Substance (4): Vāyu (Air)

Vāyu is the fourth dravya. Annaṃbhaṭṭa says that air possesses the quality of touch and is devoid of colour.^[1] If it is said that air is only devoid of colour, then the definition will be over-pervasive to the ākāśa as ākāśa is also devoid of colour. To remove this over-pervasiveness, it is defined as possessing touch (sparśavat), ākāśa as is not touchable. Again if air is defined as possessing touch only, then it will be over-pervasive to pṛthivī (earth), ap (water) and tejas (light).Therefore, vāyu is defined without colour. Pṛthivī, ap etc. are possessed of touch but not without colour.^[2]

Annaṃbhaṭṭa again states in his Dīpikā that vāyu is not perceptible but only inferred. The touch in air is neither hot nor cold. Annaṃbhaṭṭa maintains that such a touch must reside in some substance because it is a quality. This type of touch cannot reside in earth as all earthly substances have manifest touch and colour. But air is colourless (rūparahita)^[3] It cannot reside in water and in tejas as water has only cold touch and fire has hot touch. Moreover, it cannot reside in ākāśa, kāla, dik and ātmā which are vibhu (over-pervasive).If it dwells in them, then it would be found everywhere.^[4] It cannot exist in manas as the mind is not perceptible by sense-organs, this touch will also be beyond sense-perception. Hence, a substance which is different from all these and which has not hot, not cold touch that is known as vāyu.^[5]

Praśastapāda says that vāyu has touch, number, magnitude, distinctness, conjunction, disjunction, remoteness, proximity and velocity.^[6] But vāyu is colourless and possessor of touch.

Just like earth, water and fire, air is also two-fold–eternal and noneternal. The atoms of air are eternal and composite aerial substances are non-eternal. Again non-eternal is divided into three kinds–body (śarīra), sense-organ (indriya) and object (viṣaya)^[7] Body is found in the world of wind-God. Organ is that through which one feels touch and it is stretched over the whole body. Objects are the cause of the shaking of trees.^[8]

There is another variety of air, which is called breath. In the sight, it is nothing but this wind is moving inside the body. According to Praśastapāda, breath is the fourth kind of vāyu.^[9] It is different from the body, sense-organ and object. But Annaṃbhaṭṭa includes this breath under objects. The five types of breath are prāṇa, apāna, samāna, udāna and vyāna.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

rūparahitaḥ sparśavān vāyuḥ. Tarkasaṃgraha, p.9

[2]:

Dīpikā on Ibid.

[3]:

na cāsya āśrayaḥ pṛthivī udbhūtasparśavatpārthivasyodbhūta rūpavatvaniyamāt. Ibid

[4]:

na jalatejasī anuṣṇāśītasparśavatvāt. na vibhucatuṣṭayam sarvatropalavdhiprasaṅgāt. Ibid

[5]:

na manaḥ paramāṇusparśasyātīndriyatvāt.
tasmādyaḥ pratīyamāna sparśāśrayaḥ sa vāyuḥ. Ibid.

[6]:

sparśasaṃkhyāparimāṇapṛthaktvasaṃyogavibhāgaparatvāparatva saṃskāravān. Vaiśeṣikadarśanam with Praśastapādabhāṣya, pp. 24

[7]:

Tarkasaṃgraha, p.9

[8]:

Ibid.

[9]:

Vide, Ibid., pp.114-115