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extrinsic.60) And Khyung and Gangs pa she'u would deviate from rNgog insofar as they argue against a possible extrinsic ascertainment seemingly also in case of the latter.
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We shall now investigate the three kinds of perception said by Sa pan to be extrinsically ascertained (gzhan las nges), because it is with regard to this theme that we can best judge to which extent Sa pan's view can be said to conform with the view of Dharmottara as is assumed e.g. by Shakya mchog Idan.61)
Sa pan does not himself state that he depends on Dharmottara, 62) but the differentiation and examples he gives point clearly in this direction and Shākya mchog Idan's philological efforts to determine the respective sources are well grounded.65)
Sa paņ says: "The first perception (dang po pa) and that with a distracted mind (vid ma gtad pa) and that (perception) which is affected by grounds for error ('khrul ba'i rgyu mtshan gyis zin pa) are extrinsically ascertained (as valid)."64)
These terms and their mutual systematic relation need to be clarified first in their usage by Sa paņ and then we shall try to relate Sa pan's differentiations to their alleged source, Dharmottara's Pramāņaviniscayaţikā. In this Shakya mchog Idan's exegetical ideas will be of considerable help because he seems to have been the first who tried to point out the relevant passages in Dharmottara for this whole system with great care and precision.
1) dang po pa, "the first", is a perception of something for the first time. The term is not attested so far in Indian sources but was already used by rNgog Lotsāba in his description of Dharmottara's classifications.65)
Sa pan does not offer a definition of this first perception, but gives two clear examples (dper brjod na): a perception of this kind is the case when the appearance of the object (snang ba) is intrinsically ascertained, but the share of reality (bden pa'i cha) in this appearance is extrinsically ascertained. E.g., when the form of something shining red from afar (rgyang ring po nas dmar 'bar ba'i rnam pa) is intrinsically ascertained, the doubt (the tshom za ba) whether this is as fire real or merely a wrong superimposition (sgro btags) like an illusion or a magical creation is settled extrinsically. 67)
60) Pham byed II 367,4–5: de lta na yang tshad ma yin pa'i tha snyad rang las nges pa dang/gzhan las nges pa gnyis yin no//{"The
term (tha snyad) of a valid cognition is, nevertheless, both, intrinsically and extrinsically ascertained.")
Cf. also Shakya mchog Idan's short summary of this position in Pham byed II 374,3: mdor na/ mtshoni bya tshad ma'i tha snyad la ltos nas rang nges gzhan nges su 'jog cing/mtshan nyid mi bslu ba la ltos le rang nges kyis khyab par bzhed pa Lo chen gyi.
lugs /. 61) Cf. Pham byed II 354,7; 374,2f. and dGa' byed 41,3 (translated in van der Kuijp 1983: 115). 62) Already noted in van der Kuijp 1983: note 346. 63) It will be also necessary to pursue the indications of Go ram pa, who adduces not only Dharmottara, but also
Devendrabuddhi and Sakyamati in his attempt to pin down the Indian sources of these differentiations (cf. Nam bshad 132b3-133a6). But this will be done on another occasion, when the Indian development can be more fully
elaborated than is possible at this time. 64) Rang 'grel 100b6: mngon sum dang po pa dang yid ma gtad pa dang/ 'khrul ba'i rgyu mtshan gyis zin pa gsum po gzhan las nges
par byed do Il; cf. Rigs gter VIII 56bc (quoted above, note 34). 65) Cf. Pham byed II 366,1f.; Ngog uses the term, however, slightly differently to Sa pan in that it serves as a general
term for the three perceptions doubtful with regard to don yod pa sam, or to spyi yod par nges kyang khyad par or snang ba
nyid, while with Sa pan it would refer only to the first two cases. 66) For a definition from the Sa skya tradition cf. Go ram pa's rNam bshad 131a5f.: dang po pa ni dngos po 'ga' zhig gi rigs
'dra sngar ma mthong ba gsar du mthong ba ste / ba men dang por mthong ba'i mngon sum lta bu'ol/["A new perception of a kind of thing that has not been perceived before, e.g. a perception of somebody) seeing a Gayal for the first time."] Cf. dPal
ster 367,1. 67) Rang'grel 100b6-10lal: dper brjod na snang ba rang las nges bden pa'i cha guhan las nges pa rgyang ring po nas dmar 'bar ba'i
mam pa rang las nges kyang mer bden nam 'on te sgyu ma'am" sprul ba la sogs pa sgro btags yin zhes the tshom za ba gzhan las nges par byed pa'am /
* ma'am SB: mar ram D ba D: bar SB
