The Linked Chain of Dependent Origination
The Buddha now restates, in verse, the answer he has just given in prose — that his "unborn" fixes no substance the way the outsiders' does — and Mahāmati presses further with two paired questions: what exactly makes a theory a "causeless" theory, and what precisely does "unborn" mean, if it is neither bare non-existence nor mere dependence on conditions? The answer arrives through one of this sūtra's most memorable images: dependent origination as a chain of linked clasps (鉤鎖), where every link depends on the one before it, and yet seeing that the very act of "linking" is itself unborn is what finally sets a practitioner free — without ever denying that the chain is there.
Neither Causeless Nor Truly Caused
爾時，世尊欲重宣此義而說偈言：
「滅除彼生論， 建立不生義，
我說如是法， 愚夫不能知。
一切法不生， 無性無所有，
乾闥婆幻夢， 有性者無因，
無生無自性， 何因空當說。
以離於和合， 覺知性不現，
是故空不生， 我說無自性。
謂一一和合， 性現而非有，
分析無和合， 非如外道見。
夢幻及垂髮， 野馬乾闥婆，
世間種種事， 無因而相現。
折伏有因論， 申暢無生義。
申暢無生者， 法流永不斷，
熾然無因論， 恐怖諸外道。
云何何所因， 彼以何故生，
於何處和合， 而作無因論？
觀察有為法， 非無因有因，
彼生滅論者， 所見從是滅。」
At that time, wishing to restate this meaning once more, the World-Honored One spoke in verse:
"To extinguish that theory of birth,
and establish the meaning of unborn —
this is the very Dharma that I teach,
which the foolish are unable to know.
Every dharma is unborn,
having no fixed nature, having nothing at all —
like a gandharva city, like a dream:
whatever holds to a fixed nature has no cause.
Being unborn and without own-nature —
by what cause, then, should 'empty' be spoken of?
It is because, apart from the coming-together [of conditions],
the nature that would be known does not appear,
that it is therefore empty and unborn —
this is what I mean by 'without own-nature.'
That is to say: within each single coming-together,
a nature appears, yet is not truly there;
and analyzed apart from any coming-together,
it is not as the outsiders see it.
Dreams and illusions, and a strand of falling hair,
a mirage, and a gandharva city —
all the manifold affairs of the world
appear with marks, yet without any cause.
This subdues the theory that holds there is a cause,
and sets forth clearly the meaning of no-birth.
For one who sets forth no-birth clearly,
the stream of the Dharma never once breaks off;
and, blazing forth, the theory of 'no cause' [wrongly attributed to me]
strikes fear into every outsider.
[Mahāmati asked in verse:] 'How, and from what cause,
and for what reason does it arise?
In what place does the coming-together occur,
such that one constructs a theory of "no cause"?'
[The World-Honored One answered in verse:] 'Observing conditioned dharmas,
[my teaching] is neither without a cause nor [fixed as] having one;
it is those who hold theories of birth and cessation
whose very view is, from this, extinguished.'"
The commentators are careful to distinguish the Buddha's "unborn" from a bare denial of causation at the very outset: "滅除彼生論者，謂破彼外道妄計之論。外道雖有不生不滅之言，乃妄想分別是生死因，故云『生論』。佛說不生不滅是中道實理，對彼有生，故云『不生義』也" — "'to extinguish that theory of birth' means to refute the outsiders' own falsely conceived theory. Though the outsiders, too, speak of 'unborn and unceasing,' this is itself false discrimination and the very cause of birth-and-death, and so it is called their 'theory of birth.' The Buddha teaches that 'unborn and unceasing' is the real principle of the middle way, set against their [hidden] 'birth' — and this is why it is called 'the meaning of unborn.'" The two sides share the same four syllables but not the same referent: the outsiders' "unborn" secretly smuggles in a fixed birth by fixing a permanent substance, while the Buddha's genuinely has none.
