Verses on Sāṃkhya 8.3

8.3

iha loke satām apy arthānām aṣṭadhā nopalabdhiḥ | tathā hi darśayati --- yathā satām api devadattaviṣṇumitrayajñadattānāṃ deśāntaragatānām atidūrān nopalabdhiḥ | tat kiṃ te na santi | yathā vā cakṣur atisāmīpyāt kajjalaṃ nopalabhate | tat kim idaṃ nāsti | yathā badhirāndhau śabdarūpe nopalabhete | tat kiṃ te na staḥ | anavasthitacittau rājānam api yāntaṃ na paśyati | tat kim asau na gataḥ | dhūmoṣmatruṭinīhāraparamāṇavo nopalabhyante | tat kim amīṣām abhāvaḥ | kuḍyena vyavahitaṃ nopalabhyate | tat kiṃ nāsti | sūryāditejasābhibhūtānāṃ grahanakṣatratārakādīnām anupalambhāt teṣāṃ kim abhāvaḥ śakyate parikalpayitum | mudgarāśikuvalayāmalakamauktikakapotādinikurambe kṣiptaṃ samānaṃ yadi nopalabhyate tad avedam iti | tat kiṃ nāsti | evam aṣṭadhā satām apy anupalambho 'bhihitaḥ | idānīm asatāṃ caturdhā bhavati | tatrocyate --- prākpradhvaṃsetaretarātyantābhāvabhedāt | tatra mṛtpiṇḍe ghaṭaḥ prāg utpatter nopalabhyata iti prāgabhāvaḥ | pradhvaṃsābhāvo yathā mudgarābhighātāt pradhvasto ghaṭo nopalabhyate | itaretarābhāvo yathā aśve gotvam, gavi aśvatvam | atyantābhāvo yathā dvitīyam anīśvaraśiraḥ, tṛtīyo bāhuḥ, śaśaviṣāṇādayo vā | evam iyaṃ dvādaśadhā anupalabdhiḥ | satām aṣṭadhā hy asatāṃ caturdhā | evaṃ pradhānapuruṣāv api santau nopalabhyete //

In this world, non-perception occurs in eight ways even of existent things. For it is shown: Just as Devadatta, Viṣṇumitra, and Yajñadatta, though existent, are not perceived from excessive distance when they have gone to another region—does that mean they do not exist? Or just as the eye does not perceive collyrium due to excessive proximity—does that mean it does not exist? Just as a deaf person and a blind person do not perceive sound and form—does that mean the two do not exist? One whose mind is unsteady does not see even a passing king—does that mean he did not pass? Smoke, heat, water-droplets, mist, and atoms are not perceived—does that mean they are nonexistent? What is obstructed by a wall is not perceived—does that mean it does not exist? Because planets, asterisms, stars, and the like are overwhelmed by the radiance of the sun and so forth, is it possible to imagine their nonexistence? If [an object] is not perceived when cast into a pile of similar things—into a heap of mung beans, water lilies, myrobalans, pearls, pigeons, and so on—as 'this is it'—does that mean it does not exist? Thus non-perception has been declared to be eightfold even of existent things. Now, of nonexistent things, it is fourfold. On that, it is said: by the division into prior nonexistence, destructional nonexistence, mutual nonexistence, and absolute nonexistence. Among these, prior nonexistence is: in a lump of clay, a pot is not perceived prior to origination. Destructional nonexistence is: just as a pot, destroyed by the blow of a mallet, is not perceived. Mutual nonexistence is: just as horseness [is not perceived] in a cow, or cowness in a horse. Absolute nonexistence is: just as a second head of a mortal, a third arm, or hare's horns and the like. Thus this non-perception is twelvefold: eightfold of the existent and fourfold of the nonexistent. In this way, primordial matter and spirit are also not perceived although they are existent.