Gandhabba State – Evidence from Tipiṭaka

Extensive evidence from the Tipiṭaka that the gandhabba state is a necessary feature of human (and animal) bhava. It is not an antarābhava state.

September 16, 2017; revised August 31, 2019;November 15, 2022; May 26, 2024 (added #14)

Introduction

1. I will present extensive evidence from the Tipiṭaka that the gandhabba state is necessary for human (and animal) bhava. It is not an antarabhava (a state“in-between two bhava“). It is within the same human bhava.

  • One’s mental body (gandhabba or manōmaya kaya) controls the physical body.
  • Gandhabba will be alive through many successive births within human bhava (which can last thousands of years). When a given physical body dies, the gandhabba can enter another womb when a matching one becomes available. Rebirth accounts confirm that mechanism. There are multiple births (jāti) within a human existence (bhava.)
  • However, the gandhabba concept is different from the idea of a “soul.” A gandhabba (manomaya kāya) will keep changing during its lifetime. Furthermore, it will die at the end of human bhava, and a brand new manōmaya kāya for another existence (Deva, animal, etc.) will occur.
  • There is also a group of Devās called “gandhabbakāyika Devās,” as pointed out in #14 below.
Clear Evidence from Paṭṭhāna

2. Those who believe that paṭisandhi takes place in a womb need to consult the “Paṭṭhānapakaraṇa” a section on Abhidhamma Piṭaka in the Tipiṭaka.

  • Paṭisandhi is the moment of grasping a new bhava, for example, human bhava. At that moment, a human gandhabba is born.
  • That gandhabba gets into a womb later, and that event is okkanti. Human bhava is long, thousands of years, and that is the lifetime of a human gandhabba. During that time, many okkanti events could lead to rebirths with “physical human bodies.”
  • Paṭisandhi takes place with kamma paccaya and okkanti takes place with  sahajāta paccaya.
  • We know that birth in the human realm (paṭisandhi) is rare. However, once in the human realm, a human gandhabba can be reborn with different “physical bodies” (via many okkanti events.) Otherwise, how can we account for so many rebirth accounts by children?
Background

3. At the Third Buddhist Council, Moggaliputta Tissa Thēro proved that there is no antarābhava in a debate with the Mahāyānists. That correct interpretation is in the  Kathavatthu of the Tipiṭaka.

4. A critical factor contributing to this erroneous belief that the gandhabba state is an “antarābhava” is the inability to distinguish between bhava and jāti. They erroneously believe that paṭisandhi takes place in the womb. But it is evident in the sutta passages below that it is okkanti (of the gandhabba) that happens, not paṭisandhi.

  • A human existence (bhava) could last hundreds or even thousands of years. Many human births (jāti) can occur during that time; see “Bhava and jāti – States of Existence and Births Therein.”
  • In rebirth stories, there is always a “time gap” (typically several years) between successive human births (jāti). Between those successive lives, that lifestream lives as a gandhabba without a physical body.
  • Even during a given human life (jāti), the gandhabba may come out of the physical body under certain conditions; see “Out-of-Body Experience (OBE) and Manōmaya Kāya.”
  • The human bhava is hard to attain; see “How the Buddha Described the Chance of Rebirth in the Human Realm“). However, there can be many births within a given human bhava until the kammic energy for that human bhava runs out. Otherwise, how can one explain all these rebirth accounts, where a human is reborn only a few years after dying in the previous human life?

5. I understand the reluctance of many to discard the deeply embedded idea that gandhabba is a Mahāyāna concept. I used to have that wrong view too. But as I have discussed above, many things will be left unexplained, and there will be many inconsistencies without them.

Three Conditions for Conception per Suttas

6. The Buddha has described how three conditions must be satisfied for a conception to occur. That includes how a gandhabba (nominative case is gandhabbō) descending to the womb. For example, in the “Mahā Tanhāsankhaya Sutta (MN 38)“: “..Tiṇṇaṃ kho pana, bhikkhave, sannipātā gabbhassāvakkanti hoti. Idha mātāpitaro ca sannipatitā honti, mātā ca na utunī hoti, gandhabbo ca na paccupaṭṭhito hoti, neva tāva gabbhassāvakkanti hoti. Idha mātāpitaro ca sannipatitā honti, mātā ca utunī hoti, gandhabbo ca na paccupaṭṭhito hoti, neva tāva gabbhassāvakkanti hoti. Yato ca kho, bhikkhave, mātāpitaro ca sannipatitā honti, mātā ca utunī hoti, gandhabbo ca paccupaṭṭhito hoti—evaṃ tiṇṇaṃ sannipātā gabbhassāvakkanti hoti. Tamenaṃ, bhikkhave, mātā nava vā dasa vā māse gabbhaṃ kucchinā pariharati mahātā saṃsayena garubhāraṃ..“.

