Verse 3.3.17

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.3.17:

संबन्धस्याविशिष्टत्वान्न चात्र नियमो भवेत् ।
तस्माच्छब्दार्थयोर्नैव संबन्धः परिकल्पते ॥ १७ ॥

saṃbandhasyāviśiṣṭatvānna cātra niyamo bhavet |
tasmācchabdārthayornaiva saṃbandhaḥ parikalpate || 17 ||

17. As there is no special relation, there would be no fixity (in the conveying of meaning by words). Therefore, relation (consisting of conjunction or inherence) is not applicable to words and meanings.

Commentary

[If it is maintained that there is no special relation by which the word samavāya conveys its meaning, that would be impossible. There must be some relation. Otherwise, the word would become meaningless. If the word samavāya conveys that category without any special relation, any word would convey any meaning, because the absence of a special relation is not a bar to the conveying of a meaning. Saṃbandhasyāviśiṣṭatvāt may also mean: because the relation is the same as in other cases. That is, if the word ākāśa conveys its substratum (ether) through inherence, the word ghaṭa also should convey ether through inherence, because it is also a word and, therefore, a quality of ākāśa. The word ghaṭa would also mean paṭa, because conjunction with the substratum ākāśa exists in the case of paṭa also. Thus, there would be both narrowness and excessive width (avyāpti and ativyāpti) in the relation between word and meaning. Therefore, the attempt to explain the way in which words convey their meaning by having recourse to conjunction and inherence is a failure.]

The author now hints at a possible justification of the Vaiśeṣika view on the basis of mere logic (prauḍhivāda).