Of the six classes of entities or categories (padârtha) we have already given some account of dravya [Footnote ref 2]. Let us now turn to the others. Of the qualities (gu@na) the first one called rûpa (colour) is that which can be apprehended by the eye alone and not by any other sense. The colours are white, blue, yellow, red, green, brown and variegated (citra). Colours are found only in k@siti, ap and tejas. The colours of ap and tejas are permanent (nitya}, but the colour of k@siti changes when heat is applied, and this, S'rîdhara holds, is due to the fact that heat changes the atomic structure of k@siti (earth) and thus the old constitution of the substance being destroyed, its old colour is also destroyed, and a new one is generated. Rûpa is the general name for the specific individual colours. There is the genus rûpatva (colourness), and the rûpa gu@na (quality) is that on which rests this genus; rûpa is not itself a genus and can be apprehended by the eye.
The second is rasa (taste), that quality of things which can be apprehended only by the tongue; these are sweet, sour, pungent (ka@tu), astringent (ka@sâya) and bitter (tikta). Only k@siti and ap have taste. The natural taste of ap is sweetness. Rasa like rûpa also denotes the genus rasatva, and rasa as quality must be distinguished from rasa as genus, though both of them are apprehended by the tongue.
The third is gandha (odour), that quality which can be apprehended by the nose alone. It belongs to k@siti alone. Water
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[Footnote 1: The reference is to Sautrântika Buddhism, "yo yo vruddhâdhyâsavân nâsâveka@h." See Pa@n@ditâs'oka's Avayavinirâkarana, Six Buddhist Nyâya tracts.
[Footnote 2: The word "padârtha" literally means denotations of words.]
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or air is apprehended as having odour on account of the presence of earth materials.
The fourth is spars'a (touch), that quality which can be apprehended only by the skin. There are three kinds of touch, cold, hot, neither hot nor cold. Spars'a belongs to k@siti; ap, tejas, and vâyu. The fifth s'abda (sound) is an attribute of âkâs'a. Had there been no âkâs'a there would have been no sound.
The sixth is sa@mkhyâ (number), that entity of quality belonging to things by virtue of which we can count them as one, two, three, etc. The conception of numbers two, three, etc. is due to a relative oscillatory state of the mind (apek@sâbuddhi); thus when there are two jugs before my eyes, I have the notion—This is one jug and that is another jug. This is called apek@sâbuddhi; then in the two jugs there arises the quality of twoness (dvitva) and then an indeterminate perception (nirvikalpa-dvitva-gu@na) of dvitva in us and then the determinate perceptions that there are the two jugs. The conceptions of other numbers as well as of many arise in a similar manner [Footnote ref 1].