Vaisheshikas had realized that if we went on to divide objects, we would eventually reach the indivisible particles which would not be possible to divide further. They could not actually reach these particles, but through their logical reasoning they could predict the possibility of such particles. It was these indivisible particles that they named ‘atoms’ (Paramanu).
All material objects are created from the integration of the atoms of earth, water, fire and air; while the destruction of the objects is due to the disintegration of the atoms. Atoms, however, are eternal. That is, they are neither created nor destroyed. They exist forever. In short, atoms are eternal and imperishable. However, the objects created from them are non-eternal and perishable. According to Vaisheshikas, there are in all nine substances that form the basis of the universe. Apart from the four basic elements mentioned above, they include fifth basic element ether as well as space, time, mind and soul under the categary of substance.
For example, if you look around the classroom, you will notice that the tables, chairs, benches, doors, windows and their frames are all totally different objects but all are made of wood. Wood is obtained from trees. Apart from wood, we get many more things from plants and trees. We get leaves, flowers, fruits, food items and medicines too. We prepare medicines from the medicinal plants. Bamboo is a good example of a multipurpose plant as it is used not only for making useful objects but also for creating artistic objects.
The above-mentioned examples are of man-made objects. In natural world too we may experience multiple forms of a particular object. For example, a small spark, a flame, a burning fire, a forest fire all these are various forms of one and the same element i.e. Fire. Water-cycle or food-chain are the examples of natural transformation of a particular thing from one form to another. We may say that egg, larva, caterpillar, pupa, butterfly, are different entities or even different stages of the same life form.
Through such observations man concluded that although the world is full of diversities, it must have been created out of some basic elements. Even if, this guess was correct it raised many questions. If it is believed that due to some changes among basic elements other objects were created, then what was the cause of that change? What was the process of change? Did this change occur mechanically or someone planned it? If it was planned, then, what was the purpose? Along with these questions, man was curious about two basic questions; what is the number of these fundamental elements - one, two or many? And what is their nature? What are the qualities of these elements that make it possible for a variety of things to originate from them? In this lesson, we shall mainly study the responses given to these two questions in Indian and Western traditions. Hence, the title of this lesson is, ‘There is something, but what it is?’ It is said that understanding the nature of the ultimate reality or ‘Sat’ has been the matter of interest for Philosophy. The word ‘reality’ refers to the real or that which exists. It has nothing to do with political or any other sort of dominance or supremacy. As we have studied last year, the ‘real’ is independent and does not depend on any individual or experience for its existence. This ultimate reality is the reality which is at the root of everything that exists. It is called as ‘the ultimate reality’ as in the process of discovering the origin of everything that exists, one discovers reality at the end. It exists in itself and is not created. That is why the elements of the ultimate reality are called as the fundamental elements.
This can be better understood with an example, when we look at trees, we see the trunks, branches, leaves, flowers, fruits but the roots that nourish the trees and hold them to the ground, are hidden under the ground and usually they are not visible. But, the survival of the trees depends on them. Philosophers through their speculations and conceptualizations have attempted to explore and understand the ultimate reality which is the root-cause of the empirical world. When the intellectual leap that the philosopher had taken was coupled with the methods of modern science, this journy gathered momentum. That is how we have reached up to the periodic table. In this overall journey, the questions that the philosophers have contemplated upon, the methods used to solve these, their responses, concepts and language used for this are of great importance. We can see that science found its directions from the transitions that philosophy went through. Let’s study some of the important views of philosophers regarding the number and the nature of the ultimate reality. Contemplation over the fundamental nature of the universe can be traced back to the earliest days of philosophical thought of both - the Indian and the Western traditions. The ‘Nasadiyasukta’ in Vedic tradition, the pre-Socratic thought in Greek tradition are some of its instances. Most of this contemplation was of the nature of logical reasoning. Mainly, the explanation of the naturally occurring events or of the existence of objects was not supported by any kind of divine or supernatural entity, as was otherwise found in ancient myths. With the increasing clarity of thought, the concept of ‘Dravya’ in Indian tradition and the concept of ‘Substance’ in Western tradition emerged. Knowledge of the world is primarily obtained through the medium of sense-experiences.
As we have studied in the previous year, there is a difference between the experience and the thing we experience. It is not necessary that everything that we experience has existence, e.g. mirage. Similarly, not everything that exists is a matter of sense-experience, e.g. atoms. We experience a material object through its appearance, color, shape, type, its dimensions and its relation to other objects. For example, when we eat an orange, we experience the orange-yellow color, the round shape, the sour-sweet smell, the taste and the cool touch. We also observe whether it is small or large and how it is different from sweet lemon. But is an orange just a bunch of color, sme
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