248. Śvaśrūnirgacchokti-nyāya
The mother-in-law is the one at the helm is the import. A beggar doing his daily round of begging came to a house. The daughter-in-law of the house came out and said, ‘No alms for you, go away’ The beggar, crestfallen, left. Meanwhile the mother-in-law came out and chided the daughter-in-law, ‘Why did you send him away?’ She called the beggar back. The beggar’s optimism grew and he came back. The woman then said, ‘Look mister, I’m the one incharge here. This girl has no authority in this place. It’s her mistake that she sent you away. I’m the one answerable here, not her. Hear me out: I’ll give you no alms, go away now!’
After arguing for a long time if the opponent gives the same opinion as the incumbent then the argument itself is futile. Likewise if something can be achieved with ease, if one takes a circuitous path and achieves the same, it is as good as failing in the task. This nyāya can be used to describe such situations.
249. Sakṛtpravṛttāyāḥ kimavaguṇṭhanena
Once you cross the threshold where is the fear? Once you tread the crooked path that’s the end. The woman in question wouldn’t be considered pure. Even a mistake committed once is indeed a mistake. In the śāstras there are some rules which when violated once, need not be followed at all in subsequent steps. One can debate against it; come to a conclusion. In those situations to refute the rule which has been defied this nyāya can be used.
250. Sadṛśāt sadṛśodbhavaḥ
Similar things beget similar things. Good will bring forth good; evil will bring forth evil. Likewise a human from human, animal from an animal, bird from a bird, worm from a worm, tree from a tree. A deer from a deer, not a wolf. Or an owl from a crow.
This is the norm. But Jayantabhaṭṭa in his work ‘nyāya-mañjarī’ says that this rule is not universal.
न चैष नियमो लोके सदृशात् सदृशोद्भवः ।
वृश्चिकादेः समुत्पादो गोमयादपि दृश्यते ॥
He says scorpions are born in cow dung. This isn’t his opinion uniquely. This has been the case in many of our ancient works. This appears in mahābhāṣya of Patañjali, brahmasūtrabhāṣya of Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja, kusumāñjalivṛtti of Udayanācārya too. Haridāsa, the commentator of kusumāñjalivṛtti, too says the scorpions beget scorpions and they are also born in cow dung. None can deny the former but the latter has been evidently a cause of controversy. The author of the current work himself has seen small scorpions immediately after they are born in cow dung. They don’t even have the capacity to move. There is no sign of the mother either. The small scorpions seemed like they were stuck amidst the dung.
The scientists of our era don’t subscribe to this. Animals are born out of animals only, that is their conclusion. How do we find worms in our stomachs? How do we find worms inside a mango fruit? They have answers for all these questions. How does inanimate food lead to animate life? Perhaps only for this question they don’t still have a relevant answer. The discussion has been stretched too far already, so let us refrain from continuing it.
251. Sarvaṃ balavataḥ pathyam
Everything favours the mighty. Someone with good digestive power can eat anything and digest it. The ultra rich can venture into any adventure. The powerful ones can get away doing anything unlawful! The English proverb, ‘might is right’ is similar in spirit to this nyāya. Śiva, in spite of drinking the deadly poison, hālāhala didn’t suffer even the slightest. The import of this nyāya is that weaklings shouldn’t try doing things beyond their capabilities.
252. Sarvanāśe samutpanne ardhaṃ tyajati paṇditaḥ
When everything is about to be destroyed, a wise man willingly renounces half of it. Of course this pragmatism is subjected to the possibility that the other half can be salvaged. A surgeon when there is a possibility of saving the patient by amputating an arm or a leg will do so, thus saving the life. During the freedom struggle, Gandhi and others used this logic and agreed to the creation of Pakistan. When they realized that we won't get freedom and the communal riots would go on unchecked, they thought it is better to agree to the inevitable creation of Pakistan and get freedom.
253. Sākṣaḥ puruṣaḥ pareṇa cennīyate nūnamakṣibhyām na paśyati
If someone leads a man who has eyes this means that man has lost his eyesight! If he had the capability to see, he wouldn’t have depended on others. So it is evident, if someone takes help from others to accomplish something it means that they alone do not have the capability to accomplish that independently.
254. Sikatākūpa-nyāya
Sikatā means sand. If one digs a well in sand it just collapses. It is futile to do so. There is no possibility of finding water. To ridicule some arguments with no basis, this nyāya is used. There is a sect in bauddhas called the vaināśikas. To refute their arguments, in brahmasūtrabhāṣya (2-2-32), Śaṅkara uses this nyāya.
255. Sikatātaila-nyāya
Extracting oil from sand. The possibility of a hare having a horn. To describe such impossibilities this nyāya is used. There is the famous śloka in Bhartṛhari’s nītiśatakam.
लभेत सिकतासु तैलमपि यत्नतः पीडयन्।
पिबेच्च मृगतृष्णिकासु सलिलं पिपासार्दितः।
कदाचिदपि पर्यटन् शशविषाणमासादयेत्।
न तु प्रतिनिवृत्तमूर्खजनचित्तमाराधयेत्।।“If one puts humongous effort, somehow oil can be extracted from sand. Or thirst can be quenched even by the mirage. You can even procure a hare’s horn. But you cannot convince an obstinate fool whatsoever!”.
256. Simhameṣa-nyāya
A lion cub somehow joined a flock of sheep. Thinking that it is also a sheep, it was bleating and running around. Once a lion saw that, astonished, it said, ‘Hey you are not a sheep. Why have you got stuck in that flock and getting tortured by the shepherd?” The cub wasn’t convinced. The lion took the cub to a pond and showed its reflection. Seeing the reflection, the cub was convinced that it's indeed a cub, roared for the first time and went to the jungle! Also see rājaputravadha-nyāya.
This is the twenty-eighth part of the multi-part translation of the Kannada book "Sandarbha Sukti" by Mahamahopadhyaya Vidwan Dr. N Ranganatha Sharma. Thanks to Dr. Sharada Chaitra for granting us permission to translate this wonderful work. Thanks to Śatāvadhānī Dr. R Ganesh for his inputs. The original in Kannada can be read here
