The Sūtra on the Rice Seedling

Taishō no. 709

Chinese translator unknown; appended to the Eastern Jin catalogue (c. 317–420)

Annotation based on Tasisho no. 710 (marked by A)
Translated by Amoghavajra during the Tang Dynasty (774)

Translated into English by Shaku Shingan (2026)

Thus have I heard:

At one time the Buddha was dwelling on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, near Rājagṛha, together with a great assembly of 1,250 bhikṣus, and a great assembly of bodhisattva mahāsattvas.

At that time, the venerable Śāriputra went to the place where Maitreya was walking in meditation, and Maitreya and Śāriputra sat down together upon a rock. 

[A: ... the wise venerable Śāriputra...]

Then the venerable Śāriputra asked Maitreya, saying: "Today the Bhagavān, beholding a rice seedling, spoke thus: 'Bhikṣus, whoever sees the twelve links of dependent origination sees the Dharma; whoever sees the Dharma sees the Buddha.' Having spoken thus, the Bhagavān then fell silent and remained still. Maitreya, for what reason did the Bhagavān speak this sūtra? And with what meaning did he say that seeing the twelve links of dependent origination is seeing the Dharma, and that seeing the Dharma is seeing the Buddha? For what purpose did he speak in this way? What, moreover, are the twelve links of dependent origination? How is it that seeing dependent origination is seeing the Dharma? And how is it that seeing the Dharma is seeing the Buddha?"

Then Maitreya said to Śāriputra: "The Buddha, the Bhagavān, has always taught that whoever sees the twelve links of dependent origination sees the Dharma, and whoever sees the Dharma sees the Buddha. The twelve links of dependent origination are these: ignorance conditions formations; formations condition consciousness; consciousness conditions name-and-form; name-and-form conditions the six sense bases; the six sense bases condition contact; contact conditions feeling; feeling conditions craving; craving conditions grasping; grasping conditions becoming; becoming conditions birth; birth conditions old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, and distress. The gathering together of these manifold sufferings forms the cause of the great mass of suffering. It is for this reason that the Buddha taught the twelve links of dependent origination. 

"What is the Dharma that leads into the portion of the true path and the fruit of nirvāṇa? This the Tathāgata has taught in brief. 

[A: This, the Tathāgata taught in brief as the fruit of nirvāṇa attained through the eightfold noble path.]

"What is the Buddha? One who is able to awaken to all dharmas is therefore called the Buddha. If, with the eye of wisdom, one sees the true dharma-body, one is able to accomplish the dharma studied for the sake of bodhi. 

"How is it that seeing the twelve links of dependent origination is seeing the Dharma, and that seeing the Dharma is seeing the Buddha? The Buddha spoke thus: the twelve links of dependent origination continually arise in succession, unborn, seen truly and without distortion; unborn and unmade; neither conditioned, nor without abiding, nor unconditioned; not within the domain of mind, quiescent and without characteristics. 

[A gives the following as the set of qualities of the twelve links: constant, without a person, without a self, without a sentient being, without a life-span (or soul), unmistaken, unborn, uncreated, unconditioned, without counterpart, unimpeded.]

"For this reason, seeing the twelve links of dependent origination is seeing the Dharma — continually arising in succession, unborn, seen truly and without distortion, unborn and unmade, neither conditioned, nor without abiding, nor unconditioned, not within the domain of mind, quiescent and without characteristics. For this reason, seeing the twelve links of dependent origination is seeing the unsurpassed path replete with the dharma-body."

The venerable Śāriputra asked Maitreya, saying: "What is meant by the twelve links of dependent origination?" 

Maitreya answered, saying: "That there is a cause and there is a condition—this is called the principle of dependent origination. This is what the Buddha has taught in brief regarding the character of dependent origination: by means of this cause, this fruit is able to arise. Whether or not the Tathāgata appears in the world, dharmas arise through causes and conditions; their nature and characteristics abide constantly, free of all afflictions, ultimate and true, not other than true—this is the true dharma, free from distorted dharmas. 

"Furthermore, the dharmas of the twelve links of dependent origination arise from two kinds. What are the two? The first is cause; the second is fruit. The dharmas that arise through causes and conditions are again of two kinds: there is internal cause and condition, and there is external cause and condition. 

