Samyuktagama Sutra (298), Part Three

(3) Original text: 缘有生者。云何为生。若彼彼众生。彼彼身种类一生。超越和合出生。得阴得界。得入处得命根。是名为生。缘生老死者。云何为老。若发白露顶。皮缓根熟。支弱背偻。垂头呻吟。短气前输。柱杖而行。身体黧黑。四体班驳。闇钝垂熟。造行艰难羸劣。是名为老。云何为死。彼彼众生。彼彼种类没。迁移身坏。寿尽火离。命灭舍阴时到。是名为死。此死及前说老。是名老死。是名缘起义说。佛说此经已。诸比丘闻佛所说。欢喜奉行。

Explanation: Conditioned by existence, there is birth. What is birth? Birth is when each and every sentient being, with each kind of material body, after being born, possesses the five aggregates and the eighteen elements, possesses the six sense bases, and possesses the life faculty—this is called birth. Conditioned by birth, there is aging and death. What is aging? If the hair turns white and the crown of the head is bare, the skin's metabolism slows and wrinkles appear, the five faculties have fully matured and are no longer renewed, the limbs grow weak, the back becomes bent and hunched, one lowers the head and groans incessantly, the breath is short—breathing out as soon as one breathes in—walking requires a cane, the body grows ever darker in complexion, the coloring is mottled and impure, dull and sluggish, movements are labored and feeble—when these phenomena appear, that is aging. What is death? Each and every sentient being, each kind, disappears; the body breaks up and one passes away, migrating to become another kind of sentient being; the lifespan is exhausted, the fire of life is extinguished, life ceases, and the time has come to relinquish the five aggregates—that is death. "Death" combined with "aging" is called aging-and-death. These contents are the expository teaching on the meaning of dependent origination.