________________
" THE REVEALED WORD."
995
that envisages negation.-Or it may mean that such an Author is cognised in the form of negation-i.e. as non-existent; because there is no means of knowing him.
Pramānābhāvabadhana' abhäva', cessation of the Means of Cogni. tion ; i.e. Negation as the Means of Cognition ;-by this Negation, the idea of the Author is precluded. Hence it is established that there can be no Author of the Veda.-(2088-2095)
The following argument might be urged (against the Mimamsaka): If you prove the fact of the Veda not being the work of an Author, and then, on that basis, prove its authoritative (reliable) character,then, lo ! the authority of the Veda rests upon something other than itself; as the authority of the Veda cannot become recognised until the fact of its not being the work of an author is recognised.
The Mimāmsaka's answer to this is as follows:
TEXT (2096).
"As A MATTER OF FACT, THE IDEA OF THE VEDA not BEING THE WORK OF AN AUTHOR IS EMPHASISED ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF SHOWING THAT THERE CAN BE NO CAUSE FOR unreliability ; AND AS SUCH AN IDEA (BEING NEGATIVE) IS A NON
ENTITY, IT CANNOT BE PROVED BY MEANS OF PROOFS."
(2096)
COMMENTARY.
What is meant by this is as follows:We are not proving the Reliability (Authority) as a positive fact, which is not recognised; all that we are doing is to reject the unreliability of the Veda) which has been urged by our Opponent; and when this charge has been set aside, the original positive proposition remains fully recognised by itself.-As a matter of fact, even the idea of the Veda not being the work of an Author is not being sought to be proved by us ; because, if it were proved, the implication would be that the reliability of the Veda rests upon something else. The fact of the matter is that the said idea consists in the mere negation of the fact of the Veda being the work of an Author, and as such, it is a non-entity (which cannot be proved).—(2096)
Question :-If it is not proved (by you), how does it become proved by itself ?
Answer (from the Mimämsaka) :