A Concise History of Science in India c13.s2.2

c13.s2.2

Among the main literary sources those which expound one of the systems of Indian thought, viz. the *Vaiśeṣika*, are very important from the point of view of the physical concepts. The *Vaiśeṣika sūtra* of Kaṇāda and the *Padārthadharmasaṃgraha* of Praśastapāda are the two principal authorities of the *Vaiśeṣika* school. Though a gloss on the *Vaiśeṣika sūtra*, the *Padārthadharmasaṃgraha* has the characteristics of an original work. The *Vaiśeṣika* school is supposed to have been propounded by a sage called Kaṇāda. Kaṇāda, Kaṇabhuj or Kaṇabhakṣa, as he is differently referred to, means one who eats particle or grain, indicating probably the atomic particles; and this is attributed to the fact that Kaṇāda enunciated the essentials of an atomic theory.a The *Vaiśeṣika*, even in its *sūtra* form, is very old, possibly pre-Buddhistic.b However, the origins of the *Vaiśeṣika sūtras* are obscure. There are reasons to believe that the *Vaiśeṣika* school in its beginning was heterodox in position not taking shelter under the umbrella of orthodox Vedic views. Later it appears to have absorbed the Vedic concept of *dharma* and thus entered the orthodox fold.c Nevertheless, it is rather important to note that the *Vaiśeṣika* recognizes both perception and inference as means of acquiring knowledge and does not accord a pride of place to the authority of the Vedic tenets.