History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization: Origin and Development of the Vaisesika System (Volume II, Part IV)

The volumes of the project on the history of science, philosophy and culture in Indian civilization aim at discovering the main aspects of India’s heritage and present them in an interrelated way. These volumes, in spite of their unitary look, recognize the difference between the areas of material civilization and those of ideational culture. The project is not being executed by a single group of thinkers and writers who are methodologically uniform or ideologically identical in their commitments. In fact contributions are made by different scholars with different ideological persuasions and methodological approaches. The project is marked by what may be called ‘methodological pluralism. In spite of its primary historical character, this project, both in its conceptualization and execution, has been shaped by many scholars drawn from different disciplines. It is for the first time that an endeavour of such a unique and comprehensive character has been undertaken to study critically a major world civilization like India. The Vaisesikadarsana of Kanada is one of the oldest among the Indian systems of philosophy. But a comprehensive history of the subject has not yet been attempted presumably for want of published materials. There is a long gap between Kanada and Prasastapada. The Ancient and Modern Nyaya sub-schools regarded the Vaisesika as their samana-tantra. The Buddhists accepted them as their worthy rivals. The printed Vaisesika texts are but a fraction of their former rich literature. But important texts have recently been discovered as manuscripts. As the Vaisesikas had intimate relation with the Nyaya, Buddhist and Jain systems, the Vaisesika materials could be traced from them and other non-Vaisesika texts offering important informatioin on the Vaisesika history and exegesis. They were first presented in the form of articles and ultimately integrated in the present volume. It is true that considering the time span and the rich heritage of the Vaisesikas the attempt made here is very small. It is expected that more manuscripts of lost Vaisesika works and more references and quotations may be gathered from non-Vaisesika sources especially the Tibetan versions of the Buddhist logical works and commentaries of the Dignaga and Dharmakirti schools.