Tattvasangraha 01

Author(s): Embar Krishnamacharya
Publisher: Central Library

Page 31

XXVIII
FOREWORD
case. As consciousness is found in some bodies and not in all bodies there must be a cause : otherwise, it ought to be seen everywhere.
(1881) (2) The objects, such as, mind, time, directions, God and soul, are regarded as eternal. The first consciousness is not the product of any of these ; 80 this consciousness inust also be eternal and must exist always and be without a beginning.
(3) Moreover, the first consciousness cannot be eternal according to your theory, because it does not exist before birth, nor can the first consciousness be one, as we find the cognitions of form, taste, sound, and the like, are different.
(4) From the elements also it is neither produced nor manifested because all the different kinds of cognitions will then be produced simultaneously and not in succession, because you maintain that the elements are non-momentary and do not require the help of assisting conditions. The different kinds of cognitions are not produced all at once, but in succession, so the first consciousness can not be the product of the elements. (1882-85 )
If you accept the doctrine of momentariness to obviate this difficulty in that case it goes directly against your theory. (1886)
[Kamalasila at this point carries the discussion further and shows that if the opponents accept the doctrine of momentariness even then there would be no escape for them. ]
The Cárvákas then say–Let it go against our theory, your doctrine of momentariness seems to be true. Let us grant that all elements are momentary.
(1887) Our author with his characteristic humour says—If for your love of truth you are prepared to give up your cherished theory, in that case why not go a step further and accept the best of all truths, i. e. that the elements have no real existence; because the elements have no component parts, nor are they atomic in essence as they have no power to combine. (About this we will speak later on ).
(1888-9) We merely imagine the existence of the four elements : they are only reflections of consciousness caused by previous conformations, just as the appearances that manifest in dreams or are produoed by magic.