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242 Controversy between Dualists and Monists [ch. generate such cognition, the same explanation may be adduced in explaining immediate cognition of objects. To this the reply is that the Sankarites do not consider that the antaḥkaraṇa-vrtti must assume the form of the object, but they certainly do consider it to be indispensable. There should be in immediate cognition an actual contact between the object and the vrtti. If the vrtti so acts in any particular case, that does not constitute its essential function in conditioning the awareness. Thus the function of the ray of light in illumination is that it dispels darkness; that it also spreads over the object is only an accidental fact. The mere fact that a vrtti may be in contact with an object does not necessarily mean that it assumes its form; thus, though the antaḥkarana-vrtti may travel up to the pole star or be in contact with objects having an atomic structure, that does not imply that all objects in the space intermediate between the eye and the star or the atoms should be perceived; such perceptions are baffled through the absence of such accessory causes as might have caused the vrtti to assume their form. In the case of tactile perception the antahkarana-vrtti comes into contact with the object through the tactile organ; there is no restriction such that the antaḥkarana should come out only through the eye and not through other organs. The contention that in the case of other mental operations, such as desire or aversion, there is no assumption of the migration of antaḥkaraña outside is pointless; for in these cases there is not a removal of a veil as in the case of cognition.
Madhusūdana urges that the basis or the ground-consciousness (adhisthāna-caitanya) which illumines everything is directly connected with the objects through illusory imposition. This selfilluminating entity can, indeed, manifest all that is associated with it; but, as it is, it is in an unmanifested state, like a veiled lamp, and the operation of the vṛtti is regarded as necessary for its manifestation. In the case of mediate knowledge this unmanifested consciousness manifests itself in the form of the vrtti; and in the case of immediate perception through the contact of the vrtti the veil of ajñāna is removed, since the vrtti extends so as to reach the objects. i visayesu abhiz'yakta-cid-uparāge na tad-äkäratva-matram tantram.
Advaita-siddhi, p. 482. ? na ca spārśana-pratyakşe cakşurādivat niyata-golakadvārā-bhāvena antahkarana-nirgaty-ayogād āraranābhibhavānupapattir iti vācyam. sarvatra tat-tadindriyâdhisthānasyaiva dvăratva-sambhavāt. Ibid. p. 482.
