UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Samanya is the universal that is instantiated in many individual substances and allows us to group them under a common name. It is numerically one yet present in multiple loci, such as pot-ness in all pots. Nyaya-Vaisheshika treats universals as real entities distinct from both particulars and purely mental constructs. Thus the common nature described in the stem is samanya.

Option A:
Option A, dravya, refers to substances like earth or water that serve as substrata for universals and qualities but are not themselves the unifying properties.

Option B:
Option B, guna, denotes qualities such as colour or taste that inhere in substances and may vary from one instance to another, unlike universals which are shared.

Option C:
Option C is correct because samanya literally means "commonness" and explains how many individuals can fall under a single class-concept. It plays a central role in realist accounts of universals in Indian metaphysics.

Option D:
Option D, vishesha, stands for ultimate particularity that differentiates entities rather than unifying them, so it is conceptually opposite to samanya.

Samanya is the universal that is instantiated in many individual substances and allows them to be grouped under a common name. It is numerically one yet present in multiple loci, such as pot-ness residing in all pots. Nyaya-Vaisheshika defends the reality of such universals to explain similarity, classification and meaningful predication. Thus the common nature described in the stem is samanya.

Option A:
Option A, dravya, refers to substances like earth or water that serve as substrata for universals and qualities but are not themselves the unifying properties.

Option B:
Option B, guna, denotes qualities such as colour or taste that inhere in substances and may vary from one instance to another, unlike universals which are shared.

Option C:
Option C is correct because samanya literally means "commonness" and is introduced precisely to account for the fact that many individuals can fall under a single class-concept like "cow" or "pot".

Option D:
Option D, vishesha, stands for ultimate particularity that differentiates entities rather than uniting them, making it conceptually opposite to samanya.