Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra: Commentary on the Twelve Links of Dependent Arising (Fourteen)

Original text: 问。如经中说。诸业以贪嗔痴为缘。何故此中。唯说痴为缘耶。答。此中通说。福非福不动业缘。贪嗔痴缘。唯生非福业故。

Explanation: Question: As stated in the sūtras, all karmic actions of sentient beings are created with greed, hatred, and delusion as conditions. Why is it said here that only delusion serves as the condition? Answer: Here, the conditions for all three kinds of karma—meritorious formations, non-meritorious formations, and immovable formations—are comprehensively stated to be ignorance and delusion as the condition, whereas greed, hatred, and delusion as conditions can only give rise to non-meritorious karmic formations.

With the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion as conditions, one will certainly create non-meritorious evil karma, and will not create meritorious karma or the pure immovable formations. But with ignorance as the condition, all three kinds of karmic formations can be created, not limited to non-meritorious evil karma. There are many people who perform good deeds out of ignorance, because they do not understand the suffering and emptiness of the world.

Original text: 问。身业语业。思所发起。是则行亦缘行。何故但说。无明缘行。答。依发起一切行缘而说故。及依生善染污思缘而说故。Explanation: Question: Bodily karma and verbal karma are initiated by deliberation (manana); thus formations also serve as conditions for formations. Why is it only said that ignorance conditions volitional formations? Answer: This is said in accordance with the condition that initiates all formations, including the formations of the manas (the mental factor of deliberation). All formations arise from ignorance; the deliberation of the manas operates only because of ignorance, which leads to the arising of bodily and verbal formations. It is also said in accordance with the condition that gives rise to wholesome and defiled mental factors of deliberation. The condition that gives rise to the wholesome and the condition that gives rise to the defiled are both ignorance. Therefore it is said that ignorance conditions volitional formations, and not that the formations of the mental factor of deliberation condition bodily and verbal formations.