Verse 2448

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

प्रत्यक्षप्रत्यभिज्ञा तु प्रागेव विनिवारिता ।
भ्रान्तेः सकल्पनत्वाच्च नातो नित्यत्वनिश्चयः ॥ २४४८ ॥

pratyakṣapratyabhijñā tu prāgeva vinivāritā |
bhrānteḥ sakalpanatvācca nāto nityatvaniścayaḥ || 2448 ||

The idea of ‘recognition being of the nature of perception’ has been already discarded; and as wrong cognition is always associated with ‘conceptual content’, there can be no certainty regarding eternality.—(2448)

 

Kamalaśīla’s commentary (tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā):

It has been argued by the Mīmāṃsaka, under Text 2117 that—“The eternality and all-pervasiveness of the Word is established, etc. etc.”

The answer to this is as follows:—[see verse 2448 above]

Sense-perception has been defined as what is ‘free from Conceptual Content and not wrong’; Recognition is not ‘free from Conceptual Content’, as it always appears as associated with words, in the form ‘this is that same—Nor is it ‘not wrong’, because it envisages sameness between what was seen before and what is seen now; and yet what is seen now can never be the same as that seen on the previous occasion; as there could be no notion of succession in what is not successive. The effect is always something that follows from, is born of, something else; when an effect does not come into existence at a certain time,—if its cause is there in its efficient state, why should there be delay in the appearance of the effect?—Then again, what is eternal does not stand in need of the help of anything; hence it is not possible for the delay to be due to the absence of that help. Hence the Cognitions that would proceed from the Eternal Source should all appear simultaneously.—The argument may be formulated as follows:—When the efficient cause of a certain effect is present, that effect must appear at the time;—for example, Visual Perception, when the complete set of its causes is present;—the cognitions proceeding from all words, ‘Cow’ and the rest, have the complete set of their efficient causes present at all times and under all conditions;—hence this is a Reason based upon the nature of things.—Consequently,—because it is wrong, and because it is associated with Conceptual Content, Recognition cannot be regarded as Perception. All this has been already explained in course of the examination of the ‘Permanence of things’.—(2448)