Here is the English translation from the Sutta Central website (I have slightly modified it): “..Bhikkhus, the descent to the womb takes place through the union of three things. Here, there is the union of the mother and father, but the mother is not in season, and the gandhabba is not present—in this case, no descent of an embryo takes place. Here, there is the union of the mother and father, and the mother is in season, but the gandhabba is not present—in this case, too, no embryo can result. All three following conditions must be met. Union of the mother and father, the mother is in season, and a gandhabba is present. That leads to the formation of an embryo. The mother then carries the embryo in her womb for nine or ten months with much anxiety, as a heavy burden..”.

  • Even though the venerable Bhikkhus who manage the Sutta Central website do not believe in the concept of a gandhabba, they have at least correctly translated most of the Pāli verse.
  • By the way, the Sutta Central site is a valuable resource. It provides access to not only the Pāli version but also translations into several languages. I encourage everyone to contribute to that website to maintain that valuable database.
  • One needs to remember that some critical Pāli terms are mistranslated there. Those include anicca as impermanence and anatta as “no-self.” Furthermore, translating complex Pāli words like viññāna and saṅkhāra as just single words in English can lead to severe problems. 

7. In the “Assalāyana Sutta (MN 93)“, there is more evidence that for conception to occur, a gandhabba needs to descend into the mother’s womb at the right time. That needs to happen within a few days of the parents’ union, and it needs to be during the mother’s season.

Here, the Buddha explains to Assalayaṃa how the seer Asita Devala questioned seven brahmanā who had the wrong view that they were heirs to Mahā Brahmā. Here are the questions that seer Asita Devala asked:

“Jānanti pana bhonto—yathā gabbhassa avakkanti hotī’ti? “

  • “But do you, sirs, know how there is a conception in the womb?”

“Jānāma mayaṃ, bho—yathā gabbhassa avakkanti hoti ‘ti. Jānāma mayaṃ, bho – yathā gabbhassa avakkanti hoti.  Idha mātāpitaro ca sannipatitā honti, mātā ca utunī hoti, gandhabbo ca paccupaṭṭhito hoti; evaṃ tiṇṇaṃ sannipātā gabbhassa avakkanti hotī’ti”.

  • ‘We do know, sir, how there is conception. There is coitus of the parents, it is the mother’s season, and a gandhabba is present; it is on the conjunction of these three things that there is conception.’

“Jānanti pana bhonto—taggha so gandhabbo khattiyo vā brāhmaṇo vā vesso vā suddo vā’ti?“.

  • “But do you, sirs, know whether that gandhabba is a noble, brahman, merchant, or worker?”

“Na mayaṃ, bho, jānāma—taggha so gandhabbo khattiyo vā brāhmaṇo vā vesso vā suddo vā’ti“.

  • “We do not know, sir, whether that gandhabba is a noble, brahman, merchant, or worker.”

Therefore, the concept of a gandhabba was accepted even by other yōgis in Buddha’s time.

8. In the “Mahā Nidāna Sutta (DN 15)“: “..Viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpan’ti iti kho panetaṃ vuttaṃ, tadānanda, imināpetaṃ pariyāyena veditabbaṃ, yathā viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpaṃ. Viññāṇañca hi, ānanda, mātukucchismiṃ na okkamissatha, api nu kho nāmarūpaṃ mātukucchismiṃ samuccissathā” ti? “No hetaṃ, Bhante.” “Viññāṇañca hi, ānanda, mātukucchismiṃ okkamitvā vokkamissatha, api nu kho nāmarūpaṃ itthattāya abhinibbattissathā” ti? “No hetaṃ, Bhante.”

