When an
intermediate being perishes, it has some organs and so constitutes what is called the first embryonic stage, or kahda.
intermediate being perishes, it has some organs and so constitutes what is called the first embryonic stage, or kahda.
Abhidharmakosabhasyam-Vol-2-Vasubandhu-Poussin-Pruden-1991
It still cannot serve as an example in your reasoning, for it cannot be compared to arising.
It is not similar to arising:
12b. For it does not form a series.
The reflection does not form a series with the object reflected, because the reflection arises supported by the mirror, and because the reflection is simultaneous to the object reflected. But on the contrary death and arising form a series, the second being later to the first and being produced in another place than the first without there being a cutting off between them [due to intermediate existence].
12b. For it arises from two causes.
It is by reason of two causes that a reflection arises, by reason of the mirror and of the object. The principal of these two causes is the cause upon which it takes its support in order to arise, namely the mirror. But it happens that arising, or birth, proceeds from only one cause; and it never has a principal cause which is not death. Arising has no external support in the case of apparitional beings, because they appear suddenly in space. And these external elements cannot be the principal cause for the beings that arise from semen, blood, or mud, since these items are absent from the mind
Reasoning thus proves the existence of an intermediate being since arising proceeds from death without there being any discontinuity between these two existences.
***
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Scripture also proves the existence of an intermediate being. 12c. The intermediate being is called by its name.
The Sutra says, "There are seven existences {bhavas)\ existence in
hell (naraka), as an animal {tiryagyoni), as a Preta, as a heavenly being
(deva)9 and as a human (manusya), as well as karmabhava and 91
If the school that we are combating does not read this Sutra, at least they read the texts pertaining to Gandharvas.
12c. It is the Gandharva.
We read in the Sutra, "Three conditions are necessary for an embryo to descend, [in order for a son or daughter to be born]: the woman must be in good health and fertile, the pair must be united, and a Gandharva
92
must be ready. " What is the Gandharva if not an intermediate being? But our opponents do not read the Sutra in these terms! They replace the third condition by a text that says, "a dissolution of the
93 skandhas [that is, one dying] must be made ready. "
sutra, which says, "This Gandharva which is made ready,--do you know if it is a Brahmin, a Ksatriya, a VaiSya, or a Sudra? Do you know if it comes from the east, the south, the west, or the north? " This expression "to come" shows that it refers to an intermediate being, not to a "dissolution of the skandhas. "
If our opponents do not read this Sutra,
12d. An intermediate being is proved by the text relative to the Five.
The Blessed One teaches that there are five types of Anagamins: one
who obtains Nirvana in an intermediate existence (antardparmirvdyin),
one who obtains Nirv&na as soon as he is reborn (upapadyapari-
nirvdyin), one who obtains Nirvana without effort (anabhisamskdra-
parinirvdyin), one who obtains Nirvana by means of effort (anabhisa-
antardbhava"
Very well, but one doubts if they could explain the Aivatdyana- 94
mskdraparinirvdyin), and one who obtains Nirvana by going higher 95
(urdvasrotas).
Certain masters (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 357b21) maintain that an
antardparinirvdyin is a saint who obtains Nirvana after having been
? reborn among some so-called Antara gods. But they should then admit the existence of Upapadya gods, etc. An absurd opinion.
12d And by the Sutra of the gatis.
96
By the Sutra of the Seven Satpurusagatis. This Sutra teaches that
one should distinguish three types oiantardparinirvdyins on the basis of their differences of duration and place: the first is similar to a spark that is extinguished as soon as it arises; the second to a fragment of reddened mental which enlarges in its flight; the third to a fragment of reddened mental which enlarges in its flight, but later, and without falling back into the sun. Given this text, it is pure fantasy to suppose that an antardparinirvdyin is an inhabitant of a heaven of the Antara gods, for these Antaras cannot be divided into three classes by reason of duration and place.
But yet other scholars--(the Vibhajyavadins as the Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 357a4-358a25 testifies)--present the explanation here. An antard- parinirvdyin obtains Nirvana, that is, eliminates the defilements, either in the interval of his lifetime, or in the interval of his cohabitation with the gods. He is threefold: he is termed a dhdtugata if he obtains Nirvana having just arrived in the Dhatu [that is, in a heaven of Rupadhatu, and as a consequence if he eliminates the defilements that cause him to be reborn in Rupadhatu whereas they (the defilements) are still in a seed-like state]; he is called a samjndgata if he obtains Nirvana later, at a moment when the idea (samjnd) of the objects of Rupadhatu is active in him; and he is called a vitarkagata if he obtains Nirvana still later, at a moment when the vitarka (volitions, etc. ) produced by these objects is active. In this way we would have three antardparinirvdyins conforming to the definitions of the Sutra and who obtain Nirvana in the interval of the duration of their life, that is, without achieving the end of their life as gods of the heaven where they were rebora Or rather, the first antardparinirvdyin obtains Nirvana as soon as he has taken possession of a certain divine existence; the second after having experienced a heavenly bliss; and the third, after having entered into company or conversation with the gods.
An objection: if an antardparinirvdyin is a saint who is reborn, experiences bliss, and enters into the company of the gods, what will an upapadhyparinirvayin be, literally "one who obtains Nirvana as soon as
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he is reborn? "
We answer that an upapadyaparinirvdyin enters entirely into their
company, and, as this answer is not conclusive, we further answer that
an upapadyaparinirvdyin reduces the duration of his life by much [and
more than an antardparinirvayin]: [he is called an upapadya because he
91
obtains Nirvana dyur upahatya].
But we must observe that all these persons, the dhdtugata, etc. , go to
the same place. Thus they do not correspond to the examples of the
Sutra. On the other hand, there are saints in Arupyadhatu who obtain
98 Nirvana without having fully lived their lives to the end (iii. 85a), and
yet no antardparinirvdyins are there. This point is illustrated in the metrical formula,
By the dhydnas, four decades; by the drupyas^ three heptades; by ideas, one hexade:
thus is the group bound. "
Y et if our adversaries do not read this Sutra, what can we do about it? The Master has entered Nirvana, and the Good Law no longer has a leader. Many sects have been formed that change the meaning and the
10
letter to their fantasies. ? We say that, for the masters who admit these
Sutras, the existence of an intermediate being or the "skandhas in the interval" is proved both by Scripture and reasoning.
###
Yet there are some difficulties:
a. We must reconcile the doctrine of an intermediate being with the Sutra on Mara. This Sutra says, "The Mara called Dusin, [having struck the head of Vidura, the disciple of Krakucchanda,] fell, with his own
101
body, into great Avici Hell. " Actions very grave (by intention and in
scope) and complete (that is, "accumulated," iv. 12) ripen before death itself. Mara then felt a retribution in this life before feeling a retribution in hell. The text thus means that Mara was enveloped, while still alive, by the fires of hell; that he dies; and that he then takes up an intermediate existence which leads to hell where birth in hell takes place.
? b. According to the Sutra, there are five anantarya transgressionsrhe
who commits them is immediately born in hell {samanantararh
fiarakesupapadyate, iv. 97). We hold that the expression "immediately"
signifies "without intermediary," without passing through another
realm of rebirth (gati): which is an action "retributable in the next
existence" (upapadya, iv. 50b). If you take the Sutra literally, you come to
absurd conclusions: you would have to say that one must have
committed the five crimes in order to be reborn in hell and you would
have to say that the transgressor is reborn in hell immediately after the
transgression, or that he is reborn there without dying here. Moreover,
according to our doctrine, rebirth in hell is immediate; it is not preceeded
by a "birth" as an intermediate being. We maintain that, by its nature,
the intermediate being is "arising" (upapadyamdna) because he is
turned towards the birth (upapatti) that follows death; we do not say 102
that he is born (upapanno bhavati) (iiilOd).
c. You should explain the stanza, "Your life is approaching its end,
Oh Brahmin; you are old and sick; you are in the presence of Yama; there
is not for you any intervening {antard) dwelling {vdsa) and you have no 103
provision. "
[Vasubandhu:] You think that this stanza shows that there is no
intermediate existence. But we understand the words antard vdsa in the sense of dwelling among humans: "Once dead, you shall not reappear here;" or rather, the text means that "No one can retard the progress of the intermediate being that you are going to become on the way to the place of your rebirth in hell. "
The one who denys the existence of intermediary beings asks us upon what do we base ourselves in order to for us to say that such is the intention of this text, or that such is not its intention.
