俱舍論疏 3.35

3.35

The Śāstra states: "Also, the organ of speech and so forth ... have a sovereign function." This is the second, presenting the objection from the Sāṃkhya. That treatise has the doctrine of twenty-five principles. As for the twenty-five: First, the self (puruṣa). They posit that the eternal self has consciousness as its essence; by nature it is merely an experiencer and not an agent. The remaining twenty-four principles are what are experienced by the self. Second, primordial nature (prakṛti), which has sattva, rajas, and tamas as its essence, also called suffering, pleasure, and delusion, or sorrow, joy, and darkness. These three are like the ministers of the self: when the self desires to experience objects, they transform for the sake of the self; when they have not transformed, each abides in its own nature, hence the name "primordial nature." Third, from primordial nature arises the great (mahat). When the self contemplates and desires to experience the various sense spheres, the three factors immediately know it. Because its substance is vast when in motion and transformation, it is called "the great." Fourth, from the great arises ego-consciousness (ahaṃkāra), so named because it takes that self as its object. Fifth, from ego-consciousness arise the five subtle elements (tanmātra), namely visible form, sound, smell, taste, and tangibility, making nine when added to the preceding. Sixth, from the five subtle elements arise the five gross elements (mahābhūta), namely earth, water, fire, wind, and space, making fourteen when added to the preceding. Visible form produces fire, because fire is red. Sound produces space, because there is sound in space. Smell produces earth, because there is much smell in earth. Taste produces water, because there is much taste in water. Tangibility produces wind, because it can touch the body. Seventh, from the five gross elements arise the eleven faculties (indriya), namely eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, hand, foot, anus, genitals, and the organ of speech, which is the physical tongue, making twenty-five principles when added to the preceding. Fire can produce the eye, which in turn can see visible forms; space can produce the ear, which in turn can hear sounds; earth can produce the nose, which in turn can smell scents; water can produce the tongue, which in turn can taste flavours; wind can produce the body, which in turn can perceive tangibles. The five gross elements together can produce the mind, hands, feet, anus, genitals, and the organ of speech. They posit that the physical heart is called the mind. The entities held by that school are permanent, just as when transformed gold is made into bracelets, armlets, and the like, the colour of the gold does not change, though the forms of the bracelets and the like are different. When the self desires to experience objects, from primordial nature arises the great, from the great arises ego-consciousness, from ego-consciousness arise the five subtle elements, from the five subtle elements arise the five gross elements, and from the five gross elements arise the eleven faculties. When the self does not experience objects, from the eleven faculties it returns into the five gross elements, from the five gross elements it returns into the five subtle elements, from the five subtle elements it returns into ego-consciousness, from ego-consciousness it returns into the great, and from the great it returns into primordial nature. Now, the objection is raised concerning the five faculties of action (karmendriya) among the eleven faculties of that school: The organ of speech, namely the physical tongue, has a sovereign function in speaking; the hand has a sovereign function in grasping; the foot has a sovereign function in walking; the anus has a sovereign function in expelling excrement; the genitals have a sovereign function in the pleasurable activity of sexual desire. Since all of these possess sovereign functions, they should be established as faculties.