An Explanation of the Twelve Nidānas in the Āgama Sutras
Chapter Four: The Āgama Oral Explanation of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination Sūtra
Original text: 欲断生死趣。度世道者。当念却十二因缘。何等为十二。一者本为痴。二者从痴为所作行。三者从作行为所识。四者从所识为名色。五者从名色为六衰。六者从六衰为所更。七者从所更为痛。八者从痛为爱。九者从爱为求。十者从求为得。十一者从得为生。十二者从生为老病死。是为十二因缘事。
Explanation: If one wishes to cut off the path of birth and death and transcend the six realms of saṃsāra in the world, one should be mindful of the twelve links of dependent origination (nidānas). What are the twelve links? First, the root of the cycle of birth and death is ignorance and delusion (avidyā); second, from the ignorance and delusion of the manas are derived the fabricated volitional formations; third, from bodily, verbal, and mental actions are derived the karmic seeds of the six consciousnesses; fourth, from the karmic seeds of the six consciousnesses is derived nāma-rūpa (name-and-form); fifth, from nāma-rūpa are derived the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana); sixth, from the six sense bases is derived contact; seventh, from contact is derived feeling; eighth, from feeling is derived craving; ninth, from craving is derived seeking and grasping; ninth, from seeking and grasping is derived existence (bhava); tenth, from existence is derived birth; eleventh, from birth are derived old age, sickness, and death — what is described above is the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination.
Original text: 此十二事欲起。当用四非常灭之。何等为四非常。一为识苦。二为舍习。三为知尽。四为行道。更说念生念老念病念死。念是四事。便却是十二因缘道成。念是四事道人。欲得度世。当断十二因缘事。是为断生死根。
Explanation: When these twelve links are about to arise, one should use the four dharmas of impermanence to extinguish them. What are the four dharmas of impermanence? First, one must know suffering and recognize suffering; second, one must eradicate accumulation (samudaya) and cast off habitual tendencies; third, one must yearn for cessation, cultivating the path (nirodhābhiprāya-mārga-bhāvanā), knowing the dharma of the path that completely extinguishes suffering; fourth, one must cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path. In addition, one should constantly be mindful of the four matters of birth, old age, sickness, and death, and then the twelve links of dependent origination can be cultivated to accomplishment. A practitioner who is mindful of birth, old age, sickness, and death, wishing to transcend the world, should cut off the karmic enterprise of birth and death of the twelve links of dependent origination; in this way the root of birth and death will be completely severed.
Original text: 十二因缘有内外。一者内为痴。外为地。二者内为行。外为水。三者内为识。外为火。四者内为名色。外为风。五者内为六入。外为空。六者内为灾。外为种。七者内为痛。外为根。八者内为爱。外为茎。九者内为受。外为叶。十者内为有。外为节。十一者内为生。外为华。十二者内为老死。外为实。人生死从内十二因缘。万物生死从外十二因缘。
Explanation: The twelve links of dependent origination are divided into internal dharmas and external dharmas. First, the internal dharma is ignorance and delusion (avidyā), and the external dharma is the earth element; second, the internal dharma is volitional formations, and the external dharma is the water element; third, the internal dharma is the six consciousnesses, and the external dharma is the fire element; fourth, the internal dharma is nāma-rūpa, and the external dharma is the wind element; fifth, the internal dharma is the six sense bases, and the external dharma is space; sixth, the internal dharma is calamity, and the external dharma is karmic seeds; seventh, the internal dharma is feeling, and the external dharma is the root; eighth, the internal dharma is craving, and the external dharma is the stem of a plant; ninth, the internal dharma is grasping, and the external dharma is branches and leaves; tenth, the internal dharma is existence, and the external dharma is the nodes; eleventh, the internal dharma is birth, and the external dharma is the flower; twelfth, the internal dharma is old age and death, and the external dharma is the fruit. The birth and death of humans comes from the internal twelve links of dependent origination, and the arising and ceasing of all things comes from the external twelve links of dependent origination.
