History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c95.11

v7.c95.11

It may be noted here that, according to Śaṅkarācārya, the detailed²⁴³⁴ statements on the doctrine about creation contained in the Upaniṣads are not to be taken literally, that no special purpose dependent thereon can be found nor is such a purpose laid down by Śruti (Veda), but all those statements are intended to lead on to the knowledge of *brahma* and to expound the non-difference of the world from *brahma*.²⁴³⁵ From early times most philosophers oscillate between the doctrine of the First Principle as immanent in the universe and the doctrine that God is the creator and is transcendent. The Ṛgveda and Upaniṣads appear to postulate the first doctrine according to which the Absolute enters into it when it creates the Universe (Tai. Up. II. 6 'tat sṛṣṭvā tad-evānuprāviśat'), Chān. Up. VI. 2. 1, VI 3. 2, Bṛ. Up. I. 4. 10. They also speak of God as ruling the Universe (antaryāmin) as in Bṛ. Up. III 7. Kauṣītaki Up. III. 8. At that time there was no atomic theory. Early Greek thought also wavered between the two doctrines. Later on came the rival theory of cosmology in which atoms played a great part, that was adumbrated by Democritus (died about 370 B. C. acc. to William James in 'Some Problems', and explained by Lucretius. In India also the Vaiśeṣikas put forward the theory that the world is paramāṇus (atoms). Kaṇāda or Kaṇabhuk (lit. one who assumes or subsists on kaṇas, very subtle particles) is the reputed founder of the Vaiśeṣika system. He does not expressly say anything about God. But later medieval writers on Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika combined the two doctrines of God and atoms. As the Tarkadīpikā²⁴³⁶ puts the theory it is as follows: when God desires to create, activity is produced among the atoms, two atoms join, dvyaṇuka (dyad) is produced, tryaṇuka is produced from three dvyaṇukas and in the end the great earth is produced; of things created when God desires to bring about dissolution an activity is produced in the atoms. The atoms are eternal and infinite in number.