[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Buddhist Sanskrit literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit) › [Mahāyāna sūtras](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra) › [Śālistambasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.salistamba) › [འཕགས་པ་སཱ་ལུའི་ལྗང་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.salistamba*bo) › [The Rice Seedling](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.salistamba*bo~en-84000) › 4 # འཕགས་པ་ས་ལའ་ལྗང་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 4 The Rice Seedling 4 - **Language:** English ### [4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.salistamba*bo~en-84000.4) From what two principles? From a causal relation and a conditional relation. Furthermore, it should be understood as twofold: outer and inner. “What is the causal relation in outer dependent arising? It is as follows. From a seed comes a sprout, from a sprout a leaf, from a leaf a stem, from a stem a pedicel, from a pedicel a pistil, from a pistil a flower, and from a flower comes a fruit. If there is no seed, the sprout cannot arise and so on, until finally, without the flower, the fruit cannot arise. If there is a seed, the sprout will form and so on, until finally, if there is a flower, then the fruit will form. “In that process, the seed does not think, ‘I form the sprout.’ Nor does the sprout think, ‘I am formed by the seed.’ Likewise, the flower does not think, ‘I form the fruit.’ Nor does the fruit think, ‘I am formed by the flower.’ Yet, if there is a seed, the sprout will take form and arise, and so on, until finally, likewise, if there is a flower, the fruit will take form and arise. Thus is the causal relation in outer dependent arising to be seen. “So how is the conditional relation in outer dependent arising to be seen? As due to the coming together of six elements. As due to the coming together of what six elements? Namely, conditional dependent arising is to be seen as due to the coming together of the elements of earth, water, fire, wind, space, and season.¹⁷ The earth element functions as the support for the seed. The water element moistens the seed. The fire element ripens the seed. The wind element opens the seed. The space element performs the function of not obstructing the seed. And season transforms the seed. Without these conditions a sprout cannot form from a seed. - [Previous: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.salistamba*bo~en-84000.3) - [Next: 5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.salistamba*bo~en-84000.5) ## Linked texts (1) - [འཕགས་པ་སཱ་ལུའི་ལྗང་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.salistamba*bo.4) — Classical Tibetan --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.salistamba*bo~en-84000.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.salistamba*bo~en-84000.4) · Pramāṇa