of defilements (kksakasdya) and
the corruption of views (drstikafdya,ih. 9%) are quoted separately: shall
onesaythatviewsarenotadefilement? Action(karmabhava)isalso 34
included within the realms of rebirth. It is quoted separately because it is the cause of the realms of rebirth.
[The Sarvastivadins:] Does your reasoning apply to the inter-
35 mediate existence which would then be a realm of rebirth?
No.
The word gati or realm of rebirth signifies "the place where one goes. " Now the intermediate existence begins in the place where death has taken place.
[The Sarvastivadins:] This is also the case for the existences of
Arupyadhatu which then are not included among the realms of
36 rebirth.
We say then that intermediate existence is so called because it is intermediate between two realms of rebirth, but it is itself not a realm of rebirth. If it were a realm of rebirth it would not be intermediate, and so it would not be called an intermediate existence.
[The Sarvastivadins:] Admitting that you have refuted the ar- gument taken from the Sutra of the Seven Existences, what do you make of the declaration of Sariputra (above, p. 372, line 20)?
Sariputra says that there is a being in hell when the retribution of hellish actions is realized; it does not say that the realm of rebirth is part retribution, part non-retribution. The text says that there does not exist any being in hell outside of these dharmas, riipa, etc. : its intention is to negate the reality of any person passing from one realm of rebirth into another, not to affirm that the skandhas (rupa9 etc) of the beings in hell are solely retribution.
*#*
The World 373
? 374 Chapter Three
For the Vaibha? ikas, the realms of rebirth are exclusively undefiled-
neutral dharmas. Among the Vaibhasikas, some think that they are
dharmas of retribution {vipdkaja); others think that they are dharmas of 1
retribution and accumulation {aupacayika)* ***
In the three Dhatus with their five realms of rebirth, there is, in ascending order,
5a-6a. Seven abodes or types of consciousnesses (vijndnasthitis), namely: 1. beings different in bodies and ideas; 2. beings of different bodies but similar in ideas; 3. beings similar in body but different in ideas; 4. beings similar in body and ideas; and 5. -7.
38 three classes of non-material beings.
According to the Sutra (Madhyama, 24,11):
1. "Material beings different in bodies and ideas, namely humans
and certain gods, are the first vijndnasthitisy 39
What are these certain gods? The six gods of Kamadhatu (i. l) and the gods of the First Dhyana (world of Brahma) except the prathamd-
40 bhinirvrttas.
They are of different bodies, because their color, their marks
(clothes, ornaments, etc. ), and their figures (height, etc. ) are not
identical. They are of different ideas, because their ideas, ideas of
pleasure, displeasure, neither-pleasure-nor-displeasure, are not iden-
41 tical.
2. "Material beings different in bodies but of similar ideas, namely 42
the prathamdbhinirvrtta Brahmakayika gods, are the second vijna- nasthitis"
All these prathamdbhinirvrtta gods are of similar ideas, for all have
the same idea of a single and same cause, Brahma, who thinks, "They are
created by me," and the associates of Brahma who think, "We are created
43
by Brahma;" there is diversity of body, for one is Brahma, and the
others his followers through their height, their greatness, their bodies,
44 their speech, their clothing and their ornaments.
We read in the Sutra that these gods remember, "We have seen this being of great sight, who lasts so long," and so on to "when he made the
? vow, 'May other beings be born here in my company! / we were born in
45
his company. " (See iii. 90c-d). We ask then where were these gods
46 when they saw Brahma?
According to certain masters [who take their authority from the Sutra that teaches that the Brahmakayikas are reborn in the world of Brahma after dying in Abhasvara Heaven], they saw Brahma when they were in Abhasvara Heaven.
But, we would say, when they fell from Abhasvara Heaven, a heaven of the Second Dhyana, they lost the Second Dhyana, and the Second Dhyana is necessary to the memory of a past existence in the heaven of the Second Dhyana (vii. 44a). Further, they have not re-acquired the Second Dhyana since they have fallen into the erroneous view (e. g. silavrataparamarsa) of considering Mahibrahma as a creator: one cannot say that this erroneous view can accompany the Second Dhyana, since no erroneous view (or any defilement, klesa) of a certain sphere has ever had a lower, inferior sphere as its object.
According to another opinion, they saw Brahma when they were in the intermediate existence {antarabhava) which proceeded their birth in the world of Brahma.
But one would object that this intermediate existence is very short
47
for it cannot have any slowing down of birth in this world. How then
can they say, "We have seen this being of great sight, who lasts so long? " As a consequence, a third opinion, one would say: It is in the world of
Brahma itself that these gods remember the past of Brahma. At the moment when they are born there, they saw him who being born before them, who lasts a long time. Having seen him, they think: "We have seen this being . . . ;" and they know the vow that he made through memory of the sphere of the First Dhyana which they obtained through
48 the very fact of their birth; or rather because Brahma told them.
3. "Material beings similar in body but of different ideas, namely the Abhasvara gods, are the third vijndnasthiti?
The Sutra, in naming the highest gods of the Second Dhyana, the Abhasvaras, also designates the Parlttabha and the Apramanabha gods. If it were otherwise, to which vijnanasthiti would these two classes belong?
There is no difference of color, mark, or figure among them: thus
The World 375
? 376 Chapter Three
these gods have similar bodies. They have ideas of pleasure and of neither-pleasure-nor-displeasure: thus there is diversity of ideas.
In fact, it is said (Vibhdsd, TD, p. 707b6),--wrongly according to us (kila),--that these gods, fatigued with the sensation of mental pleasure--which is the sensation proper to the Second Dhyana--pass into the threshold (samantaka) absorption of this Dhyana, an ab- sorption which allows the sensation of neither-pleasure-nor-displeasure (viii. 22). Fatigued from this second sensation, they again take up the Second Dhyana and the sensation of mental pleasure. In this same way kings fatigued with the pleasures of lust {kdmasukha) take up the pleasure of government (or of dharma), and fatigued with dharma take up again the pleasure of lust.
One would object that it should hold for a god of the Third Dhyana (Subhakrtsnas, etc: fourth vijnanasthiti) as for the gods of the Second Dhyana: yet the gods of the Third Dhyana do not pass into samantaka, and always possess the sensation of pleasure.
But this objection is in vain. The Subhakrtsnas do not become fatigued with the pleasures of the Abhasvaras, since they are calm, whereas the pleasures of the Abhasvaras, being mental pleasures, trouble the mind and are not calm.
