Verse 293

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

यद्येवमिष्टवाञ्छायां सत्यामपि न सिद्ध्यति ।
किमिति प्रकृतिर्नैव किञ्चिदन्यदपेक्षते ॥ २९३ ॥

yadyevamiṣṭavāñchāyāṃ satyāmapi na siddhyati |
kimiti prakṛtirnaiva kiñcidanyadapekṣate || 293 ||

If that is so, then how is it that even when the desire for the desired thing is there, it is not fulfilled? primordial matter cannot stand in need of anything else.—(293)

 

Kamalaśīla’s commentary (tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā):

If what is meant is that Primordial Matter brings to the Soul the desired fruit of even such acts as he has not done, then how is it that, at all times, on the desire appearing for anything, the desires of all men do not become fulfilled?

It might be argued that—“It does not become fulfilled because its cause, in the form of Merit, is not present”.

The answer to that is that Primordial Matter cannot stand in need of anything else.—Merit is a product of Primordial Matter, and as such non-different from it; consequently it must be always present; and the desired fruit must therefore always appear. For instance, all things (for the Sāṃkhya) are included under the two categories of ‘Primordial Matter’ and ‘Soul’, and these are always close to one another; so that the fruit should be always there.

Then again, if it is the desired fruit that Primordial Matter brings to the Soul, why then does it present to him what is undesirable? For certainly no one desires what is undesirable.—(293)