Viyahapannatti 19.3: Uddeśaka 3: pṛthvī

In Rājagṛha […] up to he spoke thus: "Could it be, Venerable Sir, up to four or five earth-bodied beings together bind a common body, and having bound it, thereafter take nourishment, transform it, or bind the body?"
"That matter is not competent [to be so]. Earth-bodied beings take nourishment individually, transform [it] individually, and bind an individual body; having bound it, thereafter they take nourishment, or transform it, or bind the body."
"For those jīvas, Venerable Sir, how many leśyās are declared?"
"Gautama! Four leśyās are declared, namely: black leśyā, blue leśyā, grey leśyā, and fiery leśyā."
"Are those jīvas, Venerable Sir, of right view, wrong view, or mixed view?"
"Gautama! They are not of right view; they are of wrong view; they are not of mixed view."
"Are those jīvas, Venerable Sir, knowing or unknowing?"
"Gautama! They are not knowing; they are unknowing; invariably possessing two types of unknowing, namely: sensory unknowing and scriptural unknowing."
"Are those jīvas, Venerable Sir, active in mind, active in speech, or active in body?"
"Gautama! They are not active in mind, not active in speech; they are active in body."
"Are those jīvas, Venerable Sir, engaged in determinate application or indeterminate application?"
"Gautama! They are engaged in determinate application also, and engaged in indeterminate application also."
"What nourishment, Venerable Sir, do those jīvas consume as nourishment?"
"Gautama! In terms of substance, substances having infinite space-points—just as in the first section on nourishment in the Prajñāpanā up to they consume nourishment through their entire self."
"Venerable Sir, is what those jīvas consume accumulated, and what they do not consume not accumulated; and does the digested [nourishment] come out or disperse?"
"Yes, Gautama! What those jīvas consume is accumulated, what they do not consume […] up to disperses."
"Do those jīvas, Venerable Sir, have such a notion, discernment, thought, or utterance: 'We are consuming nourishment'?"
"That matter is not competent [to be so]; yet they do consume nourishment."
"Do those jīvas, Venerable Sir, have such a notion, discernment, thought, or utterance: 'We experience pleasant and unpleasant touch'?"
"That matter is not competent [to be so]; yet they do experience [it]."
"Are those jīvas, Venerable Sir, described as killing living beings, speaking untruths, taking what is not given, up to the thorn of wrong perception?"
"Gautama! They are described as killing living beings up to they are described as possessing the thorn of wrong perception. Moreover, those jīvas towards whom they act thus have no distinct awareness [of it]."
"From where, Venerable Sir, do those jīvas transmigrate and take birth—do they take birth from hell-beings?"
"Thus as the rebirth of earth-bodied beings [is stated] in the 'Descent' [chapter], so should it be recited."
"For those jīvas, Venerable Sir, how long is the lifespan duration declared to be?"
"Gautama! At minimum an antarmuhūrta; at maximum twenty-two thousand years."
"For those jīvas, Venerable Sir, how many kinds of transmigration-bursts are declared?"
"Gautama! Three transmigration-bursts are declared, namely: transmigration-burst of suffering, transmigration-burst of passion, and transmigration-burst at death."
"Do those jīvas, Venerable Sir, die having performed the transmigration-burst at death, or die without having performed it?"
"Gautama! They die having performed it, and they also die without having performed it."
"After departing from there, Venerable Sir, where do those jīvas go, where are they reborn?"
"Thus their departure is as in the 'Descent' [chapter]."
"Could it be, Venerable Sir, up to four or five water-bodied beings together bind a common body, and having bound it, thereafter take nourishment?"
"The whole discourse that applies to earth-bodied beings should be recited up to they depart; with the only difference: lifespan duration is at maximum seven thousand years; the rest is just the same."
"Could it be, Venerable Sir, up to four or five fire-bodied beings?"
"Just the same; with the only difference: rebirth, lifespan duration, and departure are as in the Prajñāpanā; the rest is just the same. For air-bodied beings it is just the same, with the only difference: four transmigration-bursts."
"Could it be, Venerable Sir, up to four or five plant-bodied beings?—[The same] question."
