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INTRODUCTION.
LXXXI
6. THE ATOMIC THEORY.-Matter (pudgala) is a permanent substance belonging to non-sentient class of substances (II, 35). It is of various kinds, concrete and amenable to sense-perception; colour, taste, smell and touch are found in matter from the finer molecule to the gross earth (II, 39 etc.). The matter is either in the form of primary atoms (paramānu) or aggregates (skandha); these aggregates are the lumps of primary atoms. The primary atom has no space-points, i. e., it has no spatial extension; it is the unit of the space-measure, and it cannot be perceived by senses. Primary atoms being arid (rūksa) or cohesive (snigdha) come to form aggregates. Points of aridness or cohesiveness of an atom because of transformation, increasing by one from one onwards, attain infinity. Atoms form aggregates because of their points of aridness and cohesiveness; so atoms whether arid or cohesive, whether having odd or even points, form aggregates when there is the difference of two points, the minimum point being excepted. To explain and illustrate: an atom of one point of cohesiveness or aridness cannot be a party in the aggregatory process; an atom of two points of cohesiveness binds with an atom of four points of cohesiveness or aridness; and that of three points with that of five points. Thus the various aggregatory formations are possible (II, 71-5).
KUNDAKUNDA'S VIEW STATED.-Kundakunda does not prove his primary atoms but simply describes them; the reason is quite apparent that he is merely uttering the doctrines enunciated by the omniscient; and they are, as tradition would require, above any proof. Matter exists either in gross aggregates or fine primary atoms; an aggregate is a perceivable fact, while a primary atom, which represents a stage beyond which there is no possibility of further bisection, is beyond the ken of ordinary perception; only the supernormal perception can visualise it. A primary atom, as we gather from other works of Kundakunda, is the ultimate, indivisible unit of matter. It is eternal, unsounding, occupying one space-point and endowed with touch, taste, smell and colour; it is the cause of four elements (dhātu), and it is characterised by change (pariņāma-guno). Every primary atom has only one taste, one
discussion in Prameyalamalamārtaṇḍa of Prabhācandra. Vidyananda, in his Astasahasri, which is a commentary on Samantabhadra's Aptamimamsā and completely incorporates Astas'ati of Akalanka, elaborately quotes from S'lokavārtika and possibly some other works of Kumarila and Tattvasamgraha of S'antarakşıta and attacks their Views in detail. We find these discussions in his Tattvärtha-Slokavārtika which appears to have been given this name after that of Kumarila's work. Abhayadevasüri in his elaborate commentary on Siddhasena's Sanmati Prakarana discusses this topic at a great length. Later some manuals, too, have been written to prove the Sarvajñata, for instance Bṛhat-Sarvajñasiddhi and Laghu-Sarvajñasiddha of Anantakirti (Ed. MDJG., vol. I,) the attacks of which are mainly directed against Kumārila and they are much indebted to various authors from Samantabhadra down to Vidyananda Besides these sources 16 1s likely that there might be discussions in the works of Sumatı, Anantavirya, Vadiraja etc. some of which are lost and some still in MSS. Sarvajñatā came to be accepted and discussed only as religious necessity, but in course of time its psychological aspects also have been developed incidentally.
1 See Pañcāstihāya 84 etc. and Prof. Chakravarti's notes thereon (SBJ III pp. 82 etc.);
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