ncessant pain! Alas! the sea of birth and
death revolving thus--an ever-whirling wheel--all flesh immersed within
its waves cast here and there without reliance! thus with his pure Deva
eyes he thoughtfully considered the five domains of life. He saw that
all was empty and vain alike! with no dependence! like the plantain or
the bubble. Then, on the third eventful watch, he entered on the deep,
true apprehension; he meditated on the entire world of creatures,
whirling in life's tangle, born to sorrow; the crowds who live, grow
old, and die, innumerable for multitude. Covetous, lustful, ignorant,
darkly-fettered, with no way known for final rescue. Rightly
considering, inwardly he reflected from what source birth and death
proceed. He was assured that age and death must come from birth as from
a source. For since a man has born with him a body, that body must
inherit pain. Then looking further whence comes birth, he saw it came
from life-deeds done elsewhere; then with his Deva-eyes scanning these
deeds, he saw they were not framed by Isvara. They were not self-caused,
they were not personal existences, nor were they either uncaused; then,
as one who breaks the first bamboo joint finds all the rest easy to
separate, having discerned the cause of birth and death, he gradually
came to see the truth; deeds come from upadana, like as fire which
catches hold of grass; upadana comes from trishna, just as a little fire
inflames the mountains; trishna comes from vedana, the perception of
pain and pleasure, the desire for rest; as the starving or the thirsty
man seeks food and drink, so "sensation" brings "desire" for life; then
contact is the cause of all sensation, producing the three kinds of pain
or pleasure, even as by art of man the rubbing wood produces fire for
any use or purpose; contact is born from the six entrances.[103] The six
entrances are caused by name and thing, just as the germ grows to the
stem and leaf; name and thing are born from knowledge, as the seed which
germinates and brings forth leaves. Knowledge, in turn, proceeds from
name and thing, the two are intervolved leaving no remnant; by some
concurrent cause knowledge engenders name and thing, whilst by some
other cause concurrent, name and thing engender knowledge. Just as a man
and ship advance together, the water and the land mutually involved;
thus knowledge brings forth name and thing; name and thing produce the
roots. The roots engender contact; conta