0303 Verse 380

Original

न हि बालेय इत्येवन्नाममात्रे कृते क्वचित् ।
सर्वो रासभधर्मोऽस्मिन्प्रसक्तिं लभते नरे ॥ ३८० ॥

na hi bāleya ityevannāmamātre kṛte kvacit |
sarvo rāsabhadharmo’sminprasaktiṃ labhate nare || 380 ||

The mere naming of a person as ‘donkey’ does not lead to the attribution of the whole character of the ass to that person.—(380)

Kamalaśīla

“In such expressions as ‘It is Caitra’s Son’, it is the existence of the son that is affirmed; so in the expression ‘There is Annihilation of the thing’, it must be the presence of the Annihilation that is affirmed.”

This is answered in the following—[see verse 380 above]

The existence and non-existence of things are not dependent upon the use of mere words, as the using of words depends upon the whim of the speaker; if it were not so, then if, through a whim, the name ‘Donkey’ were given to a man, the entire character of the Ass would have to be attributed to that man.

The term ‘bāleya’ (in the Text) is a synonym for ‘rāsabha’ (Ass).—(380)