Fundamentals of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika - An Introduction through the Works of JC Chatterjee and Chittaranjan Naik - Part 2

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The Nine Realities

According to the Realism of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika, there are nine fundamental realities that make up the Universe. These nine Realities are the Dravyas of Vaiśeṣika. They are also termed as “substances,” but the author says that he prefers to call them as Realities or entities. They are as shown:

Paramāṇus (Aṇu): These are of four types and are eternal and changeless without magnitude. Though they are compared to the atoms, the difference is that atoms have magnitude, but the paramāṇus of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika are without any magnitude whatsoever.

Ākāśa: It is an all-pervading continuum. The loose equivalent in Western traditions is the now disbanded term Ether.

Kāla: This is a power, force, or reality that is Time bringing, changing, and destroying things. It also provides perceptions of the past, present, and future.

Dik: This Reality is a power holding things in their relative positions.

Ātmans: They are infinite in number, generally in touch with each other, and have the possibility of a relationship with everything in the universe. Each of the Ātmans is the basis for experience and consciousness.

Manas: They are also in an infinite number with no magnitude and serve as the means for the Ātman to relate to or be conscious of anything in the universe.

The Paramāṇus

According to Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika, the external world is neither an illusion nor an idea of the mind. There is an independent, sensible world outside of the experiencer. The reasons for saying this are:

1. We deny the existence of things perceived in dreams because we do not see them on waking. We are certain that things exist during the waking state; and hence, it is absurd to deny their existence once again in the waking state.
2. If the sensible world did not exist, dreams would be impossible because, like memories and imaginings, they are only repetitions of things already experienced outside.
3. If the sensible world did not exist and is a product of our mind, then we could simply see them continuously at will just like our ideas.
4. There are mistaken perceptions of hallucinations that would not exist either if sensible things do not exist.

Thus, a sensible world exists, which is independent of the subjective ideas and experiences of the individual percipients. Paramāṇus, or super-sensible realities without any magnitude, compose this reality. Western realism posits that the sensible world comprises elements with both magnitude and extension. Hindu realism postulates that the paramāṇus, or the ultimate building blocks of the universe, are real or independent forces without magnitude.

Now, the sensible world has two classes: Visible and Invisible. Invisible is the vast aerial atmosphere, which contains everything else. Visible or invisible, these sensible things are discrete and are limited in extent. Regarding the invisible air, there are movements in it, like whirlwinds. This indicates that the aerial atmosphere is not an all-filling continuum, but rather consists of discrete parts. If the invisible aerial atmosphere were all-filling, non-discrete, or not composed of movable parts, there would be no commotion in it. The fact of cyclones and whirlwinds thus shows that the atmosphere is not a continuum without any movement whatsoever. Things of limited extent must also consist of parts.

Production of Discrete Things

There are three ways to produce discrete objects of limited magnitude.

1. Addition of things that have magnitude.
2. Contraction or expansion of a thing of a different magnitude
3. A number of things standing together, entering into a combination, and forming a single unit. The original parts or factors, no longer independent of the whole, need not have any magnitude.

To explain the last, the mere aggregates or secondary produced units are new and more than the sum of the components. The term “Avayavins” describes them. Sensible things of limited magnitude are never absolutely solid. They are porous because only then can transformation by other factors, like heat, occur. Thus, sensible things have ultimate parts that are not absolutely contiguous but have spaces between them.

Principles Governing the Structure of Secondary Unit or Avayavin

A number of separate things can produce a secondary unit, which is other than or different from a mere aggregate. This unification is different from a simple combination. Thus, the ultimate particles of anything stand apart from one another. These principles show how things of no magnitude can produce a single thing or a secondary unit of limited magnitude.

Nyāya postulates that the ultimate things “point” like and two in number produce a “line” of some magnitude. Three such lines can come together and form a prism in three dimensions. Thus, even without magnitude, things of magnitude can come into existence. Things like points are the simplest of factors, and these are the paramāṇus with no magnitude. These paramāṇus are eternal, unproduced, and indestructible. These paramāṇus cannot be considered to have any lines, surfaces, or volumes. They do not have length, breadth, or thickness.

