Panna or wisdom as the final stage

3

PATICCASAMUPPADA -- BUDDHIST THEORY OF CAUSAL GENESIS

An analytical historical study

[ Bhikkhu Dhammavihari ]

We are of the opinion that from whichever angle a study of the concept of Paticcasamuppada [ Skt. Pratãtya-samutpàda ] or theory of causal genesis in Buddhism is undertaken, its primary source of information should be the Mahanidana Sutta of the Digha

The Sutta opens with a discussion between the Buddha and venerable Ananda wherein both agree on the doctrinal profundity of this piece of Buddhist teaching : 'Profound indeed is the teaching of Pañiccasamuppàda. Its impact on our thinking is equally profound ' [Acchariyaü bhante abbhutaü bhante yàva gambhãro cà' yaü bhante pañicca-samuppàdo gambhãràvabhàso ca and Gambhãro cà ' yam ànanda paticca-samuppàdo gambhãràvabhàso ca. Both at D.11 55. Also at S.11. 92 ]. The Buddha further adds that the failure and inability to grasp fully its implications keeps people rolling on in samsàra with the possibility of degeneracy into lower states in the process [ ...apàyaü duggatiü vinipàtaü saüsàraü nàtivattati. loc.cit. at D.& S ]. Therefore it is not to be thought of lightly [ Atha ca pana me uttànakuttànako viya khàyati ... Mà h'evaü ànanda avaca. loc.cit. at D. & S. ].

Further to this , we discover in the Mahahatthipadopama Sutta [ M.1. 190f. ] a statement by venerable Sariputta in which he informs the monks of the Buddha's own assessment of the Paticcasamuppàda. The Buddha is said to equate it with the dhamma [ Vuttaü kho pan ' etaü bhagavatà yo pañiccasamuppàdaü passati so dhammam passati yo dhammaü passati so pañiccasamuppàdam passatã ' ti. loc.cit. ]

Another basic observation which one has to make about the Pañiccasamuppàda before proceeding any further is that the phrase idappaccaya or idappaccayatà [ causal - genesis - relationship ] is used strictly in association with the dependent origination sequence of the Pañiccasamuppàda and that both these unmistakably refer to the saüsaric continuance [ paccayà ] and release therefrom [ nirodhà ] of worldly beings [ Atthi idappaccayà jaràmaraõan'ti iti puññhena satà ànanda atthã ' ti ' ssa vacanãyaü. loc. cit. ]. These two together are identified as the core teachings of Buddhism relating to man and his liberation [ Alayaràmàya kho pana pajàya ... duddasaü idaü ñhànaü yadidaü idappaccayatà pñiccasamuppàdo. M.1. 167. Also at S.1. 136 ].

Wherever the abstract formula of causal genesis ' that being there, this arises ' [ imasmim sati idam hoti ] is used in Buddhist texts, we invariably discover that it is being used only in relation to the genesis of saüsaric beings [ Iti kho bhikkhave tumhe ' pi evaü vadetha. Aham ' pi evaü vadàmi iti imasmiü sati idaü hoti imass ' uppàdà idaü uppajjati yadidaü avijjà-paccayà saïkhàrà saïkhàra-paccayà vi¤¤àõam ... M.1. 262-3. Also at S.11.95 ].

In the Mahahathhipadopama Sutta quoted above, Sariputta adds his own observation about what he considers to be pañiccasamuppannà dhammà. He firmly says that they are none other than the ' five aggregates of grasping ' [ Pañicca-samuppannà kho pan ' ime yadidaü pa¤c ' upàdànakkhandhà. M.1. 191. These refer to none other than sentient beings of the category of humans.]. These clearly indicate that the causal - genesis - relationship implied in the words pañicca-samuppannà dhammà relates specifically only to saüsaric journeying of worldly beings. [ We are inclined to add that perhaps their relevance is only at the human level.]. We find the concept of pañiccasamuppanna being very meaningfully used in the Mahatanhasankhaya Sutta [M.1. 256-7 ] to explain to Sati the causal - genesis - structure of vi¤¤àõa. We fail to see the applicability of the concept of Pañiccasamuppàda elsewhere to insentient things of the world. The Buddha apparently had very little need to go into such areas.

