[Advaita-l] Relation between the object and its attributes

[Venkatraghavan S]

Namaste Sadaji,
To understand Advaita's position with respect to the relationship between a
substance and its attributes, a study of sUtra 2.2.17 bhAShya could be
useful.

Essentially Adi Shankara BhagvatpAda's argument here is that relations, be
they samyoga or samavAya, are not entities that have an existence
independent of the substances that they are relating. That is, relations
are a conceptual construct, there is nothing that corresponds to that
relation, apart from the substance(s) that they are relating. नापि संयोगस्य
समवायस्य वा सम्बन्धस्य सम्बन्धिव्यतिरेकेणास्तित्वे किञ्चित्प्रमाणमस्ति ;

The naiyyAyika argues that samyoga and samavAya must have a separate
existence since there are words and concepts that express the relations of
samyoga and samavAya.

To this, AchArya argues that even when there is one entity, there may be
many words and concepts from the individual and relative points of view. So
sometimes, the same substance is spoken of in different terms (Devadatta,
father, husband)  when in relation to different substances.  यथा देवदत्त एक
एव सन् अवस्थान्तरयोगादनेकशब्दप्रत्ययभाग्भवति, तद्वत् ;

Or the one substance is spoken of in qualified terms, but here too, there
is no separate existential entity corresponding to the relationship between
the substance and its attribute - because, and here is the crucial
argument, the substance is always perceived in possession of the qualities,
such as white blanket, red cow, blue lotus etc, and there is never a
perception of difference between the substance and its attribute -
substance and quality are inseparable. If they are inseparable, there is no
need to suppose that there exists a separate existential category
corresponding to the relationship between substance and its attribute. -
शुक्लः कम्बलः, रोहिणी धेनुः, नीलमुत्पलम् — इति द्रव्यस्यैव तस्य तस्य तेन तेन
 विशेषणेन प्रतीयमानत्वात् नैव द्रव्यगुणयोरग्निधूमयोरिव भेदप्रतीतिरस्ति ;
तस्माद्द्रव्यात्मकता गुणस्य ।

Therefore, तथा सम्बन्धिनोरेव सम्बन्धिशब्दप्रत्ययव्यतिरेकेण
संयोगसमवायशब्दप्रत्ययार्हत्वम् , न व्यतिरिक्तवस्त्वस्तित्वेन - the related
things themselves are associated with the ideas corresponding to samyoga
and samavAya. The existence of the ideas denoting samyoga and samavAya does
not mean the existence of *things* called samyoga and samavAya, different
from the sambandhi-s themselves. Thus, there is tAdAtmya or identity
between the substance and its attribute.

Not sure if this was what you were looking for, but posting in case it is
of any help.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan

On Mon, May 18, 2020 at 5:01 PM Kuntimaddi Sadananda via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> PraNAms
> What is Adviatic position regarding the relationship between the object
> and its attributes? I was trying to read the book and it is very
> confusing. Hari Om!Sadananda
>
> The Philosophy of Sankar's Advaita Vedanta
> Shyama Kumar Chattopadhyaya - Advaita - 2000 - 396 pages
>
> Study on Śārīrakamīmāṃsābhāsỵa by Śaṅkarācārya.
>
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