Nyaya Science of Thought

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown

Page 10

4
NYAYA.
amongst all the members of a class), as in the statement, man is a bearded being.' Here it is clear that the beard is not a distinguishing feature of all human beings, for females and children do not grow it.
(2) Ativyâpti (over-prevalence) which occurs when the feature is also found in things other than the laksya. The statement: the parrot is a winged creature,' is an instance of this defect, for all birds have wings.
(3) Asambhava, or that which is contradicted by perception or some other kind of knowledge. To describe man as possessed of horns is an instance of this blemish.
Thus, the true laksana is a quality which is actually found in every member of the class but which does not exist outside it.
CHAPTER IV.
Knowledge is the nature of the soul. If it were not the nature of the soul, it would either be the nature of the not-soul, or of nothing whatever. But in the former case, the unconscious would become the conscious, and the soul would be unable to know itself or any one else, for it would then be devoid of consciousness; and in the latter, there would be no knowledge, nor conscious