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Science Forum Index » Philosophy Forum » Vaisesika (Vedic Atomic Theory)
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| Jahnu |
 Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 6:00 am |
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Vaisesika (Vedic Atomic Theory)
An Analysis of the Aspects of Reality
By Suhotra Maharaja
The founder of Vaisesika philosophy is the sage Kanada, who was also
known as Uluka, so this system is sometimes called Aulukya.
Kanada wrote the first systematic work of this philosophy, Vaisesika
Sutra. This work is divided into ten cantos, each canto containing two
sections. Prasastapada wrote a commentary on this Sutra entitled
Svartha Dharma Samgraha that is so famous that it
is called Bhasya, which means simply `commentary.' In Indian
philosophical discourse, whenever the word Bhasya is used by itself
without further specification, it is understood to refer to this
commentary. Two well-known explications of Prasastapada's work are
Udayana's Kirana-vali and Sridhara's Nyayakandali. The significant
feature of this system is the introduction of a special category of
reality called uniqueness (visesa). Thus, this system is known as
Vaisesika.
Vaisesika is allied to the Nyaya system of philosophy. Both systems
accept the liberation of the individual self as the end goal; both
view ignorance as the root cause of all pain and misery; and both
believe that liberation is attained only through right knowledge of
reality. There are, however, two major differences between Nyaya and
Vaisesika. First, Nyaya philosophy accepts four independent sources
of knowledge--perception, inference, comparison, and testimony--but
Vaisesika accepts only two--perception and inference. Second, Nyaya
maintain s that all of reality is comprehended by sixteen categories
(padarthas), whereas Vaisesika recognizes only seven categories of
reality (see chart).
These are: dravya (substance), guna (quality), karma (action), samanya
(generality), visesa (uniqueness), samavaya (inherence), and abhava
(nonexistence). The term padartha means "the object denoted by a
word," and according to Vaisesika philosophy all objects denoted by
words can be broadly divided into two main classes--that which exists,
and that which does not exist. Six of the seven padarthas are in the
first class, that which exists. In the second class, that which does
not exist, there is only one padartha, abhava, which stands for all
negative facts such as the nonexistence of things. The first two
categories of reality--substance and quality-are treated in greater
detail in the following discussion than are the remaining five.
***[CHART]***
Vaisesika's Seven Categories (Padirthas) of Reality
Substance (nine dravyas)
Earth, water, fire, air, space or ether, time, direction, soul, and
mind.
Quality (twenty-four gunas)
Color, taste, smell, touch, sound, number, magnitude, distinctness,
union, separation, remoteness, nearness, cognition, pleasure, pain,
desire, aversion, effort, heaviness, fluidity, viscidity, tendency,
virtue, and nonvirtue.
Action (karma)
Generality (samanya)
Uniqueness (visesa)
Inherence (samavaya)
Nonexistence (abhava)
The Category of Substance--Nine Dravyas
Dravya, substance, is that in which a quality or an action can exist
but which in itself is different from both quality and action. Without
substance, there cannot be a quality or an action because substance is
the substrat um of quality and action, and it is also the material
cause of the composite things produced from it. A cloth, for example,
is formed by the combination of a number threads of certain colors.
The threads are the material or constit utive causes of the cloth
because it is made of the threads that subsist in the cloth.
There are nine kinds of substances: earth, water, fire, air, ether,
time, direction, soul, and mind. The first five of these are called
phys ical elements because each of them possesses a specific quality
that can be perceived by an external sense faculty. Each of the senses
is composed of elements, whose distinguishing qualities are registered
by specific sensory receptors. For example, smell is the particular
property of the earth, and it is apprehended by the nostrils. Taste is
the particular property of water, which is perceived by the tongue.
Color is the particular property of fire or light, and it is discerned
by the eyes. Touch is the particular property of air, which is
experienced by the skin. And sound is the particular property of akasa
(ether), which is received by the ears.
Paramanu--the smallest particle of earth, water, fire, and air. In
Vaisesika the smallest indivisible part of matter is called paramanu,
or atom. This is not to be confused with the modern scientific term
atom because an atom as described in nuclear physics is itself
composed of many parts. The Vaisesika usage of the word is different.
It simply refers to the most minute indivisible state of matter. The
atoms of earth, water, fire, and air are eternal because an atom is
partless and cannot be produced or destroyed. The common elements of
earth, water, fire, and air, however, are noneternal because they are
produced by combinations of atoms and therefore can disintegrate o r
change.
