Verse 1.31

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

नास्त्यभावस्य सम्बन्धः क्रियया वा गुणेन वा ।
निरात्मकत्वान्नैवालं सम्बद्धुं केनचित् क्वचित् ॥ ३१ ॥

nāstyabhāvasya sambandhaḥ kriyayā vā guṇena vā |
nirātmakatvānnaivālaṃ sambaddhuṃ kenacit kvacit || 31 ||

English translation of verse 1.31:

Non-existence has no relation either with action or quality. Since it has no existence, it cannot be related to anything in any place.

Notes:

The Naiyāyika admits not only positive entities, but also negative ones. The category of abhāva stands for all negative or non-existent facts. Abhāva or non-existence is of four kinds, viz., prāgabhāva, pradhvaṃsābhāva, atyantābhāva, and anyonyābhāva. Let us consider the first two varieties. Prāgabhāva, according to the Naiyāyika, is without a beginning, but has an end. It is subject to termination or cessation (vināśya) and so it is anitya. Pradhvaṃsābhāva has a beginning, but no end. It is subject to origin in time (janya); but when once it comes into being, it is said to be without an end, and so it is eternal (nitya). The Nyāya view thus associates these two kinds of abhāva with a certain act (kriyā), the act of destruction or origination as the case may be, and with a quality (guṇa), non-eternality (anityatva) or eternality (nityatva) as the case may be.

But the Nyāya view cannot be accepted. Only a positive entity can be said to have a beginning and an end, and also some quality or other. A pot, it can be said, is produced or destroyed; it can be said to be characterized by a certain colour. But it is absurd to think of origination or destruction of non-existence (abhāva), nor can any quality be associated with it.