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Studies in Indian Philosodhy of perception. Tamas is positively perceived --'this is tamas (darkness) -just like a pillar or a pot-'this is a pot. Had it been of the nature of just negation, its cognition would only be a negative one. Moreover, negation is never cognised independently. It can be cognised only as a qualifying factor of a substance like the surface of the earth, negating some. thing else there. But when tamas is cognised, it is cognised independently. In a dark night in a room the interior of which is densely stuffed with a mass of darkness because of the doors being tightly fastened, the qualified substance, wall, or the like, is not cognised at all. And it is not just the nonperception of light, because what is apprehended is apprehend. ed as having dark shape and as something that is outside.
It may be argued that if darkness is really dark or black in character, then it should require light for its perception; blue lotus, cuckoo, tamāla tree and all such dark things are perceived with the help of light. But it is not so in the case of darkness. Therefore, as a matter of fact, the perception of darkness is not a perception of something dark ( black ) in character.
Vädi-Devasūri's answer to this is that this argument also is not sound. The above mentioned things are visible to an owl or the like even withoui light. It should not be pleaded that the above argument was advanced keeping in view creatures like us, because even though blue lotus, cuckoo, etc. cannot be seen by creatures like us without the help of light still darkness can certainly be seen even without light. things are diverse in character. (What is true of one thing need not necessarily be true of other things ). Otherwise, because gold, pearl, etc though yellow, pure white etc. respe. ctively cannot be seen without the aid of light, lamp, moon, etc. would require another light for being perceived. But things have diverse natures as vouchsafed by valid means of proof, and this cannot be questioned. Therefore, when darkness is perceived as of dark (black ) shape, the nature of tamas as pure negation stands refuted and so if the first
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| SR No. | 001580 |
| Book Title | Studies in Indian Philosophy |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah |
| Publisher | L D Indology Ahmedabad |
| Publication Year | 1981 |
| Total Pages | 352 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, Philosophy, Epistemology, & Religion |
| File Size | 21 MB |