The internal twelve links of dependent origination are mental dharmas, and the external twelve links are material form (rūpa). The internal dharmas refer to those closely connected with the conscious mind; they are the twelve links of dependent origination directly possessed by the conscious mind. The external dharmas — earth, water, fire, wind, space, seeds, roots, stems, leaves, nodes, flowers, and fruits — correspond respectively to the internal dharmas of the twelve links; they are relatively remote from the conscious mind, are not dharmas inherently possessed by the conscious mind, and are mainly dharmas held and sustained by the Ālayavijñāna.
Original text: 何等为痴。谓不礼父母。不分别白黑。从是因缘得痛。不欲弃。不信今世亦后世。已作是事。便随行不作。是亦不得。是以有痴便为行。已有行便为识。已有识便为名色。已有名色便为六入。已有六入便为栽。已有栽便为痛。已有痛便为爱。已有爱便为受。已有受便为有。已有有便为生。已有生便为老死。
Explanation: What is ignorance (moha)? Ignorance means not paying respect to one's parents, being unable to distinguish black from white, right from wrong; from the condition of ignorance, grasping (upādāna) arises, and yet one cannot abandon the dharmas one grasps. Not believing that this life's causes have future-life effects — good deeds one has already begun to do, one no longer wishes to do because of ignorance, and thus one does not obtain wholesome results. Therefore it is said that where there is ignorance there are mental formations; where there are mental formations the six consciousnesses will arise; where there are the six consciousnesses there will be future nāma-rūpa; where there is nāma-rūpa there will be the six sense bases; where there are the six sense bases there will be contact; where there is contact there will be feeling; where there is feeling there will be craving; where there is craving there will be grasping; where there is grasping there will be future existence; where there is existence there will be birth; where there is birth there will be old age and death.
Original text: 故人生取十二因缘。得十二因缘生。无因缘亦不生。万物亦尔。不断十二因缘。不脱生死。行三十七品经。为从是得道。十二因缘有五事。一者痴。二者生死精行。是前世因缘。三者识。从识受身生。四者名色。色身复成五阴。是今世因缘。五者六衰。复作生死精行种栽。是后世因缘。前后三世转相因缘故。为有五事。
Explanation: Therefore, after a person is born, he grasps the twelve links of dependent origination; only with the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination can a person be born. Without causes and conditions, not only humans but all things would not be born. If the twelve links of dependent origination are not eradicated, one cannot escape the cycle of birth and death. Cultivating the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment (bodhipakṣa-dharma) is precisely for the sake of attaining the fruit of the Path and escaping birth and death. The twelve links of dependent origination are divided into five categories: the first is ignorance; the second is the mental formations that transmigrate through birth and death — these two are the causes and conditions of past lives, enabling continuous birth in future lives, hence the birth and death of the five aggregates in this life; the third is the six consciousnesses, from whose karmic seeds of action the material body will be born; the fourth is nāma-rūpa, which enables the material body to develop the functions of the five aggregates — this is the condition for the existence of the five-aggregate body in this life; the fifth is the six sense bases, the seeds capable of diligently creating karmic actions, which are the condition for the birth of the material body in future lives. The twelve links of dependent origination are the causes and conditions of birth and death flowing through the three periods of past, present, and future, roughly summarized into these five categories.
