Verse 380

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

न हि बालेय इत्येवन्नाममात्रे कृते क्वचित् ।
सर्वो रासभधर्मोऽस्मिन्प्रसक्तिं लभते नरे ॥ ३८० ॥

na hi bāleya ityevannāmamātre kṛte kvacit |
sarvo rāsabhadharmo'sminprasaktiṃ labhate nare || 380 ||

The mere naming of a person as ‘donkey’ does not lead to the attribution of the whole character of the ass to that person.—(380)

 

Kamalaśīla’s commentary (tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā):

“In such expressions as ‘It is Caitra’s Son’, it is the existence of the son that is affirmed; so in the expression ‘There is Annihilation of the thing’, it must be the presence of the Annihilation that is affirmed.”

This is answered in the following—[see verse 380 above]

The existence and non-existence of things are not dependent upon the use of mere words, as the using of words depends upon the whim of the speaker; if it were not so, then if, through a whim, the name ‘Donkey’ were given to a man, the entire character of the Ass would have to be attributed to that man.

The term ‘bāleya’ (in the Text) is a synonym for ‘rāsabha’ (Ass).—(380)