2024, Vol. 10, Issue 1, Part A

Samavāya (Inherence) is one type of relation. It has an important role in the Indian philosophical system. Samavāya is an intimate relation between two things which are inseparable. Generally the relation between part and whole, universals and individuals, substance and its qualities, motion and the object in motion, eternal substance and the ultimate difference, cause and effect is called samavāya. It is an eternal relation which is different from saṁyoga or conjunction as saṁyoga is a separable and temporary relation. The Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika system accepts it as an independent category. The conception of samavāya seems to have originated in connection with the theory of causation. The reality of the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika system is depended on the theory of causation which is called the Asatkaryavāda. According to Asatkāryavāda, the effect does not exist in the cause, the cause and the effect e.g., threads and cloths are two separate substances, though the cloth exists in the threads by samavāya. These two separate substances exist in the same place for this samavāya relation.