Part 1 - More on infernal beings

Q. 231. Bhante! An infernal being taking birth among the infernal beings—is he so born by part in part, by part in whole, by whole in part, or by whole in whole¹⁴⁴?

A. 231. Gautama! Not by part in part, nor by part in whole, nor by whole in part, but by whole in whole; and so from the infernal beings...till the Vaimānikas.

Q. 232. Bhante! Does one born among the infernal beings have intake by part in part, by part in whole, by whole in part, or by whole in whole?

A. 232. Gautama! Has intake not by part in part, nor by part in whole, but by whole in part, and by whole in whole; and so...till the Vaimānikas.

Q. 233. Bhante! Does a being departing from infernal life do so by part in part?

A. 233. Gautama! As in case of birth, so in case of departure—the same standard is observed.

Q. 234. Bhante! Does one departing from infernal life have intake by part in part?

A. 234. Same as aforesaid—by whole in part, and by whole in whole; and this...till the Vaimānikas.

Q. 235. Bhante [!] Did one born among the infernal beings take birth by part in part?

A. 235. As aforesaid—he took birth by whole in whole. As there are four modes each for entrance and for exit currently taking place, so there are four modes for entrance and four for exit which have already taken place. (To be precise,) birth by whole in whole, intake by whole in part, intake by whole in whole, and (departure by whole in whole). These apply as much to entrance as to exit.

Q. 236. Bhante! A being taking birth among the infernal beings—does he do so by half in half, or by half in whole, or by whole in half, or by whole in whole¹⁴⁵?

A. 236. Like the eight forms as aforesaid, even for halves it is necessary to state eight forms. The difference is that in place of reading ‘is born by part in part’, one has to state, ‘is born by half in half’. That’s the only difference. Together they give sixteen forms¹⁴⁶.

Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):

144. The expression ‘an infernal being taking birth among the infernal beings’ may appear to be in conflict with the authoritative assertion that only animals and human beings are born in the hells,, not the infernal beings, who, when once in the hells, run a full course, and are not born there again. The difficulty may be resolved in the following manner. When an animal or a human being has completed his life-span in that existence and is assigned to an infernal life, even on his way to the hell, he is to be treated as an infernal being. In other words, from the moment he is out from the existence of an animal or a human being, he is virtually an infernal, who is to be born in the hell. The consideration is about this type of infernal being.

145. ‘Desa’ (part) is a fraction, and so is ‘addha’ (half). The difference then is that whereas addha is a particular fraction, viz., one-half, desa may be any fraction, half, two-third, and so on.

146. Eight forms for ‘part’ and ‘whole’ may be stated as follows:

1. taking birth;
2. intake while taking birth;
3. moving out;
4. intake while moving out;
5. has taken birth;
6. intake while has taken birth;
7. has moved out;
8. intake while has moved out.

Likewise, eight forms for ‘half’ and ‘whole’, giving a total of 16 forms.