NAGARJUNA'S PHILOSOPHY are developed and distinguished from each other they are called the six bases, and when not developed they are called just nama-mpa Of these six bases, all the physical elements arise from the basic physical element ((Tupa," while all the mental elements arise from the basic mental ele ment, "nama." Thus, of the six bases of cognition, the five physical bases are accomplished by ((Tupa, " and the one- internal base is accom plished by "nama." Actually, "nama" and "TUP" " are the two phases or aspects distinguishable within the integral organic entity In the developed, distinguished state, the individual is named after these as nama-rup a, while in the subtle, undistingusihed state the individual is simply called "vijfiana." The undistinguished state is the root of the dis tinguished ; vijfiana is the root of nama as well as of Tupa Vijfiana, as we have already seen is the person hl the subtle inter mediary state ( 9=J � ) His proceeding from one span of life to another is prompted by the basic urg e in him for self-expressio!1; he is ever seekin g to become, to bring to manifestation all that is dormant in_ him The constitution of personality ever undergoes a ceaseless change, em bodying in -numberless ways the original insight and the basic urge It is the seeking of a new self-expression that prompts the self-determining, self-conscious principle to proceed to a new birth It is due to the felt need to give form to its basic aspiration that it seeks embodiment Vijfiana in this special state of seeking a new abode may be called the subtle "self-conscious seed of personal life." It is subtle and is in seed form because it is unexpressed but all expressions proceed from it It is aware of its, present being as its own making as well as of its future possibility which it seeks to realize It is the deflled citta born from the traces (ff) of (the passionate) deeds (of the past) that is the primary source of (the present) embodiment (-W:!ltI!1) Even as the calf recognizes its mother, the ciua, (the self conscious person) (in this state of transition) understands his own nature (which is but what has given rise to his present state) and hence the name "vijiiana." ( § flUa$: :t fi�) (roob) WORLD AND INDIVIDUAL The Sastra observes that if vijniina does not enter womb rots and becomes destroyed.1I2 the womb, the Vijniina is (the complex of) the five (subtle) skandhasofthe intermedi ary state.63 (696b) The intermediary state is the state between death and rebirth In this state, the constituent factors of the self-conscious individual are subtle (N:IB), undeveloped, and are therefore simply named after vijniina." The Sastra gives an account of the rise of the intermediary state: At the time of the death of a person, he gives up the five skandhas of this span of life and enters the five skandhas of the intermediary state At this time, the present body becomes extinct and he receives the body of the intermediary skandhas This extinction of the present body and this arising of the intermediary state cannot be (said to be) before or after (each other) The time of the extinction is itself the time of (re) birth (.�JlP�) For exarople, die wax-seal impresses the day; at the time when there is received the impression in the clay, at that very time, the seal also becomes extinct Accomplishment (of the new) and the extinction (of the old) are simultaneous (nlt.-�) ; even here, there is no (distinction of) before or after At this time one receives the com plex of the skandhas of the intermediary state (�t:pl!lt:p :ff ) Giving up this intermediary state one receives the state of the next span of life What you call subtle body is just this complex of the intermediary skandhas The body of the intermediary skandhas has neither any going out nor any coming in It is comparable to the flame of the lamp, a stream of constantly arising and FCrishing events, neither eternal nor evanescent.65 (I49b) When it is said that the individual'in the subtle, seed-form proceeds to take another birth, it does not mean that there is a substantial entity, a soul, that transmigrates from one abode to another, itself remaining unaffected The person in the state of this transition is not a substanC'.e but an organism The movement is not as that of a ball in an empty 239 NAGARJUNA'S PHILOSOPHY space, but a transition like the moving of the flame from one spot to another It is a continuous process where particular events arise and perish while the activity with a persistent pattern "moves on" by real izing contact \\'ith a differen t set of elements It is an unbroken p rocess , a tinuous becoming ; even the elements are also processes, becom ings The arising of the new spall of life after death is comparable to one lamp lighting another This is again comparable to the sprout arising from the seed.66 (VI) The tendencies dormant in the seed of personal life, an d the root of the cycle of life: What condi ti ons the entering of the wo mb by vijiiana, in order to take on a definite embodiment? The sa,?, skiiras (ff) condition it Saf!' skiiras are the impressions, the traces of deeds done in the past and it is the deeds that lead the vijniina into the womb for a (definite) embodiment (�lIff.A Mr) 6a When the wind blows and the flame goes out, the flame enters akiiJa; at that time it rests on wind (69