The Interpretation of the Vaiśeṣikasūtra 10.7

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the meaning of two terms: sāpekṣa and nirapekṣa (anapekṣa) in the Vaiśeṣikasūtra (VS) 10.7. The clarification is based on the interpretations of the terms in the Vaiśeṣikasūtravṛtti, a commentary on the VS, and by the commentaries on the Padārthadharmasaṃgraha (PDhS) acknowledging its use of the VS 10.7 as the basis of its own view: “conjunction (saṃyoga) is without any requirement, when producing a substance (dravya).”

The terms sāpekṣa and nirapekṣa in the VS 10.7 have been translated by scholars into “those [threads] requiring [conjunction],” and “those [threads] not requiring [conjunction],” respectively. This paper shows that sāpekṣa means those [threads] requiring [action], i.e., a thread requires action as cooperative cause for producing a conjunction with the other threads. Following the conjunction, a product (cloth) is produced. On the other hand, nirapekṣa means those [threads] not requiring cooperative cause except conjunction, i.e., since conjunction has already occurred between the threads, they produce a product (cloth) without any requirement. The interpretation of nirapekṣa presented in this paper becomes suitable as the basis of the view of the PDhS.