Na puurva^m gamanaarambhaad gamyamaana^m na vaa gata^m
yatraarabhyeta gamanamagate gamana^m kuta.h.
Going is not commenced at the gone-to, nor is going
commenced in the not-yet-gone-to;
It is not begun in present-being-gone-to; where,
then. is going commenced?
Present-being-gone-to does not exist prior to the
commencement of going, nor is there a gone-to
Where going should begin; how can there be a going in
the not-yet-gone-to?
The "mathematical" interpretation of this argument
assumes infinitely divisible time, or a temporal
continuum. No special assumptions about the nature of
space are required, so that space may be taken as
either continuous or discontinuous. The argument may
thus be taken to correspond in function to either
Zeno's Arrow Paradox or to the Paradox of Achilles
and the Tortoise. Assume an individual, Devadatta,
who during the interval t[0]-t[1] is standing at a
given location, and at some time during the interval
t[1]-t[2] leaves that location. Then assume that
there is some time t[x] contained in the interval
t[1]-t[2], subsequent to which Devadatta is going. We
may now ask when Devadatta commenced to go. The
interval t[0]-t[x] exhaustively describes the
duration of Devadatta's not-going. And the interval
t[x]-t[2] exhaustively describes the duration of
Devadatta's going for the period that concerns us.
Then since (t[0]-t[x]) + (t[x]-t[2]) covers the
entire duration of the analysis, we must conclude
that at no time does Devadatta actually commence to
go, that is, at no time does the activity of
commencing to go take place. Similarly, where i is an
infinitesimal increment in duration (that is, a
k.sana subphase), then for any n, (t[1] + n.i ) t[x] Therefore at no time does the
commencement of going take place.
The "conceptual" interpretation of this argument
goes as follows: The gone-to, the not-yet-gone-to,
and present-being-gone-to, as temporal moments, are
not naturally occurring existents, but rather
conventional entities defined in relation to going.
It is therefore impossible to designate these three
moments prior to the commencement of going. It is
impossible to speak of going actually taking place,