_840  — 
Qäkya-Heremit.  But  if  the  word  of  Buddha  is  their  authority,  why  then 
should  these  texts  not  be  authoritative? 
Vatsiputrtya.  They  are  not  the  (true)  Words  of  Buddha. 
Vasuhandku.  And  why?  ^ 
Vatsiputrtya.  Because  the  (votsiputriya)  are  known  to  maintain  that 
they  are  not  to  be  found  in  their  Collections  2S. 
Vasuhandku.  This  is  inadmissible  ! 
Vatsiputrtya.  What  is  inadmissible? 
Vasuhandku.  To  declare  a  text  spurious  because  it  is  omitted  in  their 
collection,  a  text  which  is  found  in  all  other  collections,  a  text  which  neither 
disagrees  with  Scripture  nor  with  the  theory  of  Elements 29,  this  is  a  quite 
arbitrary  proceeding  and  nothing  more !  And  then,  the  (well  known)  passage 
«the  elements  contain  no  Seif»,  is  it  likewise  omitted  (in  their  own  Collections)? 
Vatsiputrtya.  But  in  our  opinion  it  means  that  the  Individual  is  neither 
one  of  the  elements  nor  is  it  something  outside  the  elements,  (as  stated  above). 
Vasuhandku.  In  this  case  (if  nothing  corresponds  to  it)  the  Individual 
would  never  have  existed  (even)  as  a  mental  idea30,  (since  every  idea  must 
have  something  for  its  objective  source).  It  is  expressly  stated  in  Scripture, 
that  there  are  always  two  causes  for  every  cognition  (a  receptive  faculty  and 
an  apprehended  object). 
(Vatsiputrtya.  And  how  do  you  explain  the  fact  that  in  the  absence  of 
a  Self  there  nevertheless  arises  an  idea  of  a  Self?) 
Vasuhandku.  It  is  stated  (in  other  texts)  that  «the  Self  corresponds  to 
a  non-Self,  (to  something  existing,  but  not  to  a  real  Self).  It  is  a  wrong  idea, 
a  wrong  apprehension  and  a  wrong  doctrine. 
Vatsiputrtya.  How  indeed  did  you  come  to  know  that  the  false  idea 
of  a  Self  corresponds  not  to  a  Self,  but  to  a  non-Self? 
Vasuhandku.  And  what  (in  your  opinion)  does  the  expression  «non- 
Self»  mean  (in  Scripture)? 
Vatsiputrtya.  (It  is  meant  to  designate  all  the  elements  of  phenomenal 
existence,  classified  as  they  are  in)  five  aggregates  (the  substrates  of  a  per- 
sonal life),  or  in  twelve  bases  of  cognition,  or  in  eighteen  component  parts 
of  existence. 
Vasuhandku.  Well,  (f.  i.  the  bodily  frame  being  an  element  must  be 
designated  as  a  non-Self,  and  it  follows  that  you  are  contradicting  your  own 
statement  made  above),  the  statement  namely  that  the  Individual  is  neither 
identical  with  the  bodily  frame,  nor  is  it  something  different81.  (If  the  bodily 
element  does  not  differ  from  the  Self,  it  cannot  represent  the  non-Self). 
