Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t18.6

v1.c7.s7.t18.6

Pakudha Kaccayana was also a major thinker of the school. He espoused a “seven elements” theory, claiming that all things and creatures in this world are composed of seven elements, ie earth, water, fire, wind, hardship, happiness and life. These elements are all ever-present (non-working, non-working for those need to be done, non-converting, non-converting for those need to be converted, non-killing, non-moving, non-transforming and non-changing) and eternally changeless. Things like the human body are essentially made up of them. Pakudha Kaccayana held that because of the changelessness and constancy of these basic elements, a human body composed of them cannot actually be harmed even if you cut it with a knife, because the basic elements cannot be destroyed. The element is the smallest unit of matter that constitutes such things as the emotional human body. Therefore, it cannot be divided and destroyed, it is changeless. This kind of element-based theory was once very influential in ancient India. It differs from such central Brahmanist concepts as the Atman or Brahman, and is also distinct from mainstream