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NYAYA THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
what inheres (samaveta) in that which is conjoined (samyukta) to sense. Thus in the perception of the nonexistence of sound in the odour of the carth, our sense is in contact with the non-existence as a qualification of odour which inheres in the earth as conjoined to the sense Or, it may be called samavetavisesanatā when the object of perception is a qualification (visesana) of that which mberes (samaveta) in sense Thus when we perceive that there is no odour in sound, our sense is in contact with the nonexistence of odour as a qualification of sound which inberes in the auditory organ. So too with regard to the other forms of this kind of sense-object contact. These have been collectively called 11śesanatā or the contact of sense with that which is adjectival to another term connected with sense 1 The Vedāntins also recognise these six kinds of sense-object contact But they do not admit the perception of nonexistence (abhāva) and inherence (samavāya) : We shall discuss this point afterwards.
With regard to perception, it has been asked What is the karaṇa or the unique cause of perception ? Is it sense or sense-object contact or something else? According to the older Naiyāyikas, sense-object contact (sunnikarsa) is the karana of perception, since it is the immediate antecedent to the appearance of the phenomenon of perception. The contact of sense with its appropriate object does not normally fail to produce a perception of it. Hence it is that sensefunction or sense-contact should be recognised as the karana or specific cause of perception. Modern Naiyāyıkas, however, hold that the sense organ is the karana of perception." A haraṇa is the unique operative cause of an effect (vyāpāravadasādhāraṇa-kārana). It is something that produces the
1 SM , 61. 2 VP , Chaps I & VI 3 NB, NV & NVT , 1.1. 3-4. 4 BP. & SM., 68.