We would reply with the same question.
If, in this manner, the two objections are made equal, what proof can you come to? Let us observe that for the Sutra on Mara, etc. , the explanation of the person who denies the existence of intermediate beings, and our explanation, are not contradiaed by the text itself. The texts are thus not conclusive for or against intermediate beings. Texts that are conclusive and which serve as proof are those which can be interpreted in only one way: [as we have quoted, pp. 386-387. ]
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What is the form of an intermediate being?
13a-b. Being projected by the same action that projects the purvakalabhavay an intermediate being has the form of this being, that is, the being of the realm of rebirth to come after his conceptioa
The action that projects the gati or the realm of rebirth--an existnce in hell, etc--is the same action that projects the intermediate existence
104
by which one goes to this realm of rebirth. As a consequence
antarabhava or intermediate existence has the form of the future purvzkalabhava (p. 39, line 19) of the realm of rebirth towards which he is going.
Objection: In the womb of a dog, a sow, etc, there can die in its embryonic stage a being who should then be reborn in any one of the five realms of rebirth. Let us suppose then that this embryo is replaced
105
by an intermediate being destined to go to helL This intermediate
being,if he has the form of a being in hell, will burn the womb of the dog. Answer: Even in a perfect state (purvakalabhava), beings in hell are not always incadescent, for example the "annexes" (utsodas, iii. 58d). But
even if one believes that intermediate beings bound for hell are incandescent, as their bodies are "ethereal" {accha, transparent, viii. 3c), they are not any more tangible than they are visible. There is thus no
106
adherence of the intermedate being. Thus the womb is not burned;
moreover the influence of actions is opposed to this.
The dimensions of an intermediate being are those of a child of five
or six years of age, but his organs are perfectly developed
The intermediate being of the Bodhisattva is similar to the Bodhisattva in the fullness of his youth; he is adorned with the major
107
and minor marks; that is why, when this intermediate being comes to
enter his mother's womb, he illumines a thousand universes with their four continents.
But we know that the mother of the Bodhisattva saw in a dream a
small white elephant enter her side. This was only an "omen," because
for a long time the Bodhisattva has been disengaged from animal
108
rebirth. King Krkin also saw ten dreams: an elephant, wells, a pole,
sandalwood, a park, a young elephant, two monkeys, cloths, and
? 109
contests, which were omens. Furthermore, intermediate beings do
not enter into the womb by splitting open the side, but rather by the door of birth: this is why the eldest of twins is the one born last.
But how do you explain the stanza of the Bhadanta Dharma-
no
subhuti, "Changing his body into that of a white elephant having six
tusks and four feet, he enters the womb and lies therein in full consciousness as a Rsi entering a forest? "
There is no reason to explain this text: it is neither Sutra, nor 111
Vinaya, nor Abhidharma; it is a personal composition. But if it demands an explanation, we would say that this stanza describes the Bodhisattva just as his mother saw him in a dream.
***
An intermediate being in Rupadhatu is complete in size and is
112
dressed by reason of his great modesty (iiiJOc). The Bodhisattva in
his interdiate existence
who, through the force of her vow, was clothed in her intermediate existence: she entered the womb and left it dressed, and she remained
1B
dressed until her Nirvana and cremation. But lacking modesty, other
intermediate beings of Kamadhatu are nude.
#*#
What is the purvakdkbhava which is parallel to antarabhava} 13c-d This is before death, after conception.
Bhava is existence, the skandhas.
In intermediate existence, the five skandhas enter two realms of rebirth: upapattibhava, which is the skandhas at the moment of their entry into a realm of rebirth, at the moment of their pratisamdhi (iii. 38 and p. ); and purvakalabhava which is all the skandhas of the following moments until death, the last moment of the realm of rebirth and which
114 will be followed by a new antarabhava,
There is no antarabhava in Arupyadhatu. *#*
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Let us return to the intermediate being:
I4a-b. He is seen by the creatures of his class, and by the divine eye.
He is seen by the intermediate beings of the class,--heavenly,
etc. ,--to which he belongs. He is also seen by the pure divine eye, that is,
by the divine eye that is obtained through higher knowledge (abhijnd, 115
vii. 55d), for this eye is very pure. He is not seen by a natural divine eye or a divine eye obtained through birth, such as the divine eye of the gods.
According to other masters, a heavenly intermediate being sees all
intermediate beings; a human intermediate being sees all intermediate
116 beings with the exception of heavenly intermediate beings, and so on.
14b. He is filled with the impetus of the supernormal power of
117 action.
He is a karmarddhwegavdn: endowed (-van) with the impetus (vega) which belongs to supernatural power (rddhi)--that is, the movement through space--which issues from action (karmari) (vii. 53c). The Buddhas themselves cannot stop him because he is endowed with the force of action.
14c His organs are complete.
He is sakaldksa; aksa signifies indriya. 118
He is an apra&ighavam a pratigha is a strike that repels; an apratighavan is one in whom there is no pratigha. Even a diamond is not impenetrable to him. For, they say, when we split open a mass of red hot iron we find that some small animals are born inside it.
When an intermediate being is to be reborn in a certain realm of rebirth, from this realm of rebirth, by force,
119 I4d He cannot be turned away.
A human intermediate being, ceasing to be such, will never become a heavenly intermediate being. He will go to be born in the realm of rebirth with a view to which he has been formed.
14c. No one can resist him.
? Does an intermediate being of Kamadhatu eat, like the other beings of Kamadhatu, solid food (iii. 39)?
Yes, but not coarse food.
120 I4d It eats odors.
From whence it gets its name of Gandharva, "he who eats (arvati) odors (gandham)" The meanings of the roots are multiple: arv, if one takes it in the sense of "to go," justifies "he who goes to eat odors" {arvati gacchati bhoktum). We have gandharva, and not gandharva, as we have sakandhu, or karkandhu.
121
A Gandharva of low rank eats unpleasant odors; a Gandharva of
high rank eats pleasant odors.
***
How long does an intermediate being exist?
122
a. There is no fixed rule, says the Bhadanta. It lasts as long as it
does not encounter the coming together of the causes necessary for its rebirth. In fact an intermediate existence and the existence that follows ^ are projected by the same action and form part of the same
123
nikayasabhaga, [of the same existence, ii. 41]: it is for this reason that,
when the life (or the vital otganjtyitendriya) of an intermediate being comes to an end, there is no death.
Objection: There is a mass of meat as big as Mount Meru which, in the summer rains, changes into a mass of worms. It is in this spot that intermediate beings arrive, being reborn in these worms arising together in such a large number; or rather, from whence do these intermediate beings come?
There exists an infinite number of small animals having short life, coveters after odors and tastes; perceiving an odor, they remember the taste that was associated with it, and they eventually die, coveting these odors and tastes. When they die, they had in their minds (vibodhya) an action the nature of which was to produce an existence among worms; and, by their desire for odors and tastes, they are reincarnated among worms. Or rather it is only when the external causes necessary for the
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birth of worms (namely, a great mass of decomposition) is brought
together in a great amount that the action which should produce
existence among worms enters into activity with a view to their
124
retribution. In the same way a certain being accomplishes actions
which should be remunerated as a Cakravartin: these action will not enter into activity before the moment of the comsic period has come when human life is twenty-four thousand years in length (iii. 95). It is for this reason that the Blessed One declared that the retribution of actions is incomprehensible (Samyukta, 21).
b. The Bhadanta Vasumitra says: An intermediate being lasts seven
days. If the complex of causes necessary to reincarnation has not been
125 realized, then the intermediate being dies and is reborn.
126 c. Other scholars say that it lasts seven weeks.
127
d The Vaibhasikas say: As it desires birth, it lasts only a short time
and then its life is reincarnated If the complex of external causes is not realized, then one of two things happens: either old actions are such that a birth should take place in such and such a place, and should be of such and such a nature, and, in this case, these actions cause the complex of
128
causes to be realized; or rather this determination is absent, and, in
129 this case, birth takes place in another place, and it is of another nature.
According to others (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 360c25), if the causes have not come together, the intermediate being is born in conditions analogous to those where he would have been reborn. Cattle are not born during the rains, nor gods in autumn, nor black bears in winter, nor horses in summer. But on the other hand, there is no season for buffalos, etc. The intermediary being who, if it is the season of rains, would be reborn a cow, is reborn a buffalo; in the same way a jackal instead of a
13 dog, a brown bear instead of a black bear, or an ass instead of a horse. ?
