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NYAYA-VAISEȘIKA
233 teristic of reality. In this it differs from some other doctrines, e.g. the Sankhya, which has no conception of static objects at all in the physical world. Infinite dravyas are always stable, for the doctrine recognizes only change of place (parispanda), but not change of form (pariņāma); atomic and finite dravyas may or may not be moving.
Samanya ('Universal'). -The manifold entities, so far alluded to, are reducible to types. There is order in them which is due to objective features and is not imported into them by the perceiving mind. It is by virtue of this order that objects are divisible not only into the three classes of dravya, guna and karma, but also into sub-classes like cows, redness or flying. It is necessary to caution the student against taking sămânya as the equivalent of 'genus.' It stands for merely a feature or property common to two or more things, and not like genus for a class of things.exhibiting such a feature. The category dravya includes jars, cloths, etc., but the sămânya of dravyatva which characterizes every dravya does not include the lower sämānyas of 'jar-ness' (ghatatva), 'cloth-ness' (pațatva), etc. The term samanya may be better rendered by the word 'universal,' without, however, suggesting a complete resemblance to the Platonic 'idea.': It is in all and in each; and yet it is not different in different particulars. Thus cow-ness is one and unanalysable. It always subsists, but it can be apprehended not by itself but only through a particular cow. Though appearing together, cow and cow-ness are conceived as two distinct entities. Of these universals, sattā or Being is the highest, for it is found to characterize the largest number of entities; and the others follow it in a descending order, like dravyatva, prthivitva and ghațatva; gunatva and Suklatva.; and so forth, each characterizing less and less numerous things.
We find the keenest controversy raging round this conception. Some, like the Jains, admit a basis for it in the
For instance, the particulars are not here viewed as copies of the universal * We are here taking into consideration only the more important variety of sămânya known as jāti. There is also recognized another variety called upādhi, e.g. 'cap-wearing,' which may be common to several students. The description given above does not apply to it.