"From what do the dharmas of external cause and condition arise? It is like a seed, which is able to produce a sprout; from the sprout a leaf is produced; from the leaf a node is produced; from the node a stalk is produced; from the stalk an ear is produced; from the ear a flower is produced; from the flower a grain is produced. Without a seed there is no sprout, and so on up to there being no flower or grain; with a seed the sprout arises, and so on up to there being a flower, whereby the fruit arises. Yet the seed does not conceive the thought, 'I am able to produce the sprout;' nor does the sprout conceive the thought, 'I arise from the seed'—and so on up to the flower not conceiving the thought, 'I am able to produce the grain,' nor the grain conceiving the thought, 'I arise from the flower.' And yet it remains true that the seed is able to produce the sprout. This is called the dharma of production by external cause. 

"What is meant by the dharma of production by external condition? It refers to earth, water, fire, wind, space, and time. The earth element holds firm; the water element moistens; the fire element ripens; the wind element causes growth; the space element offers no obstruction; and, relying further on the harmonious change of the seasons, when these six conditions are complete, then production occurs. If the six conditions are not complete, the thing does not arise. When earth, water, fire, wind, space, and time—these six conditions—are in harmony, neither excessive nor deficient, then the thing is able to arise. Yet the earth does not say, 'I am able to hold;' the water does not say, 'I am able to moisten;' the fire does not say, 'I am able to ripen;' the wind does not say, 'I am able to cause growth;' space does not say, 'I am able to offer no obstruction;' time does not say, 'I am able to bring about production.' Nor does the seed say, 'I obtain the sprout from these six conditions;' nor does the sprout say, 'I arise from these several conditions.' Although it does not conceive the thought that it arises from these several conditions, yet in truth it is from the harmonious coming-together of the manifold conditions that the sprout is produced. It does not arise from itself; it does not arise from another; it does not arise from a combination of self and other; it does not arise from Īśvara; it does not arise from time or place; it does not arise from an inherent nature; nor does it arise without a cause. This is called the sequence of the dharma of production.

"Thus the dharma of production by external condition should be known, by means of five matters, to be neither cut off nor constant, nor to go from this to that: as with the seed and sprout, the seed is few and the fruit is many, similar in kind and continuous in succession, without producing a different thing. 

"What is meant by 'not cut off?' Because from seed to sprout to root to stalk there is successive continuity, it is called 'not cut off.' 

"What is meant by 'not constant?' Because the sprout, the stalk, the flower, and the fruit are each distinct from one another, it is called 'not constant. It is not that the seed perishes and only then does the sprout arise; nor is it that, without perishing, the sprout then arises. Rather, in the dharma of causes and conditions, the sprout arises as the seed passes away; because production occurs in succession, it is called 'not constant.' Because the seed and the sprout are distinct in name and characteristic, it is said not to go from this to that. Because the seed is few and the fruit is many, it should be known as 'not one'— this is called 'the seed being few and the fruit being many.' Because the seed does not produce a different fruit, it is called 'similar in kind and continuous in succession.' It is by means of these five kinds that the dharmas of external condition are produced.

"The dharma of internal cause and condition arises from two kinds. What is meant by cause? From ignorance up to old age and death: when ignorance ceases, formations cease; and so on up to when birth ceases, old age and death cease. Because of ignorance there are formations; and so on up to because there is birth, there is old age and death. Ignorance does not say, 'I am able to produce formations;' nor do formations say, 'I arise from ignorance'— and so on up to old age, sickness, and death not saying, 'I arise from birth.' And yet in truth, when there is ignorance there are formations, and when there is birth there is old age and death. This is called the sequential dharma of internal cause. 

