Hindu Achievements in Exact Science: A Study in the History of Scientific Development c13.5

c13.5

(3) Law of Motion: The force of *samskara* (or persistent tendency to motion, i.e., *vega*) was known to diminish by doing work against a counteracting force; and when the *samskara* is in this way entirely destroyed, the moving body was known to come to a rest. Thus "*vega* corresponds to inertia in some respects, and to momentum (impressed motion) in others. This is the nearest approach to Newton's First Law of Motion,"⁵⁹ in the writings of Shamkara Mishra, the Doctor of Vaishesika (atomistic, Democritean) philosophy.