रूपादिमत्त्वाच्च विपर्ययो, दर्शनात् ॥ १५ ॥
rūpādimattvācca viparyayo, darśanāt || 15 ||
rūpādimattvāt—On account of possessing colour etc. ca—and; viparyayaḥ—the opposite; darśanāt—because it is seen.
15. And on account of (the atoms) possessing colour etc., the opposite (of what the Vaiseshikas hold would be true), because it is seen.
The atoms are said to have colour etc., for otherwise, the effects will not possess these qualities, since it is the qualities of the cause that are found in the effects. In that case, the atoms would cease to be atomic and permanent. For whatever possesses colour etc. is found to be gross, not minute, and impermanent as compared with its cause. So the atoms also, which have colour etc., must be gross and impermanent, and this contradicts the Vaiseshika tenet that they are minute and permanent. So the atoms cannot be the ultimate cause of the world.