Importantly, being without magnitude, they can never be perceived — supersensible or transcendental (Atīndriya). They are supersensible in the sense that they cannot be perceived with even the most sophisticated instrument. They exist beyond the reach of the senses, just as the ear can never perceive colour. Only the mind can perceive them. These paramāṇus are also non-spatial, not occupying any position (Pradeśātīta).

If there is no distinction between the four types of paramāṇus, how do we categorise them? We classify them based on the specific qualities they generate in the substances they produce. Most important in Nyāya Realism is that external things’ qualities are independent of the percipient and must be inherent in the things themselves. Perception is never a construction in the mind of the outside world. The properties are not subjective. According to Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika, any sensible thing can also be perceived by more senses than one. These are general properties of matter, or Sāmānya Guṇas. In regard to masses, they differ only in degree and not in kind. Thus, one mass is more ponderable, penetrable, softer, or harder than another.

The scientific paradigms postulate an external world where neural impulses generated when the light from the object hits the retina create an image in the brain that somehow represents the external object. According to scientific paradigms, each object in the world has two components: the noumenon, which is the original object, the true nature forever unknown to us, and the phenomenon, which is the construction in the brain. Whether the phenomenon is the true representation of the noumenon is forever beyond our comprehension because what we see is only a construction.

Special Qualities of Matter

Some sensible matter is perceived only by a single sense. They differ not in degree but in kind. They are essentially different from one another.

1. Odour perceived only by the nose.
2. Flavour perceived only by the tongue.
3. Luminosity (color) perceived by the eye.
4. Temperature or touch (sparśa) perceived by skin.

Sound is not the property of discrete, sensible things, as we shall see later. The four properties, including sound, are perceived by a single and special sense only. The four properties are essentially different from one another. They are also inherent qualities in the matter themselves, belonging to the sensible world and not the percipient. Only Idealism denies the existence of the sensible world outside the percipient’s ideas and thoughts.

With reference to the inalienable qualities, we can divide all sensible and compound matter into four great classes.

1. Temperature (or touch) essential to matter as a special quality, while the rest (odour, flavour, and colour) can be eliminated.
2. Luminosity can never be eliminated as the special quality while the others could be.
3. Flavour cannot be eliminated.
4. Odour can never be eliminated.

Compounds of succeeding classes possess the preceding qualities. The atmosphere, or pure air, is the most abundant source of the first quality, or temperature/touch. This is a class of sensible matter technically and symbolically called Vāyu. Luminosity, most abundant in the sun and stars, is technically and symbolically called Fire or Tejaḥ. Flavour of an objective thing appear only when dissolved in water, and hence the third class of compounds associated with flavour is called Water or Āpaḥ. The solid earth is a storehouse of substances associated with odour; hence, the technical and symbolic name for odour is earth or Pṛthvī.

Thus, all sensible matters are of four types:

1. Thermal matter
2. Self-luminous matter
3. Flavoury matter
4. Odoriferous matter

Hindu philosophy views them as compounded and produced forms of matter, not as primary elements as in western traditions. These extended matters, also known as bhūtas, are not considered indivisible substances, unlike the elements in western traditions.

Classification of Paramāṇus

The paramāṇus are thus classified by the nature of the matter or substances they produce, though the paramāṇus themselves are of no magnitude. Thus, there are paramāṇus producing inalienable temperature/touch, colour or luminosity, flavour, and odour, respectively. We classify them as follows based on the specific classes of sensible things they produce:

1. The Vāyu-paramāṇus which enter into the composition of the aerial atmosphere.
2. The Teja-paramāṇus which originate luminosity in all self-luminous objects.
3. The Āp-paramāṇus which originate flavour in all compounds.
4. The Pṛthvī-paramāṇus which originate odour in compounds.

The paramāṇus are similar to each other but are classified according to the matter they produce. The paramāṇus are real and self-subsisting, not originating from anything else. There are no minor subclassifications of the paramāṇus. According to Nyāya’s theory of perception, each of the four classes also produces the particular sense itself: the temperature/touch sense, sight (eyes), taste (tongue), and smell (nose). Each of the senses reveals only one single quality. And it reveals to us only that quality which it itself can produce.

