Viyahapannatti 1.7: Uddeśaka 7: nairayika

“Does an inhabitant of hell, Venerable Sir, taking birth among the inhabitants of hell, take birth: 1. In part by part? 2. In part by the whole? 3. In whole by part? 4. In whole by the whole?”
“Gautama! 1. It does not take birth in part by part. 2. It does not take birth in part by the whole. 3. It does not take birth in whole by part. 4. It takes birth in whole by the whole.
As for an inhabitant of hell, so up to a celestial being.”

"Venerable Sir! When an inhabitant of hell is taking birth among inhabitants of hell, does it take nourishment: 1. with a part [of itself], of a part [of the nourishment matter]? 2. with a part, of the whole? 3. with the whole, of a part? 4. with the whole, of the whole?"
"Gautama! 1. It does not take nourishment with a part, of a part. 2. It does not take nourishment with a part, of the whole. 3. It takes nourishment either with the whole, of a part, 4. or with the whole, of the whole.
In this way [up to] a celestial being.
Venerable Sir! When an inhabitant of hell is transmigrating from inhabitants of hell, does it: 1. transmigrate with a part, to a part? 2. transmigrate with a part, to the whole? 3. transmigrate with the whole, to a part? 4. transmigrate with the whole, to the whole?
Gautama! 1. It does not transmigrate with a part, to a part. 2. It does not transmigrate with a part, to the whole. 3. It does not transmigrate with the whole, to a part. 4. It transmigrates with the whole, to the whole.
In this way up to a celestial being.
Venerable Sir! When an inhabitant of hell is transmigrating from inhabitants of hell, does it take nourishment: 1. with a part, of a part? 2. with a part, of the whole? 3. with the whole, of a part? 4. with the whole, of the whole?
Gautama! 1. It does not take nourishment with a part, of a part. 2. It does not take nourishment with a part, of the whole. 3. It takes nourishment either with the whole, of a part, 4. or with the whole, of the whole.
In this way up to a celestial being.
Venerable Sir! When an inhabitant of hell has been born among inhabitants of hell, has it: 1. been born with a part, in a part? 2. been born with a part, in the whole? 3. been born with the whole, in a part? 4. been born with the whole, in the whole?
Gautama! 1. It has not been born with a part, in a part. 2. It has not been born with a part, in the whole. 3. It has not been born with the whole, in a part. 4. It has been born with the whole, in the whole.
In this way up to a celestial being.
Venerable Sir! When an inhabitant of hell has been born among inhabitants of hell, does it take nourishment: 1. with a part, of a part? 2. with a part, of the whole? 3. with the whole, of a part? 4. with the whole, of the whole?
Gautama! 1. It does not take nourishment with a part, of a part. 2. It does not take nourishment with a part, of the whole. 3. It takes nourishment with the whole, of a part, 4. or with the whole, of the whole.
In this way up to a celestial being.
Venerable Sir! When an inhabitant of hell has transmigrated from inhabitants of hell, has it: 1. transmigrated with a part, to a part? 2. transmigrated with a part, to the whole? 3. transmigrated with the whole, to a part? 4. transmigrated with the whole, to the whole?
Gautama! 1. It has not transmigrated with a part, to a part. 2. It has not transmigrated with a part, to the whole. 3. It has not transmigrated with the whole, to a part. 4. It has transmigrated with the whole, to the whole.
In this way up to a celestial being.
Venerable Sir! When an inhabitant of hell has transmigrated from inhabitants of hell, does it take nourishment: 1. with a part, of a part? 2. with a part, of the whole? 3. with the whole, of a part? 4. with the whole, of the whole?
Gautama! 1. It does not take nourishment with a part, of a part. 2. It does not take nourishment with a part, of the whole. 3. It takes nourishment either with the whole, of a part, 4. or with the whole, of the whole.
In this way up to a celestial being.
Venerable Sir! When an inhabitant of hell is taking birth among inhabitants of hell, does it: 1. take birth with half, in half? 2. take birth with half, in the whole? 3. take birth with the whole, in half? 4. take birth with the whole, in the whole?
Just as eight sets of statements were spoken with 'a part', so eight sets of statements are to be spoken with 'half' as well; with the only difference being: where it was said 'taking birth with a part, in a part', there it is to be said 'taking birth with half, in half'—this is the distinction.
All these sixteen sets of statements are to be spoken.