The Sautrantikas are of a different opinion. They quote the Sutra
(Saptasuryavydkarana, Dtrgha TD1, p. 138b25, and Madhyama, TD1, 49
p. 429a22): "Beings that are born for a short time in Abhasvara Heaven know poorly the laws of the destruction of the universe. When the destruction of the universe takes place through fire, they see the flames rising and destroying the palace of the world of Brahma: they are frightened, grieved, confused, 'May these flames not rise up to here! ' But the beings who have lived for a long time in Abhasvara Heaven know of these cosmic changes and reassure their frightened companions, D o not be afraid, friend! Do not be afraid, friend! Already previously this fire, having burnt the Palace of Brahma, disappeared' Then one sees indeed how the gods of the Second Dhyana have different ideas: at the burning up of the worlds in the First Dhyana, they have ideas of the arriving or the non-arriving of the flames amongst them, and they have ideas of fear and no fear. The explanation of the Vaibhasikas then, that these gods exchange the sensation of pleasure and indifference, is not good.
4. "Material beings of similar bodies and ideas, namely the
? gubhakrtsnas, are the fourth vijndnasthiti"
They have the same ideas, because they have the sensation of
pleasure.
In the First Dhyana, there is uniformity of ideas, ideas defiled since
they are associated with filavratapardmarsa\ in the Second Dhyana, there is diversity of ideas, namely good ideas of the Dhyana proper and of its threshold absorption; and in the third Dhy? na, there is uniformity of ideas, ideas arisen from retribution.
5. - 7. The first three Arupyas are the last three vijndnasthitis as it 50
***
What are the vijndnasthitis} The five skandhas of Kamadhatu or Rupadhatu for the first ones (see iii. 7c), and four skandhas for the last three.
Why are not the rest vijndnasthiti! 6b. The rest reduce the Vijnana.
The "rest" refers to the painful realms of rebirth (durgati, apdya: hell, etc), the Fourth Dhyana, and the Fourth Arupya (=Naivasa- mjfianasamjnayatana) which is called Bhavagra or the summit of existence.
52
Here, in these realms, the Vijnana is reduced, or cut off: in the
painful realms of rebirth, painful sensation damages the vijndna\ in the Fourth Dhyana, an ascetic can cultivate asamjnisamdpatti, the ab- sorption of unconsciousness (ii. 42), and in this Dhyana there is also dsamjfiika, namely the dharma (ii. 41b) that creates the Unconcsious Gods (Asamjnisattva); in Bhavagra, the ascetic can cultivate nirodha- samdpatti (ii. 43a), the absorption of the cessation of ideas and sensations.
According to another explanation (Vibhdsa, TD 27, p. 708al4), vijUdnasthiti is "the place where those who are here desire to go, the place from whence those who are there do not desire to fall. " These two conditions are absent in the painful realms of rebirth. As for the Fourth Dhyana, all those who are in it desire to leave it: Prthagjanas desire to pass to the realm of the Asamjnisattvas; Aryans desire to pass to the
says in the Sutra.
51
The World 377
? 378 Chapter Three
Suddhavasikas [or to the Arupyayatanas; and the Suddhavasikas desire
53 to realize the calm of extinction, sdntanirodha].
Bhavagra is not a vijndnasthiti because there is little activity of the 54
Vijnana in it.
***
The seven vijndnasthitis,
6c-d With Bhavagra and unconscious beings, are the nine
55 "dwellings of beings. "
For creatures dwell therein as they will.
7a. There are no other dwellings of beings, for elsewhere one lives without desiring it.
"Elsewhere" refers to the painful realms of rebirth. Beings are brought there by the Raksasa which is Karma and live there without desiring it. This is not one of the "dwellings" in the same way that a
56 prison is not a dwelling.
#*#
If one Sutra says that there are seven vijndnasthiti, according to another Sutra
57 7b. There are four other sthitis.
These four are: rupa as an abode of vijndna, (rupopagd vijndna- sthitih), vedand or sensation as an abode of vijndna (vedanopagd vijndnasthitih), ideas as an abode of vijndna (samjnopagd vijndna- sthitih), and the samskdras or forces as an abode of vijndna (samskd- ropagd vijndnasthitih).
7c-d. They consist of the four impure skandhasy which are of the
58 same sphere as the vijndna.
The consciousness or vijndna can grasp visible things and the other skandhas of a different sphere as its object: but it cannot grasp them as object under the impulse of craving; thus they are not considered as its
? abode or sthiti (see above, note 16).
But why is the fifth skandha, the consciousness itself (mind and
mental states), not considered as an abode of the consciousness?
The Vaibhasikas observe that the sthiti, "that upon which, or within
which one grasps" is opposed to sthdtar, "he who grasps. " Devadatta is opposed to the horse that he is sitting on. The king is not the throne. Or again vijndnasthiti signifies an abode of the mind, and the dharmas upon which the mind rides in order to move forward, are like the sailors on the ship: now the mind does not ride on the mind in order to move; hence the mind is not an abode of the mind
But another Sutra says, "There is delight (nandi-saumanasya'sms- faction) and attachment with regard to this food which is the consciousness" (iii. 40a). If there is delight and attachment with regard to
59 the consciousness then the consciousness rides in it and resides in it.
On the other hand, you teach that the five skandhas (including the consciousness) constitute the sevenfold abode of consciousness (iii. 5a); why do you not add the consciousness to the fourfold abodes of consciousness?
The Vaibhasikas answer: When we consider, without making any distinction between the skandhas, the process attached to the con- sciousness with regard to its arising which is made up of the five skandhas, then we can say that the vijnana is a vijndnasthiti. But, if we consider the skandhas one by one, we see that matter, sensation, ideas, and the samskaras--which are the support of the consciousness, and are associated or coexistent with the consciousness--are the causes of the defilement of the consciousness: but the consdousnesss is not, in this way, the cause of the defilement of the consciousness, since two consciousnesses do not coexist. Thus
7d-8a. Taken separately, the consciousness is not defined as an abode of the consciousness.
Further, the Blessed One described the four abodes of consciousness as "a field," and he describes the consciousness, accompanied by desire,
60
as "a seed. "
indeed that the dharmas that coexist with the consciousness merely serve as its field.
He does not give the seed as a field of the seed; and we see
The World 379
? 380 Chapter Three
#*#
Do the four sthitis contain the seven, and do the seven contain the four?
No.
8b. The correspondance admits of four cases.
First case: the consciousness is included among the seven, but not
among the four.
Second case: the four skandhas (excluding the consciousness) of the
painful realms of rebirth, the Fourth Dhyana and Bhavagra, are included among the four.
