Establishment of Brahman 3.96

3.96

anāśritakālaviśeṣe pramāṇayogamātre sattve pramitanaṣṭamapi vastu saditi tenārthakriyāprasaṅge 'naṣṭeneva, sattvāviśeṣāt /
naṣṭānaṣṭayorviśeṣānnaivamiti cet, sa eva tarhi viśeṣaḥ sadasadvyavahāravyavasthāyā hetuḥ kāryavyavasthāyā iva, na pramāṇayogaḥ /

If existence were merely relation to a means of valid cognition without reference to a specific time, an object that was cognized and then destroyed would also be existent, and in that case its causal efficacy would ensue just like that of an undestroyed one, since their existence would be indistinguishable.
If it is objected that it is not so because of a difference between the destroyed and the undestroyed, then that very difference would be the cause of the determination of linguistic and practical usage regarding existence and nonexistence, just as it is for the determination of effects, and not relation to a means of valid cognition.