257. Simhāvalokana-nyāya
A lion would pause for a while when going around, observing what is happening on its rear and then proceed further. That is its nature. Perhaps there is some doubt that another lion might be waiting to take away its prey which it has already killed.
In treatises when the argument of the opponent is refuted, a summary of the opponent's argument is provided. This nyāya finds its use in such situations. Even in our day to day activities it is prudent to think, ‘What have we done till now, what are the results achieved?’ This helps us to plan the next steps.
258. Suvarṇakuṇḍala-nyāya
The earrings are made of gold. Gold is the natural form, the earring is a modification. Are they the same or different? Both possibilities make sense. Earring from gold, or a golden earring implies that there is an amount of separation. But a statement can be made like, ‘gold is earring or earring is gold’ here the oneness is highlighted. Similarly a pot made of mud, pot is mud/mud itself is pot. The upaniṣad, says, ‘mṛttiketyeva satyam’ Philosophically speaking, the natural form and the modification are one and the same. In the mundane plane they might be different, but they are in spirit the same. This nyāya finds its use in such situations.
259. Sundopasunda-nyāya
Sunda and Upasunda were daitya brothers. They were inseparable. They performed rigorous tapas to propitiate Brahmā and asked him to give them a vara so that none can kill them. He refused saying it is impossible to give such a vara. They used their intelligence to modify their request as follows: “Give us a vara such that, only we can kill each other, let no other person be able to kill us.” Brahmā agreed, ‘So be it.’ the brothers thought that they would never fight and so would live forever.
They started tormenting the world. Their tyranny became limitless. As per the order of Brahmā, Viśvakarmā created an exquisitely beautiful apsaras called Tilottamā. Seeing her both Sunda and Upasunda were smitten. Each of them tried to get her. That started a fight. Tilottamā sensing an opportunity added fuel to the fire, “I’ll marry the stronger one amongst you”. They both fought and killed each other.
When the situation is mutually assured destruction, this nyāya is used to describe it.
260. Sūcīkaṭāha-nyāya
Kaṭāha is a big utensil. Two people go to a utensil maker. One demands him to make him a sūcī i.e. a needle. The other asks for a kaṭāha. Let's assume the one asking for kaṭāha came first. Should the kaṭāha be done first? Or should the sūcī be done first? The work required for the sūcī is minimal. So it is prudent to finish that first. Thus the utensil maker does it first. In such a situation where one can first complete an easy task, so that someone can be saved from a long wait for something trivial, this nyāya is used.
261. Sūcīmukha-nyāya
A group of monkeys in the forest suffering from the biting cold of the winter found liquorice seeds. Seeing that they were red, they mistook them to be glowing coals. To generate some fire and heat they placed those seeds under a grass covering and started blowing them. Alas there was no fire! Seeing all these, a bird called Sūcīmukha, perched on a tree laughed and said, “O monkeys, they are liquorice seeds, not coal, why waste effort? Instead, can't you build a nest like me so that you can survive the harsh winter?”
The monkeys were enraged at this humiliation, screeching, “Who are you to give us counsel?”, they tore up the nest.
This nyāya is used to drive home the point that providing wise counsel to evil men is dangerous.
262. Sūtrabaddhaśakuni-nyāya
A bird tied up can only fly to some extent. It tries to fly in all directions and escape from the bondage. But it cannot do so and finally would come down. Likewise a man bound by the chains of the samsāra tries in myriad ways to escape from it, failing and becoming frustrated. The freedom is limited. You can work only in those limits. This nyāya is used to describe such a situation.
263. Sūtraśātikā-nyāya
Sūtra means thread, śātikā means cloth. It is a fact that cloth is made of threads. It is commonplace to say “cloth is woven using threads” ; it doesn't seem contradictory. But if one thinks about it carefully, there is a contradiction. What is woven? Clothes. But cloth is the finished product so there is nothing to weave. “If it is already cloth, there is no need to weave; if there is a need to weave, then there is no cloth yet.” So the contradiction. To be extremely precise one should say, “...weave the threads to make clothes.” but in reality “...weave clothes.” and such other usages are common. One would be compelled to ask what to make of such usages. The answer is we say the future product before it is made. We assume that the possibility is a certainty and go about in day to day transactions. It should be understood as, “...weave so as to get the cloth as the final product.” This is called bhāvisaṃjñavyavahāra (bhāvi - future, saṃjña - name, vyavahāra - transaction). This nyāya is used to describe such a situation. …build a house. …write a letter. …stitch a coat, etc., are a few such examples.
264. Sūryodayāsta-nyāya
In reality, the sun neither rises nor sets. Still we routinely talk about sunrise and sunset. When it becomes visible we say it rises, when it is out of our sight we say it sets. Likewise while the ātman neither has a beginning nor an end, in case of humans we regularly talk about birth and death. When the ātman comes into contact with the body it is born and when it detaches itself from the body it dies, in common parlance.
Thus routinely we use some substitute or incidental convention to go along in day to day transactions. But the ultimate truth is different. The import of this nyāya is that just by seeing things in the worldly way the ultimate truth cannot be attained.
This is the twenty-ninth 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