The existence of atoms is proved by inference--not by perception--in
the following way. All the composite objects of the world are made up
of parts. In separating the parts of a composite object, one passes
from the larger to the smaller, and then from the smaller to the
smallest part. But when one comes to the smallest part that cannot be
further divided in any way, then the process of separation has to
stop. That indivisible and minutes part in Vaisesika is called the
atom.
If one does not accept the concept of indivisibility, then he will
commit the fallacy of infinite regression. Because it has no parts,
the atom cannot be said to be produced. and it cannot be destroyed
because destruction means to break a thing down into its parts, and in
an atom there are no parts. Atoms, therefore, can be neither produced
nor destroyed; they are eternal.
Akasa--ether. There are four kinds of atoms--atoms of earth, atoms of
water, atoms of fire, and atoms of air--each having its own peculiar
qualities. Akasa (ether), the fifth substance, is the substratum of
the quality of sound; it is not made up of atoms. Akasa is also
translated as space. Sound can be perceived, but akasa cannot be
perceived because it lacks two conditions necessary for the perception
of an object: perceptible dimension and manifest color. Akasa is
unlimited, so it does not have a perceptible dimension, and it is
formless, so does not have any color. Therefore, Akasa cannot be
perceived, but it can be inferred from the perception of the quality
of sound which it contains.
It cannot be said that sound is the quality of time, direction, soul,
or mind because these exist even when there is no sound to qualify
them. Therefore, there must be some other substance that has the
quality of sound in it; that substance is called akasa. Akasa is one
and eternal because it is not made up of parts and does not depend on
any other substance for its existence. It is all-pervading in the
sense that it has an unlimited dimension and that its quality (sound)
is perceived everywhere.
Direction and time. Direction and time are also imperceptible
substances and they are likewise single, eternal, and all pervading .
Direction is inferred on the basis of such concepts as here, there,
near, far, on this side, by that way, and so on. Time is inferred from
the concepts now, today, tomorrow, past, present, future, older,
younger, and so forth. Although space, direction, and time are
singular and all-pervading, indivisible and partless, they are spoken
of as many because of certain limiting conditions, known as upadhis.
For example, when the all-pervading, indivisible space is limited by
the walIs of a jar, that space is known as the space of the jar
(ghatakasa). In the same way, direction and time are also thought of
as multiple because of the notions of variety and specificity
expressed as east, west, one hour, two hours, and so on.
Soul. The eighth kind of substance, the soul or Atman, is also
considered to be eternal and all-pervading and is the substratum of
the phenomenon of consciousness. According to Vaisesika philosophy,
there are two kinds of souls: individual and supreme. Individual souls
are known as jivatman. and the Supreme Soul is known as Paramatman, or
isvara. The Supreme Soul is inferred to be the creator of the world
in the same manner as has been explained in the discussion ofNyaya
philosophy. In contrast to the Supreme Soul, the individual soul is
perceived as possessing mental qualities, such as"l'm happy, I'm
sorry,"and so forth. Individual souls do not perceive other individual
souls, but they do infer their existence in the manner described in
the Nyaya section.
Mind. The mind is considered to be the ninth kind of substance. It is
the eternal sense faculty of the individual soul and the soul's
qualities, such as pleasure and pain. Like the soul, the mind is
atomic and indivisible--there is one in each body. The existence
of the mind is not perceived but is inferred from the following
propositions. First, it is apparent that external sense faculties
are necessary for the perception of external objects of the world.
Likewise, an internal sense faculty is required for the perception of
internal objects, such as soul, cognition, feeling, pleasure, pain,
and so on. The mind is this internal sense faculty. Second, it is
apparent that the five external senses may all be in contact with
their respective objects simultaneously, but not all of these
perceptions are received at the same time. This demonstrates that
there must be some other agent besides the external senses that both
limits the number of received perceptions to one perception at a time
and that orders the perceptions in sequential succession. In other
words, although two or more external senses may be simultaneously
receiving data, only that which is being attended to is actually
perceived.
Attention therefore represents the coordination of the mind with the
senses, and every perception requires the contact of the mind with an
object by means of the senses. We must, therefore, admit the
existence of mind as an internal sense faculty. Additionally, if the
mind were not a partless entity, then there would be simultaneous
contact of many parts of the mind with many senses, and many
perceptions would subsequently appear at one time. The fact that this
never happens proves that the mind is a partless, atomic, and internal
sense faculty of perception.