Third case: the four skandhas are included among the seven, and are also included among the four.
Fourth case: the other dharmas are included neither among the seven nor among the four, [namely the consciousness of the painful realms of rebirth, etc, and the pure dharmas].
###
We have said that the three Dhatus include five realms of rebirth, etc.
8c-d There are here four "wombs" of beings, beings born from
61 eggs, etc.
Yoni or womb signifies birth. Eytmologically, yoni signifies "mixture": in birth--birth being common to all creatures--beings are
62 mixed together in confusion.
"Womb of beings born from eggs" are those beings who arise from eggs, geese, cranes, peacocks, parrots, thrushes, etc.
"Womb of beings born from wombs" are those beings who arise
63 from a womb, elephants, horses, cows, buffalos, asses, pigs, etc.
w
"Wombs of beings born from moisture"
from the exudation of the elements, earth, etc. ,--worms, insects, butterflies, mosquitos.
65
"Womb of apparitional beings" are those beings who arise all at
66
once, with their organs neither lacking nor deficient, with all their
are those beings who arise
? major and minor limbs. These are called upapaduka, apparitional, because they are skillful at appearing (upapadana), and because they arise all at once [without an embryonic state, without semen and blood];
67 such as gods, beings in hell, or beings in an intermediate existence.
**#
How are the wombs distributed among the realms of rebirth? 9a. Humans and animals are of the four types.
Humans can be born from an egg, such as Saila and Upasaila who
68
were born from the eggs of a crane; the thirty-two sons of (Visakha),
69
the mother of Mrgara; and the five hundred sons of the King of
70 Paficala.
71 Humans can be born from moisture, such as Mandhatar, Cam
72 73 Upacaru, Kapotamalini, Amrapali, etc.
Apparational humans (ii. 14) are humans at the beginning of the cosmic period (prMhamakdpika, ii. 14, iii. 97c).
Animals are also of four types. These types are known through common experience. Nagas and Garudas are also apparitional (see below, note 83).
9b-c. Beings in hell, intermediate beings, and the gods are
74 apparitional too.
These three classes of beings are exclusively apparitional. 9d Pretas are also born from a womb.
They are of two types, apparitional and born from a womb. That they are born from a womb results from a discourse that a Pretl had with Maudgalyayana, "I gave birth to five sons a night, to five sons a day: I ate
75 them and was not satisfied. "
***
What is the best womb?
The apparitional womb.
But the Bodhisattva in his last birth evidently possesses "mastery
The World 381
? 382 Chapter Three
16
relating to arising" (upapattivaiitva). Why did he then choose to be
77 born from a womb? (See iii. 17)
There are two answers to this question. 1. The Bodhisattva sees great advantage in it: by reason of their relationship with him, the great Sakya clan enters into the Good Law; and, recognizing in him a member of the family of the Cakravartins, persons experience a great respect towards him; persons are encouraged seeing that, being a man, he has realized this perfection. If the Bodhisattva were not born from the womb, we would not know his family, and persons would say, "What is this magician, a god or a Pi? aca? " In fact non-Buddhists masters calumniously say that at the end of one hundred cosmic periods there would appear in the world such a magician who devours the world
78 through his magic
79
2. Others explain that the Bodhisattva has taken up the womb in
80
order that his body remains as relics after his Nirvana: through the
adoration of these relics, humans and other creatures by the thousands
obtain heaven and deliverance. In fact, the bodies of apparational beings,
not having any external seed (semen, blood, bone, etc. ), do not continue
to exist after their deaths, like a flame which disappears without
81
remnant. But we see indeed that this explanation cannot be admitted
82 by the masters who attribute rddhi ddhisthanikt to the Buddha.
***
One question arises from another.
If the bodies of apparitional beings disappear at their deaths, how
can the Sutra say, "The apparitional Garuda seizes the apparitional
83 Naga in order to eat it? "
The text says that he seizes the Naga in order to eat it, not that he does eat it.
Or rather he eats the Naga as long as the Naga is not dead: but he does not feast on the dead Naga.
***
What is the least desirable of the wombs?
The apparitional womb, for it embraces all hellish realms of rebirth,
? all heavenly realms of rebirth, plus one part of the three other realms of
84 rebirth, plus intermediate beings.
What is an intermediate being, and an intermediate existence?
10. Intermediate existence, which inserts itself between ex-
istence at death and existence at birth, not having arrived at the
85 location where it should go, cannot be said to be born.
Between death--that is, the five skandhas of the moment of death--and arising--that is, the five skandhas of the moment of rebirth--there is found an existence--a "body" of five skandhas--that goes to the place of rebirth. This existence between two realms of rebirth (gati) is called intermediate existence. **
This existence is produced: why not say that it arises (upapanna); why not attribute birth (upapatti) to it?
We say that it is arising (upapadyamdna); but it is not born (see iiL40c). In fact as its etymology indicates (pad-gam, upapanna-upagata), to be born is to arrive. Intermediate existence (or intermediate being), when it begins, has not arrived at the place where it should go, namely to
87 the place where the retribution of actions is manifested and achieved.
88
According to other seas,
between death and birth: but there is no intermediate existence.
This opinion is false, as reasoning and Scripture prove.
C Schism 681 D. Conditions for Moral Transgressions 685 1. Volitional Intention 686 2. Mortal Transgression and Detachment 687
E. The Relative Gravity of the Mortal
Transgressions and their Results 688 1. The Best of Good Moral Aaions 689 2. Mortal Transgressions and Rebirth in Hell 689 3. Killing a Bodhisattva 690
VI. The Bodhisattva 690 A. When is One a Bodhisattva? 690 B. His Cultivation 690 C His Marks 691 D. The Buddhas that He Met 692 E. The Paramitas
? VII. The Three Meritorious Actions
A. Definition of Meritorious Action 694 B. Giving 695
1. Its Results 696 2. Giving Different Objects 697 3. Different Recipients 698 4. The Highest Form of Giving 698 5. The Eight Gifts 699 6. Non-Aryan Fields of Merit 700 7. The Karma of Giving 700
a. The Six Causes 700 b. Aaion Done versus Aaion Accumulated 701 c Offerings Made to a Caitya 702 d A Gift Made to a Bad Field of Merit 703
C The Meritorious Aaions of the Precepts 703 D. The Meritorious Aaions of Absorption 705 E. "Brahmin Merit" 706 F. The Gift of the Dharma 706 G. The Three Types of Good 706
VIII. Miscellaneous Discussions
A. The Value of Writing, Carving,
Eloquence, Poetry, and Calculation B. Synonyms of Various Dharmas
707 707
? CHAPTER THREE
The World
v / m . Homage to the Buddha.
