**"*How does Sankskara cause consciousness to arise?*"**

This is my personal understanding, not necessarily any traditional interpretation:

Sankhara being the active tendency onward, the driving force to seek something or another state (as per our dissatisfaction), is the terrain that makes it possible for consciousness to arise, since consciousness is the basis for coming into contact with anything.

When that force is calmed down, there's no interest in "reaching out" (or "reaching in", or simply "reaching"), so consciousness does not get established.


*"**How does consciousness cause the name-form to arise?**"*

In DN 15, the Buddha explains the dependency of namarupa on consciousness  in the context of a person being born & growing:

* when namarupa does not find consciousness persisting in the womb, namarupa does not develop. 
* when consciousness depart from namarupa in the womb, namarupa would not come to secure a birth.
* if consciousness of a young boy or girl were cut off, namarupa would not grow up and develop.


Also, consider [SN 12.39][1]:

> “Bhikkhus, what one intends, and what one plans, and whatever one has a tendency towards: this becomes a basis for the maintenance of consciousness. When there is a basis, there is a support for the establishing of consciousness. **When consciousness is established and has come to growth, there is a descent of name-and-form**. With name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases come to be; [...]
>
> “If, bhikkhus, one does not intend, and one does not plan, but one still has a tendency towards something, this becomes a basis for the maintenance of consciousness. When there is a basis, there is a support for the establishing of consciousness. **When consciousness is established and has come to growth, there is a descent of name-and-form**. With name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases come to be…. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.
>
> “But, bhikkhus, when one does not intend, and one does not plan, and one does not have a tendency towards anything, no basis exists for the maintenance of consciousness. When there is no basis, there is no support for the establishing of consciousness. **When consciousness is unestablished and does not come to growth, there is no descent of name-and-form**. With the cessation of name-and-form comes cessation of the six sense bases…. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.”


  [1]: https://suttacentral.net/en/sn12.39