Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge c14.35

c14.35

(730) We find here the simile of gold-ore, which is compared to the mind. Gold-ore is said to have the defilements (jātarūpassa upakkilesā, A. II.16) of iron, copper, tin, lead, and silver (ayo, loham, tipu, sīsaṃ, sajjham, *loc. cit.*) but when it is purified, it shines with its natural lustre (cp. also S. V 92, 93) In a Brāhmanic context a simile of this sort, functioning as an analogical argument (*v. supra*, 14), would have constituted the proof of the statement that the mind shines forth with its natural lustre and acquires the faculties of extrasensory knowledge and vision, when purged of its defilements. But in the Pāli Nikāyas, unlike in the Jain literature (*v. suprā*, 243) upamā or 'comparison' is not considered a separate means of knowledge but only as an aid to understanding. It is often said that 'a simile ... is employed in order to make clear the sense' (upamā ... katā atthassa viññāpanāya, M. I.155; III 275, It.114) or that 'some intelligent people understand the meaning of what is said by means of a simile' (upamāya idh'ekacce viññū purisā bhāsitassa atthaṃ ājānanti, A IV.163).