Reading guide
A third variation on a stable pattern
The same three cases governing arising and cessation — intending and planning present, tendency alone present, none of the three present — return here unchanged for a third time, confirming this is the stable frame the trio of discourses shares.
An inclination named where the others named nothing
Between consciousness's growth and what follows, this discourse inserts nati, an inclination or leaning — a term neither SN 12.38 nor SN 12.39 uses, describing something like a tilt toward a coming existence before that existence has taken any further shape.
Coming and going, then passing away and reappearing
From that inclination, the discourse names a coming and going (āgatigati) and then a passing away and reappearing (cutūpapāta) — the second term the same one used elsewhere in the canon for the divine eye's knowledge of beings passing away and re-arising according to their deeds.
Three discourses, one mechanism, three levels of detail
Set beside SN 12.38's single compressed step and SN 12.39's full twelve-link chain from name and form onward, this discourse's three intermediate terms give a third, still more granular way of describing the same underlying process, none of them contradicting the others.
Closing the vagga on rebirth's fine mechanics
Ending Kaḷārakhattiyavagga here, on the most detailed of the three intention discourses, leaves the chapter's close focused not on a dramatic narrative but on the precise, unglamorous steps by which volition actually carries a being from one existence into the next.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī.
§2“Mendicants, what you intend or plan, and what you have underlying tendencies for become a support for the continuation of consciousness. When this support exists, consciousness becomes established. When consciousness is established and grows, there is an inclination. When there is an inclination, there is coming and going. When there is coming and going, there is passing away and reappearing. When there is passing away and reappearing, future rebirth, old age, and death come to be, as do sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.
§3If you don’t intend or plan, but still have underlying tendencies, this becomes a support for the continuation of consciousness. When this support exists, consciousness becomes established. When consciousness is established and grows, there is an inclination. When there is an inclination, there is coming and going. When there is coming and going, there is passing away and reappearing. When there is passing away and reappearing, future rebirth, old age, and death come to be, as do sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.
§4If you don’t intend or plan or have underlying tendencies, this doesn’t become a support for the continuation of consciousness. With no support, consciousness is not established. When consciousness is not established and doesn’t grow, there’s no inclination. When there’s no inclination, there’s no coming and going. When there’s no coming and going, there’s no passing away and reappearing. When there’s no passing away and reappearing, future rebirth, old age, and death cease, as do sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.”
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