{"id":1141,"date":"2014-05-07T21:58:10","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T21:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2018-08-25T13:54:44","modified_gmt":"2018-08-25T13:54:44","slug":"creation-stories-the-cosmogony-account-from-the-vaise%e1%b9%a3ika-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/creation-stories-the-cosmogony-account-from-the-vaise%e1%b9%a3ika-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Creation Stories: The Cosmogony Account from the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika System"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system, one of the six Hindu dar\u015banas<\/i> (worldviews or schools of philosophy), is not known for its cosmogony. It is known as an ancient Indian system of atomism. The cosmogony it has is the manifestation and dissolution of the four great elements (mah<\/i>\u0101-bh\u016b<\/i>ta<\/i>) that form the world (earth, water, fire, and air), and these are made up of ultimate atoms (param<\/i>\u0101\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>). Here we find one of its most interesting teachings. Its ultimate atoms, which are apparently not atoms of physical matter, do not dissolve when the cosmos dissolves, but rather remain in a dissociated state. Such an idea has recently been brought to the attention of some modern scientists when the present Dalai Lama spoke of it at the Mind-Life Conferences. In these dialogues, he presented a Buddhist view of cosmogony, including empty ultimate atoms that remain when the cosmos goes out of manifestation.1<\/sup> This idea comes from the Buddhist K\u0101lacakra system, without cognizance of its parallel and possible origin in the more ancient Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system. Such an idea is apparently also found in the allegedly even more ancient \u201cBook of Dzyan,\u201d according to a phrase from a commentary on it brought out by H. P. Blavatsky in 1888. She writes of \u201cMOTION, which, during the periods of Rest \u2018pulsates and thrills through every slumbering atom\u2019 (Commentary on Dzyan)\u201d (The Secret Doctrine<\/i>, vol. 1, p. 116).<\/p>\n

The idea of eternal ultimate atoms, which remain in existence even when the cosmos goes out of existence, does not present a problem for the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system. This is because the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system is regarded as pluralistic, so there can more than one thing or category of things that is eternal. Thus, besides eternal ultimate atoms, the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system also teaches eternal selves or souls (\u0101tman<\/i>), etc. The idea of eternal ultimate atoms also does not present a problem for Jainism, in which it is also found. The Jaina teaching on these atoms is similar to that of Vai\u015be\u1e63ika, although according to Jainism the cosmos never goes out of manifestation. Jainism, too, is regarded as pluralistic. The idea of eternal ultimate atoms does, however, present a problem for the Buddhist K\u0101lacakra and for Theosophy, neither of which are regarded as pluralistic systems. While early or southern Buddhism is regarded as pluralistic, K\u0101lacakra is part of Mah\u0101y\u0101na or northern Buddhism, which is not. Early Buddhism, like Vai\u015be\u1e63ika Hinduism and like Jainism, teaches the existence of ultimate atoms; but unlike in Vai\u015be\u1e63ika and in Jainism, the ultimate atoms in early Buddhism are not eternal. They do not remain when the cosmos dissolves. The non-eternal aspect of this idea was acceptable to the Mah\u0101y\u0101na Buddhist schools, but these schools specifically refuted the early Buddhist atomism on the basis of its plurality. Likewise, the non-dual Advaita Ved\u0101nta school of Hinduism specifically refuted the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika atomism on the basis of its plurality.<\/p>\n

Like Advaita Ved\u0101nta, Theosophy is non-dualistic. This was stated in unmistakable terms by Blavatsky in The Secret Doctrine<\/i> (vol. 1, p. 120): \u201cThe radical unity of the ultimate essence of each constituent part of compounds in Nature\u2014from Star to mineral Atom, from the highest Dhy\u0101ni-Chohan to the smallest infusoria, in the fullest acceptation of the term, and whether applied to the spiritual, intellectual, or physical worlds\u2014this is the one fundamental law in Occult Science.\u201d We therefore do not expect to find a commentary on the Book of Dzyan speaking of \u201cslumbering atoms\u201d during the period of rest of the cosmos. Is this phrase merely metaphorical, just poetic license? Apparently not. Seven years before Blavatsky published this extract from a commentary on the Book of Dzyan, her teacher, the Mahatma Morya, explained this idea to A. O. Hume in the so-called \u201cCosmological Notes\u201d (published as Appendix II in The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett<\/i>, 1925, pp. 376-386). He was asked, \u201cAnd is cosmic matter non-molecular?\u201d His reply surprisingly spoke of the seventh principle, equivalent to the non-dual \u0101tman<\/i> taught in Advaita Ved\u0101nta, as molecular:<\/p>\n