But we admit a similar theory. We know in fact that existence and intermediate existence are projected by the same action. One cannot say that an existence as a buffalo is preceeded by an intermediate existence as a cow.
**# How does reincarnation take place?
15a-b. The mind {matt) troubled by defilements, goes, through
? its desire for sex, to the place of its realm of rebirth.
An intermediate being is produced with a view to going to the place of its realm of rebirth where it should go. It possesses, by virtue of its actions, the divine eye. Even though distant he sees the place of his rebirth. There he sees his father and mother united His mind is troubled by the effects of sex and hostility. When the intermediate being is male, it is gripped by a male desire with regard to the mother; when it is female, it is gripped by a female desire with regard to the father; and, inversely, it hates either the father, or the mother, whom it regards as
131
either a male or a female rival. As it is said in the Prajndpti, "Then
either a mind of lust, or a mind of hatred is produced in the Gandharva. " When the mind is thus troubled by these two erroneous thoughts, it
attaches itself through the desire for sex to the place where the organs are joined together, imagining that it is he with whom they unite. Then the impurities of semen and blood is found in the womb; the intermediate being, enjoying its pleasures, installs itself there. Then the skandhas harden; the intermediate being perishes; and birth arises that is called "reincarnation" ipra$isamdhi). When the embryo is male, it remains to its right in the womb, with its head forward, crouching;
132
female, to the left of the womb, vagina forward; with no sex, in the
attitude in which one finds the intermediate being when it believes it is having sex. In fact, when an intermediate being possess all the organs, it then enters as a male or female and places itself as befitting its sex. It is only after reincarnation that a developing embryo can lose its sex.
#*#
What is the support (asrayd) of this matter which is from the 133
primary elements, the organs of the new being, its eyes, etc. ? According to one opinion, the primary elements of the blood and semen. According to another opinion, their support are some primary elements different from these, arisen from actions, and which repose
(samnisraya) in the semen and blood.
First opinion: Semen and blood do not have any organs.
When an
intermediate being perishes, it has some organs and so constitutes what is called the first embryonic stage, or kahda. In the same way the arising
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134
of a bud takes place at the same time as the destruction of its seed. In
this same manner the Scriptural texts are justified which say that "the 135
body is produced from the kalala which consists of semen and blood" [matapitrasucikalalasambhuta, literally: in the impure wombs of the father and mother], and that "after a long time, Oh Bhiksus, you increase
136 the cemetary and grasp the drop of blood"
Second opinion: The organs have different primary elements for their support, as is the case for the organs of leaf worms [for these, through the force of their aaions, repose on the primary elements of the leaves, and there arises other primary elements that take on the nature of organs. ]
One would object that the phrase in the Sutra, mdtapitrasuci- kalalasambhu is not explained in this hypothesis. According to the Sutra, the body (with its organs) comes from the kalala which is semen and blood {matdpkrasuci). But the word kalala is placed there to designate some other primary elements that arise reposing on the semen and blood: [reposing on semen and blood they arise, together with the semen and blood, from other primary elements that are called kalala and which include the organs. ]
It is in this manner that beings who are born from wombs and eggs go to the places of their rebirth (gati). For other beings, say the masters of the Abhidharma, the modes vary according to the case.
15c. Other go in their desire for odor or in their desire for residence.
Beings which arise from moisture go to the place of their rebirth through their desire for its odors: these are pure or impure by reason of their aaions. Apparitional beings, through their desire for residence there.
But how can one desire a residence in hell?
[The mind of an intermediate being is troubled by lust and hatred, as we have seen, when it goes to be reincarnated in a womb. ] In the present case, an intermediate being is also troubled in mind and misunderstands. He is tormented by the cold of rain and wind: he sees a place burning
? with hot fires and through his desire for warmth, he runs there. Or he is tormented by the heat of the sun and hot winds: he sees a cold place of frozen fires, and through his desire for coolness, he runs there.
137
According to the ancient masters, he sees these things in order to
138 experience the retribution of aaions that should be retributed in hell;
he sees beings similar to him and he runs to the place where they are.
***
Intermediate heavenly beings--those who go towards a heavenly realm of rebirth--go high, like one rising up from a seat. Humans, animals, Pretas, and intermediate beings go in the manner in which humans, etc, go.
15d Beings in hell hang from their feet.
As the stanza says, "Those who insult Rsis, ascetics and penitents
139 fall into hell head first. "
***
We have said that the intermediary beings who are reincarnated in a feminine womb (jardyuja and andaja) go there troubled in mind, through their desire for sex. Is this a general rule?
No. The Sutra teaches that there are four ways to descend into, 14
(abide and leave) the womb (garbhdvakrdnti). ?
16. The first enter in full consciousness; the second, further, dwell in full consciousness; the third, further, leave in full consciousness; the fourth accomplishes all these steps with a troubled mind. Beings born from eggs are always of this last class.
The first do not dwell and do not leave in full consciousness; the second do not leave in full consciousness; the third, in all these moments,
are in full consciousness; the fourth are, in all these aaions, without full
consciousness. Here are the four garbhdvakrddntis that the author 141
teaches, in his sloka in an order different from that of the Sutra. Beings born from eggs are always troubled in mind.
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But can we say that a being born from an egg enters into a womb?
Without doubt. One who is born from an egg is now entering into a
142 womb. Or rather we have here an anticipatory designation. In the
same way that the Sutra says samskrtam abhisamskaroti, and, in the world, one says, "to cook the rice porridge," or "to grind the flour. "
***
What does the full consciousness and the absence of full con- sciousness in the entering, in the abiding, and in the leaving consist of?
A being with little merit enters because he thinks, "The wind blows, the heavens rain; it is cold; it storms; people are in an uproar," and because, wishing to avoid these wearinesses, he believes that he is entering into a shelter, a thicket, a hut of roots and leaves, or rather he takes shelter at the foot of a tree or against a wall. Then he imagines himself resting in this thicket, in this hut, and eventually leaves it. There is an error of ideas and resolution. The same for a being rich in merits, who believes he is entering a park, a garden, a palace, a terrace, or a pavilion; he believes this and he rests there and eventually leaves it.
A being who has full consciousness knows that he enters into the
143 womb, that he dwells there, and that he leaves it.
###
The Sutra also teaches
17. Three garbhavakrantis,--the Cakravartin and the two Svayambhus,--by reason of their great purity of action, of
144 knowledge, and of action and knowledge.
The two Svayambhus are the Pratyekabuddhas and the Sambuddha. All these designations are "anticipatory": one means to speak of a being, who, in this existence, will become a Cakravartin, etc.
The Cakravartin enters in full consciousness, but does not reside in full consciousness and does not leave in full consciousness. The Pratyekabuddha resides in full consciousness, but does not leave in full consciousness. The Buddha is always in full consciousness.
The first has a great outflowing of merit and he is made resplendent
? through aaions; the second has knowledge obtained through in- struction, reflection and mediation; and the third has merit, instruction, etc: both action and knowledge.
The fourth garbhdvakrdnti, that of not full consciousness, pertains to beings without great aaions and great knowledge.
###
145
The non-Buddhists, who believe in an atman, say, "If you admit
that a being (sattva) goes to another world, then the atman in which I believe is proved"
In order to refute this doarine, the author says, 146
The atman in which you believe, an entity that abandons the skandhas of one existence and takes up the skandhas of another existence, an internal agent of aaion, a Purusa,--this atman does not exist. In faa the Blessed One said, "Aaions exist, and results exist, but there is no agent who abandons these skandhas here and takes up those skandhas there, independently of the casual relationship of the dharmas. What is this causal relationship? Namely, if this exists, then that exists; through the arising of this, there is the arising of that; Pratitya- samutpada? (French trans, v. p. 57, ix. p. 260).
Is there then, ask the non-Buddhists, a type of atman that you do not negate?
18a-d. Only the skandhas, conditioned by defilement and aaion, go reincarnating themselves by means of the series of inter- mediate existences. As an example: the lamp.
We do not deny an atman that exists through designation, an atman that is only a name given to the skandhas. But far from us is the thought that the skandhas pass into another world! They are momentary, and incapable of transmigrating. We say that, in the absence of any atman, of any permanent principal, the series of conditioned skandhas, "made up" of defilements and aaions (i. l5a, on abhisamskrta), enters into the mother's womb; and that this series, from death to birth, is prolongued and displaced by a series that constitutes intermediate existence.
