Verse 1898

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

अन्यहेतुप्रतिक्षेपादहेतुत्वे च संस्थिते ।
अन्यथा नियतो धर्मो नायं तस्य प्रसज्यते ॥ १८९८ ॥

anyahetupratikṣepādahetutve ca saṃsthite |
anyathā niyato dharmo nāyaṃ tasya prasajyate || 1898 ||

As other causes have been rejected, if the cognition were entirely without cause,—then, it could not have any particular character at all.—(1898)

 

Kamalaśīla’s commentary (tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā):

All other causes, in the shape of the eternal things—Mind, Time, Space, God and so forth,—have been rejected before; and the view that the Cognition arises out of itself is not accepted; the only alternative left is that it should be without cause; but in that case it could not have any such particular (distinguishing) character as Being Cognition and the like. Because a character or property that is purely accidental cannot serve as a determinant, and hence there could he no determination on the basis of that.

Thus the causelessness of Cognition would be open to rejection by the incongruity of there being no possibility of the appearance of such distinguishing characters as that of Being Cognition and the like;—and there would be the further objection that if it were causeless, it would not be possible for the Cognition to appear only occasionally.—(1898)