\u201cCosmic matter can no more be non-molecular than organised matter. 7th principle is molecular as well as the first one, but the former differentiates from the latter, not only by its molecules getting wider apart and becoming more attenuated, but also by losing its polarity<\/i>. <\/i>Try to understand and realise this idea and the rest will become easy.\u201d (pp. 379-380)<\/p>\n

The Mahatma Morya then explained this with reference to eternal ultimate atoms, which remain in existence even when the cosmos goes out of existence. As summarized by the recipient of these teachings, A. O. Hume:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe night of the solar system, the pralaya of the Hindus, the Maha bar do or great night of mind of the Tibetans, involves the disintegration of all form and the return of that portion of the universe occupied by that system, to its passive unmanifested condition, space pervaded by atoms in motion. Everything else passes away for the time, but matter which these ultimate atoms represent (though at times objective, at times potential or subjective, now organised, now unorganised) is eternal and indestructible, and motion is the imperishable life (conscious or unconscious as the case may be) of matter. Even therefore during the night of mind, when all other forces are paralysed, when Chyang\u2014omniscience, and Chyang mi shi kon\u2014ignorance, both sleep, and everything else rests, this latent unconscious life unceasingly maintains the molecules in which it is inherent in blind . . . motion inter se<\/i> [\u201camong themselves\u201d].\u201d (p. 384)<\/p>\n

This unusual idea, of eternal ultimate atoms remaining when the cosmos goes out of manifestation, was preserved in the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system. I say \u201cpreserved\u201d because the early Vai\u015be\u1e63ika commentaries known to have once existed, such as the Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-Ka\u1e6dand\u012b<\/i>, the \u0100treya-bh\u0101\u1e63ya, the R\u0101va\u1e47a-bh\u0101\u1e63ya, the Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja-v\u1e5btti, etc., are all lost.2<\/sup> Even the primary Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btras<\/i> themselves, by Ka\u1e47\u0101da, had not been preserved intact, and their original readings were only recovered when two intermediate-age commentaries were discovered and published in 1957 and 1961.3<\/sup> The Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btras<\/i>, as now extant, do not include cosmogony. The Vai\u015be\u1e63ika account of cosmogony is found in the Pad<\/i>\u0101<\/i>rtha-dharma-sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>graha<\/i>, written by Pra\u015bastap\u0101da, so also called the Pra<\/i>\u015b<\/i>astap<\/i>\u0101<\/i>da-bh<\/i>\u0101\u1e63<\/i>ya<\/i>, the \u201cCommentary by Pra\u015bastap\u0101da.\u201d It is not, however, a direct commentary on the Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btras<\/i>, but rather is a compendium (sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>graha<\/i>) of the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika teachings. This compendium became the most influential work on Vai\u015be\u1e63ika, overshadowing even the Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btras<\/i>. It is early enough that it certainly preserved a number of teachings from the older and now lost Vai\u015be\u1e63ika commentaries. The cosmogony account is apparently one of these, since it and its idea of ultimate atoms remaining during dissolution is cited in the Buddhist Abhidharma-ko\u015ba-bh\u0101\u1e63ya<\/i> (chapter 3, verse 100) from about the fourth century C.E. But it also includes a very influential teaching that, according to the Yukti-d\u012bpik\u0101<\/i> (a hitherto lost S\u0101\u1e43khya commentary that was discovered and published in 1938), is an innovation.<\/p>\n

The Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system in association with its sister Ny\u0101ya system jointly became known in India as proponents and upholders of the God idea. This is despite the fact that the term \u012b\u015bvara<\/i>, \u201cGod,\u201d is not found in the Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btras<\/i>, and that it is only once mentioned in the Ny\u0101ya-s\u016btras<\/i> along with other possible causes of the world that are there rejected in favor of karma. The absence of the teaching of God in the Ny\u0101ya and Vai\u015be\u1e63ika source texts provides evidence that the God idea is in fact an invention or innovation (upaj\u00f1am<\/i>), as the Yukti-d\u012bpik\u0101<\/i> says (see: \u201cGod’s Arrival in India<\/a>,\u201d pp. 22-26). Its first known occurrence in the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system is in the Pad<\/i>\u0101<\/i>rtha-dharma-sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>graha<\/i> by Pra\u015bastap\u0101da, the very text that is our source for the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika account of cosmogony. So we will see God playing a role in this cosmogony account. An attentive reading will show that God can be omitted from this account without any loss of coherence in the account. Cosmogony can occur on the basis of ad\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6da<\/i> alone, the automatically acting \u201cunseen\u201d force produced by karma, without any help from God.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the great Advaita Ved\u0101nta teacher \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya summarizes the very same Vai\u015be\u1e63ika account of cosmogony, but without God, in his Brahma-s\u016btra-bh\u0101\u1e63ya<\/i> (2.2.11 to 2.2.17). In fact, one of the main reasons given by \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya for refuting the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika account of ultimate atoms as the cause of the world is that it contradicts the Vedic scriptures that teach God as the cause of the world (\u012b\u015bvara-k\u0101ra\u1e47a-\u015bruti-viruddhatv\u0101t). In the early Vai\u015be\u1e63ika account summarized by \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya, the characteristic Vai\u015be\u1e63ika teaching of ad\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6da<\/i> is alone the unseen force that impels the ultimate atoms, and this had to be refuted by \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya who believed in a conscious, thinking God as the cause of the world. Later Vai\u015be\u1e63ika agreed with \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya on God as the cause of the world, but not the early Vai\u015be\u1e63ika text that \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya drew upon. According to two sub-commentaries on \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya\u2019s text (the Praka\u1e6d\u0101rtha-vivara\u1e47a<\/i> by Anubh\u016btisvar\u016bpa and the Ratna-prabh\u0101<\/i> by Govind\u0101nanda), \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya drew his Vai\u015be\u1e63ika account from the R\u0101va\u1e47a-bh\u0101\u1e63ya, one of the now lost early Vai\u015be\u1e63ika commentaries.4<\/sup> From the above we may conclude that: (1) the early Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system did include cosmogony; and (2) the early Vai\u015be\u1e63ika cosmogony did not include God.<\/p>\n

The Vai\u015be\u1e63ika cosmogony account as we now have it, including God, here follows. The Pad<\/i>\u0101<\/i>rtha-dharma-sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>graha<\/i> that it comes from is of unknown date, but is estimated to be from around the middle of the first millennium C.E. This text was translated into English by Ga\u1e45g\u0101n\u0101tha Jh\u0101 and published serially, 1903-1915, and his translation of its cosmogony account is given here with slight modifications.5<\/sup> Ga\u1e45g\u0101n\u0101tha Jh\u0101, 1871-1941, was one of the foremost translators of Sanskrit dar\u015bana<\/i> texts into English, and his translations of this difficult material are widely respected. I fully share this respect for them. He worked at a time when translations were not as literal as has now become expected. I have made no attempt to modify this aspect of his translation. He had to pioneer the translation choices for many technical terms. It is here that I have made my few modifications. These are: (1) changing his translation of mah<\/i>\u0101-bh\u016b<\/i>ta<\/i> from \u201cultimate Material Substances\u201d that he used in some places, or \u201cgross elements\u201d that he used in other places, to the more literal \u201cgreat elements\u201d; (2) changing his translation of a<\/i>\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i> in its first occurrence from \u201cmaterial atom\u201d to just \u201catom,\u201d as he also used thereafter; (3) changing his translation of param<\/i>\u0101\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i> (param<\/i>a a\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>) from just \u201catom\u201d to \u201cultimate atom\u201d (he did not distinguish a<\/i>\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i> from param<\/i>\u0101\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>, but translated them both as \u201catom\u201d\u2014they are usually used synonymously in the Ny\u0101ya and Vai\u015be\u1e63ika texts). I have also changed his frequent capitalization of common nouns, such as Earth, Water, Fire and Air, to lower case. Lastly, I have inserted a number of Sanskrit terms in brackets, and have added one footnoted clarification in brackets.<\/p>\n