Translation: “.With consciousness as a condition, there is mentality-materiality (nāmarūpa). How that is so, Ānanda, should be understood in this way: If viññāṇa were not to descend into the mother’s womb, would mentality-materiality (nama rūpa) take shape in the womb?” “Certainly not, venerable sir.” “If the descended viññāṇa were to depart, would mentality-materiality be generated into this present state of being?” “Certainly not, venerable sir.”

  • Here, it is clear that by “a viññāṇa descending to the womb,” the Buddha meant the descent of the manōmaya kaya (gandhabba), not the paṭisandhi citta. A paṭisandhi viññāṇa cannot come out (depart) of the womb! In #7 below, we will present evidence that the other four khandhas always accompany viññāna. That includes the rupakkhandha (and a gandhabba has all five khandhas).
  • That is clear from the verse at marker 21.6, which says that “viññāṇa” has determined the sex of the baby (“kumārakassa vā kumārikāya vā” or “boy or girl.”) As pointed out in #12 below, a paṭisandhi viññāṇa(or any kamma viññāṇa) cannot exist without a rupa (i.e., at least a suddhāṭṭhaka.) In this case, the bhāva dasaka (which indicates the sex of the child) also “descends to the womb” together with hadaya vatthu and pasāda rupa in the gandhabba.
  • The Pāli word “Okkanti” is often mistranslated as “rebirth.” But it means the “descend” of an already formed manōmaya kaya (gandhabba). Rebirth happens (and a gandhabba is born) within a thought moment, at the cuti-paṭisandhi moment; see “Cuti-Patisandhi – An Abhidhamma Description.“
More Details from Suttas

9. In the “Kutuhala Sutta (SN 44.9)“, Vacca asked the Buddha, “..Yasmiñca pana, bho gotama, samaye imañca kāyaṃ nikkhipati, satto ca aññataraṃ kāyaṃ anupapanno hoti, imassa pana bhavaṃ gotamo kiṃ upādānasmiṃ paññāpetī”ti?  OR “..and, Master Gotama, when a being has given up this body but has not yet been reborn in another body, what food does it consume?”

  • The Buddha answered, “..Yasmiṃ kho, Vacha, samaye imañca kāyaṃ nikkhipati, satto ca aññataraṃ kāyaṃ anupapanno hoti, tamahāṃ taṇhūpādānaṃ vadāmi“. OR “..“When, Vaccha, a being has given up this body but has not yet been reborn in another body, I declare that it uses craving as food.”
  • Thus when a gandhabba leaves one physical and is not yet reborn in another body, its life is sustained by taṇhā (craving). That is similar to a rupi Brahma using piti (mental happiness) as food. Both gandhabbā and rupi Brahmā have subtle bodies (smaller than an atom in modern science; only a few suddhāshtaka). However, some gandhabbā can inhale odors for food and become relatively denser.

10. In the “Sangiti Sutta (DN 33)“, it is described how a gandhabba can enter a womb in four ways: “..Catasso gabbhāvakkantiyo. Idhāvuso, ekacco asampajāno mātukucchiṃ okkāmati, asampajāno mātukucchismiṃ ṭhāti, asampajāno mātukucchimhā nikkhamati, ayaṃ paṭhamā gabbhāvakkanti. Puna caparaṃ, āvuso, idhekacco sampajāno mātukucchiṃ okkāmati, asampajāno mātukucchismiṃ ṭhāti, asampajāno mātukucchimhā nikkhamati, ayaṃ dutiyā gabbhāvakkanti. Puna caparaṃ, āvuso, idhekacco sampajāno mātukucchiṃ okkāmati, sampajāno mātukucchismiṃ ṭhāti, asampajāno mātukucchimhā nikkhamati, ayaṃ tatiyā gabbhāvakkanti. Puna caparaṃ, āvuso, idhekacco sampajāno mātukucchiṃ okkāmati, sampajāno mātukucchismiṃ ṭhāti, sampajāno mātukucchimhā nikkhamati, ayaṃ catutthā gabbhāvakkanti“.

Translation: “…Four ways of entering the womb. Herein, bhikkhus, one unknowingly descends into the mother’s womb, abides there unknowing, and departs thence unknowing. That is the first class of conception. Another descends deliberately but abides and departs unknowingly. Another descends and abides deliberately but departs unknowingly. Lastly, another descends, abides, and departs knowingly“.

11. It is a Bodhisattva in the last birth that “.. descends, abides and departs the womb knowingly“, the fourth way of entering a womb, mentioned above.