Original text: 十二因缘本从身十事。出身十事。七事从一。三事从四。七事从一者。杀盗淫。两舌恶口。妄言绮语。共从色为一。三事从四者。嫉嗔恚痴。从痛痒思想生死识。是十事合为五阴。便为十二因缘。地名痴。行为盛阴。便作生死行。自种栽名为行。已有行便有识。受身生死。有识便有名色。
Explanation: The twelve links of dependent origination are originally ten phenomena manifested on the body of the five aggregates. Among these ten phenomena, seven are manifested from the material dharmas of the physical body, and three are manifested from the four mental dharmas of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. Nāma-rūpa constitutes the five aggregates, and the ten phenomena on nāma-rūpa constitute the five aggregates. The seven phenomena are killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, divisive speech, harsh speech, and frivolous speech — these seven matters are all manifested from the physical body; the three phenomena are jealousy, anger (pratigha), and ignorance, which are manifested from the four dharmas of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. The ten phenomena combined constitute the five aggregates, which are the twelve links of dependent origination. Ignorance is metaphorically the earth as the root; the actions of the manas give rise to the five clinging aggregates (pañca-upādāna-skandha). The five clinging aggregates act within ignorance; the karmic seeds of the five clinging aggregates manifest within the ground of ignorance and delusion, and thus mental formations appear. After mental formations arise, the six consciousnesses undergo the birth and death of the five-aggregate body; with the six consciousnesses there is the birth of nāma-rūpa.
Original text: 身复作十事。成已五阴。已有名色便有六入。复作盛阴。行种栽后当复受转相。因缘生死故名为因缘。身十事为十二因缘者。嫉为痴。嗔恚为生死。精疑为识。杀为名色。盗为六衰。淫为更。两舌为痛。妄言为爱。恶口为成。绮语为愿。生有无故。为有十二因缘。
Explanation: The physical body further performs ten kinds of actions, having the above ten phenomena, becoming the five-aggregate body; after nāma-rūpa appears there are the six sense bases. The physical body further runs the bodily, verbal, and mental activities of the five aggregates; after seeds are planted, the operation of the five-aggregate body in future lives continues unceasingly, thereby becoming the causes and conditions of birth and death — hence it is called the dharma of causes and conditions. The ten karmic enterprises performed by the physical body are precisely the twelve links of dependent origination: jealousy is ignorance; anger is birth and death; mental doubt is the six consciousnesses; the karmic action of killing is nāma-rūpa; the karmic action of stealing is the six sense bases; the karmic action of lust is contact; the karmic action of divisive speech is feeling; the karmic action of false speech is craving; the karmic action of harsh speech accomplishes the five clinging aggregates; the karmic action of frivolous speech is the action of vows. In this way there can be existence in future lives; the presence or absence of life represents the twelve links of dependent origination.
Original text: 何以故。淫为痴。嗔恚为生死。精疑为识。内三事为本。已有三事。便有七事。成五盛阴。嫉为五阴本故为疑。五阴行可意善。不可意嗔。便作生死精十事。外从身内意故。疑谓不分别白黑。不识生死故为识。道人欲断十二因缘。当先断身十事。便为痴。从痴五阴灭。
Explanation: Why is this said? Lust is ignorance; anger is birth and death; mental doubt is the six consciousnesses. These three internal matters are the root of the five aggregates; with the root, there will be the seven matters — killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, divisive speech, frivolous speech, and harsh speech — which accomplish the karmic actions of the five clinging aggregates. Jealousy is the root of the actions of the five aggregates, and therefore belongs to the category of mental doubt. If the actions of the five-aggregate body are satisfactory, they are wholesome; if unsatisfactory, the mind gives rise to anger — thus the ten karmic actions of birth and death are created. External dharmas manifest from the physical body and reflect the intentions of the inner mind. Mental doubt means the mind cannot distinguish black from white, right from wrong; that which cannot discern birth and death is the mind of the six consciousnesses. If a practitioner wishes to cut off the twelve links of dependent origination, he should first cut off the ten karmic enterprises on the five-aggregate body; thereby ignorance is severed, and once ignorance and delusion are severed, the five-aggregate body will cease completely.