The Sanskrit text is given from the 1895 edition of the Pra<\/i>\u015b<\/i>astap<\/i>\u0101<\/i>da-bh<\/i>\u0101\u1e63<\/i>ya<\/i> prepared by Vindhye\u015bvar\u012bpras\u0101da Dvivedin, pp. 48-49, which is the one used by Ga\u1e45g\u0101n\u0101tha Jh\u0101 for his 1903-1915 translation. I have compared it with the 1971 edition by Jitendra S. Jetly (Kira\u1e47\u0101val\u012b<\/i>, pp. 60-64), with the 1983-1984 edition by Gaurinath Sastri (Vyomavat\u012b<\/i>, vol. 1, pp. 95-96), and with the 1991 edition by J. S. Jetly and Vasant G. Parikh (Ny\u0101yakandal\u012b<\/i>, pp. 134-139). The few variant readings do not change the meaning, and I have therefore not cited them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ihed\u0101n\u012b\u1e43 catur\u1e47\u0101\u1e43 mah\u0101-bh\u016bt\u0101n\u0101\u1e43 s\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6di-sa\u1e43h\u0101ra-vidhir ucyate |<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now going to describe the process of the creation and destruction of the four great elements [mah<\/i>\u0101-bh\u016b<\/i>ta<\/i>].\u201d<\/p>\n

br\u0101hme\u1e47a m\u0101nena var\u1e63a-\u015bat\u0101nte vartam\u0101nasya brahma\u1e47o ‘pavarga-k\u0101le sa\u1e43s\u0101ra-khinn\u0101n\u0101\u1e43 sarva-pr\u0101\u1e47in\u0101\u1e43 ni\u015bi vi\u015br\u0101m\u0101rtha\u1e43 sakala-bhuvana-pater mahe\u015bvarasya sa\u1e43jih\u012br\u1e63\u0101-sama-k\u0101la\u1e43 \u015bar\u012brendriya-mah\u0101bh\u016btopanibandhak\u0101n\u0101\u1e43 sarv\u0101tmagat\u0101n\u0101m ad\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6d\u0101n\u0101\u1e43 v\u1e5btti-nirodhe sati mahe\u015bvarecch\u0101tm\u0101\u1e47u-sa\u1e43yogaja-karmabhya\u1e25 \u015bar\u012brendriya-k\u0101ra\u1e47\u0101\u1e47u-vibh\u0101gebhyas tat-sa\u1e43yoga-niv\u1e5bttau te\u1e63\u0101m \u0101-param\u0101\u1e47v-anto vin\u0101\u015ba\u1e25 |<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a hundred years, by the measure of Brahm\u0101 are at an end, there comes the time for the deliverance of the Brahm\u0101 existing at that time; and then, for the sake of the resting at night, of all living beings wearied by their \u2018wanderings,\u2019 there arises in the mind of the Supreme Lord [mahe<\/i>\u015b<\/i>vara<\/i>], the Ruler of all worlds, a desire to reabsorb (all creation); and simultaneously with this desire, there comes about a cessation of the operations of the unseen potential tendencies [a<\/i>d\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6d<\/i>a<\/i>] of all souls [\u0101<\/i>tman<\/i>] that are the causes of their bodies, sense-organs and great elements [mah<\/i>\u0101-bh\u016b<\/i>ta<\/i>]. Then out of the Supreme Lord\u2019s desire [icch<\/i>\u0101<\/i>] and from the conjunction [sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>yoga<\/i>] of the souls [\u0101<\/i>tman<\/i>] and the atoms [a<\/i>\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>], there come about certain disruptions [vibh<\/i>\u0101ga<\/i>, \u201cdisjunction\u201d] of the atoms constituting the bodies and sense-organs. These disruptions destroy the combinations [sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>yoga<\/i>, \u201cconjunction\u201d] of those atoms; and this brings about the destruction of all things [bodies and sense-organs]6<\/sup> down to the ultimate atoms [param<\/i>\u0101\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>].\u201d<\/p>\n

tath\u0101 p\u1e5bthivy-udaka-jvalana-pavan\u0101n\u0101m api mah\u0101-bh\u016bt\u0101n\u0101m anenaiva krame\u1e47ottarasminn uttarasmin sati p\u016brvasya p\u016brvasya vin\u0101\u015ba\u1e25 |<\/p>\n