An excitation of the optic nerve produces the sensation of colour, a form of luminosity produced, in fact, by the same paramāṇus that make up both the object matter and the senses. Thus, the four senses of the subject, which are related to temperature/touch, sight, taste, and smell, are made of paramāṇus producing in the sensed matter temperature/touch, luminosity, flavour, and odour, respectively. The special senses are of the same nature as the qualities themselves. They are the originators of the qualities that are perceived by means of them. Thus, in summary, paramāṇus are of four types, and they produce both the senses and the sensible matter sensed by them. In a sensible matter, one type of paramāṇu is important and is an inalienable component. The rest may be present, but they are not inalienable.

The Ākāśa

The paramāṇus produce things by standing away from each other and yet being joined by some medium, which is a non-discrete Reality or a continuum. This is ākāśa, an all-pervading Reality. A quality inheres in a discrete particular thing when it has the following characteristics:

• It endures as long as the object exists.
• It can never be separated from the thing unless the latter undergoes some radical or chemical changes.
• It reappears in any combination with other things of the thing in which it inheres.

None of these properties are good for sound. This is because sensible things can be soundless or perfectly silent. Now, there is nothing from which sound cannot be entirely eliminated. Sound produced by a thing, like the strings of a violin, is never exactly the same as the combined sounds of the parts of which the thing is composed. Yet sound must exist in some realities. It cannot be subjective. If other qualities are not inherent in the subjective being but of the objective reality, a similar case must be the case of sound.

The Reality in which sound is an inherent property is the ākāśa. Ākāśa is eternal, absolutely motionless, and super-sensible. It can never be perceived by the senses. Being all-pervading, it can never be isolated from other things so as to enable us to distinguish it from them. Though ākāśa itself is supersensible, its special property sound can be perceived by the special sense of hearing.

The sense of hearing (ear) is only ākāśa conditioned. Thus, though the ākāśa is not an extension of hearing, as with other paramāṇus, it is conditioned in particular ways by the peculiar structure of the ear. If disturbed, there may be alterations in the conditioning of the ākāśa, and hence, hearing may be affected.

Hence, finally, there are five classes of entities as ultimate realities or the ultimate constituents of the universe. They are all supersensible. Only their products are sensible. These five classes are commonly referred to as Bhūtas, or matter.

1. Pṛthvī paramāṇus or odoriferous minima.
2. Āp paramāṇus or flavour producing minima.
3. Tejaḥ paramāṇus or luminous minima.
4. Vāyu paramāṇus or thermal minima.
5. Ākāśa or ethereal continuum.

Kāla And Dik

A force can also be a Dravya if it has independent existence. All perceptible entities undergo movement, transformation, emergence, and destruction. Kāla is the force that makes possible orderly movements and seasonable origination and destruction of things. A special effect arises only when things enter into a special relationship. Only when a special relationship emerges can things influence or impact one another.

Kāla is the general principle of movement, which has a general relation to anything that moves, comes into being, changes, or passes out of existence. As it moves and changes things, it gives rise to notions of past, present, and future in the percipient. Kāla pervades the whole universe and is not dependent on anything else; everything in the universe depends on it.

Dik is the power, force, or principle of relative position that discrete objects hold. Acting in opposition to kāla, dik holds something in its position in the universe as a sensible object. Dik makes the relative positions of objects in the universe possible. It gives rise to the notions of “far and near” and directions in the percipient.

Ākāśa is different from dik. The wall where the photo hangs is the ākāśa, while the cord holding the painting is the dik. Kāla and dik are thus Realities that hold the sensible universe together in the infinite space of ākāśa, which ever moves in well-regulated and seasoned cycles and yet maintains the positional order.

The Ātman In Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika

Different schools have a different view on the Ātman, but all believe that it is an Independent, Eternal, and Infinite Reality at the back of every experiencing entity. The Creationist Standard defines the Ātman as a Reality that sustains consciousness or experience but does not consider it essential. In this system, Ātmans are infinite in number. In Sāṃkhya, Ātman is Feeling Intelligence itself and is infinite in number. According to Vedānta, Ātman embodies intelligence and is the same for all experiencing beings. Thus, Eternal and Infinite Ātman is the agreement of all schools.

In the Vaiśeṣika-Nyāya perspective, Ātman has Consciousness. The latter, as a property, can have no independent existence. A property must inhere in some Reality. The position that consciousness belongs to the body cannot be true because if it were a property of the body, it would exist in all its parts and ingredients, or the Bhūtas. Similarly, there is an argument that the property in combination can be more than the sum of individuals, and thus consciousness can arise from a combination of body parts. The argument also faces refutation.

