1118 Verse 1617

Original

कारणान्तरसापेक्षं तद्धि शब्दादिवेदनम् ।
भावेऽप्यन्यस्य तद्धेतोरभावादङ्कुरादिवत् ॥ १६१७ ॥

kāraṇāntarasāpekṣaṃ taddhi śabdādivedanam |
bhāve’pyanyasya taddhetorabhāvādaṅkurādivat || 1617 ||

What was asserted on the previous occasion was only the fact of the apprehension of sound being dependent on other causes,—on the ground that even when its cause was there, it did not come about, because something else was absent;—as in the case of the sprout and such things.—(1617)

Kamalaśīla

Existence is not proved directly; what is proved is the fact of Auditory and other Perceptions, as the Subject, being dependent upon other causes,—on the ground that when the other cause, of its Auditory Perception,—in the shape of attention of the mind—is not there the Perception does not come about. This argument is formulated as follows:—When even on the presence of something, another thing appears only occasionally (not always), then this latter must be dependent upon other-causes; e.g. even when the soil is there, the Sprout appears only occasionally;—even when the attention of the Mind is there, the Auditory Perception comes about only occasionally; this thus is a Reason based upon the nature of things. When this fact of being dependent upon other causes has been established, then it is deduced that that other cause must be the well-known Auditory Organ; that is why it is said that existence is cognised, in this way—and not directly.—Hence there is nothing wrong in this.—(1617)