Once Again Vaisesika Sutra 3 1 13

SR No.: 269610
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst
Total Pages: 17
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 2 MB

Page 10

674
JOHANNES BRONKHORST
It would be sheer temerity to pretend to be able to reconstruct the original form and history of sūtras 3.1.3-12. One thing seems however certain: sūtra 3.1.13 was once preceded by sūtras dealing with inferential knowledge. The word anyat in 3.1.13, moreover, suggests that at one time these preceding sūtras contained some such neuter noun as jñānam. No such noun is at present to be found in 3.1.3-12. Nor do any of these sutras seem to introduce, or define, inferential knowledge.
Here, however, the following is to be observed. The first part of sūtra 3.1.8 reads: samyogi, samavāyi, ekārthasamavāyi, virodhi ca. The commentators seem to think that these adjectives characterize the word linga 'inferential mark', which is not mentioned in the sutra. But there is another sūtra (9.18) which reads: asyedam karyam kāraṇam sambandhi ekārthasamavāyi virodhi ceti laingikam. The similarities with 3.1.8 are striking, yet 9.18 does not speak of inferential marks, but of inferential knowledge. It can be translated: "Inferential [knowledge is characterized by the relation:] 'this is the effect of that', 'this is the cause of that', 'this is related to that', 'this inheres in the same object as that', 'this is opposed to that'." It is therefore conceivable that 3.1.8, too, introduced inferential knowledge. The person who changed the order of the sutras may have adjusted sūtra 3.1.8 to his purposes by trimming it. Alternatively we may consider the possibility that the scribe who extracted the sūtra from its commentary failed to extract the whole sūtra.
· Whatever the exact original shape of the sūtras, it seems probable that Adhyāya 3,20 prior to the changes pointed out above, discussed inferential and perceptual knowledge before turning to the mind (manas) and the soul (ātman). Mind and soul being the last two of the nine substances (dravya) enumerated in sūtra 1.1.4, Adhyāya 3 completes the discussion of the substances, the earlier ones having been enumerated in Adhyāya 2, as follows: earth (prthivi) 2.1.1; water (ap) 2.1.2; fire (tejas) 2.1.3; wind (vāyu) 2.1.4; ether (ākāsa) 2.1.5; wind 2.1.9 f.; ether 2.1.26 f.; time (kāla) 2.2.6 f.; space (dis) 2.2.12 f.
Why was the treatment of inferential and perceptual knowledge inserted into the discussion of the substances? The answer is obvious: sūtra 3.2.1, which proves the existence of the mind, refers back to the definition of perception. Even when there is contact sannikarsa) between soul (ātman), sense organ (indriya) and object (artha), there may or may not be knowledge; this fact indicates the existence of a fourth factor, viz., the mind
20
It is not, of course, claimed here that the original Vaiseșika Sütra was already divided into Adhyāyas and Ahnikas.