The king said: ‘What is the root, Nāgasena, of past time, and what of present, and what of future time?’

‘Ignorance. By reason of Ignorance came the conditions, by reason of the conditions consciousness, by reason of consciousness name-and-form, by reason of name-and-form the six organs of sense, by reason of them contact, by reason of contact sensation, by reason of sensation thirst, by reason of thirst craving, by reason of craving becoming, by reason of becoming birth, by reason of birth old age and death, grief, lamentation, sorrow, pain, and despair. Thus is it that the ultimate point in the past of all this time is not apparent.’

‘You are ready, Nāgasena, in reply!