Original text: 十二因缘亦灭断。身十事者。外从身内从意故。言身意持。谓不杀。亦谓外从口。内从嫉断者。谓万物一切意不起。便嗔恚止。嗔恚止便杀止。杀止便贪欲止。贪欲止便泣止。外口者谓声。止声者。两舌恶口妄言绮语亦止，无有疑便入道。是为还五阴断十二因缘本。
Explanation: By cultivating the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination and the ten karmic enterprises, the five-aggregate body can also be extinguished and cut off completely. Because external dharmas — form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects — are manifested in dependence on the physical body, and internal dharmas exist following the intentions of the mind, it is said that the physical body is maintained and sustained by the mind. For example, the precept of not killing can also be said to be manifested externally through the mouth, and internally generated through the mind by cutting off jealousy: with regard to all things, as long as the intention does not arise, anger ceases; when anger is extinguished, the karma of killing is extinguished and no longer arises; when the karma of killing ceases, greed and desire will cease; when greed and desire cease, weeping and lamentation cease. What is created externally through the mouth is sound; when sound is stopped, divisive speech, harsh speech, false speech, and frivolous speech also cease, and when the mind is free of doubt, one enters the Path. This is the ten karmic enterprises returning to the five aggregates, thereby cutting off the root of the twelve links of dependent origination.
Original text: 人受身有三别。第一。五阴盛阴。第二。十八种。第三。十二因缘行。是三事得身三别。第一五阴盛阴者。五阴从身十事出。从眼为色阴。从耳为痛痒阴。从鼻为思想阴。从口为生死阴。从意为识阴。心主念对是六事为根本。是为五阴地。
Explanation: There are three kinds of differences in receiving a human body. The first is the difference in the five clinging aggregates; the second is the difference in the eighteen dhātus; the third is the difference in the actions of the twelve links of dependent origination. These three different matters result in three kinds of differences in the physical body obtained. The first, the five clinging aggregates, means that the five-aggregate body can perform ten kinds of actions from the physical body: what is performed on the eye faculty is the aggregate of form; what is performed on the ear faculty is the aggregate of feeling; what is performed on the nose faculty is the aggregate of perception; what is performed on the mouth is the aggregate of volitional formations of birth and death; what is performed on the manas is the aggregate of consciousness. The conscious mind governs thoughts and intentions, corresponding to the six kinds of enterprises of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects — this is the root of all dharmas; the above is the ground of the five aggregates.
Original text: 第二。十八入十九根。十八种者。五阴行为盛阴。有对有入为十二入本。六情为十八间。有识故为十九根。言十八种者。识不生故。为十八种。是说盛阴行。生十八种十九根。
Explanation: The second: the eighteen categories of dharmas are subsumed into the nineteen faculties. The eighteen dharmas are the operation of the five-aggregate body, also called the clinging aggregates. The six faculties confronting the six sense objects are the basis of the twelve sense bases (āyatanas); adding the six consciousnesses, there are eighteen dhātus in total; adding the manas, they are also called the nineteen faculties. The eighteen dharmas mentioned exclude the seventh consciousness, making eighteen; in the course of the operation of the five clinging aggregates, there are the eighteen dharmas, which cooperate together with the manas, the nineteenth dharma.
Original text: 第三。十二因缘者。谓五阴五盛阴行。求十二因缘便有身。是同身十事。俱分别之耳。从色得身。从四阴得名字。从名色得爱受。从受行痴。行痴便成十二因缘。道当为断。
Explanation: The third: the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination refers to the blazing operation of the five aggregates, which pursue the twelve links of dependent origination, and thus there is the five-aggregate body. On the five-aggregate body there are ten kinds of actions. To classify them specifically: from the aggregate of form the physical body is obtained, and from the four aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness the name is obtained. On nāma-rūpa, craving and feeling can be manifested; from feeling, the ignorance of mental formations can be manifested; the ignorance of mental formations accomplishes the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination, which can only be cut off through cultivating the Path.
