Padmakara Translation Group

Chapter 26 - An Examination of the Twelve Links of Existence

.

1. Enveloped in the dark of Ignorance,

Beings perform three kinds of Action

That their existence might continue,

Proceeding by such actions to their destiny.

.

2. Conditioned by such actions,

Consciousness arises in the various worlds.

When consciousness has thus migrated,

Name-and-form occur.

.

3. When name-and-form occur,

The six Senses arise.

On the basis of six senses,

Genuine Contact then arises.

.

4. This is only born dependent

On the eye, on form, and on attention.

Dependent upon name-and-form

[Visual] consciousness occurs.

.

5. The gathering of these three

(Of eye and form and consciousness)

Is contact; and from contact,

Feeling comes to pass.

.

6. Through the circumstance of feeling,

Craving comes craving for a feeling.

When craving has arisen, there is

Grasping And of this there are four kinds.

.

7. With grasping, the Becoming

Of the grasper does indeed arise.

But if there is no grasping, there is freedom;

No becoming will there be.

.

8. Becoming presupposes the five aggregates,

And through becoming, Birth occurs,

Then Age-and-Death and misery,

Lamentation, and all sorrow.

.

9. Mental turmoil and unhappiness

Arise because of birth.

And therefrom there arises

What is but a mass, a heap of suffering.

.

10. Actions are samsara's root.

And so the wise refrain from action.

The unwise are the ones who act-

Not the wise indeed, for they see suchness.

.

11. If ignorance is halted,

Actions also do not manifest.

And ignorance in turn is halted

Through discernment and through meditation upon suchness.

.

12. When one link has been stopped,

The link that follows does not manifest.

And thus the mass of suffering itself

Is brought completely to an end.

Garfield

Chapter 26 - Examination of the Twelve Links

.

1. Wrapped in the darkness of ignorance,

One performs the three kinds of actions

Which as dispositions impel one

To continue to future existences.

.

2. Having dispositions as its conditions,

Consciousness enters transmigration.

Once consciousness has entered transmigration,

Name and form come to be.

.

3. Once name and form come to be,

The six sense spheres come into being.

Depending on the six sense spheres,

Contact comes into being.

.

4. That is only dependent

On eye and form and apprehension.

Thus, depending on name and form,

And which produces consciousness

.

5. That which is assembled from the three

Eye and form and consciousness,

Is contact. From contact

Feeling comes to be.

.

6. Conditioned by feeling is craving.

Craving arises because of feeling.

When it appears, there is grasping,

The four spheres of grasping.

.

7. When there is grasping, the grasper

Comes into existence.

If he did not grasp,

Then being freed, he would not come into existence.

.

8. This existence is also the five aggregates.

From existence comes birth,

Old age and death and misery and

Suffering and grief and.

.

9. Confusion and agitation.

All these arise as a consequence of birth.

Thus this entire mass of suffering

Comes into being.

.

10. The root of cyclic existence is action.

Therefore, the wise one does not act.

Therefore, the unwise is the agent.

The wise one is not because of his insight.

.

11. With the cessation of ignorance

Action will not arise.

The cessation of ignorance occurs through

Meditation and wisdom.

.

12. Through the cessation of this and that

This and that will not be manifest.

The entire mass of suffering

Indeed thereby completely ceases.

Batchelor

Chapter 26 - Analysis of the Twelve Links of Becoming

.

1. In order to become again, those obscured by ignorance are moved into destinies by actions which are impelled [by] the three kinds of formative impulses.

.

2. Consciousness conditioned by formative impulses enters into destinies. When consciousness has entered, name and form develop.

.

3. When name and form develop, the six senses emerge. In dependence upon the six senses, impact actually occurs.

.

4. Just as [it] only arises in dependence on the eye, [visual] form and attention, so consciousness arises in dependence on name and form.

.

5. The gathering of the three: eye and [visual] form and consciousness, that is "impact." From impact feeling totally arises.

.

6. Due to the condition of feeling, there is craving; one craves for what is felt. When one craves, one clings to the four aspects of clinging [sense objects, views, morals and rules, and views of self].

.

7. When there is clinging, the becoming of the clinger fully arises. When there is no clinging, one is freed; there is no [more] becoming.

.

8. Becoming is the five aggregates; from becoming one is born. Aging, death, torment, lamentation, pain,

.

9. Mental unhappiness, anxiety: these vividly emerge from birth. Likewise, the entire mass of anguish emerges.

.

10. The root of life is formative impulses. Therefore, the wise do not form impulses. Therefore, the unwise are formers, but not the wise since they see reality.

.

11. When ignorance stops, formative impulses too do not occur. The stopping of ignorance [comes] through practising that with understanding.

.

12. By the stopping of the former, the latter will clearly not occur. The entire mass of anguish will likewise completely stop.

Streng

Chapter 26 - An Analysis of the Twelve Components (dvadasanga) (the twelve spokes) - 12 verses

.

1. "What is hidden by ignorance (1)" (avidyanivrta) has caused the three kinds of conditioned things (2) (samskara) to be made for rebirth —

By those actions it [i.e., " what is hidden by ignorance"] goes forward.

.

2. Consciousness (3), presupposing that which is conditioned (samskara), enters on its course.

When consciousness is begun, the "name-and-form'- (namarupa) (4) is instilled.

.

3. When the "name-and-form" is instilled, the six domains of sense perceptions (5) (ayatana) are produced.

Having arrived at the six domains of sense perceptions, the process of perception begins to function.

.

4. Consciousness begins to function presupposing the eye, the visual forms, and ability of mental association—

Presupposing "name-and-form."

.

5. That which is the coincidence (6) (samnipata) of visual form, consciousness, and the eye:

That is sensual perception; and from perception, sensation (7) begins to function.

.

6. "Craving (8)" (trsna) [for existing things] is conditioned by sensation.

Certainly [a person] craves for the sake of sensation.

The one who craves acquires the four-fold acquisition (9) (upadana)

[namely sexual pleasure, false views, ascetic morality and vows, and the doctrine of self-existence].

.

7. When the acquisition exists, the acquirer begins to function (10) (i.e. existence, becoming).

If he were someone without acquisition, that being would be released, and would not exist.

.

8. That being is the five "groups of universal elements" (skandha). Because of a being, birth (11) begins to function.

Growing old, dying, sorrow (dukkha) (12), etc., grief and regrets,

.

9. Despair and agitation: all this results from birth;

That "produced being" is a single mass of sorrows (dukkha).

.

10. Thus the ignorant people construct the conditioned things (samskara); [that is] the source for existence-in-flux.

The one who constructs is ignorant; the wise person is not [one who constructs] because he perceives true reality.

.

11. When ignorance ceases, the constructed phenomena do not come into existence.

A person's cessation of ignorance proceeds on the basis of "becoming" [enlightened] through knowledge.

.

12. Through cessation of every [component] none functions;

That single mass of sorrow (dukkha) is thus completely destroyed.