A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c8.20

v1.c8.20

The categories guṇa and karman are dealt with in verse 49. The guṇas, forty-one in number, are divided into three groups by Cakrapāṇidatta in his commentary: vaiśeṣika-, sāmānya- and ātmaguṇas. The vaiśeṣikaguṇas are the objects (artha) of the senses (smell, taste, etc.); this agrees with Vaiśeṣika thought. 40 The qualities referred to as gurvādayaḥ in Ca.Sū.1.49 are sāmānyaguṇas; they consist of ten pairs of opposites, listed at Ca.Sū.25.36 and Śā.6.10, and by Cakra ad Ca.Sū.1.49: guru (heavy) and light (laghu), śīta (cold) and uṣṇa (hot), snigdha (oleaginous) and rūkṣa (dry), manda (sluggish) and tīkṣṇa (sharp), sthira (solid) and sara (flowing), mṛdu (soft) and kaṭhina (hard), viśada (clear) and picchila (mucilaginous), ślakṣṇa (smooth) and khara (rough), sthūla (gross) and sūkṣma 41 (subtle), sāndra (viscid) and drava (liquid); 42 a similar list is not known from Vaiśeṣika literature. Buddhi and the list ending with prayatna, referred to in Ca.Sū.1.49, constitute the ātmaguṇas, a subject discussed in Śārīrasthāna 1. 43 A second series of sāmānyaguṇas is alluded to as parādayaḥ; the items of this list are enumerated at Ca.Sū.26.29–30ab. 44 Karman is defined as movement (ceṣṭita), of the nature of effort, etc. (prayatnādi).