Note (return) — SA@NKARA'S INTRODUCTION (continued 4)

If it is understood that its suffering is not real, we do not object to the phrase 'as it were344.' For the amphisbena also does not become venomous because it is 'a serpent as it were' ('like a serpent'), nor does the serpent lose its venom because it is 'like an amphisbena.' You must therefore admit that the relation of causes of suffering and of sufferers is not real, but the effect of Nescience. And if you admit, that, then my (the Vedântic) doctrine also is free from objections345.