200
VADAVALi
such a place the cognition aspect alone is cognised by witnessconsciousness. /herever the sakeyin cognises validity there is this necessity i.e., the prior establishment of the non-existence of defect. The sak~in cognises the validity of a cognition only after the establishment of the non-existence of defect. This establishment must be effected through other tests such as agreement with other .cognitions, non-existence of disagreement etc. The text is not very clear here and the commentators are at variance. Presumably what is need is coherence with other similar cognitions, noncoherence with dissimilar cognitions, non-existence of non-coherence with similar cognitions, and non-existence of coherence with dissimilar cognitions. What is the dissimilar (vijatiya)? According to one commentator it is non-existence of practical efficiency suitable to the cognition, the non-existence of that sarhvada (viiatiyasarhvadabhava) is required for validity. Another commentator would require vijiWyasarhvada, not its absence ; according to him " this is water " is the primary cognition. While another of the same form is sajatiya and the inference " this water-cognition is valid because of practical efficiency " is vijatiya ; coherence with the latter too is needed. The existence of a defect is the obstruction for the siik~in. The removal of obstruction is through examination. The function .of the examination is the romoval of obstruction. Dependence on the examination cannot be treated as a cause. The need for the removal of the examination is only to the extent of the re· moval of the defect. What is cognised by sak~in is indubitp.ble. Sak~in does not depend on any other cognition. Its knowledge is of a self -certifying type. Hence the defect of infinite regress cannot be urged. The dependence on examination for the establishment of the non-existence of defect does not make validity extrivsic~ because examination is not a cause for the cognition of validity. Such a position would amount tq this that the cause of the power of the elephant to walk is the remrval of the thorn in its leg. We
