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## 74 Samantabhadra-Bharati
[Chapter 7] The fallacy of the reason is that it proves the absence of difference between blue and the knowledge of blue, due to the absence of separate attainment of blue and the knowledge of blue. This is not proven; because the relationship between the two absences is not proven - the absence of relationship is like the absence of relationship between a donkey and a horn. A reason that does not have an inseparable relationship with the object to be proven is not capable of proving the object and is therefore called an invalid reason.
If it is said that 'just as the absence of smoke is proven by the absence of fire, and the absence of the contained (Sisam) is proven by the absence of the container (tree); in the same way, the absence of difference between blue and the knowledge of blue is proven by the absence of their separate attainment, therefore our reason is not invalid', then this is not correct. Because the absence of the effect is proven only when the relationship of cause and effect between smoke and fire is proven, and the absence of the contained is proven only when the relationship of contained and container between Sisam and the tree is proven, otherwise not - that is, if the existence of cause and effect and contained and container is not already proven, then the absence of the effect in the absence of the cause and the absence of the contained in the absence of the container is not proven. In this way, since the relationship between difference and separate attainment is not proven due to the opposing argument of the proponents of knowledge-only, the absence of separate attainment (in the form of the rule of co-occurrence) cannot prove the absence of difference, therefore their stated reason in the form of the absence of separate attainment is not certain - it is invalid.
The external meaning is always flawed because it is a mere semblance of proof, as it would lead to the success of all actions by those who speak contradictory meanings. ||81||