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JULY, 1969
According to pubbantānuditthis, the views about the beginning of things in eighteen ways are as follows :12
(i) Some (Sassatavādis) hold in four ways that the soul (attā) and
the universe (loko) are eternal.
(ii) Some (Ekaccasassatavādis) hold in four ways that the soul and
universe are in some respects eternal and in others not.
(iii) Some (Antānantavādis) hold that the universe is finite, or in
finite, or finite and infinite, or neither finite or infinite.
(iv) Some (Amaravikkhepavādis) wriggle in four ways and refuse
a clear answer.
(v) Some (Adhiccasamupapannavādis) assert in two ways that the
soul and the universe have arisen without a cause.
In the context of showing the aparantānuditthis13 (views about the future), the Buddha mentions them in forty-four ways:
(i) Some (Uddhamāghātanikā Saññivādis) hold in sixteen ways
that the soul is conscious after death.
(ii) Some (Uddhamāghātanikā Asaññivādis) hold in eight ways
that it is unconscious after death.
(iii) Some Uddhamāghātanikā Nevasaññi-nāsaññivādis) hold in eight
ways that it is neither conscious or unconscious after death.
(iv) Some (Uccedavādis) hold in seven ways the annihilation of the
soul.
(v) Some (Ditthadhammanibbāņavādis) hold that nibbāņa consists
in the enjoyment of this life in five ways, either in the pleasures of senses or in one of the four trances.
Out of these conceptions, the theories of Uddhamāghātanikā saññivāda should be mentioned here, according to which the soul is conscious and eternal. The Buddha says : “There are brethren, recluses
12 Ibid., i. 32. 13 D. i. 31-39.
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