A History of Indian Philosophy Part 48

[Footnote 1: Dr P.C. Ray's _Hindu Chemistry_, 1909, pp. 249-250.]

[Footnote 2: See for this portion Dr B.N. Seal's _Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus_, pp. 263-266. [email protected]_ on Buddhism.

_Nyayamanjari [email protected]_, with _Muktavali_ and _Dinakari_, and [email protected]_. The doctrine of Anyathasiddhi was systematically developed from the time of [email protected]'a.]

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_nimitta_ and accessory (_sahakari_) causes are those which help the material cause to produce the effect. Thus the potter, the wheel and the stick may be regarded as the nimitta and the sahakri causes of the effect.

We know that the [email protected] regards the effect as nonexistent, before the operation of the cause in producing it, but it holds that the [email protected] in the cause are the causes of the [email protected] in the effect, e.g. the black colour of the clay is the cause of the black colour of the effect, except in cases where heat comes as an extraneous cause to generate other qualities; thus when a clay jug is burnt, on account of the heat we get red colour, though the colour of the original clay and the jug was black. Another important exception is to be found in the case of the production of the [email protected] of [email protected] and [email protected] which are not produced by the [email protected] of an [email protected] or a [email protected], but by their number as we have already seen.

Dissolution (Pralaya) and Creation ([email protected]@[email protected]).

The doctrine of pralaya is accepted by all the Hindu systems except the [email protected] [Footnote ref 1]. According to the [email protected] view is'vara wishing to give some respite or rest to all living beings desires to bring about dissolution ([email protected] bhavati_). Simultaneously with it the [email protected]@[email protected] force residing in all the souls and forming bodies, senses, and the gross elements, ceases to act (_s'akti-pratibandha_). As a result of this no further bodies, senses, or other products come into being. Then for the bringing about of the dissolution of all produced things (by the desire of is'vara) the separation of the atoms commences and thus all combinations as bodies or senses are disintegrated; so all earth is reduced to the disintegrated atomic state, then all ap, then all tejas and then all vayu. These disintegrated atoms and the souls a.s.sociated with dharma, adharma and past impressions ([email protected]_) remain suspended in their own inanimate condition. For we know that souls in their natural condition are lifeless and knowledgeless, non-intelligent ent.i.ties. It is only when these are connected with bodies that they possess knowledge through the activity of manas. In the state of pralaya owing to the [email protected]@[email protected] of souls the

[Footnote 1: The doctrine of pralaya and [email protected]@[email protected] is found only in later [email protected] works, but the sutras of both the systems seem to be silent on the matter.]

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atoms do not conglomerate. It is not an act of cruelty on the part of is'vara that he brings about dissolution, for he does it to give some rest to the sufferings of the living beings.

At the time of creation, is'vara wishes to create and this desire of is'vara works in all the souls as [email protected]@[email protected] This one eternal desire of is'vara under certain conditions of time (e.g. of pralaya) as accessory causes (_sahakari_) helps the disintegration of atoms and at other times (e.g. that of creation) the constructive process of integration and unification of atoms for the world-creation.

When it acts in a specific capacity in the diverse souls it is called [email protected]@[email protected] At the time of dissolution the creative function of this [email protected]@[email protected] is suspended and at the time of creation it finds full play.

At the time of creation action first begins in the vayu atoms by the kinetic function of this [email protected]@[email protected], by the contact of the souls with the atoms. By such action the air atoms come in contact with one another and the [email protected] are formed and then in a similar way the [email protected] are formed, and thus vayu originates.

After vayu, the ap is formed by the conglomeration of water atoms, and then the tejas atoms conglomerate and then the earth atoms. When the four elements are thus conglomerated in the gross form, the G.o.d Brahma and all the worlds are created by is'vara and Brahma is directed by is'vara to do the rest of the work. Brahma thus arranges for the enjoyment and suffering of the fruits of diverse kinds of karma, good or bad. is'vara brings about this creation not for any selfish purpose but for the good of all beings. Even here sorrows have their place that they may lead men to turn from worldly attachment and try for the attainment of the highest good, mukti. Moreover is'vara arranges for the enjoyment of pleasures and the suffering of pains according to the merits and demerits of men, just as in our ordinary experience we find that a master awards prizes or punishments according to good or bad deeds [Footnote ref 1]. Many Nyaya books do not speak of the appointment of a Brahma as deputy for supervision of the due disposal of the fruits of karma according to merit or demerit. It is also held that pralaya and creation were brought about in accordance with the karma of men, or that it may be due to a mere play (_lila_) of is'vara.

is'vara is one, for if there were many is'varas they might quarrel.

The will of is'vara not only brings about dissolution and creation,

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[Footnote 1: See _Nyayakandali_, pp. 48-54.]

