Vaisheshika-sutra with Commentary
by Nandalal Sinha | 1923 | 149,770 words | ISBN-13: 9789332869165
The Vaisheshika-sutra 8.2.3, English translation, including commentaries such as the Upaskara of Shankara Mishra, the Vivriti of Jayanarayana-Tarkapanchanana and the Bhashya of Chandrakanta. The Vaisheshika Sutras teaches the science freedom (moksha-shastra) and the various aspects of the soul (eg., it's nature, suffering and rebirth under the law of karma). This is sutra 3 (‘substance, attribute and action are called artha or object’) contained in Chapter 2—Of Doubly Presentative Cognition—of Book VIII (of ordinary cognition by means of conjunction or combination).
Sūtra 8.2.3 (Substance, Attribute and Action are called artha or object)
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Vaiśeṣika sūtra 8.2.3:
अर्थ इति द्रव्यगुणकर्मसु ॥ ८.२.३ ॥
artha iti dravyaguṇakarmasu || 8.2.3 ||
arthaḥ—object; iti—such; dravya-guṇa-karmasu—in respect of substance, attribute, and action.
3. (The Vaiśeṣikas apply) the term, object, to Substance, Attribute and Action.
Commentary: The Upaskāra of Śaṅkara Miśra:
(English rendering of Śaṅkara Miśra’s commentary called Upaskāra from the 15th century)
He now begins another topic:
[Read sūtra 8.2.3 above]
Of these, i.e., Substance, Attribute and Action, the characteristic of being sought after or apprehended (by the senses) or objectified in such and such ways, has been stated. Hence, ‘(It is) an object,’—such is the terminology of the Vaiśeṣika thinkers with regard to them, inasmuch as as they are presented by the term, object. Accordingly it has been said by Professor Prasastadeva, “The characteristic of being denoted by the term, object, belongs to the three.”—3.