Advaitasiddhi 2.12

2.12

evaṃ smṛtirapyetat śrutyanurodhena neyā. ataḥ sarvaiḥ saha sambandhābhāvāt. na sarvāvabhāsaḥ, kiṃtu yadākārā vṛttistasyaiva. ata eva `idaṃ rajatam' iti bhrame idamākāravṛttyavacchinnacaitanyena rajatabhānānupapatteḥ rajatākārā'pyavidyāvṛttirabhyupeyate. svataścidvimbāgrāhake caitanyasya tadākāratvāyogāt. svataścidvimbagrāhake tvantaḥkaraṇavṛttyādau na vṛttyapekṣeti nānavasthā. na ca āśrayasambandhāviśeṣe'pi rūpākārā vṛttirna gandhādyākāreti kuta iti vācyam. yathā tava cākṣuṣajñāne āśrayasambandhāviśeṣe'pi na gandho viṣayaḥ. tathā'smākamapi cakṣurdvārakavṛttau na gandhādyākāratvam. indriyaviṣayasambandhānāṃ svabhāvasya niyāmakasya samānatvāt. nanu ādhyāsikasambandho vṛtteḥ pūrvamapyastyeva. anyastūparāgo na dṛśyatve tantramiti kiṃ tadarthayā vṛttyeti cenna. jīvacaitanyasyādhiṣṭhānacaitanyasya vā'bhedābhivyaktyarthatvād vṛtteḥ. anyathā mayedaṃ viditamiti sambandhāvabhāso na syāt.

Likewise, the traditional text too is to be interpreted in accordance with this Vedic text. Therefore, because there is no relation with everything, there is no illumination of everything; rather, [there is illumination] only of that whose form the mental state has. For this very reason, in the illusion "this is silver," because the appearance of silver cannot be accounted for by consciousness delimited by the mental state in the form of "this," a mental state of ignorance in the form of silver is also accepted; for consciousness cannot take the form of that in a case that does not grasp the reflection of pure consciousness by itself. But in the mental state of the internal organ and the like, which grasps the reflection of pure consciousness by itself, a mental state is not required, so there is no infinite regress. Nor should one say: Whence is it that, even though the connection with the locus is without distinction, the mental state has the form of color and not the form of smell and the like? For just as, in your view, even though the connection with the locus is without distinction in a visual cognition, smell is not an object, so also in our view, a mental state mediated by the eye does not take the form of smell and the like, because the natural capacity of the contacts between sense-organs and objects is equal as the regulator.
[Objection:] An illusory relation exists even prior to the mental state. And another coloring is not the determinant of perceptibility; so what is the purpose of a mental state for that?
[Reply:] No. Because the mental state is for the purpose of manifesting the non-difference between the consciousness of the individual self and the consciousness of the substratum. Otherwise, the appearance of the relation "this is known by me" would not occur.