History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c40.s3.1

c40.s3.1

The Vedantists believe *Maya* to be the 'material cause' of the world. The power of *Maya* is the power to realise the unreal—to impart practical Reality, or mediate existence, to that which does not and cannot possess absolute Reality or self-existence. *Maya* is at once real and unreal, while the *Brahma* (Self) is absolute Reality, absolute Intelligence and absolute Bliss. The world evolves out of *Maya*, so that *Maya* in the Vedanta replaces the *Prakriti* of the Samkhya. But *Maya*, and by implication the world, originate out of *Brahma*, not by a process of evolution, but of *vivarta* (self-alienation). The self-alienation of the Absolute, acting through *Maya*, produces in the beginning *akasa*, one, infinite, ubiquitous, imponderable, inert and all pervasive. The world, thus begun, goes on evolving in increasing complexity. The other *sukshma bhutas*, classes of subtile matter, evolve from *akasa*, in an ascending linear order,—*akasa* giving off *vayu*, *vayu* giving off *tejas*, *tejas* giving off *ap*, and *ap* giving off *kshiti*. *Akasa*, one, infinite, all-pervasive, has the capacity of sound. *Vayu*, subtile gaseous matter, emanates from the universal *akasa*, and is instinct with the potential of mechanical energy (impact, pressure). *Tejas*, subtile radiant matter, emanates from *vayu*, and contains in potentia the energy of light and heat. *Ap*, subtile viscous matter, is the transformation of *tejas*, and is instinct with the energy that stimulates the nerve of taste; and lastly *kshiti* (Earth) subtile hard matter, which is the transformation of *ap*, possesses the latent energy of smell.