Verse 2443

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

ममाप्रमाणमित्येवं शब्दोऽर्थं बोधयन्नपि ।
नारोऽसौ द्वेषमात्रेण शक्यो वक्तुं न साधुना ॥ २४४३ ॥

mamāpramāṇamityevaṃ śabdo'rthaṃ bodhayannapi |
nāro'sau dveṣamātreṇa śakyo vaktuṃ na sādhunā || 2443 ||

While the word (human) is clearly bringing about the cognition of things, no right-minded person should say, through sheer malice, that it is human (and hence unreliable).—(2443)

 

Kamalaśīla’s commentary (tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā):

It has been argued (by the Mīmāṃsaka) under Text 2111 that—“while the Veda is clearly bringing about the cognition of things, etc. etc.”

But the same may be said in regard to the human assertion also to the effect that ‘Heaven does not result from the performance of the Agnihotra.’ This is what is stated in the following:—[see verse 2443 above]

The assertion that ‘Heaven does not follow from the performance of the Agnihotra’ in human—i.e. it proceeds from man ‘such an assertion even though clearly bringing about the cognition of things, is not reliable for us, Mīmāṃsakas’—this should not be said by any right-minded person, through sheer malice.—This is the sense of the passage in the text.—What is meant by this is that in the matter of what is entirely beyond the senses, the capacity to bring about cognitions belongs equally to human and non-human Words. Thus the capacity of bringing about cognitions being equally present in both, there can be no reason why reliability should belong to one and not to the other.

It cannot be right to urge that—“Defects being inherent in men, the falsity of their assertion is always suspected; which is not the case with superhuman assertions”.

Because in the case of assertions not proceeding from man also, the suspicion is always likely that it may be bringing about false cognitions.—(2443)

The same idea is further explained:—[see verse 2444 next]