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Preface
That which distinguishes one substance from all others is its distinctive quality. Only the presence of this quality makes it a substance. If such distinctive characteristics were not present, it would lead to intermixture or confusion of substances. For instance, souls are distinguished from matter by the presence of qualities such as knowledge. Matter is distinguished from souls by the presence of form (colour) etc. Without such distinguishing characteristics, there can be no distinction between souls and matter. Therefore, from the general point of view, knowledge etc. are qualities always associated with the soul, and form etc. are qualities always associated with the matter. For instance, in living beings, these qualities are knowledge of pitcher, knowledge of cloth, anger, pride, etc., and in matter these qualities are intense or mild odour, colour, etc. Knowledge is a quality (guna) of jiva substance (dravya) but it is subject to change; for example, it can change from sensory knowledge to scriptural knowledge. Such changes are modes (paryaya) of the quality (guna) called knowledge. The collection or aggregate of qualities and modes, which somehow is considered different from these, is called a substance. If the aggregate were completely the same, it would negative both substance and qualities.
From the point of view of designation (samjña) etc., qualities are different from the substance. Yet, from another point of view, qualities are not different from the substance as they partake of the nature of substance and are not found without substance. Whatever condition or form a substance, such as the medium of motion, takes that condition or form is called its modification (pariņāma). It is of two kinds, without a beginning and with a beginning.
Substance (dravya) forms the substratum of qualities (guna) and modes (paryāya). Substance (dravya) and its qualities (guna) are inseparable and yet the substance is not the same as its qualities nor the qualities same as the substance, though the substance manifests its nature through qualities. Substance without qualities and qualities dissociated from the underlying substance would all be meaningless abstractions. Hence, in the world of reality, there can be no existence
(XXV)
