Vaisheshika: The Study of Atoms and Categories

Kanada is credited with founding the Vaisheshika school of philosophy. He is believed to have lived around the 6th century BCE.

Vaisheshika posits that the fundamental building blocks of the universe are atoms, which are indivisible and indestructible.

Padartha is the Sanskrit term used to refer to the categories in Vaisheshika philosophy.

Vaisheshika recognizes six categories: substance, quality, action, generality, particularity, and inherence.

Substance is the category that encompasses the fundamental entities that possess qualities and undergo actions.

Qualities are the inherent characteristics of substances that distinguish them from one another.

Action is the category that encompasses the activities or processes that substances undergo.

Generality is the term used to describe the common features shared by multiple substances.

Particularity is the category that encompasses the unique characteristics that distinguish one substance from another.

Inherence is the term used to describe the relationship between a substance and its qualities or actions.

Vaisheshika posits that actions are the cause of change and transformation in the universe.

Substance is considered to be the most fundamental and all-pervasive category in Vaisheshika.

Aggregation is the term used to describe the process of combining atoms to form larger entities.

Particularity is the category that encompasses the spatial and temporal location of substances.

Disaggregation is the term used to describe the process of breaking down larger entities into their constituent atoms.