Buddha Abhidhamma - Ultimate Science - BuddhaNet

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dhamma; so also are taõhà and upàdàna. Since these vañña-dhammas
occur together in the same citta, taõhà and upàdàna must also be
included in the past causes.
Again saïkhàra is a kamma-vañña-dhamma, and so also is kammabhava.
Thus when saïkhàra is taken into account, kamma-bhava is
also implicitly accounted for. So we have five dhammas viz., avijjà,
saïkhàra, taõhà, upàdàna and kamma-bhava – as the past causes.
Vi¤¤àõa, nàma-råpa, saëàyatana, phassa and vedanà in the
present period are the present effects of the past causes.
Again in the present period, taõhà, upàdàna and kamma-bhava
can act as the present causes for future rebirth. As reasoned
above, when taõhà and upàdàna are taken into account, avijjà is
also implicitly accounted for. Furthermore, saïkhàra must also
be grouped together with kamma-bhava. So we get taõhà, upàdàna;
kamma-bhava, avijjà and saïkhàra as the present causes which will
condition the rebirth-process in the subsequent life.
In the future period, only jàti and jarà-maraõa are present.
They represent becoming, decay and death, respectively. The
question arises here as to which entities come into being, decay
and die. The answer is: ‘Vi¤¤àõa, nàma-råpa, saëàyatana, phassa
and vedanà come into being, decay and die’. The arising, the
existing and the dissolving phenomena of these entities are taken
as jàti, jarà and maraõa, respectively. So we get vi¤¤àõa, nàmaråpa,
saëàyatana, phassa and vedanà as the future effects. Thus it is
stated in Visuddhi Magga (Path of Purification) that:
“Five causes were there in the past;
Five fruits we find in present life;
Five causes do we now produce;
Five fruits we reap in future life.”