On why Mahāmati's paired question about "causeless theory" gets a four-part answer packed into a single verse, the commentators map each phrase to one of his four original questions: "問有四意：謂云何、何因、何故、何處而作是無因論耶？答亦有四：觀察有為法是答處...非無因有因是答云何...彼生滅論者，是答何所因...所見從是滅是答何故" — "the question has four parts: how, from what cause, for what reason, and in what place does one construct this 'no cause' theory? The answer likewise has four parts: 'observing conditioned dharmas' answers 'in what place'... 'neither without a cause nor having one' answers 'how'... 'theories of birth and cessation' answers 'from what cause'... and 'is extinguished' answers 'for what reason.'" Read this way, the terse four-line reply is not poetic compression for its own sake but a point-by-point response, each clause keyed to one of Mahāmati's four original terms.
What Is Meant by "Unborn"?
云何為無生？ 為是無性耶？
為顧視諸緣， 有法名無生？
名不應無義， 惟為分別說，
非無性無生， 亦非顧諸緣，
非有性而名， 名亦非無義。
一切諸外道， 聲聞及緣覺，
七住非境界， 是名無生相。
遠離諸因緣， 亦離一切事，
惟有微心住， 想所想俱離，
其身隨轉變， 我說是無生。
無外性無性， 亦無心攝受，
斷除一切見， 我說是無生。
如是無自性， 空等應分別，
非空故說空， 無生故說空。
[Mahāmati asked:] "What, then, is meant by 'unborn'? Is it simply having no fixed nature at all?
Or is it a dharma named 'unborn' precisely by being turned toward, and dependent on, its conditions?
A name ought not to be without meaning — it must serve some purpose of discrimination and explanation. [Please explain:] is it neither having no fixed nature and thus unborn, nor being dependent on conditions [that makes it unborn]? Is it, rather, that it has no fixed nature at all, and 'name' too is not without its own meaning?"
[The World-Honored One answered:] "Every outsider, every śrāvaka, and every pratyekabuddha — the seventh abiding-ground is not their domain; this alone is what is called the mark of no-birth.
Being far removed from every condition, and apart from every [worldly] affair as well, with only the subtle mind abiding — apprehender and apprehended both left behind, and one's very body transformed accordingly — this is what I call 'unborn.'
Having no external nature, and no [internal] nature either, with nothing apprehended by the mind at all, and every view cut off entirely — this is what I call 'unborn.'
Being without own-nature in just this way, 'emptiness' too should be properly distinguished: it is not that I speak of 'empty' as though it named mere emptiness — I speak of 'empty' precisely because it is unborn."
The commentators read Mahāmati's threefold question as anticipating and forestalling three wrong answers before the Buddha even speaks: "此問無生義，為諸法無自性名無生耶？為顧待諸因緣名無生耶？為別有法名無生耶？即有無生之名，必有無生之義，願佛為說" — "this question asks about the meaning of 'no-birth': is it that every dharma having no own-nature is called 'no-birth'? Or that being dependent on conditions is called 'no-birth'? Or that there is some separate dharma called 'no-birth'? Since the name 'no-birth' exists, it must carry some meaning — the Buddha is asked to explain it." The Buddha's answer, in turn, rejects all three fixed options at once — "非無性無生，亦非顧諸緣，非有性而名" ("it is neither [bare] no-nature that is called unborn, nor dependence on conditions, nor is it a name given to some [separately] existing nature") — before locating "unborn" instead in an experiential attainment.
On why the Buddha answers by naming a specific stage rather than offering a further definition, the commentators explain: "蓋此無生忍位非諸凡小及偏教菩薩所住境界，七住即七地，以菩薩到第八地方破無明，故云『七住非境界』也" — "for this forbearance of no-birth is not a state that any ordinary person, any lesser-vehicle practitioner, or any bodhisattva of the one-sided teachings dwells in; the 'seventh abiding-ground' means the seventh ground, since it is only upon reaching the eighth ground that a bodhisattva breaks through fundamental ignorance — this is why it says 'the seventh abiding-ground is not their domain.'" "Unborn," on this reading, names an attainment reached by leaving every condition and every discriminated view behind at a specific, advanced point on the path — not a concept that can be settled by definition alone.
