Sarvadarshanasangraha 10.47

10.47

na cādhikaraṇagrahaṇāvaśyaṃbhāvaḥ/ abhāvapratītāv adhikaraṇagrahaṇāvaśyaṃbhāvānaṅgīkārāt/ aparathā nivṛttaḥ kolāhala iti śabdapradhvaṃsaḥ pratyakṣo na syād iti aprāmāṇikaṃ paravacanam/ tat sarvam abhisaṃdhāya bhagavān kaṇādaḥ praṇināya sūtraṃ dravyaguṇakarmaniṣpattivaidharmyād abhāvas tamaḥ iti

Nor need our opponent retort that "the cognition of darkness [as the absence of light] necessitates the cognition of the place where the absence resides [and this will require light]," as such an assertion is quite untenable, for we cannot admit that in order to have a conception of absence it is necessary to have a conception of the place where the absence resides, else we could not have the perception of the cessation of sound, as is implied in such an expression as "the tumult has ceased."[46] Hence, having all these difficulties in his mind, the venerable Kaṇāda uttered his aphorism [as an ipse dixit to settle the question]: "Dravya-guṇa-karma-nish-patti-vaidharmyād abhāvas tamas" (Vaiś. Sūt. v. 2, 19), "Darkness is really non-existence, since it is dissimilar to the production of substances, qualities, or actions." The same thing has been also established by the argument that darkness is perceived by the eye[47] [without light, whereas all substances, if perceptible at all, require the presence of light as well as of the eye to be visible].