Pāratantrya and parāpekṣā in the Sambandhaparīkṣā

Dharmakīrti refutes the reality of relation (sambandha) in his Sambandhaparīkṣā (SP). In the first and third verses, Dharmakīrti refutes pāratantrya and parāpekṣā as the definitions of relation. The two words are so synonymous that it is difficult to distinguish them based on the verses alone. To clarify the exact meaning of the two words, this paper investigates Dharmakīrti’s usages thereof in his works as well as those in Buddhist and non-Buddhist commentaries on the SP. I conclude that the words pāratantrya and parāpekṣā mean by implication different types of relation and different objects of refutation. It is clear that pāratantrya implies the inherence (samavāya) claimed by the Vaiśeṣika; parāpekṣā implies the relation in a broader sense in the following aspects: first, it can be interpreted as the relationship between cause and effect, as commonly used in Dharmakīrti’s works. Second, when it is an object of refutation, it implies a permanent relation, namely suitability (yogyatā) as well as real and ultimate relation including inherence

Buddhism · Epistemology · Linguistics · Meaning (existential) · Object (grammar) · Relation (database) · Theology · Chinese history and philosophy · Computer Science · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Philosophy