Sūtra 1.1.17 (Characteristics of Action)

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Vaiśeṣika sūtra 1.1.17:

एकद्रव्यमगुणं संयोगविभागेष्वनपेक्ष कारणमिति कर्मलक्षणम् ॥ १.१.१७ ॥

ekadravyamaguṇaṃ saṃyogavibhāgeṣvanapekṣa kāraṇamiti karmalakṣaṇam || 1.1.17 ||

ekadravyam—resting or residing in one substance only; aguṇam—devoid of Attribute; saṃyoga-vibhāgeṣu—in Conjunctions and Disjunctions; anapekṣa-kāraṇam—independent cause; iti—such; karma-lakṣaṇam—Mark of Action.

17. Residing in one Substance only, not possessing Attribute, an independent cause of Conjunctions and Disjunctions—such is the mark, of Action—17.

Commentary: The Upaskāra of Śaṅkara Miśra:

(English rendering of Śaṅkara Miśra’s commentary called Upaskāra from the 15th century)

 He states the mark of Action which has been mentioned after Attribute:—[Read sūtra 1.1.17 above]

‘Ekadravyam’ means that of which only one Substance is the substratum. ‘Aguṇam’ is that in which no Attribute exists. ‘Saṃyoga etc.’ means independent of something in the form of positive existence which comes to appear after its own production; so that it is not unestablished where there is necessity for or dependence upon the combinative cause and also where there is dependence upon absence of antecedent conjunction. Or independence of that which has its production after the production of Action itself, is meant, because the annihilation of the antecedent conjunction also has its production after the production of Action itself, and because as a non-existence it does not bear relation to its first moment.

Action-ness is the possession of the genus directly pervaded by existence other than that residing in the eternals, or the possession of the genus determinative of the uncommon or specific causality which produces the perception that something moves, or the possession of the genus residing only in what is devoid of Attribute and not being an Attribute, or the possession of the genus determinative of the causality towards Disjunction present at the moment immediately subsequent to the production of Action itself.

And this again is a Predicable evidenced by the perception that something moves, which cannot be demonstrated by its production, etc., at places having no interval between each other, because the breaking up of a moment will be refuted later on.

The manner in which the mark serves to distinguish it from others is the same as has been already described.—17.