The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus c10.39

c10.39

But invariable concomitance (or non-disjunction), the Buddhists argue, has another form, *e.g.* the relation of the genus to the species. We may have perceived a hundred instances of the association of certain characters with certain others; we may also have never perceived the former when the latter were absent; but this would not enable us to generalise and establish invariable and unconditional co-existence. We must be first satisfied that there is identity of essence (तादात्म्य, स्वभाव). It is only when we perceive that the characters of a Sinsapá are co-inherent with the generic characters of a tree in the same individual object (a *Sinsapá*-tree before me), and when we further perceive that the characters are held together by the relation of identity of essence, that we can say that all Sinsapás are trees. For as there is identity of essence, a Sinsapá would not be a *Sinsapá* if it were not a tree; it would lose its self-identity, which is a contradiction. Hence the relation of identity of essence (तादात्म्य, स्वभाव), as in the relation of the species to the genus, is the sole ground for establishing uniformity of co-existence (प्रतिबन्ध, स्वभावप्रतिबन्ध).