ABSTRACT
The Nyāya theory of universals is unambiguously realistic and its realism is evident from the way a universal (sāmānya or jāti) is defined. A universal is defined as “an entity that is eternal and inseparably inherent in many entities”. 1 Since a universal is an eternal entity that is present in many particulars, it is clear that a universal is conceived to have an ontological status that is distinct from and independent of that of the particulars themselves. Thus in the Nyāya view there is an identical cloth-ness in all pieces of cloth, an identical humanity in all human beings; and the entitative status of these universals is not affected by the origin and destruction of particulars to which they may be related.