"What is meant by the dharma of production by internal condition? It refers to the six elements: the earth element, the water element, the fire element, the wind element, the space element, and the consciousness element. What is meant by earth? That which is able to hold firm is called the earth element. What is meant by water? That which is able to moisten is called the water element. What is meant by fire? That which is able to ripen is called the fire element. What is meant by wind? That which is able to produce the in- and out-breath is called the wind element. What is meant by space? That which is able to offer no obstruction is called the space element. What is meant by consciousness? The four aggregates and the five consciousnesses are together called both name and consciousness. It is the harmonious coming-together of these manifold dharmas that is called the body. Mind that is tainted by effluents is called consciousness; the four aggregates thus combined, together with the five sense faculties, are called form. Elements such as these, six in number, are called the body. If the six conditions are complete and without deficiency, then the body is formed; if these conditions are diminished, the body does not form. The earth does not conceive the thought, 'I am able to hold firm;' the water does not conceive, 'I am able to moisten;' the fire does not conceive, 'I am able to ripen;' the wind does not conceive, 'I am able to produce the in- and out-breath;' space does not conceive, 'I am able to offer no obstruction;' consciousness does not conceive, 'I am able to give rise to growth;' the body does not conceive, 'I arise from these several conditions.' Yet without these six conditions, the body likewise does not arise. In earth there is no self, no person, no sentient being, no life-span, neither male nor female, nor neither-male-nor-female, neither this nor that. Water, fire, wind, and even consciousness likewise are all without self, without sentient being, without life-span, and even neither this nor that.

"What is meant by ignorance? Ignorance is this: within the six elements, one gives rise to the notion of a single mass, the notion of permanence, the notion of the unmoving, the notion of the indestructible, and inwardly gives rise to the notion of pleasure, the notion of a sentient being, the notion of a life-span, the notion of a person, the notion of a self, and the notion of what belongs to a self. The arising of such various and manifold notions is called ignorance. In this way, within the five faculties there arise desire and aversion; notion and volition are likewise so. Attachment to all provisionally-named dharmas is called consciousness. The four aggregates are called name; the aggregate of form is called form—this is called name-and-form. As name-and-form increases, the six sense bases are produced; as the six sense bases increase, contact is produced; as contact increases, feeling is produced; as feeling increases, craving is produced; as craving increases, grasping is produced; as grasping increases, becoming is produced; because becoming increases, it is able to produce a subsequent set of aggregates, which is birth; as birth increases and changes, this is called old age; the decay of the received aggregates is called death; the ability to give rise to anguish and distress is called sorrow, lamentation, suffering, and vexation. Injury inflicted upon the five faculties is called bodily suffering; disharmony of the mind is called mental suffering. The gathering together of such manifold sufferings, ever dwelling in darkness, is called ignorance. The accumulation of karmic actions is called formations. The discrimination of dharmas is called consciousness. That which is established is called name-and-form. The opening out of the six faculties is called the six sense bases. The apprehending of an object in dependence on a condition is called contact. The experiencing of suffering and pleasure is called feeling. Longing as if thirsting for drink is called craving. The ability to grasp at something is called grasping. The arising and accumulating of karmic actions is called becoming. The initial arising of a subsequent set of aggregates is called birth. Abiding in the world and undergoing decay is called old age. Final decay is called death. The recollection of past events, with mournful words and sounds, is called sorrow and suffering. Events that come to oppress the body—this is called vexation. Continuous recollection is called lamentation. Being bound by afflictions is called distress. Wrong views and deluded understanding are called ignorance. Because of this deluded understanding, the three kinds of karmic action arise, and this is called formations. Because wholesome and unwholesome karmic actions and the like are able to receive their fruits of retribution, this is called consciousness. From defiled and indeterminate karma arises defiled and indeterminate consciousness; from unmoving karma arises unmoving consciousness. From consciousness, name-and-form is produced; from name-and-form, the six sense bases are produced; from the six sense bases, contact is produced; from contact, feeling is produced; from feeling, craving is produced; from craving, grasping is produced; from grasping, becoming is produced; from becoming, birth is produced; from birth there is old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, and distress."

Maitreya said to the venerable Śāriputra: "Each and every one of the twelve links of dependent origination has its own fruit. They are neither permanent nor cut off; they are not conditioned, yet they are not apart from the conditioned; they are not a dharma of exhaustion; they are not a dharma of freedom from desire; they are not a dharma of cessation. Whether or not a buddha appears, they continue without interruption, like a swiftly flowing river, never ceasing."