Not only does the Mahanidana Sutta vibrantly begin with the vital idea of the much-dreaded prolongation of samsàra or cycle of births and deaths [ often referred to as saüsàroghà mahabbhayà ] owing to the ignorance of pañicca-samuppàda [ ... etassa dhammassa ananubodhà ... saüsàraü nàtivattati. D.11.55 ] , but it also launches its idea of causal - genesis - relationship with the twin question Is there a causal genesis for decay and death ? and its compliment [ in response to the answer Yes. There is. ], What then is the cause of decay and death ? There comes forth the simple but straightforward answer On account of birth there comes about decay and death. This line of argument must present to anyone very clearly the dimensions of the basic concept of life which the Buddha held, namely that it stretches through time and space. That it is time wise infinitely stretching [ anamatagg ' àyaü bhikkhave samsàro ] and that plane wise, it can ascend and descend from the human to higher [ su-gati ] and lower [ du-ggati ] grades as in the idea of pa¤ca gatayo [ M.1.73 ]

Thus we see that the early Buddhist, as reflected in the Mahanidana Sutta, saw life with its ramifications or dukkha and the possibility of redemption therefrom or nirodha as spanning through saüsàra. The more vital consideration was its saüsaric dimension. Thus any scheme of soteriology in Buddhism had to bring within its vision an analysis of the entire range of life, not only from birth to death but also from recurrent birth again [ ... mãyati ca cavati ca uppajjati ca. S.11.5 & 104 ] to the repetition of this ceaselessly tangled process [ ... evaü ayaü pajà tantàkulaka-jàtà gulà-gunñhika-jàtà mu¤ja-babbaja-bhåtà apàyaü duggatiü vinipàtaü saüsàraü nàtivattati. D.11.55 ]. This total and fundamental vision is and has to be what we call the Pañiccasamuppàda. Or put it differently, Paticcasamuppàda undeniably does and has to embrace this total vision [ And perhaps nothing less. ]

Coming down to the reality of a living being in a single life time, framed conveniently within birth and death, we are compelled to select any single frame of that cinematographic film reel we referred to above and study its phenomenology as a single link in the total chain, but certainly linked to the whole at both ends as when it refers to vi¤¤àõa-sota and samvattanika- vi¤¤àõa [ See D.111. 105 as purisassa ca vi¤¤àõa-sotaü pajànati ubhayato abbocchinnaü idha-loke patiññhitaü ca para-loke patiññhitaü ca. See also M.11. 262 ff where it refers to the ' rolling-on-from-life-to-life ' vi¤¤àõa as samvattanika ].

In the single frame of living reality which we select for further examination, we see before us a being with a physical form and with a total capacity to communicate with the world in the midst of which a human is placed, i.e. he sees, hears etc. and he responds to stimuli which are received through his sense organs. Such a being is referred to in Buddhist terminology as a satta. A satta is said to consist of khandhas, a word hitherto translated as aggregates. The aggregates are five in number, covering both the physical and the psychic and the totality is referred to as the Pa¤cakkhandha or Five Aggregates. The Pa¤cakkhandha embraces the totality of a living being,, explaining the very process of his living, its basis and its activity. This, of course, is a very down-to-earth explanation of life, as to who a being is, with nothing metaphysical about it. For the time being, let us take leave of the Paticca-samuppàda view of life in its samsaric dimension. Let us view the phenomenalism of our present life.

In response to a totally misdirected question from Mara, the Evil One [representative of current and contemporary erratic thinking of the time ], as to the genesis and continuance of a being --

By whom is the being created ? Who is the creator of this being ?

Wherein did this being have his origin ? Wherein will his cessation be ?

Kenà ' yaü pakato satto kuvaü sattassa kàrako

kuvaü satto samuppanno kuvaü satto nirujjhatã ' ti. S.1.135

Bhikkhuni Vajira replies, convincingly projecting the Buddhist point of view, that What you conceive of as a being, O Mara, Is only a viewpoint [ diññhi - gatam ] of yours. This is no more than an assemblage of conditioning factors. No being in reality does here exist. As an assemblage of components goes to make a chariot, So does an assembly of aggregates [ khandhas ] Makes this conventional being [ satto ]. [ Trs. by the Author ]

Kinnu satto ' ti paccesi màra diññhigataü nu te Suddha-saïkhàra-pu¤jo ' yaü nayidha sattåpalabbhati. Yathà hi aïga-sambhàrà hoti saddo ratho iti Evaü khandhesu santesu hoti satto ' ti sammuti. Ibid.

Thus one has to see the genesis of the Buddhist Pa¤cakkhandha theory as an honest down-to-earth explanation of the functioning of a living human being as we see him in our midst, no more no less. The Pa¤cakkhandha theory as an explanation of the phenomenon of being, apparently does not feel the need to push the present human life to an unseen past or project it to an unknown future. Everybody would have known that it is adequately dealt with in its multi-dimensional way in the Pañicca-samuppàda theory. It is also equally true that no true student of Buddhism could have missed the saüsàric implications of terms like saïkhàra and vi¤¤àõa which claim legitimate places in both listings.

