諸經要集 19.65

19.65

The commentary within the treatise explains: If a person is definitely going to take birth in the evil destinies, or in the human destiny, in the case of such persons dying gradually, as well as an arhat, the mental consciousness of this person is severed at the heart. Other schools say it is at the head. Why is this? Because the bodily faculty perishes together with the mental consciousness in these places. When a person is dying, this bodily faculty is like water on a hot stone, gradually shrinking and receding, perishing in succession at the feet and other places. The commentary explains: The Abhidharmakośa-śāstra expresses the Hīnayāna meaning, and so it says: When the body dies, it perishes in these places together with the mental consciousness. If according to the Mahāyāna, the bodily faculty perishes in these places together with the fundamental consciousness (ālayavijñāna).