A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c34.180

v2.c34.180

and Udayana, who wrote the Parisuddhi on the Tátparyya-tíká of Váchaspati, could not have been a contemporary of the latter, as will also appear from the invocation to Sarasvatí in the opening lines of the Parisuddhi. Váchaspati then preceded Udayana by 142 years, and must have been himself preceded by the author of the Vyása-Bháshya by a Now the question is—in these mixed substances does the fusion take place by Paramánus or by larger masses (or lumps)? Now a Paramánu is defined to be the smallest portion of any substance which exhibits the characteristic qualities of that substance,—in other words, it stands for the smallest homogeneous portion of any substance. It is not without parts and therefore not indivisible. It is subject to disintegration. In a Bhúta or its isomeric modification, the Paramánu, the smallest homogeneous component particle, is unmixed, and therefore corresponds to the atom of modern chemistry. In a mixed substance (मिश्रतद्रव्य, संघतभूतार्थ) whether it is an ‘isomeric’ or a ‘polymeric’ compound, the qualities are due to the mixture, and therefore its Paramánu, the smallest homogeneous particle possessing its characteristic qualities, must result from the mixture of the Paramánus (in smaller or larger numbers as the case may be) of the component substances. The Para-