While it is admitted that the focus of these two theories is distinctly different, one also feels the need to make use of quite a number of categories of the more detailed Paticca-samuppàda theory [ especially in its psycho-ethical areas like taõhà and upàdàna ], to explain the operation of the more abridged and abbreviated presentation of the Pa¤cakkhandha theory. [ One might legitimately ask the relationship in which sa¤¤à stands to saïkhàra in the Pa¤cakkhandha theory.].

The Pa¤cakkhandha theory in its fivefold categories makes a very concise and precise division of the psycho-physical constitution of the human entity. Råpa holds the floor as it were on its own, presenting the visible and more tangible aspect of human life. It provides the physical basis, with its fivefold external sense organs [ as well as the mind or mano as the sixth from within ], for sensory receptivity. The remaining four, namely vedanà, sa¤¤à, saïkhàra and vi¤¤àõa, in their totality represent the psychic component of man, evidently projecting, in the saüsàric implication of concepts like saïkhàra and vi¤¤àõa, something more than the mere functioning of the present life, [ linking up with yet another to come].

Of these four, vedanà and sa¤¤à as the first two seem to handle the early stages sensory-data-processing. We would take vedanà in this context as perception or basic and / or preliminary sensory awareness. This is exactly how the Mahanidana Sutta [ D.11.58 ] explains vedanà, including even the sixth sense of mano or mind [ seyyathãdam cakkhu-samphassajà vedanà... mano-samphassajà vedanà. Sabbaso vedanàya asati vedanà nirodhà api nu kho taõhà pa¤¤àyethà ' ti. No h ' etaü bhante ' ti. loc. cit. ]. In the above somewhat abbreviated listing of the links [ op. cit. 56 ff. ] where sa¤¤à is left out, vedanà appears to include within it even the role of sa¤¤a. [ i.e. total apperceptive recognition of sensory data. ] In sa¤¤à of the Pa¤cakkhandha listing, we would see a further stage beyond vedanà of distinct recognition and identification and would prefer to translate the term as apperception. Vi¤¤àõa, in some aspects of its total character [ like vi¤¤àõa-bhàga at M.1.190 for each separate sense organ ] is involved in making cognitive [ and apperceptive ] processes of the human mind adequately meaningful.

From this point of apperception [ or sa¤¤à ] onwards, it is our belief that the personalized major content of vi¤¤àõa as life-carrier or the saüvattanika-vi¤¤àõa [ as opposed to vi¤¤àõa-bhàga ] contributes to a further process of samsàra-building-constructs called saïkhàra which are piled upon, as it were, on vi¤¤àõa. It is our opinion that saïkhàra primarily means these. In this sense, saïkhàra has to precede the 'life-carrier' or saüvattanika-vi¤¤àõa. Hence saïkhàra-paccayà vi¤¤àõaü sequence in the Pañicca-samuppàda chain. But the saüsàra building aspect of saïkhàra must be seen operating only after cognitive consciousness or vi¤¤aõa-bhàga of any one of sense organs has come into play and set in motion our reactions by way of upàdàna.

With this attempted explanation of saïkhàra and vi¤¤àõa [ in this sequence of vi¤¤àõa following saïkhàra] in the Pa¤cakkhandha theory, we feel that vi¤¤àõa as the fifth khandha requires closer scrutiny. In terms of a saüsàric being, we would say vi¤¤àõa is both the builder and the built. Religio-philosophically speaking, in the Pa¤cakkhandha theory vi¤¤àõa seems to be the one item which links a being between two lives. In our concept of saïkhàra - loaded - vi¤¤àõa of a living being even in the Pa¤cakkhandha theory, we believe we find some support for the Buddha's clarification of the concept of a being in answer to a mischievous and misleading Mara.