The author wishes to explain the diverse topics of mind that are
produced in Kamadhatu, Rupadhatu, and Arupyadhatu, the realms of desire, physical matter, and no physical matter (ii. 66-73).
What are these three realms?
la-c. Kamadhatu consists of hell, the Pretas, animals, humans,
l
and six gods.
Kamadhatu consists of four complete realms of rebirth (gati, iii. 4) and one part of the heavenly realm of rebirth, namely the six groups of gods, the Caturmaharajikas, the TrayastrimSas, the Yamas, the Tusitas, the Nirmanaratis, and the Paranirmitavasavartins; plus the physical world (bhajanaloka, iii. 45) that contains these beings.
How many places {sthana) are there in Kamadhatu?
lc-d. Twenty, through the division of the hells and the differences in the continents.
The twenty places are eight hells (iii. 58): Samjiva, Kalasutra, Samghata, Raurava, Maharaurava, Tapana, Pratapana, and Avici; four continents (iii. 53): Jambudvlpa, Purvavideha, Avaragodaniya, and Uttarakuru; and six heavenly abodes as above (iii. 64). And the Pretas and animals. Hence, from Avici hell up to the heaven of the Paranirmitavasavartins, there are twenty places which constitute, with the physical world which rests on the circle of wind (iii. 45), Kamadhatu.
2a-b. Above is Rupadhatu, of seventeen places
The seventeen places of Rupadhatu are above Kamadhatu,
? 2b-d. made up of dhyanas which are each of three stages. But the 2
Each of the dhydnas contains three stages or spheres, with the exception of the fourth.
The First Dhyana is made up of the Brahmakayikas, the Brahma- purohitas, and the Mahabrahmanus.
The Second Dhyana is made up of the Parittabhas, the Aprama-
3 nabhas, and the Abhasvaras.
The Third Dhyana is made up of the Parltta? ubhas, the Aprama- nasubhas, and the Subhakrtsnas.
The Fourth Dhyana is made up of the Anabhrakas, the Punya- prasavas, the Brhatphalas, [and the five Suddhavasikas:] Avrhas, Atapas, Sudrsas, Sudarsanas, Akanisthas. These seventeen places
4
But the Kasmirians say that Rupadhatu is made up of only sixteen
5
places. In the heaven of the Brahmapurohitas there rises, they say, a
6 loftydwellingwhichisnamedtheHeavenofBrahma, inhabitedbya
78
single ruler --such as a terrace or a high place --but which does not
constitute a stage (bhumi).
3a. Arupyadhatu is not a place.
In fact non-material dharmas do not occupy a place: likewise the material dharmas when they are past or future, avijnapti and the nonmaterial dharmas, do not occupy a location. But
3b. It is fourfold through its mode of existence.
Akasanantyayatana, Vijnanantyayatana, Akimcanyayatana, and Naivasamjnanasamjnayatana (or Bhavagra) constitute Arupyadhatu which is thus of four types. "Existence** means the appearance of the skandhas in a new existence by reason of aaion: it is not through one and the same aaion that one obtains these different ayatanas that are superior to one another. But this superiority does not imply difference of stage. Where a person exists who possesses an absorption [which produces an existence in Arupyadhatu], here the existence in question begins; here too, at the end of this existence, the intermeditate being who is called to take up a new existence will be formed [in Kamadhatu
fourth is of eight stages.
constitute Rupadhata
9
? or Rupadhatu] (See below, note 36). ***
The mental series, the mind and mental states (pitta and caitta, ii. 23) of material beings is supported on physical matter, rilpa, and in this way can exist. What is the support of the mental series of beings in Ariipyadhatu?
3c-d. Here the mental series exists supported by the nikaya and 40
According to the Abhidharmikas, the mental series of beings in
Ariipyadhatu has for its support two dharmas disassociated from the
mind, nikayasabhagata, genre or genus, an&fivitendriyay the vital organ
(ii-45).
1x
The mental series of material beings is not supported by these two dharmas, because they lack force; but the mental series of nonmaterial beings possess the necessary force, because they proceed from an absorption from whence the idea of physical matter has been eliminated.
But, one would say, genre and the vital organ of material beings is supported by physical matter: but what is the support of genre and the vital organ for nonmaterial beings?
These two support one another. Among material beings, genre and the vital organ do not have the force necessary to support one another, but they have this force among nonmaterial beings, because they proceed from a certain absorption.
According to the Sautrantikas, the mental series, mind and mental states, does not have, among nonmaterial beings, any support which is external to it. This series is strong and can serve as a support.
Or rather, we say that the mind is supported by the mental states, and the mental states by the mind, in the way that you say that genre and the vital organ support one another.
The series of minds of a new existence is "projected" by a certain cause (action-defilement, karma-klesa)\ if this cause is not free from attachment to physical matter, the mind will be reborn with matter, and its series will be supported by matter; if this cause is free from
the vital organ.
ine worm 00/
? attachment to physical matter--as in the case for absorption which is the cause which projects an existence in Arupyadhatu--the mind will be reborn and will exist without relation to physical matter.
***
12 What is the meaning of these terms, Kamadhatu, etc. ,
13
Dhdtu is that which carries (dadhdti) a svalaksana (namely the
kdmas9 etc); or dhatu signifies gotta as has been explained above (i. 20a, English trans, p. 78).
1. Kamadhatu can be understood as "a dhdtu associated with kamas" by ommitting the middle word "assocated with" (samprayukta), as we say "diamond ring" (vajravdlakd) for "a ring decorated with diamonds" {vajrena samprayukto'nguliyakah), or "pepper potion" {maricapdnaka) for "a potion mixed with pepper. "
In the same way Rupadhatu signifies "a dhdtu associated with matter. "
We have the adjective arupa or "free from matter," from whence the 14
abstract noun arupya, absence of matter.
Or rather rupa is that which is susceptible to being struck (rupana),
to resistance (i. 24, English trans, p. 85); arupa, by absence of rupa; arupya, the faa of being such. Arupyadhatu is that which is associated with arupya.
2. Or rather these terms are compounds the first term of which is a genitive: Kamadhatu, the receptacle oidhdtu of the kamas; Rupadhatu, the receptacle of matter; Arupyadhatu, the receptacle of arupya.
What is kdma}
Concupiscence, the desire to eat by mouthfuls (kavadikarahdra, iii. 39) and sexual desire. [Kama does not signify the object of desire, which is called more exactly kdmaguna, but "that which desires," kdmyata aneneti kdmah]. We will see this by the following stanzas.
