[Footnote 3: The Nyâya sûtra no doubt incidentally gives a definition of jâti as "samânaprasavâtmikâ jâti@h" (II. ii. 71).]
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Vaisesika lays its main emphasis on self-consciousness as a fact of knowledge. Both the Nyâya and the Vais'e@sika sûtras admit the existence of atoms, but all the details of the doctrine of atomic structure in later Nyâya-Vais'e@sika are absent there. The Vai'se@sika calls salvation ni@hs'reyasa or mok@sa and the Nyâya apavarga. Mok@sa with Vais'e@sika is the permanent cessation of connection with body; the apavarga with Nyâya is cessation of pain [Footnote ref l]. In later times the main points of difference between the Vais'e@sika and Nyâya are said to lie with regard to theory of the notion of number, changes of colour in the molecules by heat, etc. Thus the former admitted a special procedure of the mind by which cognitions of number arose in the mind (e.g. at the first moment there is the sense contact with an object, then the notion of oneness, then from a sense of relativeness—apek@sâbuddhi—notion of two, then a notion of two-ness, and then the notion of two things); again, the doctrine of pilupâka (changes of qualities by heat are produced in atoms and not in molecules as Nyâya held) was held by Vais'e@sika, which the Naiyâyikas did not admit [Footnote ref 2]. But as the Nyâya sûtras are silent on these points, it is not possible to say that such were really the differences between early Nyâya and early Vaise@sika. These differences may be said to hold between the later interpreters of Vais'e@sika and the later interpreters of Nyâya. The Vais'e@sika as we find it in the commentary of Pras'astapâda (probably sixth century A.D.), and the Nyâya from the time of Udyotakara have come to be treated as almost the same system with slight variations only. I have therefore preferred to treat them together. The main presentation of the Nyâya-Vais'e@sika philosophy in this chapter is that which is found from the sixth century onwards.
The Vais'e@sika and Nyâya Literature.
It is difficult to ascertain definitely the date of the Vais'e@sika sûtras by Ka@nâda, also called Aulûkya the son of Ulûka, though there is every reason to suppose it to be pre-Buddhistic. It
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[Footnote 1: Professor Vanamâlî Vedântatîrtha quotes a passage from Sa@mk@sepas'a@nkarajaya, XVI. 68-69 in J.A.S.B., 1905, and another passage from a Nyâya writer Bhâsarvajña, pp. 39-41, in J.A.S.B., 1914, to show that the old Naiyâyikas considered that there was an element of happiness (sukha) in the state of mukti (salvation) which the Vais'e@sikas denied. No evidence in support of this opinion is found in the Nyâya or the Vais'e@sika sûtras, unless the cessation of pain with Nyâya is interpreted as meaning the resence of some sort of bliss or happiness.]
[Footnote 2: See Mâdhava's Sarvadars'anasa@mgraha-Aulûkyadars'ana.]
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appears from the Vâyu purâna that he was born in Prabhâsa near Dvârakâ, and was the disciple of Somas'armâ. The time of Pras'astapâda who wrote a bhâ@sya (commentary) of the Vais'e@sika sûtras cannot also unfortunately be ascertained. The peculiarity of Pras'astapâda's bhâ@sya is this that unlike other bhâ@syas (which first give brief explanations of the text of the sûtras and then continue to elaborate independent explanations by explaining the first brief comments), it does not follow the sûtras but is an independent dissertation based on their main contents [Footnote ref 1]. There were two other bhâ@syas on the Vais'e@sika sûtras, namely Râva@na-bhâ@sya and Bharâdvâja-v@rtti, but these are now probably lost. References to the former are found in Kira@nâvalîbhâskara of Padmanâbha Mis'ra and also in Ratnaprabhâ 2. 2. II. Four commentaries were written on this bhâ@sya, namely Vyomavatî by Vyomas'ekharâcârya, Nyâyakandalî by S'ridhara, Kira@nâvalî by Udayana (984 A.D.) and Lîlâvatî S'rîvatsâcârya. In addition to these Jagadîs'a Bha@t@tâcârya of Navadvîpa and S'a@nkara Mis'ra wrote two other commentaries on the Pras'astapâda-bhâsya, namely Bhâsyasûkti and Ka@nâda-rahasya. S'a@nkara Mis'ra (1425 A.D.) also wrote a commentary on the Vais'e@sika sûtras called the Upaskâra. Of these Nyâya-kandalî of S'rîdhara on account of its simplicity of style and elaborate nature of exposition is probably the best for a modern student of Vais'e@sika. Its author was a native of the village of Bhûris@r@s@ti in Bengal (Râ@dha). His father's name was Baladeva and mother's name was Acchokâ and he wrote his work in 913 S'aka era (990 A.D.) as he himself writes at the end of his work.