Then Maitreya spoke again to the venerable Śāriputra: "Each and every one of the twelve links of dependent origination has its own cause, and each and every one has its own condition. They are neither permanent nor cut off; they are not conditioned, yet they are not apart from the conditioned; they are not a dharma of exhaustion; they are not a dharma of freedom from desire; they are not a dharma of cessation. Whether or not a buddha appears, they continue without interruption, like a swiftly flowing river, never ceasing. 

"There are four conditions able to bring about the increase of the twelve links. What are these four? Ignorance, craving, karma, and consciousness. Consciousness is the substance of the seed; karma is the substance of the field; ignorance and craving are the substance of affliction, able to give rise to the growth of consciousness. Karma serves as the field for consciousness; craving serves as its moistening; ignorance covers over and plants the seed of consciousness. Yet karma does not conceive the thought, 'I am able to produce the seed of consciousness;' nor does craving conceive, 'I am able to moisten it;' nor does ignorance conceive, 'I am able to cover and plant the seed of consciousness;' nor does consciousness conceive, 'I arise from these causes and conditions.' 

"Furthermore, karma serves as the field of consciousness, ignorance as its manure, and the water of craving as its moistening, and thereupon the sprout of name-and-form and the rest is produced. Yet the sprout of name-and-form does not arise from itself; it does not arise from another; it does not arise from a combination of self and other; it does not arise from Īśvara; it does not arise from time or place; it does not arise from a substance; nor does it arise without cause and condition. 

"Furthermore, through desire and pleasure, the vital essence of father and mother, and the harmonious coming-together of manifold conditions, the sprout of form is produced—without a master, without a self, without a maker, without a possessor of a life-span; it is like empty space, like an illusion, arising from the harmonious coming-together of manifold causes and conditions. 

"Furthermore, venerable Śāriputra, eye-consciousness arises from five causes and conditions. What are the five? The eye, form, light, space, and attention—through these, consciousness is able to arise. Eye-consciousness depends on the eye faculty, takes form as its object, relies on light in order to illuminate, on space so as to offer no obstruction, and arises because attention is aroused; thus eye-consciousness is produced. If these manifold conditions do not come together in harmony, eye-consciousness does not arise. Yet eye-consciousness does not conceive the thought, 'I am able to serve as the notion of substance;' form does not conceive, 'I am able to serve as an object;' light does not conceive, 'I am able to illuminate;' space does not conceive, 'I am able to offer no obstruction;' attention does not conceive, 'I am able to arouse eye-consciousness;' nor does eye-consciousness conceive, 'I arise from these several conditions.' Thus eye-consciousness is in truth a provisional thing, arising from the harmonious coming-together of manifold conditions. In the same way, in due order, the other faculties give rise to their consciousnesses—this too should be understood accordingly."

"Furthermore, Śāriputra, there is no dharma that goes from this world to another world; it is only that, adorned by the fruit of karma, things arise through the harmonious coming-together of manifold conditions. 

"Furthermore, Śāriputra, it is like a bright mirror that is able to show the reflection of a face: the mirror and the face are each in a different place, and yet, without anything going to and fro, the two things are seen as if in the same place. 

"Furthermore, Śāriputra, it is like the moon, fixed in the sky forty-two thousand yojanas from the earth, while water flows below and the moon shines above; though the celestial image is one, its reflection appears in the many waters, yet the body of the moon does not descend, nor does the substance of the water ascend. 

"In the same way, Śāriputra, sentient beings do not go from this world to a later world, nor do they come again from a later world to this one; and yet there is the fruit of karma, cause and condition, and retribution, which cannot be diminished. 

"Furthermore, venerable Śāriputra, it is like fire that, obtaining firewood, then blazes, and when the firewood is exhausted, ceases; in the same way, the knot of karma gives rise to consciousness, which pervades the various realms and is able to give rise to the fruit of name-and-form—without self, without a master, and without one who receives; like empty space, like a mirage in the heat, like an illusion, like a dream, without any real dharma. And yet its wholesome and unwholesome causes and conditions, and the fruits of retribution, are not lost, but follow upon karma.

