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II, 3, 5.
BECOMING.
where there is becoming there is birth, and at birth old age and death, grief, lamentation, pain, sorrow, and despair begin to be. Thus is the rise of the whole of this class of pain. - Where there is neither eye nor form there is no sight, where there is not sight there is no contact through the eye, where there is not contact there is no sensation, where there is not sensation there is no longing, where there is not longing there is no grasping, where there is not grasping there is no becoming, where there is not becoming there is no birth, and where there is not birth there is neither old age nor death nor grief, lamentation, pain, sorrow, and despair. Thus is the ending of all this class of pain.'
Very good, Nagasena !'
5. The king said: 'Are there any Confections (qualities) which spring into being without a gradual becoming ?'
* No. They all have a gradual becoming.' Give me an illustration.'
Now what do you think, great king? Did this house in which you are sitting spring suddenly into being ?'
[53] 'Certainly not, Sir. There is nothing here which arose in that way. Each portion of it has had its gradual becoming—these beams had their becoming in the forest, and this clay in the earth, and by the moil and toil of women and of men' was this house produced.'
It is a small matter, but noteworthy, that the Buddhist texts always put the women first.
G2
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