paṭisandhi
Rebirth-linking consciousness
[ pa-tee-SUN-dee ]
Seeing it in life
Paṭisandhi-citta arises immediately after the death consciousness (cuti) of the previous life, linking past kamma to the new becoming.
In short
The first citta of a new existence.
The analysis
Paṭisandhi-citta is the single moment of consciousness that links the death of one existence to the beginning of the next — arising immediately after cuti-citta, with no gap, conditioned by the kamma about to ripen into the new birth. It shares its content with the bhavaṅga that will flow throughout the new life and the cuti that will eventually end it.
Where it sits
Paṭisandhi sits at the start of the citta-vipāka framework applied across a lifetime: paṭisandhi opens, bhavaṅga sustains, cuti closes. It's determined entirely by kamma.
The texts don't offer an everyday analogue for this one — it's a specifically doctrinal moment, outside ordinary observation, included for structural completeness.
Commonly mistaken for
A soul migrating between bodies. Nothing substantial transfers; paṭisandhi is a conditioned citta, not a traveling essence.
Something separate from bhavaṅga. Paṭisandhi, bhavaṅga, and cuti share the same object and quality — different names for the same resultant citta at different points.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha V.
Related terms