Råpaü vedayitaü sa¤¤aü vi¤¤àõaü ya¤ca saïkhataü N ' eso ' haü asmi n ' etam me evaü tattha virajjati. Evaü virattaü khemattaü sabba-saüyojanàtigaü Anvesaü sabba-ñhànesu Màra-senà ' pi nàjjhagà ' ti. S. 1.p. 112

Physical form, sensory awareness and apperceptive knowledge, Together with Consciousness and what's built upon it. One recoils from viewing all these as I or mine. One who is thus detached and securely sped beyond fetters, Hosts of Mara, in their search, shall nowhere find. [ Trs. by the author ]

The first line in the Pali verse above enumerates all the five items of the Pa¤cakkhandha. However, vi¤¤àõaü and saïkhataü [ = saïkhàra ] have changed places in their sequence, saïkhataü coming last. This, in one sense, is the product of vi¤¤àõic activity as a single facet and in the other, it is the finally processed total vi¤¤àõa itself. Further, the past participial form saïkhataü as against the regular substantival form saïkhàra gives it the impression and stature of a processed and stacked up thing. This, we believe, refers to the saüsara - building- constructs or saïkhàra which a being continues generating and loading on to his vi¤¤àõa during his life process. We see this as the clearly enunciated saüsàric process of the Pañiccasamuppàda which runs as : Avijjà paccayà saïkhàrà saïkhàra-paccayà vi¤¤àõam vi¤¤àõa-paccayà nàma-råpam etc. That process, in our opinion, is none other than vi¤¤àõa as the life-carrier, taking across the karmic load of saïkhàra for the genesis of a new life or new being through the medium of a parentally gifted nàma- råpa. This is the thesis which the Mahanidana Sutta presents with perfect clarity and commendable precision. This is also the argument at S.11.13 where it is equally clearly stated that 'Vi¤¤àõa as the feeder [ vi¤¤àõàhàro ] is the condition which provides for the genesis of a birth in a new life [ Vi¤¤àõàhàro àyatiü punabbhavàbhinibbatiyà paccayo. loc. cit. ].

We have already observed at the very outset that the Mahanidana Sutta opens with an avowed discussion on the Pañiccasamuppàda between the Buddha and venerable Ananda. Two concepts are immediately introduced that 1. life of beings have a saüsàric dimension and that 2. what happens through this process is far from being satisfactory. The latter pins down all this unsatisfactoriness of jarà and maraõa on the fact of being born [Atthi idappaccayà jàtã ' ti. ] From the Sutta's line of explanation and interpretation here, we note that jàti is explained unmistakably as birth in any particular state of existence as human, divine, or animal as is known to be possible according to Buddhist thinking [ pa¤ca gatayo ].

Following it backwards in its logical sequence of causal genesis or atthi idappaccayà , we are directed to recognize that such birth in any known form of existence [ jàti certainly not being the cellular regeneration of our physical body during a single life time ] is due to our inheritance of forces-of-birth which is precisely worded here as bhava. This immediately indicates, without any need for confusion, the necessity to trace the conditions of our present life genealogically [ atthi idappaccayà ] backwards into a life before this. All items traced in this backward search like bhava, upàdàna, taõhà etc. are nothing but the psychic forces like craving, grasping and holding on to, generated in one's living process. The total number of separate conditions which are brought under discussion here are only nine in number [ as against twelve elsewhere ].

They run backwards as follows. 1. jarà-maraõa [ decay and death ], 2. jàti [ birth ], 3. bhava [ potential for re-existence in a life beyond this ], 4. upàdàna [ grasping ], 5. taõhà [ craving ], 6. vedanà [ sensory awareness ] , 7. phassa [sensory impingement ], 8. nàma-råpa [ psycho-physical or name-and-form constituent of life ] , 9. vi¤¤àõa [ birth-to-birth linking or life-carrier Consciousness ]. With the Sutta's precise interpretation of terms like jàti and bhava in this context, we feel that even this abridged list of Pañiccasamuppàda [ with only nine life-generating conditions ] provides enough basis for us to think of our present life here as being linked with a supporting thrust we got from the past [ vi¤¤àõa-paccayà nàma-rupaü ], and that the present life in turn projects yet another into the future [ upàdana-paccayà-bhavo bhava-paccayà jàti ]. If we fail to understand the Pali here precisely, as most students often appear to do, we would be lamentably lost in the wilderness.

We also find the theory or principle of Pañiccasamuppàda being presented with the help of a larger listing. This twelve-item list has three more items, namely avijjà , saïkhàra and saëàyatana added to it. The inclusion of avijjà points, more or less, in the direction of a search for a remote or primary beginning of the saüsàric process of a being. But for any school of thinkers who uphold a theory of samsàra as against one of creation, this seems a legitimate search. To the Buddhists who also reject the idea of a creation, with their ideas of infinite life continuity forward and backwards, this search is even more legitimate. Therefore they place avijjà which is ignorance or lack of adequate knowledge as a convenient starting point in the life process of a being and reckon from there onwards the accumulation or build up of the life-generating forces of saïkhàra. Therefore this list of twelve links adds these two items of avijjà and saïkhàra at the very beginning of the forward moving list which goes on the basis of 'on account of the former, the latter' , paccayà ... paccayà [ avijjà paccayà saïkhàrà saïkhàra paccayà vi¤¤àõaü ... ].

