Verse 168

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

प्रकृत्यैवांशुहेतुत्वमूर्णनाभेऽपि नेष्यते ।
प्राणिभक्षणलाम्पट्याल्लालाजालं करोति यत् ॥ १६८ ॥

prakṛtyaivāṃśuhetutvamūrṇanābhe'pi neṣyate |
prāṇibhakṣaṇalāmpaṭyāllālājālaṃ karoti yat || 168 ||

In the case of the spider also, the causal capacity to produce the cobwebs is not admitted (by us) to be due to its very nature; what produces them is the saliva emitted by the spider’s eager desire to devour insects.—(168)

 

Kamalaśīla’s commentary (tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā):

The following might be urged:—“The Spider acts through its own nature,—why then does it not produce its effects, in the shape of cobwebs and the like, simultaneously?”

The answer to this is given in the following Text:—[see verse 168 above]

The Spider also does not act by its very nature; what happens is that it acts from its eager desire to devour insects,—which appears only occasionally, through special causes.—The Spider thus is not always of one and the same character; its efficiency also is only occasional and due to the force of its own causes.—(168)