Quality (guna)

A quality (guna) cannot exist independently by itself like substance. It inheres in a substance which is its substrate. It is non-constitutive or non-material cause of things in so far as it determines only their nature and character, but not their existence. All qualities must belong to substances and so they have themselves no qualities. Kanada defines it as "that which has substance for its substratum, has no further qualities, and is not a cause of, nor has any concern with, conjunction or 1 disjunction." He mentions seventeen qualities, viz., 1. Kanada, Valdesika Sutra, l.1.16. Vaisesika

Mokha); 224 colour (rupa), teste (rasa), smell (gandha), touch (sparia), number (sankhya), size (parimena), individuality (prthaktva), conjunction (samyoga), disjunction (vibhaga), priority (paratva), posteriority (aparatva), knowledge (buddhi), pleasure (sukha), pain (dukha), desire (lecha), aversion (dvesa), and effort (prayatna)." Prasastapada adds seven more, which are heaviness (gurutva), fluidity (dravatva), viscidity (sneha), merit (dharma), demerit (adherma), sound (sabda), and faculty (sanskara). Some add lightness (laghutva), softness (mpdutva), hardness (kathinatva) to the twenty-four qualities. But these are not separate qualities since lightness is only the absence of heaviness, and softness and hardness represent different degrees of conjunctions 3 The qualities that belong to eternal substances are called eternal, and those of transient ones, non-sternal. Those that subsist in two or more substances are said to be general, while those residing in only one substance are said to be specifice Number, magnitude, distinctness, conjunction, disjunction, remoteness, nearness, derived fluidity, gravity and velocity are general qualities, while 1. Kanada, Vaisesika Sutra, 1.1.6. 2. Prasastapada, Padarthadharma Sangraha, Page 10. 3. M.R.Bodas, Tarka Sangrahadipika, text section, Page 5.

225 colour, taste, smell, touch viscidity, natural fluidity, knowledge, pleasure, pain, desire, aversion, effort, merit, demerit, faculty and sound are special qualities which help to distinguish objects which possess them from others. 1 Qualities are divided into (1) those which can be perceived through one external sense-organ, vize, colour, taste, odour, touch and sound, and (11) those that can be perceived through two external sense-organs, eyes, and the skin, viz., number, magnitude, distinctness, conjunction, disjunction, remoteness, nearness, fluidity and viscidity, and (111) those that cannot be perceived through any sense-organ, viz., gravity, merit, demerit, and 2 faculty. The qualities of the self, e.g., cognition, pleasure, pain, desire, aversion and volition are perceived through the mind (manas). Colour (runa) is a special quality perceived by the visual organ only. It resides in earth, water and light, though in the two latter the colour is permanent. In earth it varies when heat is applied. There are seven kinds of colour, viz., white, blue, yellow, red, green, hua 1. Prasastapada, Padarthadharma Sangraha, Pages 95-96. 2. Ibid., Page 96.

226 brown and variegated (citra). Teste (rasa) is the special quality of things apprehended only by the gustatory organ only. Brth and water have taste. The tastes of earthly substances are due to the application of heat and are of six kinds, viz., sweet, sour, salty, pungent (katu), astringent (kasaya) and bitter. The taste of water is sweet and not produced by the application of heat. It is eternal in atoms of water. Odour (zandhe) is the specific quality which is apprehended by the olfactory organ only. It resides in earth only and is of two kinds, viz., fragrant and the reverse, i.c., bad smell. Touch (sparsa) is the special quality which is apprehended only by the tactual organ. It resides in earth, water, light and air. There are three kinds of touch--hot, cold, neither cold nor hot. This shows that touch is regarded as temperature. Water is cold, light is hot. Barth and air are neither cold nor hot. It is transient in earth. It is eternal in stoms of water, light and air, but transient in their composite produ ots. 1. Kesava Misra, Tarka Bhasa, Pago 241 M.R.Bodas, Tarka Sangraha, Pages 155-56.

Sound (habda) is a specific quality perceived by the 1 auditory organ only. 1 Number (aankhya) is a generic quality (samanyaguna) of things by virtue of which we use the terms one, two, three, etc. Of these numbers, unity (@katva) is eternal in e ternal substances and transient in transient substances, while other numbers are non-eternal only. Magnitude (parimana) is the specific cause of me asurement. There are four kinds of magnitude, viz., minuteness, largeness, length and shortness. Ether has extreme largeness (paramanahattvam) and an atom has extreme minuteness (parimandalya). The dimension of non-eternal substances is determined by the number, magnitude and arrangements of the parts composing them. Dyads are minute, while the rest are of limited magnitude. Individuality (prthaktva) is the basis of 3 distinctions among things. It is real and objective. It is eternal in eternal substances, and transient in transient substances. 2 227 1. However, sound in science means a mechanical wave motion in an elastic medium. (Shortley and William •lastic and williams Physics, Prentice Hall, INC, 1961, Page 460.) 2. Kanada, Vaise sika Sutra, 5.1.8-9. 3. Ibid., 5.2.2. Elements of