The first addition of these two items at the head of the list seems to satisfy a philosophical curiosity, a curiosity to know the present [ of a sentient living being, i.e. savi¤¤àõaka and samanaka who is in our midst ] in relation to a less known past. The Bodhisatta himself is said to have put this question repeatedly : Kimhi nu kho sati idaü hoti kiü paccayà jarà-maraõan ' ti. [ S.11.5ff., 10 ]. In this search, he is seen ultimately arriving at avijjà or 'lack of correct knowledge' lying at the very beginning of this recurrent saüsàric process. This also explains the genesis of vi¤¤àõa [ i.e. life-generating consciousness] at the biological beginning of life [gabbhassa avakkanti ]. This is precisely what the Mahanidana Sutta endeavours to explain and establish regarding the vi¤¤àõa 's fertilization [ perhaps at a second and more meaningful stage ]of the embryo in the mother's womb, after its implant [ D.11.63 ]. Here we are compelled to observe in passing that Rhys Davids, in his translation of this sutta has failed to comprehend the full connotation of the term vi¤¤àõa here. He translates it as cognition : ' I have said that cognition is the cause of name-and-form.' [ Dialogues of the Buddha Part 11.p. 60 ]. We have already indicated above that it has by now become the life-generating consciousness.

The third and last item added is saëàyatana [ six sense organs ]. This details out the visible manifestation and growth of the five external sense organs [ and the appearance of the sixth internal sense faculty mano ] out of the foetal body of the unborn babe in the mother's womb. One could consider this to be no more than the addition of a detail [regarding an invariable occurrence ]. One could also, on the other hand, justifiably refer to its absence in the original list as an omission of a vital stage of growth of the embryo. Between the mere fleshy body of nàma-råpa and the sensory impingement of phassa, the growth of sense organs or saëàyatana perhaps needed to be spelled out specifically. Thus we come to possess this full list of twelve items.

In the presentation of this twelve-linked Pañicca-samuppàda distributed throughout the Buddhist texts, we find most striking the Nalakalapiya Sutta of the Samyutta Nikaya [ S.11.112 ff. ] in which the venerable Sariputta explains to the venerable Maha Kotthita the inter-relatedness of the entire saüsaric process of life, unfolding before us both the physical and the psychical processes involved in it. There is no denying that Maha Kotthita's first question to Sariputta starts with the known and visibly seen factor of decay and death [ jarà-maraõa ] to which man is subject. Sariputta's clear and straightforward answer is that it is the fact of being born [ jàti ] into this state of existence. We have already shown that as far as jàti is concerned there is no mincing of words here. It is just the act of being born as human or animal. Be honest and have some respect for the Buddha word and read the following carefully : ... tesam tesaü va hi ànanda sattànaü tathattàya jàti nàbhavissa sabbaso jàtiyà asati jàti-nirodhà api nu kho jaramaraõaü pa¤¤àyethà ' ti. No h ' etaü bhante [ D.11.57 ].

It needs no commentary here to clarify that the present lot of decay and death of man is invariably the product of his being born into this life. Thus in the very first question and answer of Maha Kotthita and Sariputta, handling it in the causally connected [ ida-ppacayatà ] way of Pañicca-samuppàda, the concept of two existences is already established. Having come here [ i.e. having taken up jàti in this existence ], one has to face up to decay and death. But what about the coming here?

Backing up this process of birth into a new life here are bhava < and upàdàna < in a cluster which have invariably been gathered in a state of former existence. As the very propelling force, they have to precede birth or jàti into this life. They are the outcome of taõhà < and vedanà < of that [ previous ] life duration. They in turn are linked up with the more physical factors of phassa < and saëàyatna < which primarily trigger off the psychic process of saüsàra - building. All these have to be finally housed in a psycho-physical being of flesh and blood. This is the ultimately reducible unit of name and form or nàma-råpa + vi¤¤àõa in any phase of existence in saüsàra. In the twelve-fold chain, while all items follow from the former to the latter, these two alone are mutually inter-dependent and reciprocally operating. Hence the title of this chapter Nalakalapa or two bundles of reed which mutually lean on each other, supporting each other. Without the one, the other cannot stand. In the composition of a human entity, so are name [ vi¤¤àõa ] and form [ nàma-råpa ]. Mind and matter, in the constitution of a being, are never apart. They co-exist [ ...ettàvatà vaññaü vaññati itthattam pa¤¤àpanàya yadidaü nàma-råpaü saha vi¤¤àõena. D.11.63f. ] Their [ concurrent ] cessation takes place finally only in nibbàna [ Ettha nàma¤ ca råpa¤ ca asesaü uparujjhati Vi¤¤àõassa nirodhena etth ' etaü uparujjhati. D.1. 223 ].

