A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 756 pages of information about A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1.

A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 756 pages of information about A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1.

286

downward movement, contraction, expansion and horizontal movement.  The three common qualities of dravya, gu@na and karma are that they are existent, non-eternal, substantive, effect, cause, and possess generality and particularity.  Dravya produces other dravyas and the gu@nas other gu@nas.  But karma is not necessarily produced by karma.  Dravya does not destroy either its cause or its effect but the gu@nas are destroyed both by the cause and by the effect.  Karma is destroyed by karma.  Dravya possesses karma and gu@na and is regarded as the material (samavayi) cause.  Gu@nas inhere in dravya, cannot possess further gu@nas, and are not by themselves the cause of contact or disjoining.  Karma is devoid of gu@na, cannot remain at one time in more than one object, inheres in dravya alone, and is an independent cause of contact or disjoining.  Dravya is the material cause (samavayi) of (derivative) dravyas, gu@na, and karma, gu@na is also the non-material cause (asamavayi) of dravya, gu@na and karma.  Karma is the general cause of contact, disjoining, and inertia in motion (vega).  Karma is not the cause of dravya.  For dravya may be produced even without karma [Footnote ref 1].  Dravya is the general effect of dravya.  Karma is dissimilar to gu@na in this that it does not produce karma.  The numbers two, three, etc, separateness, contact and disjoining are effected by more than one dravya.  Each karma not being connected with more than one thing is not produced by more than one thing [Footnote ref 2].  A dravya is the result of many contacts (of the atoms).  One colour may be the result of many colours.  Upward movement is the result of heaviness, effort and contact.  Contact and disjoining are also the result of karma.  In denying the causality of karma it is meant that karma is not the cause of dravya and karma [Footnote ref 3].

In the second chapter of the first book Ka@nada first says that if there is no cause, there is no effect, but there may be the cause even though there may not be the effect.  He next says that genus (samanya) and species (visesa) are relative to the understanding;

_______________________________________________________
____________

[Footnote 1:  It is only when the karya ceases that dravya is produced.  See Upaskara I.i. 22.]

[Footnote 2:  If karma is related to more than one thing, then with the movement of one we should have felt that two or more things were moving.]

[Footnote 3:  It must be noted that karma in this sense is quite different from the more extensive use of karma as meritorious or vicious action which is the cause of rebirth.]

287

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.