Viśeṣa is one of the fundamental categories (padārthas) accepted by the Vaiśeṣika school of Indian philosophy. The term Viśeṣa literally means “particularity” or “specific difference.” In Vaiśeṣika metaphysics, it plays an important role in explaining the ultimate individuality of substances that are otherwise similar in their essential nature. Kaṇāda, the founder of Vaiśeṣika, and later commentators such as Praśastapāda developed the doctrine of Viśeṣa to account for the plurality and distinctness of ultimate realities. According to Vaiśeṣika, reality consists of several fundamental categories, including substance (dravya), quality (guṇa), action (karma), universal (sāmānya), particularity (viśeṣa), inherence (samavāya), and, in later developments, non-existence (abhāva). Viśeṣa is regarded as an independent category because it cannot be reduced to any of the other categories. Its principal function is to distinguish one eternal substance from another. The need for Viśeṣa arises particularly in relation to the