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FOREWORD We are happy to place in the hands of the readers Sugamā of Desika Tirumalai Tátācarya which is a short and lucid commentary (Vitti) on the Vaiseșikasūtras of Kaņāda.
The Vaišeşikasūtras are considered to be the oldest philosophical sūtras among the orthodox systems of Indian Phiłosophy and are usually assigned to the 5th c. B. C. The philosophy of Vaišeşika, however, might be still older since one could easily show the influence of some of its theories on the formation of Buddhism and Jainism. In the early centuries of Christian era, Vaišeşika comes closer to Nyaya and the Prasastapāda bhāşya (4th c. A. D.) which is more of an independent work than a commentary on the Vaiseşikasūtras, shows a marked influence of the Nyāyabhışya of Vatsyāyana. So also is the case with the four commentaries (Vyomavati, Nyayakandali, Kiraņāvali and Lilavati) on the Prasastapādabhaşya written between the 9th and 11th c. A. D. Corresponding to the development of the system, a few new sâtras have been added to the Vaiseșikasūtras from time to time to make room for new ideas. Some efforts have been undertaken recently to reconstruct the original character of the Vaiseşikasūtras on the basis of contents analysis.
Pt. Tatacarya accepts and follows the order of Sūtras as suggested by Virarāghavācārya. The Vștti aims at elucidating the sūtras in their own light devoid