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but also acts always among us in a general way, for without it our karmas could not ripen, and the consequent disposal of pleasures and sorrows to us and a corresponding change in the exterior world in the form of order or harmony could not happen.

The exterior world is in perfect harmony with men's actions.

Their merits and demerits and all its changes and modifications take place in accordance with merits and demerits. This desire (_iccha_) of is'vara may thus be compared with the _iccha_ of is'vara as we find it in the Yoga system.

Proof of the Existence of is'vara.

[email protected] a.s.serts that the teleology of the [email protected] is sufficient to explain all order and arrangement of the cosmos. The [email protected], the Carvakas, the Buddhists and the Jains all deny the existence of is'vara (G.o.d). Nyaya believes that is'vara has fashioned this universe by his will out of the ever-existing atoms. For every effect (e.g. a jug) must have its cause. If this be so, then this world with all its order and arrangement must also be due to the agency of some cause, and this cause is is'vara. This world is not momentary as the Buddhists suppose, but is permanent as atoms, is also an effect so far as it is a collocation of atoms and is made up of parts like all other individual objects (e.g. jug, etc.), which we call effects. The world being an effect like any other effect must have a cause like any other effect. The objection made against this view is that such effects as we ordinarily perceive may be said to have agents as their causes but this manifest world with mountains, rivers, oceans etc. is so utterly different in form from ordinary effects that we notice every day, that the law that every effect must have a cause cannot be said to hold good in the present case. The answer that Nyaya gives is that the concomitance between two things must be taken in its general aspect neglecting the specific peculiarities of each case of observed concomitance. Thus I had seen many cases of the concomitance of smoke with fire, and had thence formed the notion that "wherever there is smoke there is fire"; but if I had only observed small puffs of smoke and small fires, could I say that only small quant.i.ties of smoke could lead us to the inference of fire, and could I hold that therefore large volumes of smoke from the burning of a forest should not be sufficient reason for us to infer the existence of fire in the forest?

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Thus our conclusion should not be that only smaller effects are preceded by their causes, but that all effects are invariably and unconditionally preceded by causes. This world therefore being an effect must be preceded by a cause, and this cause is is'vara. This cause we cannot see, because is'vara has no visible body, not because he does not exist. It is sometimes said that we see every day that shoots come out of seeds and they are not produced by any agent. To such an objection the Nyaya answer is that even they are created by G.o.d, for they are also effects. That we do not see any one to fashion them is not because there is no maker of them, but because the creator cannot be seen. If the objector could distinctly prove that there was no invisible maker shaping these shoots, then only could he point to it as a case of contradiction. But so long as this is not done it is still only a doubtful case of enquiry and it is therefore legitimate for us to infer that since all effects have a cause, the shoots as well as the manifest world being effects must have a cause.

This cause is is'vara. He has infinite knowledge and is all merciful.

At the beginning of creation He created the Vedas. He is like our father who is always engaged in doing us good [Footnote ref 1].

Tht [email protected] Physics.

The four kinds of atoms are earth, water, fire, and air atoms.

These have ma.s.s, number, weight, fluidity (or hardness), viscosity (or its opposite), velocity, characteristic potential colour, taste, smell, or touch, not produced by the chemical operation of heat. akas'a (s.p.a.ce) is absolutely inert and structure-less being only as the substratum of sound, which is supposed to travel wave-like in the manifesting medium of air. Atomic combination is only possible with the four elements. Atoms cannot exist in an uncombined condition in the creation stage; atmospheric air however consists of atoms in an uncombined state.

Two atoms combine to form a binary molecule ([email protected]_). Two, three, four, or five [email protected] form themselves into grosser molecules of [email protected], [email protected], etc. [Footnote ref 2]. Though this was the generally current view, there was also another view as has been pointed out by Dr B.N. Seal in his _Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus_, that the "atoms have also an inherent tendency to unite," and that

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[Footnote 1: See Jayanta's _Nyayamanjari,_ pp. 190-204, and Udayana's _Kusumanjali_ with _Prakas'a_ and _is'varanumana_ of Raghunatha.]

[Footnote 2: _Kadacit tribhirarabhyate iti [email protected], kadacit caturbhirarabhyate kadacit pancabhiriti [email protected]@[email protected] kalpana.

Nyayakandali_, p. 32.]