Original text: 色不为身。但名字为身。虽有眼耳鼻舌身意。亦复非身。何以故。设耳是人。当能听一切。从形得名字。譬金字。譬如以金作物。因从是得字。
Explanation: The physical body is not the body of sentient beings; only the names of the four aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness constitute the body of sentient beings. Although the physical body has eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, it is still not the body. Why is this said? If the ear faculty were the human body, it should be able to hear all dharmas; but in fact the ear faculty can only hear the one dharma of sounds, and cannot hear or discern other dharmas. All dharmas obtain their names from their forms and marks — for example, the word "gold": when gold is used to make objects, the names are obtained from the form of gold — gold rings, gold bracelets, and so on.
Only when the physical body has the seven consciousnesses can it have functions and activities; only with functions and activities — and complete functions and activities — is it a five-aggregate body. Without the seven consciousnesses, it is like insentient things such as earth and wood.
Original text: 地水火风空。是五事作身。亦复非身。何以故。身知细滑故。人已死地不知细滑故。知地水火风空非身。身亦空意亦空。俱空无所有。亦无痛痒。何以故。人已死亦不复觉痛痒。如是为空。意已离身。亦无痛痒。但因缘共合故。还归无有。
Explanation: The five great seeds of earth, water, fire, wind, and space constitute the physical body, but this is still not the body. Why is this said? Because the body can discern the contact of smoothness and softness; after a person dies, earth, water, fire, wind, and space still remain, but there is no longer awareness of the contact of smoothness and softness. Therefore one should know that the physical body constituted by earth, water, fire, wind, and space is not the body. In fact, the body is empty, the manas is also empty, the five aggregates are all empty — empty of anything at all, without feeling either. Why is this said? Because after a person dies there is no longer any feeling; that is why it is said that everything is empty. After the manas leaves the body, there is also no feeling. The five-aggregate body merely exists through the combination of causes and conditions; when the causes and conditions disperse, it ultimately returns to nonexistence, becoming empty nothingness.
Original text: 身中有十二风。上气风下气风。眼风耳风鼻风。背风胁风脐风。臂风足风。曲风刀风。刀风至病人。杀生刀风。刀风断截人命。生老病死。生者谓初堕母腹中时为生。已生便老。止者谓意中止。用止故败气息出入。见了身本。
Explanation: Within the bodies of sentient beings there are twelve kinds of winds: the wind of upward-moving vital energy and the wind of downward-moving vital energy; winds in the eye faculty, the ear faculty, the nose faculty, the back, the ribs and flanks, the navel, the arms, the feet, and the private parts, plus the knife-wind. The knife-wind can injure people and make them sick; the knife-wind kills living beings and can sever human life. Humans have birth, old age, sickness, and death. Birth means the moment when one has just fallen from the mother's womb — that is called birth; after birth one gradually grows old; the termination of life is death. At termination, it is the manas that terminates in the physical body; because the manas's function in the physical body ceases, the deteriorating breath appears, and at this moment one knows the original nature of the body.
Original text: 合十事为败。身中五事。一者地。二者水。三者火。四者风。五者空。坚者为地。软者为水。热者为火。气者为风。饭食得出入为空。亦余因缘合为人。自计是我身。若欲万物当挍计有身。亦有五因缘共合。一者色。二者痛痒。三者思想。四者生死。五者识。是十事共合。便见生死。
Explanation: The ten matters combined can ruin the physical body. The five matters in the physical body: first, earth; second, water; third, fire; fourth, wind; fifth, space. The hard is earth, the soft is water, the hot is fire, the breath is wind, and the place where food and drink enter and exit is space. There are also other causes and conditions combining to become a human, who himself clings to the combination of the five as the body of self. If one wishes to encompass all things as the body, then combine the other five causes and conditions together: first, the aggregate of form; second, the aggregate of feeling; third, the aggregate of perception; fourth, the aggregate of volitional formations; fifth, the aggregate of consciousness. When these ten causes and conditions combine together, the dharma of birth and death manifests.
