83(3)Rooted
“Bhikkhus,wanderers of other sects may ask you:
(1)'In what,friends,are all things rooted?(2)Through what do they come into being?(3)From what do they originate?
A distinction between sambhava(in question 2)and samudaya(in question 3)is hard to pinpoint,since in the suttas the two words are often used almost synonymously.Mp derives samudaya from the verb form samudenti and glosses this with rasī bhavanti,"to accumulate,to become a heap."(4)Upon what do they converge?(5)By what are they headed?(6)What exercises authority over them?(7)What is their supervisor?
(8)What is their core?'If you are asked thus,how wculd you answer them?"
"Bhante,our teachings are rooted in the Blessed One,guided by the Blessed One,take recourse in the Blessed One.
It would be good if the Blessed One would clear up the meaning of this statement.
Having heard it from him,the bhikkhus will retain it in mind."
"Then listen,bhikkhus,
and attend closely.
I will speak."
"Yes,Bhante,"those bhikkhus replied.
The Blessed One said this:
"Bhikkhus,if wanderers of other sects should ask you:
'What,friends,are all things rooted in?...[339]...What is their essence?'you should answer them as follows."
"Friends,(1)all things are rooted in desire.(2)They come into being through attention.(3)They originate from contact.(4)They converge upon feeling.(5)They are headed by concentration.(6)Mindfulness exercises authority over them.(7)Wisdom is their supervisor.(8)Liberation is their core.'
Brahmali(in a private comununication)offers a fine explanation of this cryptic sutta:"I understand sabbe dhamma to be a reference to the world of personal experience.The meaning would then be as follows:All elements of our experience are rooted in desire(chandamalaka)in the sense that we exist due to desire (taking chanda as equivalent to craving).They come into being through attention(manasikarasainbhava)in the sense that we only experience what we attend to.They originate from contact (phassasamudaya)because without contact we don't experience anything at all.They corverge upon feeling(vedanasanosarana)in the sense that feeling is the most important aspect of our experience,the basic motivating factor in everything we do.They are headed by concentration(samadhippamukha)in the sense that concentration is a controlling faculty (an indriya)whose lead all elements of our experience must follow.They are under the authority of mindfulness(sataidhipateyyā)because mindfulness is another controlling faculty which directs us in whatever we do. or experience.All things have wisdom as supervisor(paniuttara) because wisdom is the chief of the controlling faculties;wisdom, more than anything else,controls our experience(the last three factors are what allow us to get a sense of being in charge of our lives).That liberation is their core(vimuttisara),the most excellent of all things,is self-explanatory."
"If you are asked these questions,it is in such a way that you should answer those wanderers of other sects."