The Linked Chain: Neither Denying the Chain Nor Fixing It
因緣數和合， 則有生有滅，
離諸因緣數， 無別有生滅。
捨離因緣數， 更無有異性，
若言一異者， 是外道妄想。
有無性不生， 非有亦非無，
除其數轉變， 是悉不可得。
但有諸俗數， 展轉為鉤鎖，
離彼因緣鎖， 生義不可得。
生無性不起， 離諸外道過，
但說緣鉤鎖， 凡愚不能了。
若離緣鉤鎖， 別有生性者，
是則無因論， 破壞鉤鎖義。
如燈顯眾像， 鉤鎖現若然，
是則離鉤鎖， 別更有諸性。
無性無有生， 如虛空自性，
若離於鉤鎖， 慧無所分別。
復有餘無生， 賢聖所得法，
彼生無生者(彼生是四相生)， 是則無生忍。
若使諸世間， 觀察鉤鎖者，
一切離鉤鎖， 從是得三昧。
癡愛諸業等， 是則內鉤鎖，
攢燧泥團輪， 種子等名外。
若使有他性， 而從因緣生，
彼非鉤鎖義， 是則不成就。
若生無自性， 彼為誰鉤鎖？
展轉相生故， 當知因緣義。
使生有他性， 而從因緣生，
彼非鉤鎖義， 是則不成就。
堅濕煖動法， 凡愚生妄想，
離數無異法， 是則說無性。
如醫療眾病， 無有若干論，
以病差別故， 為設種種治。
我為彼眾生， 破壞諸煩惱，
知其根優劣， 為彼說度門。
非煩惱根異， 而有種種法，
唯說一乘法， 是則為大乘。」
"When the conditioned [twelve] factors come together, there is birth and there is cessation; apart from these conditioned factors, there is no separate birth and cessation to be found.
Once these conditioned factors are set aside, there is no further nature that differs [from them either]; and should one say they are 'the same' or 'different,' this is nothing but the outsiders' own false thought.
Being and non-being are themselves unborn — neither truly existent nor truly non-existent; apart from the transformation these very factors undergo, none of this can ultimately be apprehended at all.
There are only the conventional, worldly designations, turning one into the next as links in a chain; apart from that chain of causes and conditions, the very meaning of 'birth' cannot be apprehended.
Birth, being without a fixed nature, does not truly arise — this leaves behind every fault of the outsiders; but when I speak only of the linked chain of conditions, the foolish and ignorant are unable to understand it.
Should there be, apart from this linked chain of conditions, some separately existing nature that gives birth, this would itself be a theory of 'no cause,' which would destroy the very meaning of the chain.
It is like a lamp making a multitude of images visible: the chain appears to be exactly so — [but were one to suppose that] this means that, apart from the chain, there exist yet further separate natures [that light reveals], [this would be a mistake].
Having no fixed nature, there is no [truly existing] birth at all — like space's own own-nature; and should one set the chain itself aside [entirely, in order to seek some birth beyond it], wisdom would have nothing left to discriminate.
There remains, besides this, a further kind of 'unborn' — the very dharma attained by the wise and noble ones: that birth itself is unborn (this 'birth' refers to birth through the four marks) — this alone is the forbearance of no-birth.
Should the beings of every world observe this linked chain for what it is, all of them would be freed from the chain, and would attain, from this very freedom, absorption in meditation (samādhi).
Delusion, craving, and karma and its like — these constitute the internal chain; the fire-drill, the potter's revolving clay, and the seed — these are called the external chain.
Should there be some separately existing nature that arises from causes and conditions, this would not be the true meaning of the chain at all — it would fail to be accomplished as such.