Consciousness is Not the Body

If one believes consciousness is the combination of many consciousnesses, one may not feel that way about multiple body consciousnesses. If consciousness were a body property, there would be no whole-body consciousness. Consciousness cannot be an essential property of the body because then the body can never leave, and death would be impossible. An essential property is never absent from a thing.

Colour is an essential property of the body and hence stays even after its death. There is never an absolute removal of colour from the body. The same cannot be said of consciousness, however. Consciousness is accidental to the body. Consciousness implies a relation between what is conscious and that of which it is conscious. Consciousness applies only to the conscious subject and never to the object. Since one is aware of the body as a subject, consciousness is distinct from the body itself.

Consciousness causes desire or will. Will is a phase of consciousness. Will is different from that which it moves. Hence, will is different from the body itself. Will and consciousness are inseparable, and because will is different from the object, it moves; consciousness is also different from the body, which moves on the strength of the will. Will is a part of the consciousness because it does not belong to the body. Body B cannot perceive the consciousness of body A. Hence, if consciousness were a property of the body, B would also be aware of the consciousness of A. This does not happen in our experience. Hence, consciousness is separate from the body.

Consciousness finally belongs to that which makes use of the body as an instrument. Consciousness belongs to what feels itself to be the possessor of the body. Every time a human being says, “This is my body,” the possessor feels this way. The body is an object of consciousness. If consciousness were a body property, it would mean that thing had itself as its object, which would be like saying it acted on itself. This is akin to asserting that fire has the ability to consume itself.

Thus, there could be no consciousness at all in the first place if it were a property of the body. Inability to realise consciousness apart from the body does not prove that experience is a property of the body. We are not aware of its existence after the body’s death, even if it exists. Should consciousness persist after the death of the body, this implies that consciousness is separate from the body. This doubt alone is enough to prevent accepting a theory of consciousness as belonging to the body.

If it is concluded that consciousness is only when the body is present, then we might as well conclude that visual perception is a property of light because without light, we cannot perceive anything. Thus, like light in visual perception, the body is an auxiliary to consciousness. We shall see later that consciousness can exist without the body.

Hindu philosophers have treated the brain theory of consciousness; like the body, the brain is also an auxiliary of consciousness. The brain is an instrument for the manifestation of consciousness (perhaps just a properly working radio is an instrument for the manifestation of the radio waves all pervasive in the atmosphere). Consciousness is neither inherent nor a property of the brain. Consciousness is an inherent property of a Reality that exists outside of the body and the brain. This is the Ātman.

Memory and Ātman

Without an Ātman, there can be no memory. Impressions of the body are retained as a whole. The ever-changing body itself cannot possibly transmit these impressions from infancy to youth and then adulthood. The body as an organic whole is entirely different at different stages of life. One whole’s inherent impressions cannot possibly migrate into another, especially when they consist of different aggregates. Therefore, something other than the particles or the aggregate they form stores impressions. This entity is the Ātman, which connects the different organic wholes at different points in time.

If we believe memories are stored in particles, organic wholes, or something else, and if we can posit that there is nothing really beyond the body, then we can possibly argue like this. But nobody has definitively proved that there is no Ātman. In the absence of such proofs, the above style of argument amounts to dogmatic assertions only. In fact, the overwhelming weight of evidence indicates the existence of something beyond the body, possessing consciousness as its property and originating impressions. If we explain everything by the Ātman, it becomes the simplest explanation without resorting to much reasoning and dialectic. The Ātman provides a straightforward explanation for the ability to recall experiences, even when the body undergoes complete transformation.

Self-Identity and Moral Justice

The feeling of self-identity also shows the existence of the Ātman. A person feels as the human being at different stages of life. The thread that binds the different stages of human life is the Ātman, which preserves the self-identity and also carries the impressions of each stage to be carried forward. The theory of consciousness only as a function of the brain (mastiṣkātmavāda) was never propagated because the mind carries the same properties as the body, and the consciousness goes beyond both the body and the brain.

