dhātavo ’vayavitvāc ca
kṣity-ādīnām ihārthānāṁ
chāyā na katamāpi hi
na saṅghāto vikāro ’pi
na pṛthaṅ nānvito mṛṣā
The body made of the five elements is neither a combination of the elements nor a whole with the elements as its parts, since it is not completely separate and not intimately connected with them. Thus the body and the world are illusory.
Thus, the body and other things (chāyā) based on the five gross elements are not a combination of the elements or their transformation. A forest is a combination of trees. Taking out one tree does not mean the whole forest has been pulled out. But the body is not such a combination (since taking out the elements in one part destroys the body). It is also not a transformation of the elements. This means it is not a whole unit produced by the elements as parts. Why? One cannot perceive a real difference between a part and the whole in the body.
Nor is the body closely connected with the elements (na anvitah). How does it relate to each element as its part? If the elements are parts, and closely connected to the body, it would mean that if the part were destroyed, the whole would be destroyed. If the hands, fingers, or intelligence in the body were destroyed the whole body should be destroyed. Or, if the parts are accepted as the whole (aṁśī), it would be an insubstantial argument.
The word api indicates that the body is also a transformation of the elements, since it is not separate from the elements. And it does not possess the elements as its parts. Thus the body and the world are false, and the doctrine of a false world is proved.
|| 7.15.60 ||
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