Sariputra said to an Ajivika, "The fine things of this world are not kamas; kdma is the desire that the imagination nourishes among humans. The objects of the universe are of little importance: the sage overcomes all desire with regard to them. " The Ajivika answered, "If the fine things of this world are not kamas, if kdma is the desire that is nourished by the imagination, the same Bhiksu would be a 'taster of the kamas when he produces bad imaginations. " Sariputra answered, "If the
? fine things of this world are kdmas, if kdma is not desire which the imagination nourishes, then the Master himself would be a taster of the
15 kdmas when he sees objects. "
#**
Should one consider as "intergral" to one Dhatu [= as being of the 16
domain of a Dhatu], all the dharmas that are produced in this Dhatu? No, but merely thedharma with regard to which there develops, and
in which there resides craving (rdga) proper to this Dhatu, craving of Kamadhatu, Rupadhatu, and AArupyadhatu.
What is the craving proper to each Dhatu?
The craving that develops, that resides in the dharmas of this Dhatu. This is the example of the tether: "To whom does this tether
belong? " "To the owner of this horse. " "To whom does this horse belong? " "To the owner of this tether. " This answer does not teach us anything.
We have enumerated the places that constitute Kamadhatu. "Craving proper to Kamadhatu" is the craving of the being who is not detached from this place, who has not rejected craving with regard to the dharmas of this place. The same for the other two Dhatus.
Or rather, "craving proper to Kamadhatu" is the craving of a being who is not absorbed (samdhita); "craving proper to Rupadhatu, to Arupyadhatu" is craving relative to the absorption of dhydna, to the absorptions of arupya.
**#
17
The mind by which one creates magical objects in the sphere of
Kamadhatu is the result of a dhyana.
But this mind is produced only among beings detached from
Kamadhatu.
How can one say that this mind is of the sphere of Kamadhatu? In
fact this mind is not produced among a being not detached from Kamadhatu, and, when this mind is produced among a being detached from Kamadhatu, it cannnot be for him the object of a aaving of the order of Kamadhatu. This mind is hence of the sphere of Kamadhatu
loe worta Toy
? 5/u Lbapter ltoree
without there being, with regard to it, any craving of the order of Kamadhatu: this is a difficulty that contradicts your definition of the Dhatus.
This mind is of the sphere of Kamadhatu because a craving of the order of Kamadhatu is produced with regard to it in a person who intends to speak of this mind as belonging to another, or who remembers having possessed it previously, or who sees magic creations. Or rather because this mind creates some odors or tastes: now a mind of the sphere of Rupadhatu cannot create odors or tastes because beings in Rupadhatu are detached from both of these.
***
18
The triple Dhatus are infinite, like space; although there has not
been any production of new beings, and although innumerable Buddhas
convert innumerable beings and cause them to obtain Nirvana, the
19 beings of innumerable Dhatus are never exhausted
***
How are the three Dhatus arranged?
20 21 22 Horizontally, as the Sutra proves, "as when the cloud Isadhara
rains, there is no interval or discontinuity of the drops of water that fall from space, so too towards the East there is no interval or discontinuity of universes (lokadhatus) in a state of creation and of dissolution; as towards the East, the same towards the South, the West and the North. " The Sutra does not add "toward the zenith and the nadir. "
23
According to another opinion, the universe superimposes itself
24 toward the zenith and the nadir, for, according to other Sutras, the
universes are arranged towards the ten cardinal points. There is then a
25 Kamadhatu above Akanistha and an Akanistha below Kamadhatu.
#**
Whoever is detached from one Kamadhatu is detached from the Kamadhatus of all the universes; the same for the other two Dhatus.
Is this triple Dhatu unique?
? Whoever produces the abhijna or higher knowledge of magical power in the First Dhyana, creates a magical being that can only be the Brahmaloka of the universe wherein the creator of this magical being is born; not in the other universes (vii. 50b).
***
4a-b. In these Dhatus, there are five realms of rebirth that have
26 been designated by their names.
The five gatis or realms of rebirth are hellish beings, animals, Pretas, humans, and gods. In Kamadhatu there are the first four realms of rebirth and a part of the heavenly realm of rebirth; the other parts of the heavenly realm of rebirth exist in the other two Dhatus.
The stanza speaks of "five realms of rebirth" in the Dhatus. Is there then a part of the Dhatus that are not included in the realms of rebirth?
Yes. The good, the bad, the physical world, and intermediate existence are included in the Dhatus. Whereas, as for the five destinies
4b-d. They are undefiled-neutral, they are the world of beings,
27 and they do not include intermediate existence.
The realms of rebirth are undefiled-neutral, being the result of
28
retribution (ii. 57). In the contrary hypothesis, the five realms of
rebirth would be confounded: [in fact, a person can do actions which are repaid through a hellish rebirth, or by a heavenly rebirth: but if action were to be intergal to the realms of rebirth, the humam realm of rebirth would be at one and the same time hellish and heavenly. A being born in Kamadhatu is filled with the defilements of this sphere (bhumi) and can be filled with the defilements of higher spheres. ]
They are saitvakhya (i. lOb), only pertaining to living beings: the physical world is not included within the realms of rebirth.
Intermediate existence is not a realm of rebirth (see below p. 373, line 12; iii. 10).
The nature of the realms of rebirth is illustrated by many texts: 1. The Prajnapti says, "The four wombs (yoni, iii. 8c) exist in the five realms of rebirth; but do the five realms of rebirth contain all four wombs? Intermediate existence, which is an apparitional womb, is not
The World 371
? 372 Chapter Three
included within the five realms of rebirth. "
2. The Dharmaskandha {TD 26, p. 498b23-cll) says, "What is the
eye-element (caksurdhdtu)? Subtle matter derived from the primary elements which, in hell, among animals, among the Pretas, among the gods, among humans, among beings born in an absorption, and among intermediate beings, is eye, eye-organ, eye-source of knowledge, eye-element"
3. The Sutra itself says that intermediate existence is not included
among the realms of rebirth: "There are seven bhavas or existences:
existence in hell, animal, Preta, heavenly, human, plus karmabhava and 29
intermediate existence (antardbhava). " This Sutra indicates the five realms of rebirth (hellish, etc. , existences) with their cause, namely action or karmabhava (iii. 24a), and their access, namely intermediate existence through which a being arrives at a reams of rebirth. At the same time this Sutra shows that the realms of rebirth are undefiled- neutral, since it distinguishes the realms of rebirth (hellish, etc, existences), from the causes of these realms of rebirth, namely action which is non-neutral (=good, bad).
