To explain that not only are such things, parts and so forth, established only in mutual dependence, even causes and effects are mutually dependent: Because…
A cause will only be a cause when there’s a product it has made.
If it does not produce results, it lacks that which makes it a cause.
Results will likewise only come about when there exists a cause.
This should be understood as saying that, in the case of cause and result too, it is only when there is one that there is the other. Causes and results do not have any inherent existence.
And if you dare to presume that these two are established in and of themselves, then… my word!
So tell me then, which one derives from which? Which is the first to come? (6.168)
Is it the cause or the result which precedes the other, and from which is either the cause or the result then made? Among them, is the cause or the result the first? Understand therefore that cause and result are relative imputations alike unto the chariot, and not inherently real.
Title
Chapter 1: Pramuditā
