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FOURTH CHAPTER
ATOMISM
Introduction
The Indian thought on Atomism reflects a stage of the emergence and development of Indian philosophy of a period in the field of metaphysical knowledge, when the daring flight of imagination of the speculative Indian mind with logical nicety went on to search out the basic principle of dissolution and creation of the material universe. In this speculation the Samkhya-Yoga, Vaišeşika, Nyāya, Mimāṁsaka, Bauddha, Vedānta and Jaina systems of thought have attacked the problem from their respective angles of vision and made attempts at the explanation and interpretation of the root cause of Atomism. The Cārvākası have admitted four or five elements of Matter as the basis of creation with a support for Atomism.
The Samkhya-yoga? philosophy has conceived an idea of atom as produced from tanmātra (infra-atomic potential) by advocating Prakstivāda (doctrine of Primordial Matter) as the fundamental cause of the material universe. The Nyāya-Vaišesika3 has propounded the atomic theory on the basis of avayava (constituent element) and avayavin (composite whole), so its Atomism is based on Sthiratvavāda (doctrine of permanence) 1. Tattvopaplavasimha, p. 1. 2. Sāṁkhyapravacanabhāsya, Vijñānabhikṣu, ch. 1, sūtra 62;
Vyāsabhāsya on Yogasūtra of Patañjali, pāda IV, sūtra
14, p. 19. 3. Vaiệesikadarśana, Kanāda, adhyāya IV, âhnika 1, sūtra.
1-2; Nyāyadarśana, Gautama, adhyāya IV, āhnika II, sūtra 15; adhyāya II, āhnika 1, sūtra 35, See Vātsyāyanabhāsya. on them.
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