Human transcription — may contain minor errors.
1
Asanga’s
“Abhidharmasamuccaya”
on
the
Twelve
Limbs1
of
Dependent-‐arising2.
129
How is
it
a
dependent-‐arising
?
As
arising
on
a
base and
dependently. How
should
dependent-‐arising
be
examined
? Dependent-‐arising
should
also
be
seen
as
dependent-‐arising
in
terms of:
1.
characteristics
2.
the
thorough
division
of
the
limbs3
3.
summarizing
the
limbs
4.
thoroughly
positing
the
limbs as
actual
conditions
5.
thoroughly
positing
the
function4 of
the
limbs
6.
including the
limbs within
the
thoroughly
afflicted
7.
[its]meanings
8.
[its] profundity
1
Translated
from a
Tibetan
edition
in
my
possession
(which
I
believe
to
be
from the
Derge
Kangyur).
Viz.
also
Asanga
: “Le
Compendium
de
la
Super-‐Doctrine
(Philosophie) (Abhidharmasammucaya) d’
Asanga”, trad. Walpola
Rahula,
Ecole Française d’Extrême-‐Orient,
Paris 1980, pp.
42-‐45ss,
in
which
Rahula
translates
the
sections of
the
Sanskrit manuscript
of
two-‐fifths of
the
Abhidharmasammucaya recovered at
Sa
lu
monastery,
near
Shigatse, by
Rāhula
Sāṃkṛtyāyana
in
1934.
While
a
twice-‐removed
English
translation
of
the
French
translation
is
available
(Sara
Boin-‐Webb:
“Abhidharmasamuccaya: The
Compendium
of
the
Higher
Teaching
(Philosophy)”,
Asian Humanities
Press,
2001
))
it
cannot,
obviously,
be
relied
upon. 2
Sk.
Pratityasamutpāda.
The
Sanskrit noun pratityasamutpāda
can
be
tentatively
analyzed as
follows:
pratityasamutpāda=
pratitya
+ sam
+ utpāda
i.
prati
+ √i
> prati
: to
“return”
or
“to
cause to
recognize”
ii.
sam
: “together with”
iii.
ud
+ √pad> utpāda
: ” the
production”
hence
the
original meaning
in
Sanskrit may
well have been:
“recurring,
conjoined
production”. The Tibetan
translation
!ེན་འ&ེལ།
is
an
abbreviation for
!ེན་ཅིང་འ”ེལ་བར་འ%ང་བ།
(“that
which
arises
in
relation
to
a basis”)
and
is
obviously an
exegesis
more
than
a translation
of
pratityasamutpāda since
utpāda
is
the
only term of
the
bahuvrihi
compound actually translated
(as
འ”ང་བ།),
while
the
noun
pratitya and
the
preposition
sam
are
left untranslated.
The
fundamental
difficulty
in
translating pratityasamutpāda
lies in
gaining
an
understanding
of
the
precise
meaning
of
pratitya
in
the
Buddhist
context.
Buddhaghosa
(5th cent.
AD), the
great
Theravada
scholar,
in
his
list of
possible etymologies of
the
Pali cognate
of
pratityasamutpāda,
paṭicca-‐samuppāda
/
paṭicca-‐ samuppanna
offers
an
unacceptable etymology
of
paṭicca
as
deriving from an
unattested
adjective
paṭicco
(“Visuddhimagga”, pp.
529)
whereas,
in
Pali, it
clearly
derives
from
paṭi
+ √eti
or
√ayati,
with
the
meaning
“due
to,
depending on”.
3
ཡན་ལག་
Sk.
aṇga. The
Sanskrit
term
aṇga
is
systematically
translated
in
English
as
“links”
giving
rise
to
the
“Twelve
Links
of
Dependent-‐arising”.
However, the
term aṇga literally
means
in
Sanskrit
the
“limbs”
of
the
body and
conveys
no
connotation
of
connection
in
the
slightest.
We
feel
therefore that
translating
aṇga
by
“links”
is
misleading.
4
ལས།
2
9.
[its] subdivisions
10. in
accordance
with
the
mode
and
in
opposition
with
the
mode
Everything
apart from
the
single
class of
the
realm of
Dharma5
and
the
sphere
of
Dharma6 [is
a dependent-‐arising].
130
For the
sake of
abandoning
manifest conceptions
of
the
Self,
causeless
phenomena
and
arising
from
discordant
cases.
1.
How
[should
dependent-‐arising
be
seen]
in
terms
of
the
characteristics ?
1.1
arising
from
unchanging
conditions,
1.2
arising
from
impermanent
conditions
and
1.3
arising
from
effective conditions.
2.
How
[should
dependent-‐arising
be
seen]
in
terms
of
the
thorough
division
of
the
limbs ?
The twelve
limbs,
i.e.
the
twelve
limbs of
dependent-‐arising,
are:
2.1
ignorance7
2.2
compositional8
[factors]
2.3
consciousness9
2.4
name-‐and-‐form10
2.5
the
six
loci11
2.6
contact12
2.7
sensation13
2.8
craving14
2.9
appropriation15
2.10
existence16
5
Sk.