18a. The atman does not exist.
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19a-c. In conformity with its projecting cause the series grows gradually, and, by virtue of the defilements and actions it goes again to another world
Actions the nature of which is to be retributed in life (dyusya
karman, ii. l0a) differ according to beings: all the series of skandhas are
not then projected at the same time in the existence where they have
arisen. The series continues then to increase to the extent that it was
projeaed This growth is gradual, as Scripture teaches: "There is first
the kalala; the arbuda arises from the kalala\ the pe? in arises from the
arbuda\ the ghana arises from the pesin; and from the ghana there arises
the prasakha, hair, body-hair, the nails, etc. , and the material organs with 147
their supports. " The kalala, etc. , are the five stages of the embryo, embryo.
148
Then, when the embryo, this throne, is ripe, there arises within
the womb winds arisen from the maturity of action which causes the embryo to turn and places it towards the portal of its birth: it is difficult to move like a great mass of hidden impurity. Sometimes, either through the unfavorable conditions of the mother's eating, or by reason of actions, the embryo perishes. Then an expert woman, after having anointed them with all sorts of drugs, puts her hands filled with a sharpened blade into this wound hideous, bad-smelling, and wet with all sorts of impurities which is the womb. She pulls out the embryo after having cut it up limb by limb. And the series of the embryo, by virtue of aparaparyayavedaniya action (iv. 50b), goes somewhere else.
Or else the birth is fortunate. The mother and the servants take the
new-born baby into their hands which are like knives and acids for this
149 body now as sensible as an open wound One washes the child; one
nourished it with milk and fresh butter, and later with solid foods: thus
15
does he grow. By reason of this development, ? the organs mature and
the defilements enter into activity, from whence actions arise. And when the body perishes, the series passes into another existence by reason of these defilements and actions, through the medium of the intermediate existence, as mentioned previously.
151 19d. In this way the circle of existence is without beginning.
Arising by reason of the defilements and actions; defilements and actions by reason of arising; arising by reason of the defilements and
? actions: the circle of existences is thus without beginning. In order for it to begin, it would be necessary for the first item to have no cause: and if one dharma arises without a cause, then all dharmas would arise without causes. Now the determination of time and place show that a seed produces a shoot, that a fire produces cooking: hence there is no arising that does not have causes. On the other hand, the theory of a single and permanent cause has been refuted above (ii. 65): hence the cycle of existence has no beginning.
But birth, coming from causes, would not take place if its causes are destroyed, in the same way that a shoot would not arise if its seed is burned.
***
The series of skandhas develops in three existences,
20a. Pratityasamutpada or dependent orgination has twelve
152 parts in three sections or time periods.
The twelve parts of dependent origination are ignorance (avidya), the samskaras, the consciousness, namarupa, the six ayatanas, contact, sensation, desire, attachment, existence, birth, and old age and death.
20b. Two for the first, two for the third, and eight for the middle.
Ignorance and the samskdras existed in a past existence, birth and old age and death will exist in a future existence, and the eight other parts exist in the present existence.
Are the middle parts to be found in the present existence of all
153 creatures?
No, they are not. Why is this?
20c. At least to consider the series that has all of its parts.
This refers to a "complete person," aparipurin, that passes through all of the states that constitute these parts. Such persons are not beings who die before their time, [for example, in the course of their embryonic life], nor are they beings of Rupadhatu or Arupyadhatu. It is certain that the Sutra that enumerates these eight parts refers to beings in
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Kamadhatu: the Mahdniddnaparyayasutra says, "Ananda, if the con- sciousness were not to descend into the mother's w o m b . . . " {Dtgha,
ii. 63).
Pratityasamutpada can be divided into two parts: past existence (1-2) and its effects (3-7); and the causes of future existence (8-10) and future existence (11-12).
What are, in this conception of Pratityasamutpada, its different parts?
134 21a. Ignorance is, in a previous life, the state of defilement.
[Ignorance does not refer to an isolated state of ignorance, iii. p. 87, 90, v. 12, nor merely to the totality of the defilements, "all the kief as"] but rather, in a previous life, the series (with its five skandhas) which is defiled, the condition of defilement (klesa-avastha). All the defilements in fact accompany ignorance, and are activated through ignorance. In the same way, when one says that the king is coming, one understands that his courtiers are accompanying him.
21b. The samskdras are, in a previous life, the state of action. The series of the previous life, which does good, bad, or neutral
actions, constitute the samskdras.
21c. The consciousness is the skandhas at conception.
The five skandhas, in the womb, at the moment of reincarnation (pratisamdhi) or arising constitute consciousness.
21d-22a. Ndmarupa (is the series) from this moment on, until the production of the six dyatanas.
Ndmarupa is made up of the five skandhas, in the womb, from
arising, as long as the six organs are not manifested. It is proper to say,
"as long as the four organs . . . ," [for the mana-dyatana and the 155
kdya-dyatana exist from arising or conception, pratisamdhiksane]; it is now at the moment when the four organs, eye, etc. , appear that these
156 two preexisting organs are found to be "arranged" [in a group of six],
? 22b. Six ay asanas before coming together of the three or contact.
The six ayatanas are the five skandhas from the first appearance of the organs until the moment when the coming together of the organ, the object of consciousness, and the consciousness takes place.
22c-d There is sparfa, or contact, until the moment when the capacity to distinguish the cause of pleasure, of suffering, etc. , is acquired
Contact [which begins at birth] lasts until the moment when the infant becomes capable of distinguishing,"This is a cause of pleasure. . . "
23a. There is contact before sexual union.
Contact, which the Karika terms vibti, exists for as long as desire for sexual union is not in aaion. [This state is termed vedand, sensation, because one experiences the cause of vedand: it is hence avasthd vedandprakarsinl]
23b. Desire ("thirst") is the state of one who desires pleasure and sexual union.
There is then in activity concupiscence relative to the objects of desire (kamagunas, iii. p. 6), visible things, etc. , and sexual union. This state of "thirst" or desire ends when one begins, under the influence of this desire, to search out these pleasures.
23c-d. Updddna or attachment is the state of one who runs around in search of the pleasures.
One runs everywhere in order to acquire these pleasures (v. 40). [Or rather updddna is the fourfold defilement (v. 38): the period during which this fourfold defilement is active is called updddna]. Running around in this manner
24a-b. He does actions which will have for their result future existence (bhava): this is bhava,
[Bhava signifies "aaion," for existence takes place by reason of it, bhavaty anena. ]Action done and accumulated in the search for pleasures will produce reexistence. The period during which one does this aaion
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constitutes bhava.
24c. Jati is the new reincarnation.
The five skandhas at the moment when reincarnation takes place after death isjati The "part" that receives the name of consciousness in a present existence is called jati in a future existence.
24d Old age-and-death lasts until sensation.
From jati until sensation,--which is here termed vid--there are four parts of the present existence, ndmarupa, the six ayatana, contact and sensation which are, in a future existence designated by the expression old age and death, the twelfdi part of this twelvefold series.
###
It is also said that Pratityasamutpada is fourfold: momentary or of
one moment (ksanika); prolongued (prdkarsika: extending over many
moments of many existences); serial (sdmbandhika, through the union
of causes and effects); and static (dvasthika: embracing twelve states, or
157 periods, of the five skandhas).
###
How is Pratityasamutpada momentary?
When a person in prey to the defilements commits murder, the
twelve parts are realized in one and the same moment: 1. his moha
(aberration) is ignorance (avidyd);, 2. his "volition" (cetand) are the
samskdras; 3. his distinct consciousness of a certain object is con- 158
sciousness; 4. the four skandhas coexisting with the consciousness is ndmarupa\ 5. the organs in relation to ndmarupa are the six ddyatanas\
159 6. the application of the six dyatanas is contact; 7. to experience
161 contact is sensation; 8. desire (rdga) is thirst; 9. the paryavasthdnas
associated with thirst are attachment; 10. bodily or vocal action that proceeds [from sensation or thirst] is bhava\ 11. the emersion (unmajjana=fapdda=prod\Ktion) of all these dharmas is jdti\ 12. their maturity (paripdka) is old age; and their rupture is death.
