SINCE ancient times, we in India have contemplated some questions. What is the universe? How was it born? Why was it born? However, if these things were contemplated upon more contemplation was done on the human mind in which these question arose.
The first medium of acquiring knowledge is the sense organs. Through these organs, a man can see, taste, smell, touch and hear and acquire knowledge. These are the media of the outer world. Various appliances increase the power of these organs.
Intuition was considered the second and the more important medium. Once the vibrations of the thoughts, feelings and desires are pacified, the body is used as a laboratory and the truth is revealed. These were the two media of acquiring knowledge and efforts were made to experience the inner feelings, and find the answers to the above questions. Although answers to the above questions are available in the Vedas, the Brahmansa, the Upanishads, the Mahabharata, the Bhagwat etc, but from the point of view of nuclear science, and analysis of the universe was first established in a formulated way the Sage Kanaad, thousands of years ago, in his Vaisheshik Darshan.
On some issues, Sage Kanaad'sphilosophy goes much ahead of today'sscience. Sage Kanaad says that if a matter is made smaller, a time will come when it can not be made any smaller because if this is done, it will lose its old characteristics. The second thing he says is that matter has two states?molecular and mammoth. The molecular state is the minutest and this huge universe is mammoth. Moreover, the state of matter does not remain the same. Hence, Kanaad says:
Dharma vishesh prasudaat dravya gun karma saamaanya vishesh
samavaayanaam
Padaarthaanam sadharmya
vaidhamryaabhyaam tatvagyaana
nihshreyasam.
?(Vaisheshik Darshan-4)
In Dharma, the salvation is achieved by the knowledge of the heterogeneity and the homogeinty of the collection of matter, properties, and work, ordinary and special.
What is matter? Sage Kanaad'sinterpretation of this is very extensive and amazing. He says-
Prithivyaapastejovaa
yuraakaasham Kaalodigaatma
mana iti dravyaani.
?(Vaisheshik Darshan1/5)
The earth, water, brilliance, air, sky, time, direction, living beings, the mind, etc. are all matter. Here some believe the earth, water, etc. to be our earth, water, etc. But it must, however, be kept in mind that these nine that have been named are the matter of the entire universe. Therefore, earth here does not mean the our world.
He says that the earth means the solid matter, water means the liquid form and air means the gaseous form. This was generally known to the world earlier too but Sage Kanaad says that brilliance is also matter, whereas in the 20th century, we have got the knowledge that a matter and energy are one. Besides this, he also says that the sky is also matter and that the sky is without atom and all movement takes place with the assistance of the sky because there is a space or influence zone between the atoms. Hence we use words like ghataakaah, mahaakaash and hridayaakaash(Dark sky, massive sky and the sky of the heart or the mental canvas). Sage Kanaad says that space and time are also matter whereas in the west, this concept came up after the establishment of Einstein'stheory of Relativity.
According to Sage Kanaad, the mind and the spirit are also matter. Even modern science does not have the mentality to accept this concept.
Every matter is in the state of atom. They are dynamic and circular. Hence, Kanaad'sSootra are:
Nityam parimandalam
?(Vaisheshik Darshan 7/20)
Atoms are small and big. In this connection Sage Kanaad says:
Eten deerghatwahriswatwe
vyakhyaate.
?(Vaisheshik Darshan 7-1-17)
Attraction and repulsion are the cause for the atoms being big or small. Similarly, in the Brahma Sutra, it has been said that:
Mahad deerghavadva
hriswaparimandalaabhyaam.
?(Brahmasutra 2-2-11)
This means small and big circles are made from the universe.
In reply to how atoms are influenced, sage Kanaad says:
Vibhavaanmahanaakaashastatha
cha aatmaa.
?(Vaisheshik Darshan 7-22)
With the influence of the high energy, the sky and the spirit.
Speaking about how the process of creation takes place from atoms, Kanaad says through paakaj (the act of maturation). This act is also called peelupaak which means the atoms are assimilated through fire or heat. When two atoms meet, dwayanuk (couple of atoms) are created, with three, trayanuk, with four chaturnuk and this way all the broad things are created. They live for some time, then they decay and return to their original form.
(This book is available with Ocean Books (P) Ltd., 4/19 Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi-110 002.)
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