228 Conjunction (spinvora) and disjunction (vibhaga) refer respectively to the union of things which are separate and separation of things which were in unions Conjunction effects only parts of the things conjoined. It is destroyed by separation or by the destruction of things conjoined. Disjunction subsists in two substances disjoined. It is of three kinds, (1) due to the movement of one of the things disjoined, e.g., the flying away of a kite from a fixed pole, (11) due to the movement of both things disjoined, e.g., moving away of two wrestlers fighting with each other, (111) and due to another disjunction, e.g., separation of a body from a tree due to disjunction of hand from a tree. Remoteness (paratva) and proximity (aparativa) are the basis of the notions of 'remote' and hear'. Each of them is of two kinds, spatial and temporal. Prasastapada does not regard remoteness and proximity as ultimate qualities of things, but as relative to each other 1 depending on the relating activity of thought. Knowledge, pleasure, pain, desire, aversion and effort are the qualities of the soul. 1. Prasastapade, Padarthadharma Sangraha, Page 99.

229 Knowledge is the manifestation or apprehension of objects. It is a quality of the self. Knowledge is mainly of two kinds: valid knowledge (vidya) and invalid knowledge (avidya). Valid knowledge is of four kinds, viz., perception, inference, comparison and testimony. Invalid knowledge is of four kinds, vize, doubt, illusion, indefinite knowledge and dreame 1 Pleasure (sukha) is an agreeable feeling, produced by the intercourse of the sense-organs with desirable objects. Pleasure is not mere negation of pain; it is positive feeling of enjoyment. Pain is a feeling of injury to the self. It is a feeling of self-abasement. Desire is a craving for the attainment of an unattained object by oneself or by another person. It arises from recollection of an object that yielded pleasure in the past. Aversion: In aversion, self flies into a rege which arises from pain and recollection of painful objects. It is the cause of effort, rememberance, merit and demerit. 1. Prasastapada Bhasya, Pages 172, 186. 2. Ibid., Page 263.

230 Effort is that activity which leads to the attainment of desirable and to the abandoning of the 1 undesirable. It is of three kinds, namely, pravrtti or striving towards something, nivrtti or striving away from something, and jivanayoni or vital function. Gravity (enrutya) is the quality of things by which Falling is due to they tend to fall to the ground. gravity, when conjunction, velocity, or effort is absent. It exists in earth and water. It is eternal in atoms of earth and water, transient in the products. Fluidity (draytva) is the cause of flowing. It exists in earth, water and light. It is natural in water. It is caused or derived in earth and light. Gold 3 and butter become fluid in contact with fire. 1. Ibid. B. 2. Kanada, Vaisesika Sutra, 5.1.7-18; 5.2.3. According to Sir Issac Newton, Gravity is merely a special case of gravitation and it is the force of attraction exerted by the earth on all bodies lying on or near its surface. The value of gravity (s) can be ascertained with the help of this formulas GM (mh)2 where M is the mass of the earth, R is its radius, h is the height from which the body is falling and G is constent. Bomford, G. (Oxford), Encyclopaedie Dictionary of Physics, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1961, Pages 502-04. 3. Prasastapada, Padarthadharma Sangraha, Page 263. "The Physical properties of a substance that enables it to flow." Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (Indian Mition).

231 Viscidity (sneha) belongs to water, and is the cause of cohesion, smoothness, etc. 1 Merit (dharma) and demerit (adharma) are qualities of the soul by virtue of which it enjoys happiness or suffers misery. Merit is the effect of the performance of the enjoined duties and demerit is the effect of the commission of forbidden acts. Merit and demerit are imperceptible. They are inferred from the body and other organs of enjoyment and suffering, which are brought about by merit and demerit. They are not brought about by effort. Merit and demerit are also known from the authority of the scriptures. Faculty (samskara) is of three different kinds: 2 velocity (vega), which keeps a thing in motion (it exists in earth, water, light, air and mind); mental impressibility (bhavana), by which the soul is able to remember and recognize things already experienced, and 1. Prasastapada, Padarthadharma Sangraha, Page 266. In Science * viscility (viscosity) of a fluid really expresses the resistance it offers to shearing stresses. If a pressure acts to shift laterally successive layers in a substance over each other; such a movement, if produced, is called a shear; the pressure or force producing it is called a shearing stress." Shackel, R.G. Concise Physics', Longman's 1958, Page 156. Velocity in science has been defined as the rate of motion of a body along a particular direction or the time rate of displacement. displacement. Merchant F. Merchant F.W., et al: Elements of Physics for Canadian Schools, The Copp Clark Company, Toronto, 1937, Page 94.

elasticity (sthitisthapaka), by virtue of which a thing reverts to its original state even when it is disturbed, Elasticity is the quality of the substances which contract and expand. 1 These are the twenty-four qualities of substances. They are simple, passive qualities. "The Vaisosika classification of qualities into twenty-four kinds is guided by these considerations of their simplicity or complexity, and reducibility or irreducibility. These gunas are what the Vaisesika thought to be the simplest, pessive qualities of substances." 232 3.