160
? It is also said thatPratityasamutpada is both momentary and serial at
the same time. The Prakarana says, "What is Pratityasamutpada} All
the conditioned (samskrta) dharmas. What are the dharmas produced
through dependence (pratityasamutpanna)} All the conditioned 162
dharmas.
12b. For it does not form a series.
The reflection does not form a series with the object reflected, because the reflection arises supported by the mirror, and because the reflection is simultaneous to the object reflected. But on the contrary death and arising form a series, the second being later to the first and being produced in another place than the first without there being a cutting off between them [due to intermediate existence].
12b. For it arises from two causes.
It is by reason of two causes that a reflection arises, by reason of the mirror and of the object. The principal of these two causes is the cause upon which it takes its support in order to arise, namely the mirror. But it happens that arising, or birth, proceeds from only one cause; and it never has a principal cause which is not death. Arising has no external support in the case of apparitional beings, because they appear suddenly in space. And these external elements cannot be the principal cause for the beings that arise from semen, blood, or mud, since these items are absent from the mind
Reasoning thus proves the existence of an intermediate being since arising proceeds from death without there being any discontinuity between these two existences.
***
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Scripture also proves the existence of an intermediate being. 12c. The intermediate being is called by its name.
The Sutra says, "There are seven existences {bhavas)\ existence in
hell (naraka), as an animal {tiryagyoni), as a Preta, as a heavenly being
(deva)9 and as a human (manusya), as well as karmabhava and 91
If the school that we are combating does not read this Sutra, at least they read the texts pertaining to Gandharvas.
12c. It is the Gandharva.
We read in the Sutra, "Three conditions are necessary for an embryo to descend, [in order for a son or daughter to be born]: the woman must be in good health and fertile, the pair must be united, and a Gandharva
92
must be ready. " What is the Gandharva if not an intermediate being? But our opponents do not read the Sutra in these terms! They replace the third condition by a text that says, "a dissolution of the
93 skandhas [that is, one dying] must be made ready. "
sutra, which says, "This Gandharva which is made ready,--do you know if it is a Brahmin, a Ksatriya, a VaiSya, or a Sudra? Do you know if it comes from the east, the south, the west, or the north? " This expression "to come" shows that it refers to an intermediate being, not to a "dissolution of the skandhas. "
If our opponents do not read this Sutra,
12d. An intermediate being is proved by the text relative to the Five.
The Blessed One teaches that there are five types of Anagamins: one
who obtains Nirvana in an intermediate existence (antardparmirvdyin),
one who obtains Nirv&na as soon as he is reborn (upapadyapari-
nirvdyin), one who obtains Nirvana without effort (anabhisamskdra-
parinirvdyin), one who obtains Nirvana by means of effort (anabhisa-
antardbhava"
Very well, but one doubts if they could explain the Aivatdyana- 94
mskdraparinirvdyin), and one who obtains Nirvana by going higher 95
(urdvasrotas).
Certain masters (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 357b21) maintain that an
antardparinirvdyin is a saint who obtains Nirvana after having been
? reborn among some so-called Antara gods. But they should then admit the existence of Upapadya gods, etc. An absurd opinion.
12d And by the Sutra of the gatis.
96
By the Sutra of the Seven Satpurusagatis. This Sutra teaches that
one should distinguish three types oiantardparinirvdyins on the basis of their differences of duration and place: the first is similar to a spark that is extinguished as soon as it arises; the second to a fragment of reddened mental which enlarges in its flight; the third to a fragment of reddened mental which enlarges in its flight, but later, and without falling back into the sun. Given this text, it is pure fantasy to suppose that an antardparinirvdyin is an inhabitant of a heaven of the Antara gods, for these Antaras cannot be divided into three classes by reason of duration and place.
But yet other scholars--(the Vibhajyavadins as the Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 357a4-358a25 testifies)--present the explanation here. An antard- parinirvdyin obtains Nirvana, that is, eliminates the defilements, either in the interval of his lifetime, or in the interval of his cohabitation with the gods. He is threefold: he is termed a dhdtugata if he obtains Nirvana having just arrived in the Dhatu [that is, in a heaven of Rupadhatu, and as a consequence if he eliminates the defilements that cause him to be reborn in Rupadhatu whereas they (the defilements) are still in a seed-like state]; he is called a samjndgata if he obtains Nirvana later, at a moment when the idea (samjnd) of the objects of Rupadhatu is active in him; and he is called a vitarkagata if he obtains Nirvana still later, at a moment when the vitarka (volitions, etc. ) produced by these objects is active. In this way we would have three antardparinirvdyins conforming to the definitions of the Sutra and who obtain Nirvana in the interval of the duration of their life, that is, without achieving the end of their life as gods of the heaven where they were rebora Or rather, the first antardparinirvdyin obtains Nirvana as soon as he has taken possession of a certain divine existence; the second after having experienced a heavenly bliss; and the third, after having entered into company or conversation with the gods.
An objection: if an antardparinirvdyin is a saint who is reborn, experiences bliss, and enters into the company of the gods, what will an upapadhyparinirvayin be, literally "one who obtains Nirvana as soon as
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he is reborn? "
We answer that an upapadyaparinirvdyin enters entirely into their
company, and, as this answer is not conclusive, we further answer that
an upapadyaparinirvdyin reduces the duration of his life by much [and
more than an antardparinirvayin]: [he is called an upapadya because he
91
obtains Nirvana dyur upahatya].
But we must observe that all these persons, the dhdtugata, etc. , go to
the same place. Thus they do not correspond to the examples of the
Sutra. On the other hand, there are saints in Arupyadhatu who obtain
98 Nirvana without having fully lived their lives to the end (iii. 85a), and
yet no antardparinirvdyins are there. This point is illustrated in the metrical formula,
By the dhydnas, four decades; by the drupyas^ three heptades; by ideas, one hexade:
thus is the group bound. "
Y et if our adversaries do not read this Sutra, what can we do about it? The Master has entered Nirvana, and the Good Law no longer has a leader. Many sects have been formed that change the meaning and the
10
letter to their fantasies. ? We say that, for the masters who admit these
Sutras, the existence of an intermediate being or the "skandhas in the interval" is proved both by Scripture and reasoning.
###
Yet there are some difficulties:
a. We must reconcile the doctrine of an intermediate being with the Sutra on Mara. This Sutra says, "The Mara called Dusin, [having struck the head of Vidura, the disciple of Krakucchanda,] fell, with his own
101
body, into great Avici Hell. " Actions very grave (by intention and in
scope) and complete (that is, "accumulated," iv. 12) ripen before death itself. Mara then felt a retribution in this life before feeling a retribution in hell. The text thus means that Mara was enveloped, while still alive, by the fires of hell; that he dies; and that he then takes up an intermediate existence which leads to hell where birth in hell takes place.
? b. According to the Sutra, there are five anantarya transgressionsrhe
who commits them is immediately born in hell {samanantararh
fiarakesupapadyate, iv. 97). We hold that the expression "immediately"
signifies "without intermediary," without passing through another
realm of rebirth (gati): which is an action "retributable in the next
existence" (upapadya, iv. 50b). If you take the Sutra literally, you come to
absurd conclusions: you would have to say that one must have
committed the five crimes in order to be reborn in hell and you would
have to say that the transgressor is reborn in hell immediately after the
transgression, or that he is reborn there without dying here. Moreover,
according to our doctrine, rebirth in hell is immediate; it is not preceeded
by a "birth" as an intermediate being. We maintain that, by its nature,
the intermediate being is "arising" (upapadyamdna) because he is
turned towards the birth (upapatti) that follows death; we do not say 102
that he is born (upapanno bhavati) (iiilOd).
c. You should explain the stanza, "Your life is approaching its end,
Oh Brahmin; you are old and sick; you are in the presence of Yama; there
is not for you any intervening {antard) dwelling {vdsa) and you have no 103
provision. "
[Vasubandhu:] You think that this stanza shows that there is no
intermediate existence. But we understand the words antard vdsa in the sense of dwelling among humans: "Once dead, you shall not reappear here;" or rather, the text means that "No one can retard the progress of the intermediate being that you are going to become on the way to the place of your rebirth in hell. "
The one who denys the existence of intermediary beings asks us upon what do we base ourselves in order to for us to say that such is the intention of this text, or that such is not its intention.
We would reply with the same question.
