Vaisheshika

Vaisheshika (IAST: Vaiśeṣika; ; ) is one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy from ancient India. In its early stages, Vaiśeṣika was an independent philosophy with its own metaphysics, epistemology, logic, ethics, and soteriology. Over time, the Vaiśeṣika system became similar in its philosophical procedures, ethical conclusions and soteriology to the Nyāya school of Hinduism, but retained its difference in epistemology and metaphysics.

The epistemology of the Vaiśeṣika school of Hinduism, like Buddhism, accepted only two reliable means to knowledge: direct observation and inference. The Vaiśeṣika school and Buddhism both consider their respective scriptures as indisputable and valid means to knowledge, the difference being that the scriptures held to be a valid and reliable source by Vaiśeṣikas were the Vedas.

The Vaiśeṣika school is known for its insights in naturalism, a form of atomism in natural philosophy. It postulated that all objects in the physical universe are reducible to paramāṇu (atoms), and one's experiences are derived from the interplay of substance (a function of atoms, their number and their spatial arrangements), quality, activity, commonness, particularity and inherence. Everything was composed of atoms, qualities emerged from aggregates of atoms, but the aggregation and nature of these atoms was predetermined by cosmic forces. The Ājīvika and Trairāśika schools of Jainism also included a concept of atoms; however, their ideas were similar to each other but different from and less developed than that of the Vaisheshika school.

According to the Vaiśeṣika school, knowledge and liberation were achievable by a complete understanding of the world of experience.

Overview

The name Vaiśeṣika derives from viśeṣa, the category that represents the individuality of innumerable existing objects.

Although the Vaiśeṣika system developed independently from the Nyāya philosophy of Hinduism, the two became similar and are often studied together. However, in its classical form, the Vaiśeṣika school differed from Nyāya in a significant way: where Nyāya accepted four sources of valid knowledge, the Vaiśeṣika accepted only two.

The followers of this philosophy are mostly Shaivas. Haribhadra Suri, in his work Ṣaḍdarśanasamuccaya describes the followers of Vaiśeṣika as worshippers of Pashupati or Shiva.

Development

Foundational text

The earliest systematic exposition of the Vaisheshika is found in the Vaisheshika Sutra| of (or ). Kanada is also referred to as Uluka by Ci-tsan, a Chinese Buddhist commentator. This treatise is divided into ten books.

Commentaries

The two commentaries on the , and are no more extant. Prashastapada|’s (c. 4th century) is the next important work of this school. Though commonly known as of , this treatise is basically an independent work on the subject. The next Vaisheshika treatise, Candra's (648) based on ’s treatise is available only in Chinese translation. The earliest commentary available on ’s treatise is ’s (8th century). The other three commentaries are ’s (991), Udayana's (10th century) and ’s (11th century). ’s which also belongs to the same period, presents the and the principles as a part of one whole. ’s Upaskara on is also an important work.

Metaphysics

Categories or Padārtha

According to the Vaisheshika school, all things that exist, that can be cognized and named are s (literal meaning: the meaning of a word), the objects of experience. All objects of experience can be classified into six categories, dravya (substance), (quality), karma (activity), (generality), (particularity) and (inherence). Later s ( and Udayana and ) added one more category abhava (non-existence). The first three categories are defined as artha (which can perceived) and they have real objective existence. The last three categories are defined as (product of intellectual discrimination) and they are logical categories.

