Neither one nor many "neither one nor many" more intensively (throughout sixty-two of its ninety-seven stanzas) than any other text in Buddhist literature. This argument is one of a series of proofs used to demonstrate that phenomena are without real existence. Neither one nor many The 'neither one nor many' argument (Wylie: gcig du 'bral ba'i gtan tshigs) is an argument employed by different philosophers and spiritual traditions for various reasons. The argument and its permutations and antecedents, particularly the "problem of the One and the Many" as charted by McEvilley (2002: pp. 23–66) in his "magnum opus", has an ancient pedigree in the
Hiranyakashipu comes upon Hiranyakashipu at twilight (when it is neither day nor night) on the threshold of a courtyard (neither indoors nor out), and puts the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor space). Using his nails (neither animate nor inanimate) as weapons, he disembowels and kills the demon. Even after Hiranyakashipu's death, none of the gods and demigods present are able to calm Narasimha's fury. So all the gods and goddesses call His consort, the goddess Lakshmi, but she is also unable to do so. Then, at the request of Brahma, Prahlada is presented to Narasimha, who is finally calmed