"Venerable Sir! Has a jīva entered upon bent motion? Or has it entered upon straight motion?"
"Gautama! It may have entered upon bent motion; it may have entered upon straight motion.
In this way up to a celestial being.
Venerable Sir! Have jīvas entered upon bent motion? Or have they entered upon straight motion?"
"Gautama! Some have entered upon bent motion, and some have entered upon straight motion."
"Venerable Sir! Have inhabitants of hell entered upon bent motion? Or have they entered upon straight motion?"
"Gautama! All of them might have entered upon straight motion; or many have entered upon straight motion, and one has entered upon bent motion; or many have entered upon straight motion, and many have entered upon bent motion. In this way, omitting [the generic category of] jīva and one-sensed beings, there is a threefold alternative [throughout]."

"Venerable Sir! When a deva of great psychic power, great splendor, great strength, great fame, great happiness, and great majesty is falling [from heaven] without losing consciousness, does he, for a short time, not take nourishment out of shame, disgust, and hardship, and then take nourishment, which, being taken, is nourished, and being transformed, is transformed; and when his lifespan is exhausted, does he experience the lifespan where he is reborn, that is to say, either the lifespan of an animal-womb or the lifespan of a human?"
"Yes, Gautama! When a deva of great psychic power, great splendor, great strength, great fame, great happiness, and great majesty is falling [from heaven] without losing consciousness, he, for a short time, does not take nourishment out of shame, disgust, and hardship, and then takes nourishment, which, being taken, is nourished, and being transformed, is transformed; and when his lifespan is exhausted, he experiences the lifespan where he is reborn, that is to say, either the lifespan of an animal-womb or the lifespan of a human."

"Venerable Sir, when a jīva enters the womb, does it enter possessing sense organs, or lacking sense organs?"
"Gautama, sometimes it enters possessing sense organs; sometimes it enters lacking sense organs."
"For what reason, Venerable Sir, is it said thus: 'Sometimes it enters possessing sense organs; sometimes it enters lacking sense organs'?"
"Gautama, in reference to physical sense organs, it enters lacking sense organs; in reference to psychical sense organs, it enters possessing sense organs. For that reason, Gautama, it is said thus: 'Sometimes it enters possessing sense organs; sometimes it enters lacking sense organs.'
"Venerable Sir, when a jīva enters the womb, does it enter with a body, or without a body?"
"Gautama, sometimes it enters with a body; sometimes it enters without a body."
"For what reason, Venerable Sir, is it said thus: 'Sometimes it enters with a body; sometimes it enters without a body'?"
"Gautama, in reference to gross, transformational, and translocational [bodies], it enters without a body; in reference to fiery and karmic [bodies], it enters with a body. For that reason, Gautama, it is said thus: 'Sometimes it enters with a body; sometimes it enters without a body.'
"Venerable Sir, when a jīva enters the womb, what nourishment does it take at first?"
"Gautama, it takes as nourishment at first the mother's ovum and the father's semen, combined together."

