Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c44.8

v2.c44.8

The Buddhist schools accepted the atomic view of matter with some qualifications. According to the Jainas, interlinking between atoms and molecules in *pudgala* or matter must precede all compound formations: *aṇu* (atom) to *skandha* (aggregate). (Ray, Priyada, 1956: 46-47; Sikdar, 1970) A detailed presentation of the atomic theory and chemical combination found in Umāsvāmī’s (c. AD 40). *Tattvārthādhigama-sūtra* bears some crude resemblance to the ‘dualistic hypothesis’ of Berzelius, propounded in the nineteenth century.