As our next interesting presentation of this twelve-link Pañicca-samuppàda we would refer the reader to the Buddha Vagga of the Nidana Samyutta [ S.11. 5-11 ]. In a chapter entitled Mahà Sakyamuni Gotama, the historical Buddha Gotama, as Bodhisatta, is presented as coming to grips with the problems of saüsàric existence like birth, decay and death in one life and their repetition in lives thereafter. In his penetrative questioning as to the origin of these and their possible eradication [ nissaraõa = escape therefrom ], he discovers that birth [ jàti ] in any state of existence sets this process in motion and that the ultimate cause of all these traceable back to the ignorance[ avijjà or ajànana ] of the reality of life [ yathà-bhucca or yathà-bhåta-¤àna ].

It is clear from this, without any trace of doubt, that the theme of the Pañicca- samuppàda pertains to the whole samsàric life and not to one single phase of existence. Thus its totality spreads unmistakably through time as past, present and future and also through space, across planes of existence both above and below the known world of humans.

Here it must be remembered that this does not necessarily imply that salvation of man, i. e. his liberation from this painful cycle of existence must necessarily stretch beyond this present life into a future one. It is never a liberation after death as in videha-mukta. Canonical texts never imply anything like that. It can be here and now. Ditth ' eva dhamme a¤¤à [ M.1.63 ] or enlightenment in this very life is a reality with them. It is the failure to do it here [ sati uttariü karaõãye ] that gets one into one more birth or anàgàmità [ loc. cit. ].

In the customary tradition of our Buddhist legends, the Samyutta Nikaya ascribes this same episode of Sakyamuni Gotama to the six previous Buddhas, from Vipassi to Kassapa [ S.11. 5-9 ].

It is also interesting to discover our Buddhist texts integrating this twelve-link Pañicca-samuppàda in their explanation of other major points of Buddhist teachings. Anguttara Nikaya Maha Vagga [ A.1. 177 ] uses this in its evolutionary aspect of paccayà .. paccayà to explain the genesis of dukkha or dukkha-samudayaü [Katama¤ ca bhikkhave dukkha-samudayaü ariya-saccaü ? Avijjà-paccayà saïkhàrà ... jàti-paccayà jarà-maraõaü. Idaü vuccati bhikkhave dukkha-samudayam ariya-saccaü. loc.cit. ] In the same way, in its reverse order as nirodhà ... nirodho this same series is used to define the cessation of dukkha or dukkha-nirodha [ Katama¤ ca bhikkhave dukkha-nirodham ariya-saccam ? Avijjàya tv ' eva asesa-viràga-nirodhà saïkhàra-nirodho.... Evaü etassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hoti. Idaü vuccati bhikkhave dukkha-nirodhaü ariya-saccaü. ].

Another presentation of the teaching of the Pañicca-samuppàda as a very vital item of the dhamma is where it is listed as Ariyo ¤àyo [= highest knowing ], a correct grasp of which through wisdom [ pa¤¤àya sudiññho hoti suppañividdho ] constitutes a pre-requisite for the attainment of the state of sotàpatti [ i.e. entry into the Buddhist scheme of salvation ] . Therefore it is called a sotàpatti aïga [ A.V. 182 ff. ]. Here the totality of sotàpatti pre-requisites consist of 1. complete guarding of the five precepts of morality [ pa¤ca-sãla or pa¤ca-sikkhàpada ], 2. unwavering total dedication to the tisaraõa, 3. strict and precise adherence to the ariyakanta sãla and 4. gaining a complete mastery over the ariya ¤àya of the Pañicca-samuppàda. This idea of ariya ¤àya or highest and supreme knowledge being identified as the knowledge of the causal genesis or imasmiü sati idam hoti imass ' uppàdà idam uppajjati in relation to our Pañicca-samuppàda of Avijjà paccayà saïkhàrà ... and none other, bestows on Pañicca-samuppàda its highest doctrinal value.

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