Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c10.25

v1.c10.25

The Pāli texts refuse to admit the existence of anything in a being besides the five khandhas. Life (*jīva*), according to them, is dependent on *āyu* (span of life), *usmā* (heat) and *viññāṇa* (vital principle) just as the sound of a conch-shell has no existence of its own, but is dependent on the blower, his exertion, and the wind blown into it.⁴