30 4. This last point is again proved by a Sutra which the Ka? mlrians
read: "Sariputra said, 'Venerable One, when the hellish cankers (dsravas) become active, one does and one accumulates actions which should be remunerated by hell. These action of the body, voice, and mind, tortorous, corrupted, 'tainted* (iv. 59) action have for retribution rupa, vedand, samjnd, samskdras and Vijnana in hell. When this retribution is realized, there is what is called hell. Venerable One, outside of these five dharmas, one cannot maintain the existence of any being in hell. " [This says that a being in hell does not exist outside of these five dharmas which are retribution, thus undefiled-neutral).
But how can this thesis accord with the declaration of the
Prakaranagrantha (according to Saeki, this is a summary of TD 26, p.
702a8-711b5): "All the latent defilements (anufayas) reside in and 31
develop in realms of rebirth? "
The answer is that this declaration refers to the initial mind 32
(samdhicitta) of the realms of rebirth, which can be of five types, abandoned through Seeing the Four Noble Truths or through Medita-
33
tion: hence all the latent defilements can reside there. As one says
'village* for 'the confines of the village/ the Prakarana can express itself
? as it does.
#*#
According to another opinion, the realms of rebirth are both good
and defiled In fact, say the followers of this opinion, the argument
quoted from the Sutra ofthe Seven Existences (note 29) does not hold: it
is maintained that action is separate from the five realms of rebirth, but
this does not prove that it is excluded from them. Among the five
corruptions (kasaya) the corruption of defilements (kksakasdya) and
the corruption of views (drstikafdya,ih. 9%) are quoted separately: shall
onesaythatviewsarenotadefilement? Action(karmabhava)isalso 34
included within the realms of rebirth. It is quoted separately because it is the cause of the realms of rebirth.
[The Sarvastivadins:] Does your reasoning apply to the inter-
35 mediate existence which would then be a realm of rebirth?
No.
The word gati or realm of rebirth signifies "the place where one goes. " Now the intermediate existence begins in the place where death has taken place.
[The Sarvastivadins:] This is also the case for the existences of
Arupyadhatu which then are not included among the realms of
36 rebirth.
We say then that intermediate existence is so called because it is intermediate between two realms of rebirth, but it is itself not a realm of rebirth. If it were a realm of rebirth it would not be intermediate, and so it would not be called an intermediate existence.
[The Sarvastivadins:] Admitting that you have refuted the ar- gument taken from the Sutra of the Seven Existences, what do you make of the declaration of Sariputra (above, p. 372, line 20)?
Sariputra says that there is a being in hell when the retribution of hellish actions is realized; it does not say that the realm of rebirth is part retribution, part non-retribution. The text says that there does not exist any being in hell outside of these dharmas, riipa, etc. : its intention is to negate the reality of any person passing from one realm of rebirth into another, not to affirm that the skandhas (rupa9 etc) of the beings in hell are solely retribution.
*#*
The World 373
? 374 Chapter Three
For the Vaibha? ikas, the realms of rebirth are exclusively undefiled-
neutral dharmas. Among the Vaibhasikas, some think that they are
dharmas of retribution {vipdkaja); others think that they are dharmas of 1
retribution and accumulation {aupacayika)* ***
In the three Dhatus with their five realms of rebirth, there is, in ascending order,
5a-6a. Seven abodes or types of consciousnesses (vijndnasthitis), namely: 1. beings different in bodies and ideas; 2. beings of different bodies but similar in ideas; 3. beings similar in body but different in ideas; 4. beings similar in body and ideas; and 5. -7.
38 three classes of non-material beings.
According to the Sutra (Madhyama, 24,11):
1. "Material beings different in bodies and ideas, namely humans
and certain gods, are the first vijndnasthitisy 39
What are these certain gods? The six gods of Kamadhatu (i. l) and the gods of the First Dhyana (world of Brahma) except the prathamd-
40 bhinirvrttas.
They are of different bodies, because their color, their marks
(clothes, ornaments, etc. ), and their figures (height, etc. ) are not
identical. They are of different ideas, because their ideas, ideas of
pleasure, displeasure, neither-pleasure-nor-displeasure, are not iden-
41 tical.
2. "Material beings different in bodies but of similar ideas, namely 42
the prathamdbhinirvrtta Brahmakayika gods, are the second vijna- nasthitis"
All these prathamdbhinirvrtta gods are of similar ideas, for all have
the same idea of a single and same cause, Brahma, who thinks, "They are
created by me," and the associates of Brahma who think, "We are created
43
by Brahma;" there is diversity of body, for one is Brahma, and the
others his followers through their height, their greatness, their bodies,
44 their speech, their clothing and their ornaments.
We read in the Sutra that these gods remember, "We have seen this being of great sight, who lasts so long," and so on to "when he made the
? vow, 'May other beings be born here in my company! / we were born in
45
his company. " (See iii. 90c-d). We ask then where were these gods
46 when they saw Brahma?
According to certain masters [who take their authority from the Sutra that teaches that the Brahmakayikas are reborn in the world of Brahma after dying in Abhasvara Heaven], they saw Brahma when they were in Abhasvara Heaven.
But, we would say, when they fell from Abhasvara Heaven, a heaven of the Second Dhyana, they lost the Second Dhyana, and the Second Dhyana is necessary to the memory of a past existence in the heaven of the Second Dhyana (vii. 44a). Further, they have not re-acquired the Second Dhyana since they have fallen into the erroneous view (e. g. silavrataparamarsa) of considering Mahibrahma as a creator: one cannot say that this erroneous view can accompany the Second Dhyana, since no erroneous view (or any defilement, klesa) of a certain sphere has ever had a lower, inferior sphere as its object.
According to another opinion, they saw Brahma when they were in the intermediate existence {antarabhava) which proceeded their birth in the world of Brahma.
But one would object that this intermediate existence is very short
47
for it cannot have any slowing down of birth in this world. How then
can they say, "We have seen this being of great sight, who lasts so long? " As a consequence, a third opinion, one would say: It is in the world of
Brahma itself that these gods remember the past of Brahma. At the moment when they are born there, they saw him who being born before them, who lasts a long time. Having seen him, they think: "We have seen this being . . . ;" and they know the vow that he made through memory of the sphere of the First Dhyana which they obtained through
48 the very fact of their birth; or rather because Brahma told them.
3. "Material beings similar in body but of different ideas, namely the Abhasvara gods, are the third vijndnasthiti?