The Category of Quality--Twenty-four Gunas
Guna, quality, the second of the seven categories of reality, cannot
exist by itself but exists only in a substance.* It cannot, therefore,
be the constituent or material cause of anything's existence. It may
be considered a nonmaterial cause of things, however, because it
determines the nature of a thing. It differs *In Vaisesika `guna'
refers to quality, whereas in Samkhya this term is used to denote an
essential feature of Prakriti, nature. from both substance and action
in that it is an unmoving property. There are twenty-four kinds of
qualities: rupa (color), rasa (taste), gandha (smell), sparasa(touch),
sabda (sound), samkhya (number), parimana (magnitudes), prthaktva
(distinctness), samyoga (conjunction or unions), bibhaga (separation),
paratva (remoteness), aparatva (nearness), buddhi (cognition), sukha
(pleasure), dukha (pain), iccha (desire), dvesa (aversion), prayatna
(effort), gurutva (heaviness), dravatva (fluidity), sneha (viscidity),
samskara (tendency), dharma (merit or virtues), and adharma (demerit
or nonvirtue). A brief description of these follows.
According to vaisesika there are six colors--white, black, red, blue,
yellow, and green--and there are also six tastes--sweet, sour, bitter,
pungent, astringent, and salty. Smell is divided into two
categories--good and bad--and touch is divided into three--hot, cold,
and neither hot nor cold. There are two kinds of sound: dhvani
(inarticulated) and varna (articulated) . Number is that quality by
virtue of which a thing can be counted. Many numbers starting from one
and stretching out beyond the imagination are used, but actually there
is only one number which is used as many. Magnitude is the quality by
which things are distinguished as big or small. There are four orders
of magnitude: extremely small (the atom), extremely big, small, and
large. Distinctness is the quality by which one knows that one thing
is different from another. Conjunction, or union, is the quality by
which one knows the existence of two or more things at one place or in
one time, such as a book being on a table at noon.
Disjunction, or disunion, is that quality by which a substance is
perceived as being either remote or near in time or space. Older,
younger, before, and after are temporal examples; far, near, here, and
there are spatial examples.
Buddhi, a quality of the self, means "knowledge" or "cognition" in
Vaisesika and should not be confused with the concept of buddhi that
is explained in Samkhya philosophy as "intellect." Pleasure is a
favorable experience of mind, and pain is an unfavorable experience of
mind. Effort is the quality by virtue of which a substance is capable
of changing its position. There are three kinds of effort: striving
toward something (pravrtti); striving against something (nivrtti); and
vital functioning (jivanayoni). Heaviness is that quality by virtue of
which a substance is capable of falling, while fluidity is the quality
by virtue of which it flow. Viscidity is the quality--belonging
exclusively to the element of water--by which different particles
of matter can be absorbed and formed into particular shapes.
Samskaras are innate tendencies; they can be of anything, not just the
mind. There are three kinds of samskaras in a substance: activity,
which keeps a thing in motion (vega); elasticity, which makes a thing
tend toward equilibrium when it is disturbed (sthitisthapakatva); and
mental impressions, which enable one to remember and recognize a thing
(bhavana). This last category is exclusive to the mind. Dharma and
adharma mean. respectively, that which is in accordance with
conscience, and that which is not in accordance with conscience.
Dharma leads to happiness, and adharma leads to pain and misery. The
remaining five categories of reality are only briefly described.
The Category of Action--Karma
Karma, action, is viewed in the Vaisesika school as being physical
movement, but the term physical here refers to more than just bodily
movements because in Vaisesika mind is also considered to be a kind of
substance. Just like quality, the second category of reality, action
also exists only in a substance and cannot exist by itself. It is,
however, completely different from both quality and substance. The
substance of a thing supports both quality and action. Quality is the
static character of things, and action is their dynamic character,
which is regarded as the independent cause of their union and
disunion.
Action or movement is always dependent on substances--earth, water,
fire, air, and mind. It is impossible to find action in the intangible
substances--space, time, direction, and soul--because each is an
all-pervading substance, whose position cannot be changed. There are
five kinds of action: upward, downward, inward, outward, and linear.
The action of perceptible substances like earth, water, fire, and air
can be perceived by the five senses, but not all of the actions of
tangible substances can be perceived. The movement of the Earth, for
example, cannot be perceived; it can only be inferred.
The Category of Generality--Samanya
Generality. Samanya, refers to an abstract characteristic that is
singular and eternal (nitya) and yet pervades many. For example,
leadership is a single characteristic, but it resides in many
individuals. Leadership is also eternal because it was already in
existence before the first leader emerged, and it will continue to
exist even if there are no more leaders. All the things of a certain
class-- such as men, or cows, or puppies, or horses--share common name
because of the common nature they possess. Samanya, generality, is the
essence of the common characteristic that unites different entities
into one class. Hence, modern scholars sometimes translate samanya as
`universality.'
