Verse 3.6.2-3

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.6.2-3:

व्यतिरेकस्य यो हेतुरवधिप्रतिपाद्ययोः ।
ऋज्वित्येव यतोऽन्येन विना बुद्धिः प्रवर्तते ॥ २ ॥

vyatirekasya yo heturavadhipratipādyayoḥ |
ṛjvityeva yato'nyena vinā buddhiḥ pravartate || 2 ||
karmaṇo jātibhedānāmabhivyaktiryadāśrayā |
sā svairupādhibhirbhinnā śaktirdigiti kathyate || 3 ||

2-3. Direction is that power which is the cause of the opposition of the limit (avadhi) and the limited (pratipādya) of the cognition of straight without the help of anything else, of the manifestation of the minor universals of action and which is divided through its contingents.

Commentary

The definition of Direction (Dik), based on inference, is as follows:

[Read verse 2-3 above]

[We make statements like this: ‘This is to the east of that’, ‘this is to the west of that’. Here, ‘that’ is the starting point and ‘this’ is what is determined by it. One has to explain such expressions. It is the notion of Direction (dik) which explains them. Universals etc. which exist in objects cannot explain them. As we have to infer its nature from its effects and as, in linguistic expressions, it always appears as an attribute of something else and not as something independent, we conclude that it is a power. The same is true of Time and Inherence. When we say ‘this bamboo is straight’, we are giving expression to a cognition which does not involve the notion of limit (avadhi) and limited (avadhimat) and does not depend on something else. It is caused by the notion of Direction. The idea of something being bent can also be explained by the same notion only. It is this very notion which manifests universals like ‘bhramaṇatva’ and ‘utkṣepaṇatva’ which exist in particular actions like ‘turning’ and ‘raising’. This Direction is one, but due to particular associations it is looked upon as ten in number. That particular region which is in contact with the sun daily at the beginning of the day is called the East. The West, the North and the South are similarly named. The intermediate regions are called by their respective names because of the association of the Sun with the regions looked after by the Guardians. A particular association with the Sun is the auxiliary cause which brings about the apparent division of what is One.]