If, in this manner, the two objections are made equal, what proof can you come to? Let us observe that for the Sutra on Mara, etc. , the explanation of the person who denies the existence of intermediate beings, and our explanation, are not contradiaed by the text itself. The texts are thus not conclusive for or against intermediate beings. Texts that are conclusive and which serve as proof are those which can be interpreted in only one way: [as we have quoted, pp. 386-387. ]
###
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What is the form of an intermediate being?
13a-b. Being projected by the same action that projects the purvakalabhavay an intermediate being has the form of this being, that is, the being of the realm of rebirth to come after his conceptioa
The action that projects the gati or the realm of rebirth--an existnce in hell, etc--is the same action that projects the intermediate existence
104
by which one goes to this realm of rebirth. As a consequence
antarabhava or intermediate existence has the form of the future purvzkalabhava (p. 39, line 19) of the realm of rebirth towards which he is going.
Objection: In the womb of a dog, a sow, etc, there can die in its embryonic stage a being who should then be reborn in any one of the five realms of rebirth. Let us suppose then that this embryo is replaced
105
by an intermediate being destined to go to helL This intermediate
being,if he has the form of a being in hell, will burn the womb of the dog. Answer: Even in a perfect state (purvakalabhava), beings in hell are not always incadescent, for example the "annexes" (utsodas, iii. 58d). But
even if one believes that intermediate beings bound for hell are incandescent, as their bodies are "ethereal" {accha, transparent, viii. 3c), they are not any more tangible than they are visible. There is thus no
106
adherence of the intermedate being. Thus the womb is not burned;
moreover the influence of actions is opposed to this.
The dimensions of an intermediate being are those of a child of five
or six years of age, but his organs are perfectly developed
The intermediate being of the Bodhisattva is similar to the Bodhisattva in the fullness of his youth; he is adorned with the major
107
and minor marks; that is why, when this intermediate being comes to
enter his mother's womb, he illumines a thousand universes with their four continents.
But we know that the mother of the Bodhisattva saw in a dream a
small white elephant enter her side. This was only an "omen," because
for a long time the Bodhisattva has been disengaged from animal
108
rebirth. King Krkin also saw ten dreams: an elephant, wells, a pole,
sandalwood, a park, a young elephant, two monkeys, cloths, and
? 109
contests, which were omens. Furthermore, intermediate beings do
not enter into the womb by splitting open the side, but rather by the door of birth: this is why the eldest of twins is the one born last.
But how do you explain the stanza of the Bhadanta Dharma-
no
subhuti, "Changing his body into that of a white elephant having six
tusks and four feet, he enters the womb and lies therein in full consciousness as a Rsi entering a forest? "
There is no reason to explain this text: it is neither Sutra, nor 111
Vinaya, nor Abhidharma; it is a personal composition. But if it demands an explanation, we would say that this stanza describes the Bodhisattva just as his mother saw him in a dream.
***
An intermediate being in Rupadhatu is complete in size and is
112
dressed by reason of his great modesty (iiiJOc). The Bodhisattva in
his interdiate existence
who, through the force of her vow, was clothed in her intermediate existence: she entered the womb and left it dressed, and she remained
1B
dressed until her Nirvana and cremation. But lacking modesty, other
intermediate beings of Kamadhatu are nude.
#*#
What is the purvakdkbhava which is parallel to antarabhava} 13c-d This is before death, after conception.
Bhava is existence, the skandhas.
In intermediate existence, the five skandhas enter two realms of rebirth: upapattibhava, which is the skandhas at the moment of their entry into a realm of rebirth, at the moment of their pratisamdhi (iii. 38 and p. ); and purvakalabhava which is all the skandhas of the following moments until death, the last moment of the realm of rebirth and which
114 will be followed by a new antarabhava,
There is no antarabhava in Arupyadhatu. *#*
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Let us return to the intermediate being:
I4a-b. He is seen by the creatures of his class, and by the divine eye.
He is seen by the intermediate beings of the class,--heavenly,
etc. ,--to which he belongs. He is also seen by the pure divine eye, that is,
by the divine eye that is obtained through higher knowledge (abhijnd, 115
vii. 55d), for this eye is very pure. He is not seen by a natural divine eye or a divine eye obtained through birth, such as the divine eye of the gods.
According to other masters, a heavenly intermediate being sees all
intermediate beings; a human intermediate being sees all intermediate
116 beings with the exception of heavenly intermediate beings, and so on.
14b. He is filled with the impetus of the supernormal power of
117 action.
He is a karmarddhwegavdn: endowed (-van) with the impetus (vega) which belongs to supernatural power (rddhi)--that is, the movement through space--which issues from action (karmari) (vii. 53c). The Buddhas themselves cannot stop him because he is endowed with the force of action.
14c His organs are complete.
He is sakaldksa; aksa signifies indriya. 118
He is an apra&ighavam a pratigha is a strike that repels; an apratighavan is one in whom there is no pratigha. Even a diamond is not impenetrable to him. For, they say, when we split open a mass of red hot iron we find that some small animals are born inside it.
When an intermediate being is to be reborn in a certain realm of rebirth, from this realm of rebirth, by force,
119 I4d He cannot be turned away.
A human intermediate being, ceasing to be such, will never become a heavenly intermediate being. He will go to be born in the realm of rebirth with a view to which he has been formed.
14c. No one can resist him.
? Does an intermediate being of Kamadhatu eat, like the other beings of Kamadhatu, solid food (iii. 39)?
Yes, but not coarse food.
120 I4d It eats odors.
From whence it gets its name of Gandharva, "he who eats (arvati) odors (gandham)" The meanings of the roots are multiple: arv, if one takes it in the sense of "to go," justifies "he who goes to eat odors" {arvati gacchati bhoktum). We have gandharva, and not gandharva, as we have sakandhu, or karkandhu.
121
A Gandharva of low rank eats unpleasant odors; a Gandharva of
high rank eats pleasant odors.
***
How long does an intermediate being exist?
122
a. There is no fixed rule, says the Bhadanta. It lasts as long as it
does not encounter the coming together of the causes necessary for its rebirth. In fact an intermediate existence and the existence that follows ^ are projected by the same action and form part of the same
123
nikayasabhaga, [of the same existence, ii. 41]: it is for this reason that,
when the life (or the vital otganjtyitendriya) of an intermediate being comes to an end, there is no death.
Objection: There is a mass of meat as big as Mount Meru which, in the summer rains, changes into a mass of worms. It is in this spot that intermediate beings arrive, being reborn in these worms arising together in such a large number; or rather, from whence do these intermediate beings come?
There exists an infinite number of small animals having short life, coveters after odors and tastes; perceiving an odor, they remember the taste that was associated with it, and they eventually die, coveting these odors and tastes. When they die, they had in their minds (vibodhya) an action the nature of which was to produce an existence among worms; and, by their desire for odors and tastes, they are reincarnated among worms. Or rather it is only when the external causes necessary for the
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birth of worms (namely, a great mass of decomposition) is brought
together in a great amount that the action which should produce
existence among worms enters into activity with a view to their
124
retribution. In the same way a certain being accomplishes actions
which should be remunerated as a Cakravartin: these action will not enter into activity before the moment of the comsic period has come when human life is twenty-four thousand years in length (iii. 95). It is for this reason that the Blessed One declared that the retribution of actions is incomprehensible (Samyukta, 21).
b. The Bhadanta Vasumitra says: An intermediate being lasts seven
days. If the complex of causes necessary to reincarnation has not been
125 realized, then the intermediate being dies and is reborn.
126 c. Other scholars say that it lasts seven weeks.
127
d The Vaibhasikas say: As it desires birth, it lasts only a short time
and then its life is reincarnated If the complex of external causes is not realized, then one of two things happens: either old actions are such that a birth should take place in such and such a place, and should be of such and such a nature, and, in this case, these actions cause the complex of
128
causes to be realized; or rather this determination is absent, and, in
129 this case, birth takes place in another place, and it is of another nature.
According to others (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 360c25), if the causes have not come together, the intermediate being is born in conditions analogous to those where he would have been reborn. Cattle are not born during the rains, nor gods in autumn, nor black bears in winter, nor horses in summer. But on the other hand, there is no season for buffalos, etc. The intermediary being who, if it is the season of rains, would be reborn a cow, is reborn a buffalo; in the same way a jackal instead of a
13 dog, a brown bear instead of a black bear, or an ass instead of a horse. ?
