Saṃyuktāgama, Volume 12 (288), Part Three

(Three) Original text: 尊者舍利弗。复问尊者摩诃拘絺罗。先言名色非自作。非他作。非自他作。非非自他作无因作。然彼名色缘识生。而今复言识缘名色。此义云何。尊者摩诃拘絺罗答言。今当说譬。如智者因譬得解。譬如三芦立于空地。展转相依。而得竖立。若去其一。二亦不立。若去其二。一亦不立。展转相依。而得竖立。识缘名色亦复如是。展转相依。而得生长。

Explanation: Śāriputra asked Mahākauṣṭhila again: "You just said that nāma-rūpa exists by itself naturally, not produced by relying on other conditions, not born from the combination of nature and other conditions, nor does it arise without the combination of nature and other conditions, and it is not born without cause or condition. Yet nāma-rūpa arises because of the six consciousnesses. And now you also say that the six consciousnesses arise because of nāma-rūpa. What does this mean?"

Mahākauṣṭhila replied: "Let me now give an analogy; those with wisdom will understand the principle through the analogy. For example, three reeds standing on open ground must lean on one another in order to stand upright. If one reed is removed, the other two cannot stand; if two reeds are removed, the remaining one cannot stand either. Only by leaning on one another can the three stand upright. It is the same with consciousness and nāma-rūpa: they depend on one another, and only through mutual dependence can they grow."

The five aggregates of nāma-rūpa can only arise by depending on the six consciousnesses. The principle is this: because the six consciousnesses continuously create bodily, verbal, and mental actions, the karmic seeds are stored, and the body of the five aggregates cannot cease; in future lives one will continue to be born within the three realms. Because there are still karmic seeds for future lives, there will be the antarā-bhava (intermediate body) and the nāma-rūpa of future lives. The manas, within the antarā-bhava, transmigrates through the six paths of rebirth according to the karmic seeds, and will enter the womb together with the eighth consciousness, thus there arises the nāma-rūpa of the beginning of the next life: nāma is the manas, the seventh consciousness, and rūpa is the fertilized egg. The six consciousnesses arise depending on nāma-rūpa; the principle is this: when the nāma-rūpa of a sentient being's fetal stage continues to grow, the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana) mature, the six faculties contact the six sense objects, and the six consciousnesses arise within the body of the five aggregates of nāma-rūpa. In this way, nāma-rūpa and the six consciousnesses are mutually dependent; each can give rise to the other and continue to operate, and thus birth and death continue without end.

In the ten links of dependent origination, there are also the statements "consciousness conditions nāma-rūpa" and "nāma-rūpa conditions consciousness." Here, consciousness is not the consciousness of the six consciousnesses, but the consciousness of the Ālayavijñāna, the consciousness of the eighth consciousness. The meaning is that the Ālayavijñāna can only have its own operation and activity within the world of the five aggregates by relying on the condition of the five aggregates of nāma-rūpa, and nāma-rūpa also needs to depend on the Ālayavijñāna in order to arise, develop, and continuously operate. Without the Ālayavijñāna to rely on, there would be no arising of nāma-rūpa; and without nāma-rūpa, the Ālayavijñāna would be in the state of Nirvāṇa without remainder.

Original text: 尊者舍利弗言。善哉善哉。尊者摩诃拘絺罗。世尊声闻中。智慧明达。善调无畏。见甘露法。以甘露法具足身作证者。谓尊者摩诃拘絺罗。乃有如是甚深义辩。种种难问。皆悉能答。如无价宝珠。世所顶戴。我今顶戴尊者摩诃拘絺罗。亦复如是。我今于汝所。快得善利。诸余梵行。数诣其所。亦得善利。以彼尊者善说法故。我今以此尊者摩诃拘絺罗。所说法故。当以三十种赞叹。称扬随喜。

Explanation: Śāriputra praised: "Excellent, excellent! Venerable Mahākauṣṭhila, among the Śrāvakas of the World-Honored One, you are one of penetrating wisdom, skilled in subduing the mind and fearless, who has seen the nectar of the Dharma; because you have fully realized the nectar-dharma of liberation and can attest to it with your own body: 'Birth is exhausted, the holy life has been established, what was to be done has been done, and I know for myself that there will be no more rebirth.' You possess such profound and unimpeded eloquence in the Dharma-meaning, and can answer and respond to all kinds of challenging questions. You are like a priceless jewel, revered and held aloft by the world. I now hold venerable Mahākauṣṭhila in reverence in the same way. I have now gained excellent benefit from you, and other practitioners of the holy life have also gained excellent benefit through repeatedly visiting you for instruction and exchange. Because you, Venerable Sir, are skilled in teaching the Dharma, I now, on account of the Dharma teachings spoken by venerable Mahākauṣṭhila, shall offer thirty kinds of praise, extolling and rejoicing in your merit."