Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 1

Author(s): Nathmal Tatia
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

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VAISHALI INSTITUTE RESEARCH BULLETIN NO. I
universal (dravyatva), quality-universal (guṇatva) and action-universal (kriyatva). These universals are equally independent categories and are not to be regarded as subordinate species included under the category of existence. But each higher univeral occupies a larger extension than the sub-universals. Existence in heres in all the three categories mentioned above whereas substance-universal inheres only in substances, the quality-universal in qualities and action-universal in action. Substance-universal as a category includes an indefinite number of species. Thus, for instance, there may be cowuniversal, man-universal, chair-universal et hoc genus omne. This also holds good of the other two universals. If there be more than one individual, that is to say, from two to nth number it must have a universal as its common character. If the individual be sui generis entity, it will have no universal. Thus time, space, ether (akisa) are substances but as they are all singular in number they cannot have any universal. A universal is needed to serve as a unitive bond among an indefinite number of individuals. Thus, for instance, though the number of individual substances is incalculable they share in the substanceuniversal as the common character. These universals are objective entities and not mere concepts or names as maintained by the conceptualists and nominalists. The problem of universal has very seriously exercised the minds of mediaeval philosophers of Europe, the Schoolmen and also thinkers of India. It is still an evergreen problem and has divided philosophers in rival camps, namely the Realists, the Conceptualists and the Nominalists. Curiously enough, long before the scholastics of Europe began to speculate on this problem, it engaged the minds of philosophers in India. Of course the Schoolmen took their cue from Plato and other philosophers of Greece. But we are not interested in tracing the genealogy of philosophical ideas, which has an irresistible appeal to the antiquarians. We only propose to draw the attention of students of philosophy to the curious phenomenon that almost the same results were achieved in India. Universal as a category has divided philosophers in India also into three antagonistic groups as spoken above. The Nyaya-Vaišeṣika school is marked for its stub. born advocacy of realism. Whatever is an object of thought must be a real object existing in its own right and is capable of being conceived in thought and expressed in language. The extension of universal is confined to the three categories-substance, quality and action. But universals, ultimate differentia (visesa) of eternal substances, namely atoms and souls, and inherence as relation are three catogories which exist in their own right without participating in the existence-universal. In other words, their existence is integral to their specific character and