But we admit a similar theory. We know in fact that existence and intermediate existence are projected by the same action. One cannot say that an existence as a buffalo is preceeded by an intermediate existence as a cow.
**# How does reincarnation take place?
15a-b. The mind {matt) troubled by defilements, goes, through
? its desire for sex, to the place of its realm of rebirth.
An intermediate being is produced with a view to going to the place of its realm of rebirth where it should go. It possesses, by virtue of its actions, the divine eye. Even though distant he sees the place of his rebirth. There he sees his father and mother united His mind is troubled by the effects of sex and hostility. When the intermediate being is male, it is gripped by a male desire with regard to the mother; when it is female, it is gripped by a female desire with regard to the father; and, inversely, it hates either the father, or the mother, whom it regards as
131
either a male or a female rival. As it is said in the Prajndpti, "Then
either a mind of lust, or a mind of hatred is produced in the Gandharva. " When the mind is thus troubled by these two erroneous thoughts, it
attaches itself through the desire for sex to the place where the organs are joined together, imagining that it is he with whom they unite. Then the impurities of semen and blood is found in the womb; the intermediate being, enjoying its pleasures, installs itself there. Then the skandhas harden; the intermediate being perishes; and birth arises that is called "reincarnation" ipra$isamdhi). When the embryo is male, it remains to its right in the womb, with its head forward, crouching;
132
female, to the left of the womb, vagina forward; with no sex, in the
attitude in which one finds the intermediate being when it believes it is having sex. In fact, when an intermediate being possess all the organs, it then enters as a male or female and places itself as befitting its sex. It is only after reincarnation that a developing embryo can lose its sex.
#*#
What is the support (asrayd) of this matter which is from the 133
primary elements, the organs of the new being, its eyes, etc. ? According to one opinion, the primary elements of the blood and semen. According to another opinion, their support are some primary elements different from these, arisen from actions, and which repose
(samnisraya) in the semen and blood.
First opinion: Semen and blood do not have any organs.
When an
intermediate being perishes, it has some organs and so constitutes what is called the first embryonic stage, or kahda. In the same way the arising
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134
of a bud takes place at the same time as the destruction of its seed. In
this same manner the Scriptural texts are justified which say that "the 135
body is produced from the kalala which consists of semen and blood" [matapitrasucikalalasambhuta, literally: in the impure wombs of the father and mother], and that "after a long time, Oh Bhiksus, you increase
136 the cemetary and grasp the drop of blood"
Second opinion: The organs have different primary elements for their support, as is the case for the organs of leaf worms [for these, through the force of their aaions, repose on the primary elements of the leaves, and there arises other primary elements that take on the nature of organs. ]
One would object that the phrase in the Sutra, mdtapitrasuci- kalalasambhu is not explained in this hypothesis. According to the Sutra, the body (with its organs) comes from the kalala which is semen and blood {matdpkrasuci). But the word kalala is placed there to designate some other primary elements that arise reposing on the semen and blood: [reposing on semen and blood they arise, together with the semen and blood, from other primary elements that are called kalala and which include the organs. ]
It is in this manner that beings who are born from wombs and eggs go to the places of their rebirth (gati). For other beings, say the masters of the Abhidharma, the modes vary according to the case.
15c. Other go in their desire for odor or in their desire for residence.
Beings which arise from moisture go to the place of their rebirth through their desire for its odors: these are pure or impure by reason of their aaions. Apparitional beings, through their desire for residence there.
But how can one desire a residence in hell?
[The mind of an intermediate being is troubled by lust and hatred, as we have seen, when it goes to be reincarnated in a womb. ] In the present case, an intermediate being is also troubled in mind and misunderstands. He is tormented by the cold of rain and wind: he sees a place burning
? with hot fires and through his desire for warmth, he runs there. Or he is tormented by the heat of the sun and hot winds: he sees a cold place of frozen fires, and through his desire for coolness, he runs there.
137
According to the ancient masters, he sees these things in order to
138 experience the retribution of aaions that should be retributed in hell;
he sees beings similar to him and he runs to the place where they are.
***
Intermediate heavenly beings--those who go towards a heavenly realm of rebirth--go high, like one rising up from a seat. Humans, animals, Pretas, and intermediate beings go in the manner in which humans, etc, go.
15d Beings in hell hang from their feet.
As the stanza says, "Those who insult Rsis, ascetics and penitents
139 fall into hell head first. "
***
We have said that the intermediary beings who are reincarnated in a feminine womb (jardyuja and andaja) go there troubled in mind, through their desire for sex. Is this a general rule?
No. The Sutra teaches that there are four ways to descend into, 14
(abide and leave) the womb (garbhdvakrdnti). ?
16. The first enter in full consciousness; the second, further, dwell in full consciousness; the third, further, leave in full consciousness; the fourth accomplishes all these steps with a troubled mind. Beings born from eggs are always of this last class.
The first do not dwell and do not leave in full consciousness; the second do not leave in full consciousness; the third, in all these moments,
are in full consciousness; the fourth are, in all these aaions, without full
consciousness. Here are the four garbhdvakrddntis that the author 141
teaches, in his sloka in an order different from that of the Sutra. Beings born from eggs are always troubled in mind.
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But can we say that a being born from an egg enters into a womb?
Without doubt. One who is born from an egg is now entering into a
142 womb. Or rather we have here an anticipatory designation. In the
same way that the Sutra says samskrtam abhisamskaroti, and, in the world, one says, "to cook the rice porridge," or "to grind the flour. "
***
What does the full consciousness and the absence of full con- sciousness in the entering, in the abiding, and in the leaving consist of?
A being with little merit enters because he thinks, "The wind blows, the heavens rain; it is cold; it storms; people are in an uproar," and because, wishing to avoid these wearinesses, he believes that he is entering into a shelter, a thicket, a hut of roots and leaves, or rather he takes shelter at the foot of a tree or against a wall. Then he imagines himself resting in this thicket, in this hut, and eventually leaves it. There is an error of ideas and resolution. The same for a being rich in merits, who believes he is entering a park, a garden, a palace, a terrace, or a pavilion; he believes this and he rests there and eventually leaves it.
A being who has full consciousness knows that he enters into the
143 womb, that he dwells there, and that he leaves it.
###
The Sutra also teaches
17. Three garbhavakrantis,--the Cakravartin and the two Svayambhus,--by reason of their great purity of action, of
144 knowledge, and of action and knowledge.
The two Svayambhus are the Pratyekabuddhas and the Sambuddha. All these designations are "anticipatory": one means to speak of a being, who, in this existence, will become a Cakravartin, etc.
The Cakravartin enters in full consciousness, but does not reside in full consciousness and does not leave in full consciousness. The Pratyekabuddha resides in full consciousness, but does not leave in full consciousness. The Buddha is always in full consciousness.
The first has a great outflowing of merit and he is made resplendent
? through aaions; the second has knowledge obtained through in- struction, reflection and mediation; and the third has merit, instruction, etc: both action and knowledge.
The fourth garbhdvakrdnti, that of not full consciousness, pertains to beings without great aaions and great knowledge.
###
145
The non-Buddhists, who believe in an atman, say, "If you admit
that a being (sattva) goes to another world, then the atman in which I believe is proved"
In order to refute this doarine, the author says, 146
The atman in which you believe, an entity that abandons the skandhas of one existence and takes up the skandhas of another existence, an internal agent of aaion, a Purusa,--this atman does not exist. In faa the Blessed One said, "Aaions exist, and results exist, but there is no agent who abandons these skandhas here and takes up those skandhas there, independently of the casual relationship of the dharmas. What is this causal relationship? Namely, if this exists, then that exists; through the arising of this, there is the arising of that; Pratitya- samutpada? (French trans, v. p. 57, ix. p. 260).
Is there then, ask the non-Buddhists, a type of atman that you do not negate?
18a-d. Only the skandhas, conditioned by defilement and aaion, go reincarnating themselves by means of the series of inter- mediate existences. As an example: the lamp.
We do not deny an atman that exists through designation, an atman that is only a name given to the skandhas. But far from us is the thought that the skandhas pass into another world! They are momentary, and incapable of transmigrating. We say that, in the absence of any atman, of any permanent principal, the series of conditioned skandhas, "made up" of defilements and aaions (i. l5a, on abhisamskrta), enters into the mother's womb; and that this series, from death to birth, is prolongued and displaced by a series that constitutes intermediate existence.
18a. The atman does not exist.
