Hindu Achievements in Exact Science: A Study in the History of Scientific Development c23.8

c23.8

The diversity of scientific doctrines in India may be illustrated by the differences of views regarding the nature of life. The Charvakas (materialists and sensationalists) held “that life (as well as consciousness) is a result of peculiar combinations of dead mater (or the four elements) in organic forms, even as the intoxicating property of spirituous liquors results from the fermentation of intoxicating rice and molasses.” According to a second school (the Samkhya), life is neither a bio-mechanical force nor any mere mechanical motion resulting therefrom. It “is in reality a reflex activity, a resultant of the various *concurrent* activities of the sensori-motor, the emotional and the apperceptive reactions of the organism.” A third school (the Vedantist) rejects both these doctrines. According to this, “sensations do not explain life. Life must be regarded as a separate principle . . . prior to the senses."⁵⁹