Part 48 (1/2)

[Footnote 1: Dr P.C. Ray's _Hindu Chemistry_, 1909, pp. 249-250.]

[Footnote 2: See for this portion Dr B.N. Seal's _Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus_, pp. 263-266. [email protected]_ on Buddhism.

_Nyayamanjari [email protected]_, with _Muktavali_ and _Dinakari_, and [email protected]_. The doctrine of Anyathasiddhi was systematically developed from the time of [email protected]'a.]

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_nimitta_ and accessory (_sahakari_) causes are those which help the material cause to produce the effect. Thus the potter, the wheel and the stick may be regarded as the nimitta and the sahakri causes of the effect.

We know that the [email protected] regards the effect as nonexistent, before the operation of the cause in producing it, but it holds that the [email protected] in the cause are the causes of the [email protected] in the effect, e.g. the black colour of the clay is the cause of the black colour of the effect, except in cases where heat comes as an extraneous cause to generate other qualities; thus when a clay jug is burnt, on account of the heat we get red colour, though the colour of the original clay and the jug was black. Another important exception is to be found in the case of the production of the [email protected] of [email protected] and [email protected] which are not produced by the [email protected] of an [email protected] or a [email protected], but by their number as we have already seen.

Dissolution (Pralaya) and Creation ([email protected]@[email protected]).

The doctrine of pralaya is accepted by all the Hindu systems except the [email protected] [Footnote ref 1]. According to the [email protected] view is'vara wis.h.i.+ng to give some respite or rest to all living beings desires to bring about dissolution ([email protected] bhavati_). Simultaneously with it the [email protected]@[email protected] force residing in all the souls and forming bodies, senses, and the gross elements, ceases to act (_s'akti-pratibandha_). As a result of this no further bodies, senses, or other products come into being. Then for the bringing about of the dissolution of all produced things (by the desire of is'vara) the separation of the atoms commences and thus all combinations as bodies or senses are disintegrated; so all earth is reduced to the disintegrated atomic state, then all ap, then all tejas and then all vayu. These disintegrated atoms and the souls a.s.sociated with dharma, adharma and past impressions ([email protected]_) remain suspended in their own inanimate condition. For we know that souls in their natural condition are lifeless and knowledgeless, non-intelligent ent.i.ties. It is only when these are connected with bodies that they possess knowledge through the activity of manas. In the state of pralaya owing to the [email protected]@[email protected] of souls the

[Footnote 1: The doctrine of pralaya and [email protected]@[email protected] is found only in later [email protected] works, but the sutras of both the systems seem to be silent on the matter.]

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atoms do not conglomerate. It is not an act of cruelty on the part of is'vara that he brings about dissolution, for he does it to give some rest to the sufferings of the living beings.

At the time of creation, is'vara wishes to create and this desire of is'vara works in all the souls as [email protected]@[email protected] This one eternal desire of is'vara under certain conditions of time (e.g. of pralaya) as accessory causes (_sahakari_) helps the disintegration of atoms and at other times (e.g. that of creation) the constructive process of integration and unification of atoms for the world-creation.

When it acts in a specific capacity in the diverse souls it is called [email protected]@[email protected] At the time of dissolution the creative function of this [email protected]@[email protected] is suspended and at the time of creation it finds full play.

At the time of creation action first begins in the vayu atoms by the kinetic function of this [email protected]@[email protected], by the contact of the souls with the atoms. By such action the air atoms come in contact with one another and the [email protected] are formed and then in a similar way the [email protected] are formed, and thus vayu originates.

After vayu, the ap is formed by the conglomeration of water atoms, and then the tejas atoms conglomerate and then the earth atoms. When the four elements are thus conglomerated in the gross form, the G.o.d Brahma and all the worlds are created by is'vara and Brahma is directed by is'vara to do the rest of the work. Brahma thus arranges for the enjoyment and suffering of the fruits of diverse kinds of karma, good or bad. is'vara brings about this creation not for any selfish purpose but for the good of all beings. Even here sorrows have their place that they may lead men to turn from worldly attachment and try for the attainment of the highest good, mukti. Moreover is'vara arranges for the enjoyment of pleasures and the suffering of pains according to the merits and demerits of men, just as in our ordinary experience we find that a master awards prizes or punishments according to good or bad deeds [Footnote ref 1]. Many Nyaya books do not speak of the appointment of a Brahma as deputy for supervision of the due disposal of the fruits of karma according to merit or demerit. It is also held that pralaya and creation were brought about in accordance with the karma of men, or that it may be due to a mere play (_lila_) of is'vara.

is'vara is one, for if there were many is'varas they might quarrel.

The will of is'vara not only brings about dissolution and creation,

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[Footnote 1: See _Nyayakandali_, pp. 48-54.]

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but also acts always among us in a general way, for without it our karmas could not ripen, and the consequent disposal of pleasures and sorrows to us and a corresponding change in the exterior world in the form of order or harmony could not happen.

The exterior world is in perfect harmony with men's actions.

Their merits and demerits and all its changes and modifications take place in accordance with merits and demerits. This desire (_iccha_) of is'vara may thus be compared with the _iccha_ of is'vara as we find it in the Yoga system.

Proof of the Existence of is'vara.

[email protected] a.s.serts that the teleology of the [email protected] is sufficient to explain all order and arrangement of the cosmos. The [email protected], the Carvakas, the Buddhists and the Jains all deny the existence of is'vara (G.o.d). Nyaya believes that is'vara has fas.h.i.+oned this universe by his will out of the ever-existing atoms. For every effect (e.g. a jug) must have its cause. If this be so, then this world with all its order and arrangement must also be due to the agency of some cause, and this cause is is'vara. This world is not momentary as the Buddhists suppose, but is permanent as atoms, is also an effect so far as it is a collocation of atoms and is made up of parts like all other individual objects (e.g. jug, etc.), which we call effects. The world being an effect like any other effect must have a cause like any other effect. The objection made against this view is that such effects as we ordinarily perceive may be said to have agents as their causes but this manifest world with mountains, rivers, oceans etc. is so utterly different in form from ordinary effects that we notice every day, that the law that every effect must have a cause cannot be said to hold good in the present case. The answer that Nyaya gives is that the concomitance between two things must be taken in its general aspect neglecting the specific peculiarities of each case of observed concomitance. Thus I had seen many cases of the concomitance of smoke with fire, and had thence formed the notion that ”wherever there is smoke there is fire”; but if I had only observed small puffs of smoke and small fires, could I say that only small quant.i.ties of smoke could lead us to the inference of fire, and could I hold that therefore large volumes of smoke from the burning of a forest should not be sufficient reason for us to infer the existence of fire in the forest?

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