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19a-c. In conformity with its projecting cause the series grows gradually, and, by virtue of the defilements and actions it goes again to another world
Actions the nature of which is to be retributed in life (dyusya
karman, ii. l0a) differ according to beings: all the series of skandhas are
not then projected at the same time in the existence where they have
arisen. The series continues then to increase to the extent that it was
projeaed This growth is gradual, as Scripture teaches: "There is first
the kalala; the arbuda arises from the kalala\ the pe? in arises from the
arbuda\ the ghana arises from the pesin; and from the ghana there arises
the prasakha, hair, body-hair, the nails, etc. , and the material organs with 147
their supports. " The kalala, etc. , are the five stages of the embryo, embryo.
148
Then, when the embryo, this throne, is ripe, there arises within
the womb winds arisen from the maturity of action which causes the embryo to turn and places it towards the portal of its birth: it is difficult to move like a great mass of hidden impurity. Sometimes, either through the unfavorable conditions of the mother's eating, or by reason of actions, the embryo perishes. Then an expert woman, after having anointed them with all sorts of drugs, puts her hands filled with a sharpened blade into this wound hideous, bad-smelling, and wet with all sorts of impurities which is the womb. She pulls out the embryo after having cut it up limb by limb. And the series of the embryo, by virtue of aparaparyayavedaniya action (iv. 50b), goes somewhere else.
Or else the birth is fortunate. The mother and the servants take the
new-born baby into their hands which are like knives and acids for this
149 body now as sensible as an open wound One washes the child; one
nourished it with milk and fresh butter, and later with solid foods: thus
15
does he grow. By reason of this development, ? the organs mature and
the defilements enter into activity, from whence actions arise. And when the body perishes, the series passes into another existence by reason of these defilements and actions, through the medium of the intermediate existence, as mentioned previously.
151 19d. In this way the circle of existence is without beginning.
Arising by reason of the defilements and actions; defilements and actions by reason of arising; arising by reason of the defilements and
? actions: the circle of existences is thus without beginning. In order for it to begin, it would be necessary for the first item to have no cause: and if one dharma arises without a cause, then all dharmas would arise without causes. Now the determination of time and place show that a seed produces a shoot, that a fire produces cooking: hence there is no arising that does not have causes. On the other hand, the theory of a single and permanent cause has been refuted above (ii. 65): hence the cycle of existence has no beginning.
But birth, coming from causes, would not take place if its causes are destroyed, in the same way that a shoot would not arise if its seed is burned.
***
The series of skandhas develops in three existences,
20a. Pratityasamutpada or dependent orgination has twelve
152 parts in three sections or time periods.
The twelve parts of dependent origination are ignorance (avidya), the samskaras, the consciousness, namarupa, the six ayatanas, contact, sensation, desire, attachment, existence, birth, and old age and death.
20b. Two for the first, two for the third, and eight for the middle.
Ignorance and the samskdras existed in a past existence, birth and old age and death will exist in a future existence, and the eight other parts exist in the present existence.
Are the middle parts to be found in the present existence of all
153 creatures?
No, they are not. Why is this?
20c. At least to consider the series that has all of its parts.
This refers to a "complete person," aparipurin, that passes through all of the states that constitute these parts. Such persons are not beings who die before their time, [for example, in the course of their embryonic life], nor are they beings of Rupadhatu or Arupyadhatu. It is certain that the Sutra that enumerates these eight parts refers to beings in
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Kamadhatu: the Mahdniddnaparyayasutra says, "Ananda, if the con- sciousness were not to descend into the mother's w o m b . . . " {Dtgha,
ii. 63).
Pratityasamutpada can be divided into two parts: past existence (1-2) and its effects (3-7); and the causes of future existence (8-10) and future existence (11-12).
What are, in this conception of Pratityasamutpada, its different parts?
134 21a. Ignorance is, in a previous life, the state of defilement.
[Ignorance does not refer to an isolated state of ignorance, iii. p. 87, 90, v. 12, nor merely to the totality of the defilements, "all the kief as"] but rather, in a previous life, the series (with its five skandhas) which is defiled, the condition of defilement (klesa-avastha). All the defilements in fact accompany ignorance, and are activated through ignorance. In the same way, when one says that the king is coming, one understands that his courtiers are accompanying him.
21b. The samskdras are, in a previous life, the state of action. The series of the previous life, which does good, bad, or neutral
actions, constitute the samskdras.
21c. The consciousness is the skandhas at conception.
The five skandhas, in the womb, at the moment of reincarnation (pratisamdhi) or arising constitute consciousness.
21d-22a. Ndmarupa (is the series) from this moment on, until the production of the six dyatanas.
Ndmarupa is made up of the five skandhas, in the womb, from
arising, as long as the six organs are not manifested. It is proper to say,
"as long as the four organs . . . ," [for the mana-dyatana and the 155
kdya-dyatana exist from arising or conception, pratisamdhiksane]; it is now at the moment when the four organs, eye, etc. , appear that these
156 two preexisting organs are found to be "arranged" [in a group of six],
? 22b. Six ay asanas before coming together of the three or contact.
The six ayatanas are the five skandhas from the first appearance of the organs until the moment when the coming together of the organ, the object of consciousness, and the consciousness takes place.
22c-d There is sparfa, or contact, until the moment when the capacity to distinguish the cause of pleasure, of suffering, etc. , is acquired
Contact [which begins at birth] lasts until the moment when the infant becomes capable of distinguishing,"This is a cause of pleasure. . . "
23a. There is contact before sexual union.
Contact, which the Karika terms vibti, exists for as long as desire for sexual union is not in aaion. [This state is termed vedand, sensation, because one experiences the cause of vedand: it is hence avasthd vedandprakarsinl]
23b. Desire ("thirst") is the state of one who desires pleasure and sexual union.
There is then in activity concupiscence relative to the objects of desire (kamagunas, iii. p. 6), visible things, etc. , and sexual union. This state of "thirst" or desire ends when one begins, under the influence of this desire, to search out these pleasures.
23c-d. Updddna or attachment is the state of one who runs around in search of the pleasures.
One runs everywhere in order to acquire these pleasures (v. 40). [Or rather updddna is the fourfold defilement (v. 38): the period during which this fourfold defilement is active is called updddna]. Running around in this manner
24a-b. He does actions which will have for their result future existence (bhava): this is bhava,
[Bhava signifies "aaion," for existence takes place by reason of it, bhavaty anena. ]Action done and accumulated in the search for pleasures will produce reexistence. The period during which one does this aaion
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constitutes bhava.
24c. Jati is the new reincarnation.
The five skandhas at the moment when reincarnation takes place after death isjati The "part" that receives the name of consciousness in a present existence is called jati in a future existence.
24d Old age-and-death lasts until sensation.
From jati until sensation,--which is here termed vid--there are four parts of the present existence, ndmarupa, the six ayatana, contact and sensation which are, in a future existence designated by the expression old age and death, the twelfdi part of this twelvefold series.
###
It is also said that Pratityasamutpada is fourfold: momentary or of
one moment (ksanika); prolongued (prdkarsika: extending over many
moments of many existences); serial (sdmbandhika, through the union
of causes and effects); and static (dvasthika: embracing twelve states, or
157 periods, of the five skandhas).
###
How is Pratityasamutpada momentary?
When a person in prey to the defilements commits murder, the
twelve parts are realized in one and the same moment: 1. his moha
(aberration) is ignorance (avidyd);, 2. his "volition" (cetand) are the
samskdras; 3. his distinct consciousness of a certain object is con- 158
sciousness; 4. the four skandhas coexisting with the consciousness is ndmarupa\ 5. the organs in relation to ndmarupa are the six ddyatanas\
159 6. the application of the six dyatanas is contact; 7. to experience
161 contact is sensation; 8. desire (rdga) is thirst; 9. the paryavasthdnas
associated with thirst are attachment; 10. bodily or vocal action that proceeds [from sensation or thirst] is bhava\ 11. the emersion (unmajjana=fapdda=prod\Ktion) of all these dharmas is jdti\ 12. their maturity (paripdka) is old age; and their rupture is death.
160
? It is also said thatPratityasamutpada is both momentary and serial at
the same time. The Prakarana says, "What is Pratityasamutpada} All
the conditioned (samskrta) dharmas. What are the dharmas produced
through dependence (pratityasamutpanna)} All the conditioned 162
dharmas.
