Dravya gun paryay (dravya-guṇa-paryāya) is a basic Jain concept about how a substance (dravya) is described in terms of its essential nature and its modifications.

• Dravya ( substance): A dravya is something that exists independently and has real, objective presence. In Jainism, there are different kinds of dravya (like living beings and non-living substances) that form the basic building blocks of reality.

• Guṇa (qualities): Guṇas are the essential attributes or characteristics that define a dravya. They are inherent to the substance and help identify it, but they do not stand apart as separate substances. For example, a dravya has certain intrinsic qualities that together describe what it is.

• Paryāya (modifications/modes): Paryāya are the various states or transformations a dravya can undergo under different conditions (such as time, place, or karmic influence). These are not separate substances but different modalities or appearances of the same dravya.

In short: dravya is the substance, guṇa are its defining attributes, and paryāya are the different modes or states that substance can take.

If you’d like, I can give a simple example using a specific dravya and explain its guṇ and paryāya in more detail.