The necessities (dgos pa) that lead to the composition of a text, and the relationship ('brel ba) between those necessities. The term dgos 'brel refers collectively to a group of five (or four) characteristics of an authentic composition. These are similar to the “four aspects of a treatise” (bstan bcos chos bzhi), although a dgos 'brel does not have to characterize a commentary or treatise (it can refer to a root text such as a tantra). The characteristics are as follows (the fourfold list leaves out the first element here): (1) the “expressor” (rjod byed), meaning the words of the text itself; (2) the “expressed” (brjod bya), or the topic of the text; (3) the necessity (dgos pa), this being the basic aim of the text, such as for people to understand its meaning; (4) the core necessity (nying dgos, or dgos pa'i dgos pa), which is the ultimate aim of the text, such as for beings to become enlightened; and (5) the relationship ('brel ba) between these, meaning that there is a clear relationship between the core necessity and the necessity, between the necessity and the topic, and so forth.

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