 Nāgārjuna does not devote a great deal of discussion of to the first alternative, the establishment of the epistemic instruments by mutual coherence (for some discussion see Stoltz 2021: 156–157). The reason for this is that this is hardly a position his realist Naiyāyika opponent will want to adopt. There are, after all, coherent fairy-tales. Let us therefore have a closer look at the other two alternatives, paying particular attention to whether there is any way in which the epistemic objects and instruments could be construed as having their nature intrinsically, that is, as existing with svabhāva.