\u201cThen there comes about a successive destruction or reabsorption of the great elements [mah<\/i>\u0101-bh\u016b<\/i>ta<\/i>], earth, water, fire, and air, one after the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

tata\u1e25 pravibhakt\u0101\u1e25 param\u0101\u1e47avo ‘vati\u1e63\u1e6dhante dharm\u0101dharma-sa\u1e43sk\u0101r\u0101nuviddh\u0101 \u0101tm\u0101nas t\u0101vantam eva k\u0101lam |<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter this, the ultimate atoms [param<\/i>\u0101\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>] remain by themselves in their isolated [pravibhakta<\/i>] condition; and simultaneously with these there remain the souls [\u0101<\/i>tman<\/i>] permeated with the potencies [sa<\/i>\u1e43sk\u0101<\/i>ra<\/i>] of their past virtues [dharma<\/i>] and vices [adharma<\/i>].\u201d<\/p>\n

tata\u1e25 puna\u1e25 pr\u0101\u1e47in\u0101\u1e43 bhoga-bh\u016btaye mahe\u015bvara-sis\u1e5bk\u1e63\u0101nantara\u1e43 sarv\u0101tmagata-v\u1e5btti-labdh\u0101d\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6d\u0101pek\u1e63ebhyas tat-sa\u1e43yogebhya\u1e25 pavana-param\u0101\u1e47u\u1e63u karmotpattau te\u1e63\u0101\u1e43 paras-para-sa\u1e43yogebhyo dvya\u1e47uk\u0101di-prakrame\u1e47a mah\u0101n v\u0101yu\u1e25 samutpanno nabhasi dodh\u016byam\u0101nas ti\u1e63\u1e6dhati |<\/p>\n

\u201cThen again, for the sake of the experiences to be gained by living beings, there arising in the mind of the Supreme Lord a desire for creation, there are produced, in the ultimate atoms [param<\/i>\u0101\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>] of air, certain actions or motions [karma<\/i>], due to their conjunctions [sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>yoga<\/i>] under the influence of the unseen potential tendencies [ad<\/i>\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6d<\/i>a<\/i>] that begin to operate in all souls. These motions bringing about the mutual contact [sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>yoga<\/i>] of the air ultimate atoms, there appears, through the dyad [dvya<\/i>\u1e47<\/i>uka<\/i>], triad, etc., finally the \u2018great air,\u2019 [mah<\/i>\u0101<\/i>n v<\/i>\u0101<\/i>yu<\/i>\u1e25<\/i>, i.e., mah<\/i>\u0101<\/i>-v<\/i>\u0101<\/i>yu<\/i>] which exists vibrating in the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

tad-anantara\u1e43 tasminn eva v\u0101y\u0101v \u0101pyebhya\u1e25 param\u0101\u1e47ubhyas tenaiva krame\u1e47a mah\u0101n salila-nidhir utpanna\u1e25 popl\u016byam\u0101nas ti\u1e63\u1e6dhati |<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter this, in this great air, there appears, in the same order, out of the ultimate atoms of water, the great reservoir [nidhi<\/i>] of water, which remains there surging.\u201d<\/p>\n

tad-anantara\u1e43 tasminn eva p\u0101rthivebhya\u1e25 param\u0101\u1e47ubhyo mah\u0101-p\u1e5bthiv\u012b sa\u1e43hat\u0101vati\u1e63\u1e6dhate |<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this reservoir of water, there appears, out of the earth ultimate atoms, the great earth which rests there in its solid form.\u201d<\/p>\n

tad-anantara\u1e43 tasminn eva mahodadhau taijasebhyo ‘\u1e47ubhyo dvya\u1e47uk\u0101di-prakrame\u1e47otpanno mah\u0101\u1e43s tejo-r\u0101\u015bi\u1e25 kena-cid anabhibh\u016btatv\u0101d ded\u012bpyam\u0101nas ti\u1e63\u1e6dhati |<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, in the same water reservoir, there appears, in the same order, out of the fire atoms, the great mass of fire; and not being suppressed by anything else, it stands shining radiantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