If there is no Ātman beyond the body, there could be no moral law or justice in the universe. If it is admitted that there is justice in the universe, then it will also need to be admitted that man’s consciousness is not the property of the body and that there is something else that is different from him and that is everlasting. Ātman is hence not the senses, vitality (prāna), or the mind (manas). The eyes see and the ears hear, but not the other way around. It is the Ātman who is behind both the experiencers. Hence, Ātman is not in the senses.

Senses are an instrument of an agent, and this agent is the Ātman. paramāṇus and ākāśa produce the senses, which are a part of matter. Therefore, consciousness cannot be a property of matter. Vitality is not the Ātman. Vitality cannot mean anything other than a special connection between Ātman and a certain form of matter. By this relation, Ātman builds up and organises as a means of having experience. Finally, Ātman cannot be the mind; the latter being thoughts, ideas, and feelings. Thoughts, feelings, and ideas are constantly changing. Ātman, the eternal and unchanging reality, experiences them as agents.

Being eternal, it cannot be produced or destroyed. It is also infinite, in touch with all things, or pervasive. For a thing to be eternal, either it must be without magnitude like the paramāṇus or all-pervading. Anything in between must consist of parts and hence be divisible. Anything divisible is not eternal. An infinite number of Ātmans exist, as there are and can be living entities. If these were not, then everyone would be conscious of the thoughts and feelings of everybody else.

The Manas

The Ātman does not always perceive an external object, even when it is in relation to one. The Ātman is present always, everywhere, and so is the object, and yet the Ātman does not notice the object many times. Only with the special link called Manas is a special relationship established between the Ātman and the object. The Manas can be identified by the fact that we know things in succession. The Ātman is present always, everywhere, and there is no reason it should know things in succession. Only the Manas makes it possible for the Ātman to know things in succession.

To experience thoughts, feelings, and other sensations, one also needs Manas. It is not only objects made known by sense organs that the Ātman is aware of. There are feelings of pain, pleasure, happiness, and sadness that the Ātman is conscious of. The Ātman experiences these emotions through the Manas. Recollection of things forgotten also proves the manas. An organ is necessary for both the initial understanding of these thoughts and ideas and their subsequent recall. Thoughts and ideas are sometimes known and sometimes forgotten. There is an organ without which the Ātman cannot be aware of things. This organ is the Manas.

There is only one manas in each individual. Manas is eternal, indestructible, and not produced. Being eternal, it also has no magnitude. The other eternal being, Ātman, is of infinite magnitude. Manas cannot be of infinite magnitude because, if it were, there could be no succession of perception, or forgetfulness, or calling back to memory. It has no special relationship with anything. Manas enables the Ātman to have experience, not simultaneously of all things at once but in succession. Manas moves very quickly. Otherwise, there can be no quick perception of things that appear simultaneous. Ātman is the basis of experience, whereas Manas is its instrument. There are an infinite number of Manases.

The Principles Summarised

The Realities from the Creationist or Realistic viewpoint are as follows:

(1-4): The four classes of paramāṇus. No magnitude. These realities are self-sustaining and are beyond sensory perception. These realities create forces, stimuli, or things that produce perceptible objects with unique qualities, such as temperature/touch, color, flavour, and odor.

(5) The Ākāśa, Ether, or Ethereal space. All-pervading reality. Infinite magnitude. Provides the expanse in which all things move. It functions as a bridge that connects discrete and separated entities. Additionally, it serves as the backdrop against which the tangible quality of sound inheres.

(6) Kāla, the principle of universal movement. The principle of kāla is responsible for the creation, transformation, and destruction of things. This principle gives rise to notions of the past, present, and future in the percipient.

(7) Dik, the principle, which holds things together in their various relative positions while they are being driven on by kāla. This principle gives rise to notions such as “here, there, near, and far” in the percipient.

(8) The Ātmans. The Ātmans serve as the foundation for both consciousness and experience. Eternal. Infinite. They are everywhere and touch everything, but Manas gives them special relationships with certain objects.

(9) The Manases. Each Manas is unique to the entity experiencing it. The force or power that is the direct instrument of knowledge and experience. No magnitude and non-spatial.

The 4 paramāṇus, Manases, are without magnitude, discrete, and infinite in number. ākāśa, kāla, and Dik are single Realities having a universal scope. Ātmans have a universal scope but are infinite in number.

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