Indian Philosophy v2.c24.s19.41

v2.c24.s19.41

Earth, water, light, air, ākāśa, time, space, soul and manas are the nine substances intended to comprise all corporeal and incorporeal things.¹ The Vaiśeṣika is not a materialism, though a realistic scheme, since it admits non-material substances like souls, and regards as real not the gross material substances but their minima. Of the nine substances, earth, water, light, air, soul and manas have many individuals.² These, with the exception of soul, are extended, have relations of distance and proximity, are capable of action and possess speed.³ Ākāśa, time and space are all-pervading, have the largest dimensions and are the common receptacles of all corporeal things.⁴ Soul and manas, ākāśa, time and space, air and ultimate atoms are not ordinarily perceptible.⁵ A distinction is made between corporeal (mūrta) and elemental (bhūta) substances. The former have definite dimensions,⁶ act and move. Elemental substances, singly or in combination, become the material causes of the products of the world. Manas, though atomic, does not produce anything else, while ākāśa, though all-pervading, produces sound. Earth, water, light and air are both corporeal and productive.⁷