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The Conception of Buddhist Nirvana c5.s19: XX. The Position of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika

The Conception of Buddhist Nirvāṇa c5.s19

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XX. The Position of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika

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In the conception of *Mokṣa* of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika a similarity to the Buddhist conception of Nirvāṇa may be noticed. The highest goal of life, according to Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika, is *Mokṣa* or *Apāvarga* in which there is neither consciousness as.

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we know it here down on Earth nor bliss. Vātsyāyana, the great commentator on the Nyāya-sūtras says that such a goal could hardly be acceptable to the average man. He puts the aversion of the average man to such a goal in the following words. "Is it possible that an enlightened man should favour a final Release in which there is neither bliss nor consciousness?" And he answers the question by a counter-question—"Is it possible that an enlightened man should not favour the idea of a final Release where all turmoil of life is stopped for ever and where there is no consciousness about it?"

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The goal of Indian philosophical systems is Moksa or Nirvāṇa They start with the conception of whole (sarvam) which is divided into phenomenal life and the Absolute (Samsāra and Nirvāṇa) The phenomenal part is further analysed into its actual condition (duhkha), its driving force (duhkha-samudaya), its extinction (nirodha), and the means for acquiring this extinction (nirodha-mārga) It is not only Buddhism which preaches these four truths. This scheme is accepted by almost all the Indian philosophical systems.

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Both in Nyāya-Vaiśesika and Buddhism, phenomenal life is designated as duhkha It is wrong to translate it as suffering, misery or pain, since it covers such items as inanimate matter, the five objects of sense etc

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In both the systems, the analysis of existence into its elements is undertaken in order to determine the means by which all the forces of life must be brought to a standstill.

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There is another general feature of practically all the systems of Indian philosophy They believe in a central force which keeps life going in all the worlds. This general force (karma) is resolved into special ones called illusion, desire and aversion. They produce germs of future action which bring about the continuation of phenomenal life. The decisive and final step which stops empirical life for ever, and transfers the individual into the Absolute is Yoga.

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The Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika system assumes a limited number of substances with their changing qualities. In this system, the soul of the individual is an eternal substance, it is ubiquitous and conterminous with space. Knowledge is produced in it by contact with *buddhi* or the internal organ. By the power of Yoga, *buddhi* is kept back from all contact with the soul. No consciousness is then produced, all phenomenal life is annihilated, but the substance of the soul reverts in *Mokṣa* (liberation) to its original and natural condition (*svarūpāvasthā*).

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There is a controversy between the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika systems and Vedānta regarding the condition of the liberated soul. The Vaiśeṣikas maintain that it is a cessation of all life, just as there is cessation of fire when all life is exhausted. According to them, there is no eternal bliss and eternal consciousness in *mokṣa* as Vedānta maintains. Since all objects of knowledge have disappeared for ever in *mokṣa*, if there is any joy in that condition, it would be joy without any thing to be enjoyed, if there is any knowledge in that condition, it would be knowledge without knowing anything. Such feeling and such knowledge would be as good as non-existent (*sthitopy asthitān na viśiṣyate*).

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The only meaning of *Mokṣa* or *Nirvāṇa* according to Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika is the annihilation of phenomenal life. This closely resembles the conception of Nirvāṇa of the Vaibhāṣika school of Buddhism. The Nirvāṇa of the Mahāyānists and the Sautrāntikas, however, resembles the conception of *Mokṣa* entertained by the Vedāntists.

Cites (1)