Vaisesika recognizes three levels of generality or universality:
highest, lowest, and intermediate. The highest kind of generality is
existence itself (satta). Beingness or the state of being is the
highest generality because all other universals are subsumed under it;
it is all-pervading, and nothing is excluded from it. The lowest kind
of generality has the most limited referents (such as American-ness,
Indian-ness, pot-ness, and chair-ness, which are the generalities
present in all Americans, Indians, pots, and chairs, respectively).
Concepts such as substantiality (having the nature of substances)
represent the intermediate level of generality because they do not
include many other categories of reality like quality, actions and so
on.
The Category of Uniqueness--Visesa
Visesa, or uniqueness, is that characteristic of a thing by virtue of
which it is distinguished from all other things. Like the
imperceptible substances of space, time, direction, soul, and mind,
visesa is abstract and is therefore eternal. Everything in the world,
regardless of whether it is existent or nonexistent, is accompanied by
uniqueness. Generality (samanya and uniqueness (visesa) are opposite
concepts.
The Category of Inherence--Samavaya
There are two kinds of relationships between things: conjunction
(samyoga), and inherence (samavaya). Conjunction is one of the
twenty-four qualities (gunas) of Vaisesika, but inherence is one of
the seven categories of reality described in this system. Conjunction
is a temporary, noneternal relationship between two things that may be
separated at any time. In this kind of relationship, two or more
things exist together, but each remains essentially unaffected by the
other(s). For example, when a chair and a table are conjoined
together, this does not change the existence of the chair or table.
Thus, conjunction is an external relationship existing as an
accidental quality of the substances related to it. Inherence on the
other hand, is a permanent relation between two entities, one of which
inheres in the other, as for example in the relation of the whole in
its parts, a quality in its substance, or the universal in the
individual. A conjunctional relation is temporary and is produced by
the action of either or both of the things related to it. For example,
the relation between a man and a chair on which he is sitting is
temporary.
An inherent relation, in contrast, is not temporary and is not
produced. The relation that exists between a whole and its parts, for
instance, is not produced because the whole is always related to its
parts. As long as the whole is not broken up, it must exist in the
parts. Thus inherence is an eternal or permanent relation between two
entities, one at which depends for its existence upon the other (the
whole cannot exist separate from its parts). Two terms within an
inherent relationship cannot be reversed, as can those that are
related by conjunction. For example, in order for there to be a
conjunctional relation of hand and pen, pen and hand must both be in
some kind of contact with each other, but in an inherent relation this
is not necessary. A quality or action is in a substance, but the
substance is not in the quality or action; there is color in cloth,
but no cloth in color; there is action in a fan but no fan in the
action.
The Category of Nonexistence--Abhava
Abhava, nonexistence, the seventh and last category of reality is
negative in contrast to the first six categories, which are positive.
Nonexistence is not found in any of the six positive categories, and
yet according to Vaisesika philosophy nonexistence exists, just as,
for instance, space and direction do. To illustrate: How does one
know that there is no chair in a room? Looking into the room, one can
feel as sure of the nonexistence of the chair as of the existence of
the carpet or of the people. Therefore, nonexistence also exists as
such.
There are two kinds of nonexistence: the absence of something in
something else (samsargabhava), and mutual nonexistence
(anyonyabhava). The absence of something in something else is of three
kinds: antecedent nonexistence (pragbhava), the nonexistence of a
thing after its destruction (pradhvamsabhava), and absolute
nonexistence (atyantabhava). Antecedent nonexistence refers to
the nonexistence of a thing prior to its creation. For example, in the
sentence, `A book will be written using this paper,' the book is
nonexistent in the paper. This type of nonexistence does not have a
beginning, but it does have an end. The book never existed before it
was written; therefore, there is a beginningless nonexistence of the
book. But when it does come to be written, its previous nonexistence
will come to an end. In direct contrast to antecedent nonexistence,
the nonexistence of a thing after its destruction has a beginning but
does not have an end. For instance, when a jar is broken into pieces,
then there is nonexistence of that jar. The nonexistence of the jar
begins with its destruction, but this nonexistence cannot be ended in
any way, because the same jar cannot be brought back into existence.
