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The Tathāvārtha Sūtra states that the emergence of the knowledge stream depends on the interaction of the senses and the objects. To understand this clearly, an example of a vessel used for storing sugar is useful. Just as if a drop of water is placed in an extremely dry vessel taken directly from a furnace, the vessel immediately absorbs it, and until there is no trace left of it, it continues to absorb any additional drops of water one by one. However, there comes a time when it can no longer absorb the water drops and becomes saturated. At that point, the water droplets placed in it begin to gather together and become visible. The moisture of the vessel becomes apparent after some time even though the water was present before; it absorbed the water to such an extent that it was not visible to the eye, yet it was certainly there. As the amount of water increases and the vessel’s capacity to absorb decreases, the dampness becomes evident, and the water that was not absorbed appears to gather in the bottom of the vessel. Similarly, when a sleeping person is called out, the sound gradually enters their ears. After a few loud calls, when sufficient auditory stimuli fill their ears, the way the water droplets first moistening the vessel resemble how the sleeping person becomes aware of sounds filled in their ears.