A Comparative Philosophical analysis of Dravya with Special reference to Yogacara and Vaisesika School

Abstract

Several Indian intellectual traditions, including Buddhism, Jainism, and the Brahmanical systems of Vedanta, Sankhya, and especially Vaisesika, regularly utilise the term “dravya” in their philosophical and religious texts. There have been disagreements on the precise definition of the term dravya, which is usually translated as “substance,” as well as its historical development and meanings. Even the translation of dravya as “substance” raises questions because dravya isn’t necessarily thought of in terms of immutability, but substance is understood to be an idea that is. The idea of dravya has extremely diverse meanings in Buddhist and Brahmaical intellectual traditions, although being used in both. According to Vaisesika, one of the Brahmaical schools, reality is made up of interactions between substances, and Dravya is a genuine substance that exists independently of any knowing subject. In contrast, substances are viewed as merely labels in Yogacara Buddhism, only existing in connection to a knowing subject. Each entity may be regarded from the point of view of nirvana as either a substance or merely an idea, depending on the particular circumstances.