Verse 1709

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

नन्वनेकात्मकं वस्तु यथा मेचकरत्नवत् ।
प्रकृत्यैव सदादीनां को विरोधस्तथा सति ॥ १७०९ ॥

nanvanekātmakaṃ vastu yathā mecakaratnavat |
prakṛtyaiva sadādīnāṃ ko virodhastathā sati || 1709 ||

“As a matter of fact, every entity has more than one aspect,—like the gem sapphire; why then should there be any incompatibility among ‘existence’, ‘non-existence’ and the rest?”—(1709)

 

Kamalaśīla’s commentary (tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā):

It has been declared in the Introductory bases (Text, 3) that the ‘True Doctrine’ is ‘not mixed up with any foreign element, to the smallest detail—In support of this idea, the Author proceeds with the next chapter; and starts off with an objection (from the standpoint of the other Party):—[see verse 1709 above]

It has been asserted (under Text 1675, above) that ‘What is capable of effective action is said to be existent,—other than that is said to be nonexistent,—the two cannot exist together in the same substratum, as they are contradictory’,

Against this, Āhrīka (a Jaina writer) and others urge the following objections:—

“Every entity has more than one aspect^—the General and the Particular; just like the lustrous gem which appears to be of variegated colour; why then should there be any contradiction (incompatibility) between existence and non-existence,—in view of which it is said that ‘the two cannot coexist in the same substratum’?—The term ‘ādi’ in ‘sadādi’ is meant to include ‘activity and inactivity’, ‘unity’ and so forth”.

Though this objection has been already refuted under Text 1676. by the sentence ‘Nanu tadetaddhi, etc.’, yet it has been introduced here for the purpose of expounding the matter in detail, or for setting forth a fresh theory.—(1709)