UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Samavaya is the special relation that connects entities which cannot exist separately, such as a substance and its qualities or a whole and its component parts. Ordinary relations like contact are considered too weak to capture this intimate ontological tie. Nyaya-Vaisheshika therefore treats samavaya as a distinct, eternal category. The inseparable bonding described in the stem is precisely this relation of samavaya.

Option A:
Option A, samanya, denotes universals or common properties shared by many individuals and is not itself a relation of inherence between different entities.

Option B:
Option B is correct because samavaya literally connotes "co-existence" in a particularly strong sense and is explicitly defined as the relation that explains why certain items cannot be separated without destruction.

Option C:
Option C, abhava, refers to non-existence or absence and thus cannot function as the glue that unites substances with their qualities or parts.

Option D:
Option D, vishesha, is the category of ultimate particularity that individuates entities rather than the relation that holds them together.