Commentary on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (100)

The Aggregate of Death and the Aggregate of Birth

Original text:大王。识为其主。业为攀缘。二种相因。初识生起。或趣地狱。或堕傍生。琰摩罗界。及阿修罗。若人若天。初识生已。各受其报。同分心品。相续随转。最后识灭。名为死蕴。最初识起。名为生蕴。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, the Ālayavijñāna, as the master of sentient beings, is the cause for the birth of the material body of the next life; karmic actions are the condition for the birth of the material body of the next life. When cause and condition converge, the initial mind-consciousness of the next life appears, and the material body of the next life is born. This person either falls into a hell body, an animal body, or a ghost-realm body, or takes on an asura body, a human body, or a heavenly body. When the initial mind-consciousness of the next life is born, sentient beings begin to receive their respective retributions. Thereafter, the mind-consciousness on this material body continues to operate without cease, until the final consciousness ceases—this is called the aggregate of death, becoming a corpse and a deceased person. And when the initial consciousness arises, it is called the aggregate of birth—that is, the one who is born.