A Manual of Abhidhamma
by Nārada Thera | 80,494 words | ISBN-13: 9789380336510
In the Abhidhammattha Sangaha there is a brief exposition of the Law of Dependent Origination, followed by a descriptive account of the Causal Relations that finds no parallel in any other philosophy. Edited in the original Pali Text with English Translation and Explanatory Notes by Narada Maha Thera....
§ 1.
Cittuppādānamicc' evam katvā sangaham uttaram
Bhūmi-puggalabhedena pubbāparaniyāmitam
Pavattisangaham nāma patisandhippavattiyam
Pavakkhāma samāsena yathāsambhavato
Introductory
§ 1. Having thus completed the noble compendium of consciousness and its concomitants (with respect to feelings etc.), I shall briefly describe, in due order, the compendium of (thought) processes in lifetime, according to the planes and individuals, and as they are determined by what (consciousness) that precedes and by what that follows (1)
Notes:-
1. In the preceding chapter states of consciousness and mental concomitants were treated according to feelings, roots, etc. In the present one the author deals with thought processes as they arise through the mind and the other five senses, in accordance with the different kinds of individuals and planes of existence.
The Pāli phrase pubbāparaniyāmitam needs an explanation. The commentary explains it thus - this citta arises after so many cittas, and so many cittas follow this citta (idam ettakehi param, imassa anantaram, ettakāni cittāni).
Patisandhi here refers to the initial thought-process that occurs at the moment of conception in a new birth. Pavatti refers to all thought-processes that occur during the course of one's lifetime.
The translation of these two verses appears in the Compendium of Philosophy as follows:-
"This further summary of geneses
Of thought now having made, I will go on
To speak concisely, summing up again
Processes of the mind, in birth and life,
By order due, the 'after,' the 'before,'
Distinguishing both person and life-plane.' (p. 124).