Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, Volume 9: Commentary on the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination (14)

Original text:受蕴云何。谓一切领纳种类。想蕴云何。谓一切了像种类。行蕴云何。谓一切心。所造作意业种类。识蕴云何。谓一切了别种类。如是诸蕴。皆通三界。

Explanation: What is the aggregate of feeling? The aggregate of feeling is the category of all experiences of the dharmas: pleasant feeling, unpleasant feeling, and neither-unpleasant-nor-pleasant feeling. What is the aggregate of perception? The aggregate of perception is the category of manifesting images of all sense objects, that is, the image-manifesting function of the six consciousnesses; of course, the seventh consciousness also has the image-manifesting function. What is the aggregate of formations? The aggregate of formations is the category of mental volitional actions created by all consciousness-minds, that is, the volitional mental factor (cetanā) of the six consciousnesses; of course, the seventh consciousness also has the volitional mental factor and also has formations. What is the aggregate of consciousness? The aggregate of consciousness is the category of discernment of all dharmas of sense objects, that is, the discernment of the six consciousnesses; the seventh consciousness also has discernment. These aggregates of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness all pervade the three realms; they exist throughout the three realms, because in the desire realm, form realm, and formless realm there is the mind consciousness as well as the seventh consciousness, and both consciousnesses have the functions of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

Original text:四大种云何。谓地水火风界。此皆通二界。四大种所造色云何。谓十色处。及法处所摄色。欲界具十及法处所摄假色。色界有八及法处所摄色。然非一切。此亦二种。谓识种子所摄受。种子名色。及于彼所生果名色。

Explanation: What are the four great seeds? The elements of earth, water, fire, and wind are the four great seeds, and they pervade two realms—the desire realm and the form realm. Both of these realms have material form, whereas the formless realm has no material form, so the four great seeds do not pervade the formless realm. What material forms can the four great seeds, when combined, create? They can create ten kinds of material form and form subsumed under the Dharmāyatana. In the desire realm, all ten kinds of material form are complete: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, the eye faculty, the ear faculty, the nose faculty, the tongue faculty, and the body faculty, as well as form subsumed under the Dharmāyatana (mental sense-objects), which is a provisional dharma; in the form realm there are eight kinds of material form: form, sound, touch, the eye faculty, the ear faculty, the nose faculty, the tongue faculty, and the body faculty, together with the provisional dharma of form subsumed under the Dharmāyatana, but there is no smell sense-object and no taste sense-object.

However, the four great seeds do not pervade all dharmas; there are other dharmas that the four great seeds cannot pervade—only when there are seeds of consciousness can they pervade them. There are two kinds of dharmas that the four great seeds and the seeds of consciousness jointly pervade. The first is the nāma-rūpa at the seed stage that is embraced by the seeds of consciousness; the seeds have not manifested, and nāma-rūpa has not yet arisen—this refers to the stage of the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava). The second is the retributive body of nāma-rūpa jointly produced by the four great seeds and the seeds of consciousness.

The four great seeds and the seeds of consciousness are both great seeds within the ālayavijñāna; the two stand in a parallel and equal relationship, jointly constituting the five aggregates of nāma-rūpa. Visible form is formed by the four great seeds, while formless nāma is formed by the seeds of consciousness.