Vaisheshika Atomism: An Early Indian Theory of Matter and Substance

Abstract

Vaisheshika, one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of classical Indian philosophy, developed the most systematic ancient account of matter and substance anywhere in the pre-modern world. Attributed to the sage Kaṇāda and systematised in the Vaiśeṣika Sūtra (c. 600–200 BCE) and Praśastapāda's Padārthadharmasaṅgraha, the school argued that all composite objects in the universe are ultimately composed of indivisible, eternal, spherical particles (paramāṇu) of four elemental substances: earth, water, fire and air. These atoms possess intrinsic qualities, combine according to principles of conjunction and disjunction, and move under the impetus of the unseen moral force of adṛṣṭa. This article examines the historical development of the Vaiśeṣika system, its sevenfold taxonomy of reality (padārtha), its atomic physics of substance, quality and motion, its distinctive theory of inherence (samavāya), and its later synthesis with the Nyāya school. It situates the doctrine comparatively against Greek atomism and briefly against modern physical science, argues that Vaiśeṣika atomism was primarily a metaphysical and soteriological rather than a physical project, and assesses its continuing significance for the history of science and philosophy of matter.