THE VEDIK/INDIAN/HINDU SYSTEMS:
1. NYAAYA-VAISHESHHIKA:
The philosophers of the NyAya-VaisheShika
system have pointed out that there
are 6 types of contact possible between
the sense-organs and their objects. These
are:
a) samyoga (union): contact between
the sense-organ and the substantive aspect
of the object.
b) samyukta-samavAya (united-inherence):
contact between the sense-organ and the
attributive or active aspect of the
object by virtue of attributes (guNa)
and actions (karma) being related to
the substance through inherence (samavAya).c)
samyukta-samaveta-samavAya (united-inherent-inherence): contact
between the sense-organ and the generic
aspect of the object.
d) samavAya (inherence): contact
between the sense-organ and the inherence
aspect of the object which unites universals
with particulars and substances with
attributes.
e) samaveta-samavAya (inherent-inherence):
contact between the sense-organ and its
own inherence in terms of its capacity
to peceive its object in its own
particular manner.
f) visheShaNatAbhAva (absence of
qualification): when there is no contact
between the sense-organ and its object
on account of the absence of the
latter.
2. SAANKHYA-YOGA:
The philosophers of the SAnkhya-Yoga
system accept five forms of contact
between the sense-organ and its object.
These are:
a) samyoga: contact of a
sense-organ with the substantive aspect of
an object.
b) samyukta-tAdAtmya: contact of
a sense-organ with the attributive aspect
of an object.
c) samyukta-tAdAtmya-tAdAtmya: contact
of a sense-organ with the generic aspect
of an object.
d) tAdAtmya: contact of a
sense-organ, the antaHkaraNa trio [of aham
(ego), manas (mind) and buddhi (intellect)]
with all the patent aspects of an
object.
e) tAdAtmya-tAdAtmya: contact of
a sense-organ, the antaHkaraNa trio
[of aham (ego), manas (mind) and buddhi
(intellect)] and puruSha (soul) with all
the patent aspects of an object.
3. THE PRABHAAKARA SCHOOL OF
MIIMAAMSAA:
The philosophers of the PrabhAkara
school of MImAmsA accept only three
forms of contact between the sense-organ
and its object. The ones given below
have the same definitions as in the
NyAya-VaisheShika system. These are:
a) samyoga
b) samyukta-samavAya
c) samavAya
4. THE KUMAARILA SCHOOL OF
MIIMAAMSAA (smarta):
The philosophers of the KumArila
school of MImAmsA also accept only
three forms of contact between the
sense-organ and its object. The ones
given below have the same definitions
as in the NyAya-VaisheShika system. These
are:
a) samyoga
b) samyukta-samavAya
c) samyukta-samaveta-samavAya
5. SHANKARA (ADVAITA) VEDAANTA:
Like the NyAya-VaisheShika philosophers,
the philosophers of the Advaita school
of VedAnta also accept the same six
types of contact between the sense-organ
and its object. However, they use different
set of nomenclatures in some cases.
However in definition, they are the
same six as in the NyAya-VaisheShika
system. They are:
a) samyoga
b) samyukta-tAdAtmya
c) samyuktAbinna-tAdAtmya
d) tAdAtmya
e) tAdAtmyavadabinnatva
f) visheShya-visheShaNa bhAva
6. RAAMAANUJA (VISHISHHT.AADVAITA) VEDAANTA:
The VishiShTAdvaita philosophers only
accept just two types of contact between
the sense-organ and its object. These
are:
a) samyoga
b) samyuktAshrayaNa: contact between
the sense-organs and the attributes of
the object.
7. MADHVA (DVAITA) VEDAANTA:
The Dvaita philosophers accept
only one type of contact between the
sense-organ and its object, i.e. samyoga.
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