What does jāti mean in Buddhism?
Jāti is a Sanskrit and Pali term for birth that covers three related ideas: physical birth, the rebirth of a new living entity within saṃsāra (cyclic existence), and the arising of mental phenomena.
Questions about Jāti (Buddhism)
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What are the four kinds of birth (jāti) in Buddhist thought?
Traditional Buddhist thought names four forms of birth: birth from an egg (Andaja in Sanskrit, Aṇḍaja in Pali), birth from a womb (Jarayuja in Sanskrit, Jalābuja in Pali), birth from moisture (Samsvedaja in Sanskrit, Saṃsedaja in Pali), and birth by transformation (Upapaduka in Sanskrit, Opapatika in Pali). Egg-birth covers creatures like birds, fish, and reptiles, womb-birth covers most mammals and some devas, moisture-birth likely covers creatures with microscopic eggs such as maggots in rotting flesh, and transformation-birth is a miraculous materialization associated with devas.
How does jāti relate to the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism?
Within the Four Noble Truths, jāti refers to physical birth and is qualified as dukkha, or suffering. A canonical line states that birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, and death is dukkha.
Where does jāti appear within dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda)?
Jāti is the eleventh link, within the eleventh Nidāna, of paṭiccasamuppāda, the teaching of dependent arising or dependent origination. In this context it refers to either rebirth or the arising of mental phenomena.
How does the Vibhanga treat jāti differently across its sections?
The Vibhanga, the second book of the Theravada Abhidhamma, treats jāti in two distinct ways. Its Suttantabhajaniya section describes jāti as rebirth, conditioned by becoming (bhava) and giving rise to old age and death, while its Abhidhammabhajaniya section treats jāti as the arising of mental phenomena.