The type of nonexistence that does not belong to a particular time and
space but is in all times is called absolute nonexistence. This type
of nonexistence is neither subject to origin nor to end. It is both
beginning less and endless. Examples are the nonexistence of the son
of a barren couple or the nonexistence of color in the air.
Mutual nonexistence (anyonyabhava), the second of the two major
divisions of nonexistence, is the difference of one thing from
another. When one thing is different from another, they mutually
exclude each other, and there is the nonexistence of either as the
other. For example, a pen is different from a book, so there is
nonexistence of the book in the pen and of the pen in the book.
The Concept of the Creation and Annihilation of the World
Vaisesika holds to the atomic theory of existence, according to which
the entire universe is composed of eternal atoms. But at the same
time, Vaisesika does not ignore the moral and spiritual laws that
govern the process of union and separation of atoms. In this way, the
atomic theory of Vaisesika is different from the atomic theory of
modern science. Modern science's theory proposes a materialistic
philosophy; it explains the laws of the universe as mechanical, as
being the result of the motions of atoms in infinite time, space, and
direction. According to this view, the operation of the atoms is
governed bye mechanical laws, but according to Vaisesika the
functioning of atoms is guided or directed by the creative or
destructive will of the Supreme being. The will of the Supreme Being
directs the operation of atoms according to the past samskaras of
individual beings.
Vaisesika states that the universe has two aspects, one eternal and
one noneternal. The eternal constituents of the universe are the four
kinds of atoms (earth, water, fire, and air) and the five substances
(space, time, direction, mind, and self). These are not subject to
change, and they can be neither created nor destroyed. Another part of
the universe is noneternal, that is, subject to creation and
destruction in a particular time and spaces In the beginning of
creation two atoms are united into a dyad, which is noneternal because
it can be divided again into two. The dyads and atoms cannot be
perceived but are known through inference. The combination of three
dyads is called a triad (tryanuka), which is the smallest perceptible
object. It is from these triads that other larger compounds develop.
Thus the common elements comprised of eternal atoms are noneternal
because they can be broken down into smaller units.
The entire universe is a systematic arrangement of physical things and
living beings that interact with one another in time, space, and
direction. Living beings are the souls of the selves who enjoy or
suffer in this world, depending on their meritorious or nonmeritorious
past impressions. Thus, according to vaisesika philosophy, the world
is a moral stage on which the life and destiny of all individual
beings is governed, not only by the physical laws of time and space
but also by the moral law of karma. In the performance of present
karma, an individual is free and is thus the creator of his own
destiny, but the starting and ending point of the universe depends on
the creative or destructive will of the Supreme Being, God.
The universal law (adrsta) of the process of creation and annihilation
influences the individual selves to function or to be active in the
direction of the creative will. Directed by this unknown force of
adrsta, the soul makes contact with an atom of air; thus, the primeval
motion comes into being. That primeval activity in air atoms creates
dywads, triads, and all the rest of the gross physical manifestations
of air elements (mahabhutas). In a similar manner, there arises motion
in the atoms of fire, water, and earth, which then compose the gross
elements of fire, water, and earth. In this way the vast expansion of
the physical world comes into existence.
The Supreme Lord is endowed with perfect wisdom, detachment, and
excellence (jnana, vairagya and aisvarya). He releases the adrsta
related to individual beings, which guides the individuals in their
flow through the currents of life. At the end of life, the process of
dissolution and annihilation also depends on the will of God. He
inspires the adrsta corresponding to the individuals or to the
universe, and then a destructive motion in the atoms of the body and
senses or in the cosmos starts vibrating.
On account of this destructive motion, there arises the process of
disjunction and disintegration of the body and senses or of the
universe. Compound things break down into simpler and simpler
components, finally devolving into the state of triads and dads and
ultimately into atoms. In this manner the physical elements of earth,
water, fire, and air, and the related sense organs, are disintegrated.
After the dissolution of the manifest universe, there remain the four
kinds of atoms of earth, water, fire, and air as well as the eternal
substances of space, time, direction, mind, and soul, with their
attendant meritorious and non-meritorious samskaras.
Thus, according to the Vaisesika system of philosophy, there is no
creation or annihilation but rather an orderly and morally
systematized composition and decomposition of compounds. An
individual self or soul is involved in the universe because of adrsta.
The karma of each soul is its own earnings, deposited in the safe of
the Supreme Being, which come back to the self with interest. The
Vaisesika concepts of God, of the liberation of the soul, and of the
path to liberation are all basically the same as the Nyaya concepts,
which have already been discussed in the preceding chapter.
_
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