The University of Nalanda c7.95

c7.95

The other system, *Vaiśeṣika* was propounded by Kaṇāda.⁴ His date is not known, but he flourished in, as Dutt calls, the "Rationalistic Period."⁵ The creation and destruction of the Universe were here explained in a more or less scientific way. In later times *Nyāya* and *Vaiśeṣika* went hand in hand as *Sāṁkhya* and Yoga. The influence of this system can be measured from the fact that since its advent in the field of philosophies, it drew attention of sympathetic as well as hostile students. It became a target of attack both for the Buddhists as well as the *Vēdāntins*. All the Buddhist philosophers of the succeeding age, beginning with Nāgārjuna, even including Hiuen Tsiang,¹ thought it worth their while to refute it, while it met with the most severe and crushing criticism at the hands of Śaṅkara, the great Vēdāntin.²