________________
CONFLUENCE OF OPPOSITES
47
(1) The erratic, which implies that the reason
is sometimes associated with the sådhya (that which is to be established) and
sometimes with its opposite. (2) The contradictory which is the reason that
is opposed to the conclusion, e.g.,
A pot is a manufactured article ;
Because it is eternal. (3) The equal-to-the-question which repro
duces itself, e.g., Sound is non-eternal; Because it is not possessed of the attri
bute of eternity. (4) The unproved, which itself stands in need
of proof, e.g.,
Shadow is a substance;
Because it is endowed with motion. (5) The mistimed, i.e., that which is adduced
when the time in which it might hold good is past, e.g.,
Sound is eternal ;
Because it arises by union, like colour. Properly amplified, the argument here comes to this that sound is like colour because the one is manifested by contact between a drum and a drum-stick, and the other by the contact of the light of a lamp with a coloured article. Now, since colour is eternal because light is only needed to reveal and cannot be said to create it, so, too, sound must be eternal. It is this kind of reason which is
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
