Padartha
Padartha means category of entities and according to Vaiseshika Philosophy, these are the types of objectively basic features that organise, structure and give identity to individual objects in the cosmos.

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Padartha is also referred to a particular object belonging to a type of entity. These categories are Dravya, guna, karma, Samanya, samavaya, vishesha and Abhava. The first three types are defined as artha or something which can perceived and have real objective existence. The last three are defined as budhyapeksam or product of intellectual discrimination and they are logical.

The six categories of Padartha are described below:
Dravya: There are nine substances in number. They are prithivi, ap, tejas, vayu, Akasa, Kala, dik, atman and manas.
Guna: There are seventeen qualities. A guna cannot exist independently by itself.
Karma: The karmas like gunas that have no separate existence. An activity is transient Samanya: When a property is common to many substances, it is called Samanya
Vishesha: Through visesha one is able to perceive substances different from one another. They are innumerable.
Samavaya: The relation of samavaya cannot be perceived but can only be inferred from the inseparable connection of the substances.

If it is said that Red Rum is a horse, then it is categorised as a substance. If it is said that it is a shining example of the family of horses, then it is an instance of the generic property. The generic property horseness is a different kind of thing from the objects that it characterizes. Colours and other qualities are objective realties. The property brown is different from objects that are brown in colour. Categorical distinctions between properties and the individual objects possessing them are one of the key points that distinguish most Hindu philosophers from their Buddhist opponents.

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