________________
EXAMINATION OF THE FIRST CATEGORY
SUBSTANCE.
343
as the red dye, saffron and so forth; and Conjunction is a quality that is not all-embracing; hence when one (part) is coloured, the whole does not become coloured. Similarly when one part of the body is covered by the Cloth, the whole body does not become covered.-(600)
The following Text shows that this explanation is not right :
TEXTS (601-602), WHEN THE SUBSTANCE HAS NO PARTS, WHAT FORM WOULD BE THERE THAT WOULD NOT BE EMBRACED (BY THE CONJUNCTION) ? IF SUCH AN (UNEMBRACED) FORM OF THE SUBSTANCE REMAINED THERE, THEN DIVERSITY BECOMES ESTABLISHED.- EXISTENCE IN SEVERAL PLACES IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ANY SINGLE OBJECT. HENCE IT BECOMES ESTABLISHED THAT THINGS LIKE THE CLOTH ARE DIFFERENT IN FORM FROM THE ATOMS (COMPOSING
THEM).-(601-602)
COMMENTARY.
If the Cloth is a single substance, then in such an impartite substance, what is it that would not be embraced by the Red Colour, by virtue of which the contact of the colour would be not-pervasive? If it is admitted that there is something left unpervaded by the colour, then that alone suffices to establish difference between the two parts, -as it would be impossible for the mutually contradictory peruaded and unpervaded parts to belong to one and the same thing. Nor would it be possible to explain that one part-the one covered by the Colour,-is larger than the other; because the thing has no parts. Otherwise, as all such diverse things as Water, Animal, Elephant and the like would be equally one only, there would be no difference among them and hence there could be no such differentiation as that between large' and 'small':
The difference would be due to the one being made up of a larger number of component parts than the other."
In that case, those parts themselves, appearing in larger or smaller numbers, may be the basis of the notions of gross' and 'subtle', -what is the use of postulating a composite' made up of those components, specially when these latter have not been found to be effective at all!
As a matter of fact, even when there are large and small number of component parts in things, that cannot constitute a difference among the composites themselves, as these latter are impartite; so that there can be no basis for differentiation into gross' and 'subtle'. If the difference were held to be based upon the larger and smaller number of components, that would only imply the admission of the components, as the notion of
gross' and 'subtle' would be applicable to these alone ; and that would mean that the Atom is the only entity; nothing apart from the Atom, either gross or subtlo, being perceived at all.
