1.2.17
Vaiśeṣika Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.2.17
सदिति लिङ्गाविशेषाद् विशेषलिङ्गाभावाच् चैको भावः
sad iti liṅgāviśeṣād viśeṣaliṅgābhāvāc caiko bhāvaḥ
The line
Being is one, because the mark 'it is' does not differ, and because no differentiating mark is found.
नेपालीमा
भाव एक हो, किनकि छ भन्ने चिह्न फरक पर्दैन, र छुट्याउने चिह्न पाइँदैन।
Where it sits
1.2.7 introduced sattā (सत्ता) by the word sat. This line uses that same word as the reason for its unity. The six categories were named in 1.1.4. Substance, quality, and action have been defined, and the universal that runs through them has been set down. The particular, the ultimate one, was fenced at 1.2.6. Inherence, the sixth, is still only a word in the opening list. Later books use it. They do not reopen it here.
Split: sat (सत्) + iti (इति) + liṅga-aviśeṣāt (लिङ्ग-अविशेषात्) + viśeṣa-liṅga-abhāvāt (विशेष-लिङ्ग-अभावात्) + ca (च) + ekaḥ (एकः) + bhāvaḥ (भावः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| sat (सत्) | nominative singular, neuter | existent. The word. |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | thus. It quotes sat, as in 1.2.7. |
| liṅga-aviśeṣāt (लिङ्ग-अविशेषात्) | ablative singular, masculine | because the mark does not differ. liṅga (लिङ्ग) is the sign. The sign is the word sat, and it is the same sign everywhere. |
| viśeṣa-liṅga-abhāvāt (विशेष-लिङ्ग-अभावात्) | ablative singular, masculine | because a differentiating mark is absent. There is no second sign that would make a second existence. |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and. It joins the two reasons. |
| ekaḥ (एकः) | nominative singular, masculine | one. |
| bhāvaḥ (भावः) | nominative singular, masculine | being. sattā (सत्ता). |
The phrases
We do not have two words for existence that would split it. We say sat of a substance, sat of a quality, sat of an action. The mark does not differ. And there is no extra mark that would cut existence into two. So being is one.
This is the end of Adhyāya (अध्याय) 1. Book 2 begins with earth, the first substance, and the qualities that mark it.
Sanskrit in this line
Two ablatives, two reasons, joined by ca. ekaḥ (एकः) bhāvaḥ (भावः) is the conclusion, two nominatives. The pāṭha (पाठ) splits viśeṣaliṅgābhāvāccaiko (विशेषलिङ्गाभावाच्चैको). The ca belongs to the second reason, and ekaḥ (एकः) begins the conclusion.
Say it back
Close Book 1. Six categories, nine substances, seventeen qualities, five actions, and one existence. Which of those numbers is not Kaṇāda (कणाद)'s?
Next
2.1.1. A compound: a form, taste, smell, touch, and possessing, earth.