Sarvadarshanasangraha 16.2

16.2

nāpi śrutiḥ pradhānakāraṇatvavāde pramāṇam/ yataḥ: yad agne rohitaṃ rūpaṃ tejasas tad rūpaṃ yac chuklaṃ tad apām yat kṛṣṇaṃ tad annasya iti cchāndogyaśākhāyāṃ tejobannātmikāyāḥ prakṛter lohitaśuklakṛṣṇarūpāṇi samāmnātāni tāny evātra pratyabhijñāyante/ tatra śrautapratyabhijñāyāḥ prābalyāl lohitādiśabdānāṃ mukhyārthasaṃbhavāc ca tejobannātmikā jarāyujāṇḍajasvedajodbhijjacatuṣṭayasya bhūtagrāmasya prakṛtir avasīyate/ yady api tejobannānāṃ prakṛter jātatvena yogavṛttyā na jāyata ity ajatvaṃ na sidhyati tathāpi rūḍhivṛttyāvagatam ajātatvam uktaprakṛtau sukhāvabodhāya prakalpyate/ yathā asau vādityo devamadhu ityādivākyenādityasya madhutvaṃ parikalpyate tathā tejobannātmikā prakṛtir evājeti/ ato ’jām ekām ityādikā śrutir api na pradhānapratipādikā/

Nor is Śruti a means of valid cognition for the doctrine of pradhāna being the cause. For: "The red form of fire is the form of heat; the white is that of water; the black is that of food"—in the Chāndogya recension, the red, white, and black forms of nature consisting of heat, water, and food are handed down, and it is precisely these that are recognized here. There, owing to the strength of scriptural recognition and because the primary meaning of the words "red" and so forth is possible, nature, consisting of heat, water, and food, is determined to be the material cause of the aggregate of living beings belonging to the four classes: viviparous, oviparous, sweat-born, and plant-born. Although, because heat, water, and food are produced from nature, the quality of being unborn (ajā) is not established according to etymological derivative signification in the sense of "not being born," nevertheless the unborn status understood by conventional usage is assumed in the aforesaid nature for easy comprehension. Just as the state of being honey is attributed to the sun by the statement, "Verily, that sun is the honey of the gods," and so on, so nature, which consists of heat, water, and food, is alone [called] unborn (ajā). Hence, the Śruti beginning with "One unborn female..." also does not teach pradhāna.