Indian Logic and Atomism: An Exposition of the Nyaya and Vaiceshika Systems c19.s1.1

c19.s1.1

THE Nyāya-Vaiçeṣika in the syncretist texts ¹ is frankly theistic; those which follow the tradition of the Vaiçeṣika and adopt its order of exposition, find place for the conception of God under the category of substance, as one great subdivision of the self, with which on their theory God has eight qualities in common, the five common to all beings, number, as one, dimension, as all-pervading, individuality, conjunction and disjunction, which are necessary in creation, and cognition, desire and action. But they admit that his cognition differs essentially from that of man in that it is eternal, universal, and absolute, while that of man is transient, particular, and relative. On the other hand, the Nyāya tradition as seen in the *Tarkabhāṣā*, not being confined within the strict system of categories of the Vaiçeṣika, is free to treat God as a being of quite exceptional character, not to be regarded as in any sense on a par with the human soul.