"Gautama! That matter is not competent [to be so]. Infinite plant-bodied beings together bind a common body, and having bound it, thereafter take nourishment, or transform it, or bind the body."
"The rest is as for fire-bodied beings up to they depart; with the only difference: nourishment is invariably from six directions; lifespan duration is at minimum an antarmuhūrta, and at maximum also an antarmuhūrta; the rest is just the same."

"Among these, Venerable Sir—earth-bodied, water-bodied, fire-bodied, wind-bodied, and plant-bodied beings, subtle and gross, fully developed and undeveloped, in terms of their minimum and maximum space-occupation—which are fewer, more, equal, or specially greater compared to which?"
"Gautama!
1. The minimum space-occupation of an undeveloped subtle nigoda is the least of all.
2. The minimum space-occupation of an undeveloped subtle wind-bodied being is innumerably times greater.
3. The minimum space-occupation of an undeveloped subtle fire-bodied being is innumerably times greater.
4. The minimum space-occupation of an undeveloped subtle water-bodied being is innumerably times greater.
5. The minimum space-occupation of an undeveloped subtle earth-bodied being is innumerably times greater.
6. The minimum space-occupation of an undeveloped gross wind-bodied being is innumerably times greater.
7. The minimum space-occupation of an undeveloped gross fire-bodied being is innumerably times greater.
8. The minimum space-occupation of an undeveloped gross water-bodied being is innumerably times greater.
9. The minimum space-occupation of an undeveloped gross earth-bodied being is innumerably times greater.
10–11. The minimum space-occupation of an undeveloped individual-body gross plant-bodied being and of an undeveloped gross nigoda: these two are equal, and innumerably times greater.
12. The minimum space-occupation of a fully developed subtle nigoda is innumerably times greater.
13. The maximum space-occupation of that very same undeveloped [subtle nigoda] is specially greater.
14. The maximum space-occupation of that very same fully developed [subtle nigoda] is specially greater.
15. The minimum space-occupation of a fully developed subtle wind-bodied being is innumerably times greater.
16. The maximum space-occupation of that very same undeveloped [subtle wind-bodied being] is specially greater.
17. The maximum space-occupation of that very same fully developed [subtle wind-bodied being] is specially greater.
18–20. Likewise also for the subtle fire-bodied being.
21–23. Likewise also for the subtle water-bodied being.
24–26. Likewise also for the subtle earth-bodied being.
27–29. Likewise also for the gross wind-bodied being.
30–32. Likewise also for the gross fire-bodied being.
33–35. Likewise also for the gross water-bodied being.
36–38. Likewise also for the gross earth-bodied being—for all of them it should be stated by the three-fold pattern.
39. The minimum space-occupation of a fully developed gross nigoda is innumerably times greater.
40. The maximum space-occupation of that very same undeveloped [gross nigoda] is specially greater.
41. The maximum space-occupation of that very same fully developed [gross nigoda] is specially greater.
42. The minimum space-occupation of a fully developed individual-body gross plant-bodied being is innumerably times greater.
43. The maximum space-occupation of that very same undeveloped [individual-body gross plant-bodied being] is innumerably times greater.
44. The maximum space-occupation of that very same fully developed [individual-body gross plant-bodied being] is innumerably times greater."

"Among these, Venerable Sir—earth-bodied, water-bodied, fire-bodied, wind-bodied, and plant-bodied beings—which body is the most subtle? Which body is more subtle than all?"
"Gautama! The plant body is the most subtle; the plant body is more subtle than all."
"Among these, Venerable Sir—earth-bodied, water-bodied, fire-bodied, and wind-bodied beings—which body is the most subtle? Which body is more subtle than all?"
"Gautama! The wind body is the most subtle; the wind body is more subtle than all."
"Among these, Venerable Sir—earth-bodied, water-bodied, and fire-bodied beings—which body is the most subtle? Which body is more subtle than all?"
"Gautama! The fire body is the most subtle; the fire body is more subtle than all."
"Among these, Venerable Sir—earth-bodied and water-bodied beings—which body is the most subtle? Which body is more subtle than all?"
"Gautama! The water body is the most subtle; the water body is more subtle than all."
