Verse 1324

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

पीतशङ्खादिबुद्धीनां विभ्रमेऽपि प्रमाणताम् ।
अर्थक्रियाऽविसंवादादपरे संप्रचक्षते ॥ १३२४ ॥

pītaśaṅkhādibuddhīnāṃ vibhrame'pi pramāṇatām |
arthakriyā'visaṃvādādapare saṃpracakṣate || 1324 ||

There are others who declare that—“notions like ‘the yellow conch-shell’, even though illusory, are valid,—inasmuch as they are not in con gruent with effective action.”—(1324)

 

Kamalaśīla’s commentary (tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā):

There are some people belonging to our own party (Buddhists) who do not wish to have the qualification ‘not-erroneous’ (in the definition of Sense-perception); because (they argue that) even the illusory idea of the ‘Yellow conch-shell’ is Sense-perception. Because it cannot be Inference, as it is not brought about by an Inferential Indicative, And that it is valid is clear from the fact that it is not incongruent with reality. It was for this reason that the Teacher Diṅṅāga did not introduce this qualification—‘not erroneous’—in his definition of Sense-perception. Error, Illusion, Ignorance,

Inference—these he has mentioned as having the ‘Semblance’ of Perception, which shows that the definition intended by him was that ‘it is free from Conceptual Content and is not incongrnent with the real state of things’, He has also included the ‘taimiram’ (among the Semblances of Perception), where ‘timira’ (Darkness) stands for ignorance:—as found in such expressions as ‘Timiraghnañca mandānām’; and that which proceeds from Timira—Ignorance—is ‘Taimira’, i.e. incongruent.—(1324)

The answer to the above is provided in the following—[see verses 1325-1326 next]