"Furthermore, venerable Śāriputra, the twelve links of dependent origination likewise arise from five causes and conditions: they are neither permanent nor cut off, neither coming nor going, and the cause is few while the fruit is many; they also arise in succession, similar in kind and continuous. 

"What is meant by 'not permanent?' One set of aggregates perishes and another set of aggregates arises; the perishing is not identical with the arising, nor is the arising identical with the perishing—hence it is called 'not permanent.' 

"What is meant by 'not cut off?' It is like the rising and falling of a scale: this perishes and that arises—hence it is called 'not cut off,' and thus it should be truly known and seen. 

"What is meant by 'neither coming nor going?' There is no seed that goes away and arrives at the sprout, nor any sprout that comes and proceeds to the place of the seed. For this reason, there is nothing that goes from this to that; and yet, in truth, from a few seeds many fruits are able to be produced. 

"What is meant by 'arising in a similar way?' As an unwholesome cause produces an unwholesome fruit, and a wholesome cause produces a wholesome fruit—for this reason it is called 'arising in succession, similar in kind.' 

"Furthermore, Śāriputra, as the Buddha has taught, to be able to contemplate the twelve links of dependent origination is called right view. If one rightly contemplates the twelve links of dependent origination, then with regard to one's past existences, one does not give rise to the notion of existence, nor with regard to one's future existences does one give rise to the notion of non-existence. 

[A expands this into the full classical threefold reflection formula—extended questioning of one's existence in the past, the future, and the present alike—which is only briefly gestured at here.]

"From where do sentient beings come, and to where do they go? Should any śramaṇa, brahmin, or person of the world hold to the various views—the view of a self, the view of a sentient being, the view of a life, the view of a person, the view of auspicious and inauspicious signs—then, through these twelve links of dependent origination, like a tāla tree whose crown has been cut off and can no longer grow, the view of a self is thereby eliminated. 

[A inserts an entire passage here, promising that any son or daughter of good family who contemplates dependent origination even briefly instantly dissolves beginningless heavy karmic obstruction, gathers merit, and gains fearless eloquence in teaching.]

"If a person rightly sees the twelve links of dependent origination and attains such a reflective state of mind, then, venerable Śāriputra, if there are sentient beings able to accept this dharma, this Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyaksaṃbuddha, Sugata, Lokavid, Puruṣadamyasārathi, Śāstā devamanuṣyāṇāṃ, Buddha, Bhagavān will surely bestow upon them the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi."

[A does not give epithets for the Buddha, but just uses "Bhagavān."]

Having heard Maitreya speak in this way, the venerable Śāriputra departed with joy. The devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, and the whole great assembly paid homage to Maitreya, and, with joy, undertook to practise accordingly.

[A has Śāriputra rise and bow at Maitreya's feet before the assembly disperses. Further, he gives the fuller  "eight classes" formula, adding garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas, plus humans and non-humans.]

1. The opening. The Tibetan text opens with a homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas before "Thus did I hear." T709 has no such homage, moving directly from the title into the nidāna.
2. The definition of "Dharma." Where Maitreya defines the Dharma, the Tibetan spells out the noble eightfold path in full—right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration—together with its fruits and nirvāṇa. T709 preserves a shorter allusive line about the "portion of the true path" and the "fruit of nirvāṇa," without enumerating the eight limbs. 
3. The description of how dependent origination is "seen." The Tibetan gives a long, doubled list of qualities—constant, without life force, true, unmistaken, unborn, unarisen, uncreated, uncompounded, unobstructed, imperceptible, tranquil, fearless, incontrovertible, inexhaustible, and by nature never stilled—repeated almost verbatim in a later passage. The corresponding passage in T709 is markedly less elaborated but corresponds to the same underlying list.
4. The ten epithets of the Buddha, near the close, are given in full in the Tibetan. T709 gives only eight of these, omitting "perfect knowledge and conduct" and treating "unsurpassed" as absorbed into the guide-epithet rather than standing separately.
5. The closing retinue. The Tibetan closes with a comparatively short list—devas, humans, asuras, and gandharvas. T709 gives the fuller, more typically Chinese formula of devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, and asuras.