Dravya (substance): There are nine substances. They are, (earth), ap (water), tejas (fire), (air), (ether), (time), dik (space), (self or soul) and manas (mind). The first five are called s, the substances having some specific qualities so that they could be perceived by one or the other external senses.
Guṇa (quality): The mentions 17 s (qualities), to which added another 7. While a substance is capable of existing independently by itself, a (quality) cannot exist so. The original 17 s (qualities) are, (colour), rasa (taste), gandha (smell), (touch), (number), (size/dimension/quantity), (individuality), (conjunction/accompaniments), (disjunction), ' (priority), aparatva (posteriority), buddhi (knowledge), sukha (pleasure), (pain), (desire), (aversion) and prayatna (effort). To these added gurutva (heaviness), dravatva (fluidity), sneha (viscosity), dharma (merit), adharma (demerit), (sound) and (faculty).
Karma (activity): The karmas (activities) like s (qualities) have no separate existence, they belong to the substances. But while a quality is a permanent feature of a substance, an activity is a transient one. (ether), (time), dik (space) and (self), though substances, are devoid of karma (activity).
Sāmānya (generality): Since there are plurality of substances, there will be relations among them. When a property is found common to many substances, it is called .
(particularity): By means of , we are able to perceive substances as different from one another. As the ultimate atoms are innumerable so are the s.
(inherence): defined as the relation between the cause and the effect. defined it as the relationship existing between the substances that are inseparable, standing to one another in the relation of the container and the contained. The relation of is not perceivable but only inferable from the inseparable connection of the substances.
Abhava (non-existence)

Atomism

According to the school, a paramanu (atom) is an indestructible particle of matter. The atom is indivisible because it is a state at which no measurement can be attributed. They used invariance arguments to determine properties of the atoms. It also stated that anu can have two states—absolute rest and a state of motion.

They postulated four different kinds of atoms: two with mass, and two without. Each (atom) possesses its own distinct (individuality)

The measure of the partless atoms is known as parimaṇḍala parimāṇa. It is eternal and it cannot generate the measure of any other substance. Its measure is its own absolutely.

Epistemology

Six pramāṇas (epistemically reliable means to accurate knowledge and to truths) are noted within different Indian philosophical schools: Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāna (inference), Śabda or āgama "(word, testimony of past or present reliable experts), Upamāna (comparison and analogy), Arthāpatti (postulation, derivation from circumstances), and Anupalabdhi (non-perception, negative/cognitive proof). Of these epistemology considered only pratyakṣa (perception) and (inference) as reliable means of valid knowledge. Yoga accepts the first three of these six as pramāṇa; and the Nyaya school, related to Vaiśeṣika, accepts the first four out of these six. The ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism identify four requirements for correct perception: Indriyarthasannikarsa (direct experience by one's sensory organ(s) with the object, whatever is being studied), Avyapadesya (non-verbal; correct perception is not through hearsay, according to ancient Indian scholars, where one's sensory organ relies on accepting or rejecting someone else's perception), Avyabhicara (does not wander; correct perception does not change, nor is it the result of deception because one's sensory organ or means of observation is drifting, defective, suspect) and Vyavasayatmaka (definite; correct perception excludes judgments of doubt, either because of one's failure to observe all the details, or because one is mixing inference with observation and observing what one wants to observe, or not observing what one does not want to observe). Further, the texts considered and refined rules of accepting uncertain knowledge from Pratyakṣa-pranama, so as to contrast nirnaya (definite judgment, conclusion) from anadhyavasaya (indefinite judgment).

Anumāna (अनुमान) means inference. It is described as reaching a new conclusion and truth from one or more observations and previous truths by applying reason. Observing smoke and inferring fire is an example of Anumana. this is a valid and useful means to knowledge. The method of inference is explained by Indian texts as consisting of three parts: pratijna (hypothesis), hetu (a reason), and drshtanta (examples). The hypothesis must further be broken down into two parts, state the ancient Indian scholars: sadhya (that idea which needs to proven or disproven) and paksha (the object on which the sadhya is predicated). The inference is conditionally true if sapaksha (positive examples as evidence) are present, and if vipaksha (negative examples as counter-evidence) are absent. For rigor, the Indian philosophies also state further epistemic steps. For example, they demand Vyapti - the requirement that the hetu (reason) must necessarily and separately account for the inference in "all" cases, in both sapaksha and vipaksha. A conditionally proven hypothesis is called a nigamana (conclusion).

Syllogism

The syllogism of the school was similar to that of the Nyāya school of Hinduism, but the names given by to the 5 members of syllogism are different.

References

Sources

External links

Vaisheshika-sutra with three commentaries English translation by Nandalal Sinha, 1923 (includes glossary)
A summary of Vaisheshika physics
Shastra Nethralaya - Vaisheshika
GRETIL e-text of the Vaiśeṣika Sūtras