jñānaṃ ca citsvarūpaṃ cet tad anityaṃ kim ātmavat
athāpi jaḍam etasya katham arthaprakāśatā
— cognition; — and, moreover; — having consciousness as its nature; — if; — it (cognition); — impermanent; — how, why (impermanent)?; — like the Self; — but if (on the other hand); — insentient; — of it (this cognition); — how?; — the illumining (revealing) of objects
(Reply begins:) And if cognition has consciousness as its very nature, why should it be impermanent, any more than the Self is? But if, on the other hand, it were insentient, how could it reveal objects at all?