The Sutra, in naming the highest gods of the Second Dhyana, the Abhasvaras, also designates the Parlttabha and the Apramanabha gods. If it were otherwise, to which vijnanasthiti would these two classes belong?
There is no difference of color, mark, or figure among them: thus
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these gods have similar bodies. They have ideas of pleasure and of neither-pleasure-nor-displeasure: thus there is diversity of ideas.
In fact, it is said (Vibhdsd, TD, p. 707b6),--wrongly according to us (kila),--that these gods, fatigued with the sensation of mental pleasure--which is the sensation proper to the Second Dhyana--pass into the threshold (samantaka) absorption of this Dhyana, an ab- sorption which allows the sensation of neither-pleasure-nor-displeasure (viii. 22). Fatigued from this second sensation, they again take up the Second Dhyana and the sensation of mental pleasure. In this same way kings fatigued with the pleasures of lust {kdmasukha) take up the pleasure of government (or of dharma), and fatigued with dharma take up again the pleasure of lust.
One would object that it should hold for a god of the Third Dhyana (Subhakrtsnas, etc: fourth vijnanasthiti) as for the gods of the Second Dhyana: yet the gods of the Third Dhyana do not pass into samantaka, and always possess the sensation of pleasure.
But this objection is in vain. The Subhakrtsnas do not become fatigued with the pleasures of the Abhasvaras, since they are calm, whereas the pleasures of the Abhasvaras, being mental pleasures, trouble the mind and are not calm.
The Sautrantikas are of a different opinion. They quote the Sutra
(Saptasuryavydkarana, Dtrgha TD1, p. 138b25, and Madhyama, TD1, 49
p. 429a22): "Beings that are born for a short time in Abhasvara Heaven know poorly the laws of the destruction of the universe. When the destruction of the universe takes place through fire, they see the flames rising and destroying the palace of the world of Brahma: they are frightened, grieved, confused, 'May these flames not rise up to here! ' But the beings who have lived for a long time in Abhasvara Heaven know of these cosmic changes and reassure their frightened companions, D o not be afraid, friend! Do not be afraid, friend! Already previously this fire, having burnt the Palace of Brahma, disappeared' Then one sees indeed how the gods of the Second Dhyana have different ideas: at the burning up of the worlds in the First Dhyana, they have ideas of the arriving or the non-arriving of the flames amongst them, and they have ideas of fear and no fear. The explanation of the Vaibhasikas then, that these gods exchange the sensation of pleasure and indifference, is not good.
4. "Material beings of similar bodies and ideas, namely the
? gubhakrtsnas, are the fourth vijndnasthiti"
They have the same ideas, because they have the sensation of
pleasure.
In the First Dhyana, there is uniformity of ideas, ideas defiled since
they are associated with filavratapardmarsa\ in the Second Dhyana, there is diversity of ideas, namely good ideas of the Dhyana proper and of its threshold absorption; and in the third Dhy? na, there is uniformity of ideas, ideas arisen from retribution.
5. - 7. The first three Arupyas are the last three vijndnasthitis as it 50
***
What are the vijndnasthitis} The five skandhas of Kamadhatu or Rupadhatu for the first ones (see iii. 7c), and four skandhas for the last three.
Why are not the rest vijndnasthiti! 6b. The rest reduce the Vijnana.
The "rest" refers to the painful realms of rebirth (durgati, apdya: hell, etc), the Fourth Dhyana, and the Fourth Arupya (=Naivasa- mjfianasamjnayatana) which is called Bhavagra or the summit of existence.
52
Here, in these realms, the Vijnana is reduced, or cut off: in the
painful realms of rebirth, painful sensation damages the vijndna\ in the Fourth Dhyana, an ascetic can cultivate asamjnisamdpatti, the ab- sorption of unconsciousness (ii. 42), and in this Dhyana there is also dsamjfiika, namely the dharma (ii. 41b) that creates the Unconcsious Gods (Asamjnisattva); in Bhavagra, the ascetic can cultivate nirodha- samdpatti (ii. 43a), the absorption of the cessation of ideas and sensations.
According to another explanation (Vibhdsa, TD 27, p. 708al4), vijUdnasthiti is "the place where those who are here desire to go, the place from whence those who are there do not desire to fall. " These two conditions are absent in the painful realms of rebirth. As for the Fourth Dhyana, all those who are in it desire to leave it: Prthagjanas desire to pass to the realm of the Asamjnisattvas; Aryans desire to pass to the
says in the Sutra.
51
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Suddhavasikas [or to the Arupyayatanas; and the Suddhavasikas desire
53 to realize the calm of extinction, sdntanirodha].
Bhavagra is not a vijndnasthiti because there is little activity of the 54
Vijnana in it.
***
The seven vijndnasthitis,
6c-d With Bhavagra and unconscious beings, are the nine
55 "dwellings of beings. "
For creatures dwell therein as they will.
7a. There are no other dwellings of beings, for elsewhere one lives without desiring it.
"Elsewhere" refers to the painful realms of rebirth. Beings are brought there by the Raksasa which is Karma and live there without desiring it. This is not one of the "dwellings" in the same way that a
56 prison is not a dwelling.
#*#
If one Sutra says that there are seven vijndnasthiti, according to another Sutra
57 7b. There are four other sthitis.
These four are: rupa as an abode of vijndna, (rupopagd vijndna- sthitih), vedand or sensation as an abode of vijndna (vedanopagd vijndnasthitih), ideas as an abode of vijndna (samjnopagd vijndna- sthitih), and the samskdras or forces as an abode of vijndna (samskd- ropagd vijndnasthitih).
7c-d. They consist of the four impure skandhasy which are of the
58 same sphere as the vijndna.
The consciousness or vijndna can grasp visible things and the other skandhas of a different sphere as its object: but it cannot grasp them as object under the impulse of craving; thus they are not considered as its
? abode or sthiti (see above, note 16).
But why is the fifth skandha, the consciousness itself (mind and
mental states), not considered as an abode of the consciousness?
The Vaibhasikas observe that the sthiti, "that upon which, or within
which one grasps" is opposed to sthdtar, "he who grasps. " Devadatta is opposed to the horse that he is sitting on. The king is not the throne. Or again vijndnasthiti signifies an abode of the mind, and the dharmas upon which the mind rides in order to move forward, are like the sailors on the ship: now the mind does not ride on the mind in order to move; hence the mind is not an abode of the mind
But another Sutra says, "There is delight (nandi-saumanasya'sms- faction) and attachment with regard to this food which is the consciousness" (iii. 40a). If there is delight and attachment with regard to
59 the consciousness then the consciousness rides in it and resides in it.