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they do so in twos, threes, or fours, "either by the atoms falling into groups of threes, fours, etc., directly, or by the successive addition of one atom to each preceding aggregate [Footnote ref l]." Of course the atoms are regarded as possessed of an incessant vibratory motion. It must however be noted in this connection that behind this physical explanation of the union of atoms there is the [email protected]@[email protected], the will of is'vara, which gives the direction of all such unions in harmony with the principle of a "moral government of the universe,"

so that only such things are produced as can be arranged for the due disposal of the effects of karma. "An elementary substance thus produced by primary atomic combination may however suffer qualitative changes under the influence of heat (_pakajotpatti_)"

The impact of heat corpuscles decomposes a [email protected] into the atoms and transforms the characters of the atoms determining them all in the same way. The heat particles continuing to impinge reunite the atoms so transformed to form binary or other molecules in different orders or arrangements, which account for the specific characters or qualities finally produced. The [email protected] holds that there is first a disintegration into simple atoms, then change of atomic qualities, and then the final re-combination, under the influence of heat. This doctrine is called the doctrine of _pilupaka_ (heating of atoms). Nyaya on the other hand thinks that no disintegration into atoms is necessary for change of qualities, but it is the molecules which a.s.sume new characters under the influence of heat. Heat thus according to Nyaya directly affects the characters of the molecules and changes their qualities without effecting a change in the atoms. Nyaya holds that the heat-corpuscles penetrate into the porous body of the object and thereby produce the change of colour. The object as a whole is not disintegrated into atoms and then reconst.i.tuted again, for such a procedure is never experienced by observation. This is called the doctrine of [email protected]_ (heating of molecules). This is one of the few points of difference between the later Nyaya and [email protected] systems [Footnote ref 2].

Chemical compounds of atoms may take place between the

[Footnote 1: Utpala's commentary on [email protected]_ I. 7.]

[Footnote 2: See Dr B.N. Seal in P.C. Ray's _Hindu Chemistry_, pp. 190-191, _Nyayamanjari_, p 438, and Udyotakara's _Varttika_. There is very little indication in the Nyaya and [email protected] sutras_ that they had any of those differences indicated here. Though there are slight indications of these matters in the [email protected] sutras_ (VII. 1), the _Nyaya sutras_ are almost silent upon the matter. A systematic development of the theory of creation and atomic combinations appear to have taken place after Vatsyayana.]

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atoms of the same bhuta or of many bhutas. According to the Nyaya view there are no differences in the atoms of the same bhuta, and all differences of quality and characteristics of the compound of the same bhuta are due only to diverse collocations of those atoms. Thus Udyotakara says (III. i. 4) that there is no difference between the atom of a barley seed and paddy seed, since these are all but atoms of earth. Under the continued impact of heat particles the atoms take new characters. It is heat and heat alone that can cause the transformations of colours, tastes etc. in the original bhuta atoms. The change of these physical characters depends on the colours etc. of the const.i.tuent substances in contact, on the intensity or degree of heat and also on the species of tejas corpuscles that impinge on the atoms. Heat breaks bodies in contact into atoms, transforms their qualities, and forms separate bodies with them.

Pras'astapada (the commentator of [email protected]) holds that in the higher compounds of the same bhuta the transformation takes place (under internal heat) in the const.i.tuent atoms of the compound molecules, atoms specially determined as the compound and not in the original atoms of the bhuta entering into the composition of the compound. Thus when milk is turned into curd, the transformation as curd takes place in the atoms determined as milk in the milk molecule, and it is not necessary that the milk molecule should be disintegrated into the atoms of the original bhuta of which the milk is a modification. The change as curd thus takes place in the milk atom, and the milk molecule has not to be disintegrated into [email protected] or ap atoms. So again in the fertilized ovum, the germ and the ovum substances, which in the [email protected] view are both isomeric modes of earth (with accompaniments of other bhutas) are broken up into h.o.m.ogeneous earth atoms, and it is these that chemically combine under the animal heat and biomotor force vayu to form the germ (_kalala_). But when the germ plasm develops, deriving its nutrition from the blood of the mother, the animal heat breaks up the molecules of the germ plasm into its const.i.tuent atoms, i.e. atoms specifically determined which by their grouping formed the germ plasm.

These germ-plasm atoms chemically combine with the atoms of the food const.i.tuents and thus produce cells and tissues [Footnote ref 1].

This atomic contact is called [email protected]_.

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[Footnote 1: See Dr B.N. Seal's _Positive Sciences,_ pp. 104-108, and _Nyayakandali_, pp. 33-34, "_S'arirarambhe paramanava eva [email protected] na [email protected] kriyavibhagadinyayena tayorvinas'e sati [email protected] [email protected], na ca [email protected]@m [email protected]@h [email protected]...[email protected] [email protected] matuh [email protected] tayos [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]@su purvarupadivinas'e [email protected]@nantarotpattau [email protected]@na [email protected] [email protected]'o...tatra maturahararaso matraya [email protected], [email protected]@[email protected]'attatra [email protected] [email protected]@su kriyavibhagadinyayena kalalas'arire [email protected]@te [email protected] [email protected]@[email protected]