  • In the “Mahāpadāna Sutta (DN 14)“: “..Atha kho, bhikkhave, vipassī bodhisatto tusitā kāyā cavitvā sato sampajāno mātukucchiṃ okkami. Ayamettha dhammatā“.
  • Translated: “…Now Vipassī bodhisattva, bhikkhus, left the Tusita realm and descended into his mother’s womb mindful and knowingly. That is the rule.”
  • At the cuti-paṭisandhi moment in the Tusita realm, the deva died, and a human gandhabba was born, who entered the mother’s womb on Earth.
  • This sutta describes in detail the last seven Buddhas, including Buddha Gotama, who have appeared in our cakkāvāta within the past 31 mahā kappa (great eons). English translation of the Sutta at Sutta Central provides a helpful summary in a table.
  • However, in this sutta, gabbhāvakkantiyo and okkami are mistranslated at Sutta Central.
Patisandhi Viññāna Same as Gandhabba

12. In the “Bija Sutta (SN 22.54)“, it is clear that viññāna cannot exist or “travel” without the other four aggregates, including the rupakkhandha: “..Yo, bhikkhave, evaṃ vadeyya: ‘ahamaññatra rūpā aññatra vedanāya aññatra saññāya aññatra saṅkhārehi viññāṇassa āgatiṃ vā gatiṃ vā cutiṃ vā upapattiṃ vā vuddhiṃ vā virūḷhiṃ vā vepullaṃ vā paññāpessāmī’ti, netaṃ ṭhānaṃ vijjāti“.

“Bhikkhus, I say that it is impossible for viññāṇa to exist, to grow, and to move at rebirth in the absence of form, feeling, perception, and saṅkhāra.”

  • Therefore, descending of a paṭisandhi viññāna to a womb MUST be accompanied by all five khandas, which is the kammaja kāya of the gandhabba. Viññāna can never exist without a rūpa; even the Brahmā in arupa realms have hadaya vatthu, a suddhāshtaka made of satara mahā bhuta.
  • Another specific reference is “1.6. Gatikathā” of the Paṭisambhidāmagga, which states, “Paṭisandhikkhaṇe pañcakkhandhā sahajātapaccayā honti,..” or “At the moment of Paṭisandhi all five aggregates (pañcakkhandhā) arise together (sahajāta)..” There is a detailed description of paṭisandhi in that link from markers 4.1 through 4.9.
Antarāparinibbayi State and Gandhabba

13. The first seven samyōjana include kāma rāga, rūpa rāga, and arūpa rāga. In the absence of the first three samyōjana, one cannot be reborn in any of the 31 realms in the kāma, rūpa, and arūpa lōka. For a discussion on samyōjana, see “Dasa Samyōjana – Bonds in Rebirth Process.”

  • When a person dies, the gandhabba comes out of the dead body. If that person had removed the first seven samyōjana by the time he died, that gandhabba could not grasp a bhava in any of the 31 realms.
  • However, since the last three samyōjana of māna, uddacca, and avijjā are still there, that person will not be able to attain Parinibbāna either. In other words, gandhabba cannot die either.
  • Then “that person” will remain in the gandhabba state until his kammic energy for the human bhava runs out. That is called the “Anatarāpainibbiyāni” state.
  • That is discussed in the “Samyojana Sutta (AN 4:131)“: “..Katamassa, bhikkhave, puggalassa orambhāgiyāni saṃyojanāni pahīnāni, upapattipaṭilābhiyāni saṃyojanāni pahīnāni, bhavapaṭilābhiyāni saṃyojanāni appahīnāni? Antarāparinibbāyissa”.
  • The first five samyojanā are called orambhāgiyā saṃyojanā. Rūpa rāga and arūpa rāga are collectively called upapattipaṭilābhiyā saṃyojanā, and māna, uddacca, avijjā are collectively called bhavapaṭilābhiyā samyōjana.
Gandhabbakāyika Devās

14. In the “Suddhika Sutta (SN 31.1)” and several more subsequent suttās ending with “Sāragandhādidānūpakārasuttanavutika (SN 31.23-112)” the Buddha described the existence of a group of Devās called “gandhabbakāyika Devās.” They are separate from human gandhabbās and belong to the lowest Deva realm, the Cātummahārājika Deva realm.

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