eva\u1e43 samutpanne\u1e63u catur\u1e63u mah\u0101-bh\u016bte\u1e63u mahe\u015bvarasy\u0101bhidhy\u0101na-m\u0101tr\u0101t taijasebhyo ‘\u1e47ubhya\u1e25 p\u0101rthiva-param\u0101\u1e47u-sahitebhyo mahad a\u1e47\u1e0dam \u0101rabhyate | tasmi\u1e43\u015b catur-vadana-kamala\u1e43 sarva-loka-pit\u0101maha\u1e43 brahm\u0101\u1e47a\u1e43 sakala-bhuvana-sahitam utp\u0101dya praj\u0101-sarge viniyu\u1e45kte | sa ca mahe\u015bvare\u1e47a viniyukto brahm\u0101ti\u015baya-j\u00f1\u0101na-vair\u0101gyai\u015bvarya-sampanna\u1e25 pr\u0101\u1e47in\u0101\u1e43 karma-vip\u0101ka\u1e43 viditv\u0101 karm\u0101nur\u016bpa-j\u00f1\u0101na-bhog\u0101yu\u1e63a\u1e25 sut\u0101n praj\u0101pat\u012bn m\u0101nas\u0101n manu-deva-r\u1e63i-pit\u1e5b-ga\u1e47\u0101n mukha-b\u0101h\u016bru-p\u0101data\u015b caturo var\u1e47\u0101n any\u0101ni cocc\u0101vac\u0101ni bh\u016bt\u0101ni ca s\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6dv\u0101\u015bay\u0101nur\u016bpair dharma-j\u00f1\u0101na-vair\u0101gyai\u015bvaryai\u1e25 sa\u1e43yojayat\u012bti ||<\/p>\n

\u201cThe four great elements having thus been brought into existence, there is produced, from the mere thought (mental picturing) [abhidhy<\/i>\u0101<\/i>na<\/i>] of the Supreme Lord, the great egg, from out of the fire atoms mixed up with the ultimate atoms of earth; and in this egg having produced all the worlds and the Four-faced Brahm\u0101, the Grand-father of all creatures, the Supreme Lord assigns to him the duty of producing the various creatures. Being thus engaged by the Supreme Lord, Brahm\u0101, endowed with extreme degrees of knowledge, dispassion and power, having recognised the ripeness for fruition of the karmic tendencies of the living beings, creates, out of his mind, his sons, the Praj\u0101patis, as also the Manus and the several groups of the gods, \u1e5bshis, and pit\u1e5bs,\u2014and out of his mouth, arms, thighs, and feet, the four castes, and the other living beings of all grades high and low,\u2014all these having their knowledge and experience ordained in accordance with their previous deeds; and then he connects them with virtue, knowledge, dispassion, and powers, according to their respective impressional potencies [\u0101\u015b<\/i>aya<\/i>].\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As we see in the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika cosmogony account given by Pra\u015bastap\u0101da, the dissolution of the great elements follows the expected sequence: First earth dissolves, then water dissolves, then fire dissolves, and then air dissolves. The manifestation of the great elements, however, does not follow the expected sequence: First comes air, as expected. But then comes water, not fire. After water comes earth. Then comes fire. This is quite unusual. Then from fire together with earth comes the great egg, the cosmic egg in which all the worlds and all their creatures appear. Most unusual, though, is that the ultimate atoms remain after the dissolution of the cosmos:<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter this, the ultimate atoms [param\u0101\u1e47u<\/i>] remain by themselves in their isolated [pravibhakta<\/i>] condition; . . .\u201d When it says that the ultimate atoms remain in their \u201cisolated\u201d condition, this means disjoined or dissociated. That is, these ultimate atoms are no longer conjoined in pairs to produce dyads, nor are these dyads conjoined to produce triads. It is only the triads that produce the actual manifested elements: earth, water, fire, and air. So what is the nature of the ultimate atoms? The ultimate atoms are regularly described in the texts with two adjectives. They are eternal (nitya<\/i>), so they can never be destroyed, even when the cosmos is dissolved; and they are without parts (niravayava<\/i>). As a corollary to being without parts, they are described as having no magnitude (mahattva<\/i>), in the sense of size. This differentiates them from the atoms or atomic particles known in modern science. As explained by Jagadisha Chandra Chatterji (The Hindu Realism, being An Introduction to the Metaphysics of the Ny\u00e2ya-Vaishe\u1e63hika System of Philosophy<\/i>, 1912):<\/p>\n

