Mr. H. T. Colebhooke on the Phihsopht/ of the Hindus. 3() 



is capable, does that, to which it is competent :" a potter does not weave 

 clotli, but makes a jar, from a lump of clay, with a wheel and other imple- 

 ments. " The nature of cause and effect is the same :" a piece of cloth 

 does not essentially differ from the yarn of which it is wove ; as an ox does 

 from a horse : barley, not rice or peas, grows out of barley-corns. 



"There is a general cause, which is undistinguishable."* This position 

 is supported by divers arguments. "Specific objects are finite ;" they are 

 multitudinous and not universal : there must then be a single all-pervading 

 cause. Another argument is drawn from affinity : " homogeneousness indi- 

 cates a cause." An earthen jar implies a lump of clay of which it is made : 

 a golden coronet presumes a mass of gold of which it was fabricated : see- 

 ing a rigidly abstemious novice, it is readily concluded, says the scholiast, 

 tliat his parents are of the sacerdotal tribe. There must then be a cause 

 bearing affinity to effects which are seen. Another reason is " existence of 

 effects through energy :" there must be a cause adequate to the effects. A 

 potter is capable of fabricating pottery : he makes a pot, not a car, nor a 

 piece of cloth. The main argument of the Scmc'hyas on this point is " the 

 parting or issuing of effects from cause, and the re-union of the universe." 

 A type of this is the tortoise, wiiich puts forth its limbs, and again retracts 

 them within its shell. So at the general destruction, or consummation of 

 all things, taking place at an appointed period, the five elements, earth, 

 water, fire, aii-, and ether, constituting the three worlds, are withdrawn in 

 the inverse order of that in which they proceeded from the primary princi- 

 ples, returning step by step to their first cause, the chief and undistinguish- 

 able one, which is nature. 



It operates by means of the three qualities of goodness, foulness, and dark- 

 ness. It does so by mixture ; as the confluence of. three streams forms one 

 river ; for example, the Ganges : or as threads interwoven constitute a piece 

 of cloth : and as a picture is a result of the union of pigments. It operates 

 " by modification " too : as water, dropped from a cloud, absorbed by the 

 roots of plants, and carried into the fruit, acquires special flavour, so are 

 different objects diversified by the influence of the several qualities respec- 

 tively. Thus, from one chief cause, which is nature, spring three dissimilar 

 worlds, observes the scholiast, peopled by gods enjoying bliss ; by men suf- 

 fering pain ; by inferior animals affected with dullness. It is owing to 



* Car. 15. 16. 



