English
Having woken up, he opened his eyes and looked around. Then, stretching out his hand, he took the fruit, squeezed it, smelled it, and ate it. Here, the time the man slept at the foot of the mango tree was like the time of bhavaṅga. The time the ripe mango fell from its stem, wiping the ear-lobe, was like the time of the impact of the object on the sense-organ. The time of awakening by that sound was like the time of the turning of bhavaṅga by the functional mind-element. The time of opening the eyes and looking around was like the time of the eye-consciousness performing the function of seeing. The time of stretching out the hand and taking it was like the time of the resultant mind-element receiving the object. The time of taking and squeezing it was like the time of the resultant mind-consciousness element investigating the object. The time of smelling it was like the time of the functional mind-consciousness element determining the object. The time of eating it was like the time of the javana experiencing the taste of the object. What does this simile reveal? The impact of the object on the sense-organ is the only function. When the sense-organ is impacted, the turning of bhavaṅga by the functional mind-element is only that, the seeing by the eye-consciousness is only that, the receiving of the object by the resultant mind-element is only that, the investigating of the object by the resultant mind-consciousness element is only that, the determining of the object by the functional mind-consciousness element is only that. But the javana alone experiences the taste of the object entirely, it reveals. And here, "You be bhavaṅga by name, you be attending by name, you be seeing by name, you be receiving by name, you be investigating by name, you be determining by name, you be javana by name," there is no agent or causer. In this place, they took five kinds of order by name – seed order, seasonal order, action order, nature order, mind order. There, the upward growth of the horse-gram plant, the circling of the tree by the southern creeper to the south, the facing of the sunflower towards the sun, the clinging of the māluva creeper to the tree. Just as the inherent nature of a coconut allows a hole to form at its top, the law of seeds dictates that each seed produces fruit similar to itself. The law of seasons dictates that all trees flower, fruit, and sprout leaves at their respective times in unison. Three-rooted karma yields three-rooted, two-rooted, and rootless results. Two-rooted karma yields two-rooted and rootless results, but not three-rooted. Thus, the law of karma dictates that each action produces a result similar to itself. Furthermore, the law of karma operates through results resembling the actions themselves. To illustrate this, they tell this story: In the time of the Sammāsambuddha, a village gate caught fire in Sāvatthi. A burning wisp of grass rose up and, carried by the wind, became entangled in the neck of a crow. Cawing, it fell to the ground and died. In the great ocean, a ship stood motionless. Unable to find any obstruction below, they drew lots using black-eared markers. The lot fell to the female lay disciple of the ship's captain. Then they said, "Let us not all perish because of one; let us throw her into the water." The captain said, "I cannot bear to see her floating in the water," and had a pot of sand tied to her neck before throwing her overboard. At that very moment, the ship sped off like an arrow. A monk was dwelling in a cave. A large mountain peak fell and blocked the entrance. On the seventh day, it moved away on its own. While the Sammāsambuddha was sitting in Jetavana, teaching the Dhamma, these three events were reported to him at once. The Teacher, revealing the past, said, "This was not done by others; it is the result of their own actions," and spoke thus: The crow, in a previous existence, was a man who, unable to tame a vicious bull, tied a straw rope around its neck and set it on fire. The bull died from that. Now, that karma did not allow him to escape, even while flying through the sky. That woman, too, in a previous existence, was a woman. A dog became familiar with her in the forest. Going with her, he comes back with her. People jeer, "Now our dog-hunter is gone!" Annoyed by this, unable to stop the dog, she tied a pot of sand around its neck and threw it into the water. That deed did not allow her to be freed in the middle of the ocean. That bhikkhu, in a previous existence, having been a cowherd, blocked the entrance to a lizard's burrow with a handful of broken branches. Then, on the seventh day, he came himself and opened it. The lizard came out trembling. Out of compassion, he did not kill it. That deed did not allow him to be freed, even when he had entered a mountain crevice and sat down. Having combined these three stories, he spoke this verse: "Not in the sky, nor in the middle of the ocean, Nor