"Among these, Venerable Sir—earth-bodied, water-bodied, fire-bodied, wind-bodied, and plant-bodied beings—which body is the most gross? Which body is more gross than all?"
"Gautama! The plant body is the most gross; the plant body is more gross than all."
"Among these, Venerable Sir—earth-bodied, water-bodied, fire-bodied, and wind-bodied beings—which body is the most gross? Which body is more gross than all?"
"Gautama! The earth body is the most gross; the earth body is more gross than all."
"Among these, Venerable Sir—water-bodied, fire-bodied, and wind-bodied beings—which body is the most gross? Which body is more gross than all?"
"Gautama! The water body is the most gross; the water body is more gross than all."
"Among these, Venerable Sir—fire-bodied and wind-bodied beings—which body is the most gross? Which body is more gross than all?"
"Gautama! The fire body is the most gross; the fire body is more gross than all."
"How large, Venerable Sir, is an earth-body declared to be?"
"Gautama! As many bodies as infinite subtle plant-bodied beings have, that is one subtle wind-body. As many bodies as innumerable subtle wind-bodies have, that is one subtle fire-body. As many bodies as innumerable subtle fire-bodied bodies have, that is one subtle water-body. As many bodies as innumerable subtle water-bodied bodies have, that is one subtle earth-body.
As many bodies as innumerable subtle earth-bodied bodies have, that is one gross wind-body. As many bodies as innumerable gross wind-bodied beings have, that is one gross fire-body. As many bodies as innumerable gross fire-bodied beings have, that is one gross water-body. As many bodies as innumerable gross water-bodied beings have, that is one gross earth-body. This large, Gautama, is an earth-body declared to be."

"Venerable Sir! How great is declared to be the bodily occupation of space of an earth-bodied being?"
"Gautama! Just as if a cosmetic-grinding maidservant of a universal monarch ruling the four quarters—young, strong, endowed with vigorous youth, free from sickness, with steady hands, firm hands, feet, flanks, back, waist, and thighs, with arms like a pair of iron bolts, endowed with chest strength, capable of jumping, running, conquering, and physical exercise, clever, expert, skilled in her purpose, competent, intelligent, subtle, endowed with subtle artistic skill—having taken a large earth-bodied lump equal [in size] to a lac ball on a sharp diamond-made grinding stone, were to grind it with a sharp diamond-made pestle twenty-one times, gathering it together repeatedly and compressing it repeatedly, saying: 'I will crush it this instant'; in that case, Gautama, some earth-bodied beings are touched, some earth-bodied beings are not touched; some are collided with, some are not collided with; some are tormented, some are not tormented; some are destroyed, some are not destroyed; some are crushed, some are not crushed. Gautama! Such great bodily occupation of space is declared for an earth-bodied being.
"Venerable Sir! When stepped upon, what kind of suffering does an earth-bodied being experience while living?"
"Gautama! Just as if a certain man—young, strong, endowed with vigorous youth, free from sickness, with steady hands, firm hands, feet, flanks, back, waist, and thighs, with arms like a pair of iron bolts, whose body and limbs are developed and trained by strikes with leather pads, hammers, and fists, endowed with chest strength, capable of jumping, running, conquering, and physical exercise, clever, expert, skilled in her purpose, competent, intelligent, subtle, endowed with subtle artistic skill—were to strike with both hands upon the head of an old man whose body is worn out by old age, afflicted, emaciated, thirsty, weak, and exhausted; then, Gautama, when that man is struck on the head with both hands by that man, what kind of suffering does he experience while living?"
"Undesirable, long-lived Śramaṇa!"
"Gautama! In comparison to the suffering of that man, when an earth-bodied being is stepped upon, it experiences while living suffering that is even more undesirable, even more disagreeable, even more unpleasing, even more uncomfortable, even more distasteful, and even more unlovely."
"Venerable Sir! When collided with, what kind of suffering does a water-bodied being experience while living?"
"Gautama! Just as for an earth-bodied being, exactly so [for a water-bodied being]. So also for a fire-bodied being. So also for a wind-bodied being. So also for a plant-bodied being up to: it experiences while living."
"That is so, Venerable Sir! That is so, Venerable Sir!"