"Venerable Sir! When a jīva is in the womb, what nourishment does it consume?"
"Gautama! Whatever diverse essences of food its mother consumes, by a portion thereof it consumes vitality."
"Venerable Sir! Does a jīva residing in the womb have feces, urine, phlegm, nasal mucus, vomit, or bile?"
"That is not so."
"Why is that so?"
"Gautama! Whatever nourishment a jīva consumes when in the womb, it builds up [into parts of the body], namely: into the sense organ of hearing, the sense organ of sight, the sense organ of smell, the sense organ of taste, the sense organ of touch, and into bones, bone-marrow, hair of the head, beard, body hair, and nails. For that reason, Gautama, it is said: A jīva residing in the womb has no feces, urine, phlegm, nasal mucus, vomit, or bile."
"Venerable Sir! Is a jīva residing in the womb able to consume mouthfuls of nourishment through the mouth?"
"That is not so."
"Why is that so?"
"Gautama! A jīva residing in the womb takes nourishment from all sides, transforms [it] from all sides, inhales from all sides, exhales from all sides; it frequently takes nourishment, frequently transforms [it], frequently inhales, frequently exhales; occasionally takes nourishment, occasionally transforms [it], occasionally inhales, occasionally exhales.
The channel carrying fluid from the mother's soul [leads to] the channel carrying fluid to the child's soul; connected to the mother's soul and reaching the child's soul—thereby it takes nourishment, thereby it transforms [it].
And another [channel] too is connected to the child's soul and reaches the mother's soul—thereby it builds up, thereby it augments. For that reason, Gautama, it is said: A jīva residing in the womb is not able to consume mouthfuls of nourishment through the mouth."
"Venerable Sir! How many maternal body parts are declared?"
"Gautama! Three maternal body parts are declared, namely: flesh, blood, and brain."
"Venerable Sir! How many paternal body parts are declared?"
"Gautama! Three paternal body parts are declared, namely: bones, bone-marrow, and hair of the head, beard, body hair, and nails."
"Venerable Sir! For how long does the physical body derived from mother and father endure?"
"Gautama! For as long as its physical body maintaining life is not destroyed, for that long it endures; and thereafter, waning moment by moment, in the very last moment of life it ceases to be."
"Venerable Sir! Could a jīva residing in the womb be reborn among the inhabitants of hell?"
"Gautama! Some may be reborn [there], some may not be reborn [there]."
"Why, Venerable Sir, is it said: 'Some may be reborn [there], some may not be reborn [there]'?"
"Gautama! A sentient, five-sensed being who is fully developed in all attainments, possessing the power of energy and the power of transformation, upon hearing and discerning that an enemy army has arrived, extends [its] soul-points; having extended them, it undergoes transformation-burst; having undergone [transformation-burst], it creates a fourfold army; having created [it], it wages war with the fourfold army against the enemy army.
That jīva, desirous of wealth, desirous of kingdom, desirous of pleasures, desirous of sensual desires; longing for wealth, longing for kingdom, longing for pleasures, longing for sensual desires; thirsting for wealth, thirsting for kingdom, thirsting for pleasures, thirsting for sensual desires; with its thought there, its mind there, its lesyā there, its volition there, its intense volition there, attentive to that purpose, devoted to that, permeated by that contemplation—if it should die in that interval, it is reborn among the inhabitants of hell. For that reason, Gautama, it is said: 'Some may be reborn [there], some may not be reborn [there].'"
"Venerable Sir! Could a jīva residing in the womb be reborn in the heavenly realms?"
"Gautama! Some may be reborn [there], some may not be reborn [there]."
"Why, Venerable Sir, is it said: 'Some may be reborn [there], some may not be reborn [there]'?"
"Gautama! A sentient, five-sensed being who is fully developed in all attainments, upon hearing and discerning even a single noble, righteous, good word in the presence of an appropriate śramaṇa or brāhmaṇa, then becomes faithful out of spiritual longing and impassioned with deep love for the Dharma.
That jīva, desirous of Dharma, desirous of merit, desirous of heaven, desirous of liberation; longing for Dharma, longing for merit, longing for heaven, longing for liberation; thirsting for Dharma, thirsting for merit, thirsting for heaven, thirsting for liberation; with its thought there, its mind there, its lesyā there, its volition there, its intense volition there, attentive to that purpose, devoted to that, permeated by that contemplation—if it should die in that interval, it is reborn in the heavenly realms. For that reason, Gautama, it is said: 'Some may be reborn [there], some may not be reborn [there].'"
"Venerable Sir! While in the womb, does a jīva lie supine, on its side, or hunched like a mango? Does it move? Does it stand? Does it sit? Does it recline? When the mother sleeps, does it sleep? When she is awake, is it awake? When she is happy, is it happy? When she is suffering, is it suffering?"
"Yes, Gautama! While in the womb, a jīva lies supine, on its side, or hunched like a mango; it may stay, stand, sit, or recline. When the mother sleeps, it sleeps; when she is awake, it is awake; when she is happy, it is happy; when she is suffering, it is suffering.
Then, at the time of delivery, if it comes out head-first or feet-first, it comes out smoothly; if it comes out sideways, it meets with destruction.
If its karmas that destroy beauty are bound, touched, made invariable, performed, set forth, firmly entered, acquired, and activated—not calmed down—then it becomes deformed, of bad complexion, of bad smell, of bad taste, of bad touch, undesirable, unlovely, unpleasing, inauspicious, disagreeable, uncharming, of low voice, of wretched voice, of undesirable voice, of unlovely voice, of unpleasing voice, of inauspicious voice, of disagreeable voice, of uncharming voice, and born with speech that is not accepted.
And if its karmas that destroy beauty are not bound, not touched, not made invariable, not performed, not set forth, not firmly entered, not acquired, not activated—and are calmed down—then it becomes well-formed, of good complexion, of good smell, of good taste, of good touch, desirable, lovely, pleasing, auspicious, agreeable, charming, of not low voice, of not wretched voice, of desirable voice, of lovely voice, of pleasing voice, of auspicious voice, of agreeable voice, of charming voice, and born with speech that is accepted."
"So it is, Venerable Sir! So it is, Venerable Sir!"