Matharavritti 35
English (machine translation) 35
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35.1
Here [an interlocutor] asks: Which faculties grasp a specific object, and which grasp an non-specific [one]? In response, it is said:
35.2
Among these, the five sensory faculties have specific and non-specific objects;
voice has sound as its object, while the rest also have five objects. //
35.3
Among these instruments, those which are the subject here—their five sensory faculties, namely ear, skin, eye, tongue, and nose—grasp specific objects and also non-specific objects. Here [an interlocutor] asks: For whom do they grasp specific objects, and for whom non-specific? In response, it is said: The five, namely sound, touch, taste, form, and smell, are termed subtle elements for the gods, non-specific because their nature is pure pleasure. Since suffering and delusion are not present there, they are therefore non-specific. For specific [objects] are differentiated by being calm, violent, or dull; [objects] accompanied by these are specific, while [those that are] pure are non-specific—this is the purport. Thus sound and the rest are specific for human beings, endowed with pleasure, suffering, and delusion; this is the meaning. But the sensory faculties of the gods illuminate what is non-specific, consisting of pleasure. The sensory faculties of gods and humans have been described. We shall describe the action faculties. "Voice has sound as its object, while the rest also have five objects." There, the voice of the gods pronounces a quarter-verse, a half-verse, or a verse. For us, it is just the same. Therefore, the faculty of speech is identical for gods and for us; this is the meaning. Moreover: "the rest also have five objects." Each one of those four has five objects. The hand, for its part, is endowed with sound, touch, taste, form, and smell. Thus the faculty of the hand, possessing five characteristics, grasps a pot possessing five characteristics when brought into contact with it. (Since the hand and the faculty of the hand possess five characteristics.) Likewise, the foot, possessing the five characteristics of sound and the rest, moves only on the earth, which consists of the five [elements]. Likewise, the anus and genitals, possessing five characteristics, perform excretion and sensual pleasure, which possess five characteristics. Therefore, it is aptly said: "the rest also have five objects."