________________
Verse 42
When the effect (karya) is considered absolutely non-existent (asat), the idea of a produced entity is untenable:
यद्यसत्सर्वथा कार्यं तन्माजनि खपुष्पवत् । मोपादाननियामोऽभून्माऽऽश्वासः कार्यजन्मनि ॥४२॥
सामान्यार्थ – यदि कार्य को सर्वथा असत् माना जाए तो आकाशपुष्प की तरह उसकी उत्पत्ति नहीं हो सकती। यदि असत् का भी उत्पाद माना जाए तो कार्य की उत्पत्ति में उपादान कारण का कोई नियम नहीं रहता और न ही कोई विश्वास बना रह सकता है।
If the effect (kārya) be considered absolutely non-existent (asat) then it can never be produced just as it is an impossibility to produce the ‘sky-flower' (ākāśapuspa or gaganakusuma). If production of the non-existent (asat) be accepted, the rule of the availability of a substantial cause (upādāna karta) for the accomplishment of an effect (kārya) cannot be applied with confidence.
Kundakunda, following the tradition of Jaina metaphysics, speaks of two different causes, upādāna karana and nimitta kāraṇa – material cause and instrumental cause. For example, clay is the material out of which the jar is made. In this case the material out of which the thing is made is the upādāna kāraṇa. For transforming the clay into the jar you require the operating agent, the potter, the potter's wheel on which the clay is moulded, and the stick with which he turns the wheel and so on. All these come under the nimitta kāraṇa or the instrumental cause. This distinction is considered very important in Jaina metaphysics. The upādāna karana or the
77
