Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s10.t6.55

v1.c7.s10.t6.55

The Upanishadic “basic elements theory” helped incubate the later-day schools of natural philosophy in India and their key theories, especially the “atomism”, a theory popular not just in Brahmanist schools of thought such as the Vaisheshika school and the Nyaya school, but also in non-Brahmanist systems, including Jainism and Buddhism. Although different schools of thought tended to interpret the roles and status of the elements differently, they all associated the formation of the world with these elements, albeit in varying degrees. It is fair to say that they own their theories on the world creation to the Upanishads.