If what is born has no own-nature of its own, then for whom does the chain exist at all? It is precisely because each link gives rise to the next in succession that one should understand the true meaning of 'causes and conditions.'
Should what is born be held to have some separately existing nature that arises from causes and conditions, this would not be the true meaning of the chain at all — it would fail to be accomplished as such.
The hard, the moist, the warm, and the moving — [taking these to be fixed and enduring] dharmas is the very false thought the foolish and ignorant give rise to; apart from these conditioned factors, there is no separate dharma at all — this alone is what is meant by 'no fixed nature.'
It is like a physician treating a multitude of illnesses: there is no single fixed theory of medicine, but, because the illnesses themselves differ, a variety of different treatments must be set out.
For the sake of sentient beings, I break apart their manifold afflictions; knowing whether their faculties are sharp or dull, I teach, for each of them, the very gateway that will carry them across.
It is not that the afflictions' own root differs such that there truly exist many different dharmas — I teach only the one vehicle; this alone is what is called the Great Vehicle."
The commentators name the central image directly: "諸俗數，即生死俗假因緣，謂凡夫從本以來，惟逐妄緣，流轉生死，如鉤鎖連環之不可斷" — "the 'conventional designations' are precisely the conventional, provisional causes and conditions of birth-and-death: ordinary beings, from beginningless time, have merely chased after false conditions, circling through birth-and-death the way a chain of linked clasps cannot be broken apart." The crucial move, on this reading, is that liberation does not come from denying the chain exists — that would itself collapse into the "no-cause" error the verse explicitly warns against — but from seeing that the very act of "linking," the birth of each link from the one before it, is itself without a fixed, independently existing nature: "若能了達妄緣生即無生，故云『生義不可得』也" — "if one is able to fully understand that birth from false conditions is itself unborn, this is why it says 'the very meaning of birth cannot be apprehended.'"
On the distinction between the internal and external chain, the commentators are explicit about the parallel the verse draws: "然所觀因緣有內有外，內則無明等十二因緣，外則鑽燧、泥輪等事。鑽燧得火、泥團成瓶、種子生芽，此三者名外因緣。此外因緣以喻於內，乃顯離因緣外別無生法" — "the conditions to be observed are of two kinds, internal and external: internally, these are ignorance and the rest of the twelve links of dependent origination; externally, these are things like the fire-drill and the potter's wheel. Friction producing fire, clay becoming a pot, and a seed producing a sprout — these three are called the external conditions. This external chain illustrates the internal one, showing that apart from causes and conditions there is no separate dharma of 'birth' at all." And on the closing medicine simile, the commentators read it as the final resolution of the entire long verse: "若論出世本意，惟說一乘以度群生，如大醫王但以阿伽陀藥遍治眾病...然機器不齊，未免曲垂方便，為說三乘...然非根異而法有殊，權機若熟，咸歸一實" — "as for the original intent of the Buddha's appearance in the world, it is only to teach the one vehicle in order to deliver all beings, the way a great physician-king uses a single universal medicine to treat every illness... yet since beings' capacities are not uniform, he cannot avoid bending to skillful means and teaching three vehicles... it is not that the dharma truly differs because the root differs — once the provisional capacity has matured, all return to the single reality." The many teachings are one medicine dispensed in different doses, never many different medicines for many different diseases.
Part 38 Complete
This closes Part 38: the Buddha's long verse restatement of "unborn," Mahāmati's paired questions on causeless theories and the meaning of no-birth, and the extended image of the linked chain — dependent origination affirmed rather than denied, with liberation found in seeing that the chain's very linking is itself unborn, closing with the physician simile that resolves the entire Mahāyāna/three-vehicles question into a single medicine for many illnesses. Part 39 turns to a new topic Mahāmati raises immediately afterward: the outsiders' seven kinds of impermanence, and how the Buddha's own teaching of impermanence differs from every one of them.
Continue to Part 39 — The Seven Kinds of Impermanence →