by entering a cleft in the mountains; Nowhere is there a place on earth, Where one might stand and be freed from an evil deed." (Dhp. 127); This is indeed called the law of karma. Other such stories should also be told. But for Bodhisattas, at the moment of conception, at the moment of emerging from the mother's womb, at the moment of the Tathāgata's enlightenment, at the moment of setting the Wheel of Dhamma in motion, at the moment of relinquishing the life-span, and at the moment of final passing away, the shaking of ten thousand world-systems is called the law of Dhamma. But when the sense-object strikes the sense-organ, there is no agent or instigator saying, "You, be called attention...pe... you, be called apperception," but by their own nature, from the moment the sense-object strikes the sense-organ, the action-mind-element turns back the life-continuum, the eye-consciousness accomplishes the function of seeing, the resultant-mind-element accomplishes the function of receiving, the resultant-mind-consciousness-element accomplishes the function of investigating, the action-mind-consciousness-element accomplishes the function of determining, the apperception experiences the taste of the sense-object, this is called the law of mind. This is what is intended here. Even with karma performed with effortful wholesome thoughts rooted in three causes, with equanimity, with effortless and effortful wholesome thoughts, one can accumulate For rebirths arising from these perception-accompanying resultant consciousnesses, the same method applies. But in the case of the two accompanied by equanimity, first, the occurrence should be shown "in dependence on a desirable and neutral object," and then it should be shown "in dependence on a desirable object." Thus, in each doorway, there are twelve, totaling sixty-six. By taking the aggregate, sixteen resultant consciousnesses arise. In this connection, they took the simile of the five sugarcane-presses. It is said that at the time of sugarcane pressing, eleven press operators from one village, having gone out and seen a sugarcane field and knowing its ripeness, approached the sugarcane owner and announced, "We are press operators." He said, "I was just looking for you," and took them to the sugarcane shed. There, having prepared the press, they said, "We are eleven people, it is fitting to get one more, hire him with wages." The sugarcane owner, saying, "I myself will be a helper," filled the shed with sugarcane and became their helper. Having done their respective tasks, with the syrup cooked by the syrup-cook, bound by the molasses-binder, weighed into shares by the sugarcane owner and given, having taken their respective shares, having handed over the sugarcane shed to the owner, in this same way, having done work in the other four sheds as well, they departed. There, the five sense-doors should be seen as the five press sheds. The five objects should be seen as the five sugarcane fields. The eleven wandering press operators should be seen as the eleven resultant consciousnesses. The five sugarcane shed owners should be seen as the five sense-consciousnesses. The time of taking shares of the work done by the twelve people together with the owner in the first shed should be seen as the time of the eleven resultant consciousnesses, together with eye-consciousness, doing their respective functions in the visual object at the eye-door. The time of the shed owner receiving the shed should be seen as the eye-consciousness performing the door-averting function. The work done by the twelve together in the second, third, fourth, and fifth sheds. Like the time for receiving the fruits of actions, it is the time for eleven resultant consciousnesses, together with body consciousness, to perform their respective functions at the body door with tangible objects. The function of body consciousness as the transition of the door should be understood like the householder receiving in his house. Thus, the case of rebirth with three roots due to action with three roots has been explained. But the rebirth with two roots that occurs due to it remains concealed and has passed. Now, the case of rebirth with two roots due to action with two roots should be explained. When action is accumulated with a two-rooted joyful unprompted consciousness, for one who has taken rebirth with a similar two-rooted resultant consciousness, in the same way as described, when a desirable object comes into range at the eye door, there are three fruitless moments. At the end of the two-rooted joyful unprompted javanas, the retention of that object, known as root-bhavanga, is similar. At the end of the prompted javanas, the retention of that object, known as adventitious-bhavanga, is similar. At the end of two indifferent javanas with a 'desirable-neutral object', two similar retentions arise. Here, in each door, there are forty-four consciousnesses, eight at a time.