Dharmadhātu
6
Sk.
Dharmāyatana
7
མ་རིག་པ།
Sk.
avidyā
8
འ”་$ེད།
Sk.
samskāra
: sam
+ √kṛ
(“to
make
with”,
“to
make
together”)
9
!མ་པར་ཤེས་པ།
Sk.
vijñana
10
མིང་ག&ག
Sk.
nāmarūpa
11
!ེ་མཆེད་’ག
Sk.
ṣadāyatana
12
རེག་པ།
Sk.
sparśa
13
ཚ”ར་བ།
Sk.
vedanā.
The
Sanskrit term vedanā,
often
translated
somewhat misleadingly
in English
by
“feeling”,
is
better
translated
as
“sensation”. It
has
nothing
to
do
with
emotion.
14
!ེད་པ།
Sk.
tṛiśnā.
The
Sanskrit term tṛiśnā
literally
means
“thirst” and
by
extension
is
aptly
translated
by
Rahula
as
“avidité”
and
by
the
Lam
Rim
Chen Mo
Committee
as “craving”.
15
ལེན་པ།
Sk.
upādāna
16
!ིད་པ།
Sk.
bhāva which can
be
translated
either
as
“existence”,
in
keeping
with
the
Tibetan,
or
“becoming”,
in
keeping
with
the
Sanskrit.
3
2.11 birth17
2.12 aging
and
death18
3.
How
[should
dependent-‐arising
be
seen] in
terms of
summarizing
the
limbs
?
3.1
the
projecting
limbs
3.2
the
projected limbs
3.3
the
manifestly
actualizing
limbs
3.4
the
manifestly
actualized
limbs
3.1 What
are
the
projecting
limbs ?
3.1.1
ignorance
3.1.2
compositional factors
3.1.3
consciousness
3.2 What
are
the
projected limbs ?
3.2.1
name-‐and-‐form
3.2.2
the
six
loci
3.2.3
contact
3.2.4
sensation
3.3 What
are
the
manifestly
actualizing
limbs ?
3.3.1
craving
3.3.2
appropriating
3.3.3
existence
3.4 What
are
the
manifestly
actualized
limbs ?
3.4.1
birth
3.4.2
aging and
death
4.
How
[should
dependent-‐arising
be
seen] in
terms of
thoroughly
positing
the
limbs as
actual
conditions
?
They
will be
known
in
terms
of
thoroughly
positing the
limbs
as
actual
conditions
in
terms of:
4.1
imprints
4.2
strength
4.3
attention19
and
4.4
correlated
arising,
as
well.
17
!ེ་བ།
Sk. jāti
18
!་ཤི།
Sk. jarāmaraṇa
19
ཡིད་ལ་&ེད་པ།
4
In
addition
to
what
is
connected in
type.
5.
How
[should
dependent-‐arising
be
seen] in
terms of
thoroughly
positing
the
function
of
the
limbs:
5.1.
What
is
the
function
of
ignorance ?
To
confuse
sentient beings
regarding
existence
and
also to
be
the
condition for
compositional factors.
5.2
What
is
the
function
of
compositional factors
?
To
thoroughly
subdivide sentient
beings
in
terms of
migrations
and
also
to
be
the
condition for
the
imprints of
consciousness.
5.3
What
is
the
function
of
consciousness ?
To
hold the
fetters
of
the
karma
of
sentient beings
and
also
to
be
the
condition for
name-‐and-‐form.
5.4
What
is
the
function
of
name-‐and-‐form ? 131
To
cause
the
body
of
sentient
beings
to
be
taken and
also to
be
the
condition
of
the
six
loci.
5.5
What
is
the
function
of
the
six
loci
?
To
cause
the
body
of
sentient
beings
to
be
completely
taken and
also
to
be
the
condition
of
contact.
5.6
What
is
the
function
of
contact
?
Sentient beings’
entering
into
the
enjoyment of
objects
and
also
being the
condition of
sensation.
5.7
What
is
the
function
of
sensation ?
Sentient beings’
entering into the
enjoyment
of
birth
and
also
being the
condition of
existence.
5.8
What
is
the
function
of
craving
?
Inducing the
birth of
sentient
beings
and
also
being
the
condition of
appropriation.
5.9
What
is
the
function
of
appropriation ?
5
For
the
sake of
appropriating
another
existence
to
cause
the
appropriation20
of
consciousness
and
so
forth
and
also
to
be
the
condition for
existence.
5.10
What
is
the
function
of
existence ?
Causing21
sentient
beings
to
be
actually
oriented
towards
another
existence and
also
being the
condition
of
birth.
5.11
What
is
the
function
of
birth ?
Actualizing gradually name-‐and-‐form,
the
six
loci,
contact
and
the
sensation of
sentient
beings
and
also
being the
condition of
aging and
death.