On the other hand, you teach that the five skandhas (including the consciousness) constitute the sevenfold abode of consciousness (iii. 5a); why do you not add the consciousness to the fourfold abodes of consciousness?
The Vaibhasikas answer: When we consider, without making any distinction between the skandhas, the process attached to the con- sciousness with regard to its arising which is made up of the five skandhas, then we can say that the vijnana is a vijndnasthiti. But, if we consider the skandhas one by one, we see that matter, sensation, ideas, and the samskaras--which are the support of the consciousness, and are associated or coexistent with the consciousness--are the causes of the defilement of the consciousness: but the consdousnesss is not, in this way, the cause of the defilement of the consciousness, since two consciousnesses do not coexist. Thus
7d-8a. Taken separately, the consciousness is not defined as an abode of the consciousness.
Further, the Blessed One described the four abodes of consciousness as "a field," and he describes the consciousness, accompanied by desire,
60
as "a seed. "
indeed that the dharmas that coexist with the consciousness merely serve as its field.
He does not give the seed as a field of the seed; and we see
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#*#
Do the four sthitis contain the seven, and do the seven contain the four?
No.
8b. The correspondance admits of four cases.
First case: the consciousness is included among the seven, but not
among the four.
Second case: the four skandhas (excluding the consciousness) of the
painful realms of rebirth, the Fourth Dhyana and Bhavagra, are included among the four.
Third case: the four skandhas are included among the seven, and are also included among the four.
Fourth case: the other dharmas are included neither among the seven nor among the four, [namely the consciousness of the painful realms of rebirth, etc, and the pure dharmas].
###
We have said that the three Dhatus include five realms of rebirth, etc.
8c-d There are here four "wombs" of beings, beings born from
61 eggs, etc.
Yoni or womb signifies birth. Eytmologically, yoni signifies "mixture": in birth--birth being common to all creatures--beings are
62 mixed together in confusion.
"Womb of beings born from eggs" are those beings who arise from eggs, geese, cranes, peacocks, parrots, thrushes, etc.
"Womb of beings born from wombs" are those beings who arise
63 from a womb, elephants, horses, cows, buffalos, asses, pigs, etc.
w
"Wombs of beings born from moisture"
from the exudation of the elements, earth, etc. ,--worms, insects, butterflies, mosquitos.
65
"Womb of apparitional beings" are those beings who arise all at
66
once, with their organs neither lacking nor deficient, with all their
are those beings who arise
? major and minor limbs. These are called upapaduka, apparitional, because they are skillful at appearing (upapadana), and because they arise all at once [without an embryonic state, without semen and blood];
67 such as gods, beings in hell, or beings in an intermediate existence.
**#
How are the wombs distributed among the realms of rebirth? 9a. Humans and animals are of the four types.
Humans can be born from an egg, such as Saila and Upasaila who
68
were born from the eggs of a crane; the thirty-two sons of (Visakha),
69
the mother of Mrgara; and the five hundred sons of the King of
70 Paficala.
71 Humans can be born from moisture, such as Mandhatar, Cam
72 73 Upacaru, Kapotamalini, Amrapali, etc.
Apparational humans (ii. 14) are humans at the beginning of the cosmic period (prMhamakdpika, ii. 14, iii. 97c).
Animals are also of four types. These types are known through common experience. Nagas and Garudas are also apparitional (see below, note 83).
9b-c. Beings in hell, intermediate beings, and the gods are
74 apparitional too.
These three classes of beings are exclusively apparitional. 9d Pretas are also born from a womb.
They are of two types, apparitional and born from a womb. That they are born from a womb results from a discourse that a Pretl had with Maudgalyayana, "I gave birth to five sons a night, to five sons a day: I ate
75 them and was not satisfied. "
***
What is the best womb?
The apparitional womb.
But the Bodhisattva in his last birth evidently possesses "mastery
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16
relating to arising" (upapattivaiitva). Why did he then choose to be
77 born from a womb? (See iii. 17)
There are two answers to this question. 1. The Bodhisattva sees great advantage in it: by reason of their relationship with him, the great Sakya clan enters into the Good Law; and, recognizing in him a member of the family of the Cakravartins, persons experience a great respect towards him; persons are encouraged seeing that, being a man, he has realized this perfection. If the Bodhisattva were not born from the womb, we would not know his family, and persons would say, "What is this magician, a god or a Pi? aca? " In fact non-Buddhists masters calumniously say that at the end of one hundred cosmic periods there would appear in the world such a magician who devours the world
78 through his magic
79
2. Others explain that the Bodhisattva has taken up the womb in
80
order that his body remains as relics after his Nirvana: through the
adoration of these relics, humans and other creatures by the thousands
obtain heaven and deliverance. In fact, the bodies of apparational beings,
not having any external seed (semen, blood, bone, etc. ), do not continue
to exist after their deaths, like a flame which disappears without
81
remnant. But we see indeed that this explanation cannot be admitted
82 by the masters who attribute rddhi ddhisthanikt to the Buddha.
***
One question arises from another.
If the bodies of apparitional beings disappear at their deaths, how
can the Sutra say, "The apparitional Garuda seizes the apparitional
83 Naga in order to eat it? "
The text says that he seizes the Naga in order to eat it, not that he does eat it.
Or rather he eats the Naga as long as the Naga is not dead: but he does not feast on the dead Naga.
***
What is the least desirable of the wombs?
The apparitional womb, for it embraces all hellish realms of rebirth,
? all heavenly realms of rebirth, plus one part of the three other realms of
84 rebirth, plus intermediate beings.
What is an intermediate being, and an intermediate existence?
10. Intermediate existence, which inserts itself between ex-
istence at death and existence at birth, not having arrived at the
85 location where it should go, cannot be said to be born.
Between death--that is, the five skandhas of the moment of death--and arising--that is, the five skandhas of the moment of rebirth--there is found an existence--a "body" of five skandhas--that goes to the place of rebirth. This existence between two realms of rebirth (gati) is called intermediate existence. **
This existence is produced: why not say that it arises (upapanna); why not attribute birth (upapatti) to it?
We say that it is arising (upapadyamdna); but it is not born (see iiL40c). In fact as its etymology indicates (pad-gam, upapanna-upagata), to be born is to arrive. Intermediate existence (or intermediate being), when it begins, has not arrived at the place where it should go, namely to
87 the place where the retribution of actions is manifested and achieved.
88
According to other seas,
between death and birth: but there is no intermediate existence.
This opinion is false, as reasoning and Scripture prove.
