Sentence Pronunciation Sentence Structure Declension & Conjugation
Translation Vocabulary Commentary
Abbreviations

devanagari

na avidya   na avidya-ksayah    yavat  na    jara-maranam na  jara-marana-ksayah
 |        |         |       |          |              |      |         |          |         |      |         |          |
neg. N.f.    neg. N.f.     N.m.       adv. neg.      N.f.     N.n.   neg.  N.f.    N.n.    N.m.
 |   Nom.sg.  |       |     Nom.sg.        |      |         |    Nom.sg.    |      |         |     Nom.sg.
 |____|         |       |______|              |      |         |______|        |      |_____|           |
     |             |_______|                    |      |________|              |          |_________|
     |___________|                          |              |                      |__________|
               |                                    |               |_________________|
               |____________________|________________|




Vocabulary:

avidya-, f.: ignorance,

ksaya-, m.: extinction,

jara-, f.: old age,

marana-, n.: death,




Translation:

No ignorance, no extinction of ignorance..., until we come to: no old age and death, no extinction of old age and death.




Sentence pronunciation



Commentary:

    In this section, we find so called "dependent origination", or twelve links of the chain of causation (pratitya-samutpada). This formula forms one of the corner stones of Buddhist teaching. Again, the sutra lists only first and last part.
    Let's enumerate the whole chain here:

Ignorance --- mental impulses --- consciousness --- mind and body --- six senses --- contact --- feeling --- thirst --- attachment --- becoming --- birth --- aging and death.
 
    They arise dependently on each other like this:

1. Mental impulses (sajskara) are caused by ignorance (avidya).
2. Consciousness (vijbana) is caused by mental impulses.
3. Mind and body (nama-rupa) are caused by consciousness.
4. The six senses (sad-ayatana) are caused by mind and body.
5. Contact (sparwa) is caused by the six senses.
6. Feeling (vedana) is caused by contact.
7. Thirst (trsna) is caused by feeling.
8. Attachment (upadana) is caused by thirst.
9. Becoming (bhava) is caused by attachment.
10. Birth (jati) is caused by becoming.
11. Aging and death (jara-marana) are caused by birth.

    They cease in the same order as follows:

1. Because of cessation of ignorance, mental impulses also cease.
2. Because of cessation of mental impulses, mind and body cease.
3. Because of cessation of mind and body, consciousness ceases.
4. Because of cessation of consciousness, the six senses cease.
5. Because of cessation of the six senses, contact ceases.
6. Because of cessation of contact, feeling ceases.
7. Because of cessation of feeling, thirst ceases.
8. Because of cessation of thirst, attachment ceases.
9. Because of cessation of attachment, becoming ceases.
10. Because of cessation of becoming, birth ceases.
11. Because of cessation of birth, aging and death cease.


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