5.12
What
is
the
function
of
aging and
death ?
To
link
sentient
beings
over
and
again to
aging and
to the
change
in
[their]
vitality22.
6.
How
[should
dependent-‐arising
be
seen] in
terms of
including
the
limbs
within
the
thoroughly
afflicted ?
6.1
Whatever is
ignorance,
craving
and
appropriation
is
included
within
afflictions
which are
thoroughly
afflicted.
6.2
Whatever
is
compositional factors,
consciousness and
existence
is
included
within
karma which is
thoroughly
afflicted.
6.3
The
remainder is
included
within
life23
which is
thoroughly
afflicted.
7.
How
[should
dependent-‐arising
be
seen]
in
terms
of
[its]
meanings24
?
7.1
the
meaning
of
the
absence
of
a
creator
is
the
meaning
of
dependent-‐arising
and
7.2
the
meaning
of
arising
with
a cause,
20
ཉེ་བར་ལེན་པ། 21
Rahula,
op.
cit. p.
43
overstates
the
impact
of
the
Sanskrit causative
by
translating
it
as
“contraignent”. 22
!ོག
23
Translating
in
accordance
with the
Tibetan. The
Sanskrit mss. discovered
by
Rāhula
Sāṃkṛtyāyana
reads janmasaṃkleśasaṇgraha “birth
which is
thoroughly
afflicted”.
24
This
beautiful
passage
is
quoted
in
its
totality by
Jetsün
chökyi
gyeltsen in
his
“Ancillary
Topics
on
“Perfection”, pp.
318-‐319 (Sera Je
Computer
Project,
Bylakuppe (Karnataka),
India (1998))
6
7.3
the
meaning
of
the
non-‐existence
of
sentient
beings,
7.4
the
meaning
of
being under another’s power,
7.5
the
meaning
of
immutability,
7.6
the
meaning
of
impermanence,
7.7
the
meaning
of
momentariness,
7.8
the
meaning
of
the
continuum of
causality being
uninterrupted,
7.9
the
meaning
of
the
concordance
between
cause and
effect
, 132
7.10
the
meaning
of
the
difference
of
cause and
effect
and
7.11
the
meaning
of
the
individual
definiteness
of
cause and
effect
are the
meanings
of
dependent-‐arising.
8.
How
[should
dependent-‐arising
be
seen]
in
terms
of
[its]
profundity?
It
is
to
be
seen
as
profound
in
terms of
:
8.1
cause
8.2
characteristics
8.3
birth
8.4
abiding,
as
well
as
8.5
becoming.
in
addition:
8.6
although
dependent-‐arising
is
momentary,
it
is
also
observed
to
abide
8.7
although
dependent-‐arising
arises
from
immutable
conditions,
it
is
also
observed
to
arise from
effective
conditions25.
25
!ས་པའི་’ེན
Sk.
samarthapratyaya.
7
8.8
although
dependent-‐arising
is
bereft
of
[being
a]
sentient
being,
it
is
also
observed
as
a sentient
being
8.9
although
dependent-‐arising
is
bereft
of
a creator,
it
is
also
observed
to
arise from
immutable conditions
and
also
8.10
not
arising
from
its
own
doing,
nor
from
the
doing of
another,
nor
[arising]causelessly,
it
is,
thereby,
profound.
9.
How
[should
dependent-‐arising
be
seen] in
terms of
[its] subdivisions?
It
is
to
be
seen
as
subdivided
in
terms of
:
9.1 the
subdivisions
of
the
arising
of
consciousness.
9.2 the
subdivision
of
dying and
being born.
9.3 the
subdivision
of
the
arising
of
exterior
crops.
9.4 the
subdivision
of
destruction
and
becoming
9.5 the
subdivision
of
survival
in
terms of
food
9.6 the
subdivision
of
the
distinction
between
wished-‐for
migrations
and
unwished-‐for migrations26
9.7 the
subdivision
of
the
thoroughly
purified
and
also
9.8
the
subdivision
of
power.27
10. How
[should
dependent-‐arising
be
seen]
in
terms
of
being
in
accordance
with
the
mode
and
in
opposition
with
the
mode
?
It
is
understood
to
be
taught
in
terms of:
10.1
being
in
accordance
with the
mode of
the
thoroughly
afflicted
and
being
at
odds
with
the
mode
of
the
thoroughly
afflicted.
10.2
being
in
accordance
with the
mode of
the
thoroughly
purified and
being
at
odds
with
the
mode
of
the
thoroughly
purified
10.3
being
in
accordance
with the
mode of
dependent-‐arising
and
being
at
odds
with
the
mode
of
dependent-‐arising.
26
i.e.
happy and
unhappy
rebirths. 27
Sk.
prabhava.
The
term prabhava has
two
possible meanings:
“power”
or
“origin” and
was
frequently
used for
the
creator
Iśvara.
The
Tibetan
text privileges
the
first
meaning
and
translates
མ”་$ོབས།