\u201cParam\u0101\u1e47us have been translated as atoms, which is most misleading. For atoms as conceived by Western chemistry are things with some<\/i> magnitude, while Param\u0101\u1e47us are absolutely without any magnitude whatever<\/i> and non-spatial<\/i>.\u201d (p. 19).<\/p>\n

\u201cFor there is no reason to suppose that the ultimate parts must be things of some magnitude, however minute\u2014of some length, breadth and thickness. . . . On the contrary, if there is any violation of principles, and arbitrariness, even inconsistency, anywhere, it is to be found, not in the idea of Param\u0101\u1e47us, but in the view which regards the ultimate constituents of the sensible and discrete things as particles with<\/i> magnitude. Such particles are a violation of a principle, inasmuch as they, being of limited magnitude, are yet considered unbreakable into simple parts; while all other sensible things having also limited magnitude are recognised as produced and capable of being broken up into simpler components. . . . Finally, if the ultimate constituents of sensible things were composed of solid, hard and extended particles with magnitude, however small, then \u00c2k\u00e2sha or Ether could not really be all-pervading as we shall see it must be. For all these reasons, we must conclude that the ultimate factors of the discrete things of sense-perception are of the measure of pure points, without any magnitude whatever, that is, without any length, breadth or thickness. They are in other words Param\u0101\u1e47us. As they are without any magnitude whatever, the Param\u0101\u1e47us, as such, can never be perceived by the senses. They are, therefore, super-sensible or transcendental (At\u00eendriya). They are super-sensible, not<\/i> in the sense that, while they are too small to be perceived by the unassisted senses, or with the aid of any instruments which have been so far invented, they could be perceived by the senses if we had, let us say, ideally perfect instruments to aid us in our sense-observation. They are super-sensible, rather, in the sense, that they can never<\/i> be perceived by the senses, not<\/i> even with the aid of the most perfect instruments imaginable. That is to say, they lie altogether beyond the range of the senses and are transcendental.\u201d (pp. 31-33).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Param\u0101\u1e47us are like pure points.\u201d (p. 47).<\/p>\n

In other words, the ultimate atoms taught in Vai\u015be\u1e63ika are apparently not atoms of physical matter. When we are obliged to use terms such as \u201catoms\u201d and \u201cmatter,\u201d we must recognize that they may mean one thing in physics, and another thing in metaphysics. Vai\u015be\u1e63ika, with its nine classes of ultimate realities (dravya<\/i>, \u201csubstance\u201d) that along with ultimate atoms include selves (\u0101tman<\/i>) and minds (manas<\/i>),7<\/sup> is essentially metaphysics. Its ultimate atoms, being altogether beyond the range of the senses (at\u012bndriya<\/i>), are said to be accessible only to the mind (Chatterji, op. cit., pp. 33, 159). So when modern writers call them indivisible, based on being without parts (niravayava<\/i>), this does not mean that they are units of physical matter so tiny that they can no longer be divided. As pointed out by Chatterji (op. cit., p. 24):<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike many, if not most, schools of Realism in the West, there is no Hindu system of realistic thought, which has ever held that the essential basis of the sensible world is a something or somethings which must have magnitude and extension. . . . it is possible to be a thorough-going realist and yet maintain, as the Hindu Realists of all shades have always maintained, that the ultimate constituents of sensible things are indeed real, self-subsisting, and independent of all percipients, but<\/i> they are not solid, hard particles with any magnitude, however small.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vai\u015be\u1e63ika ultimate atoms, then, are like metaphysical or mathematical points. Indeed, the Ny\u0101ya-Vai\u015be\u1e63ika explanation of how things with no magnitude can produce things with some magnitude, given by Chatterji (op. cit., pp. 29-30), is based on geometry. Two separate points, having no magnitude and being imperceptible, can result in a geometrical line, still remaining imperceptible. Three or more lines, here forming a prism shape rather than a triangle, can result in something that is perceptible. Thus can something without magnitude produce something with magnitude. The points correspond to the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika ultimate atoms (param<\/i>\u0101\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>), two of which form a dyad. The lines correspond to the dyads (dvya<\/i>\u1e47<\/i>uka<\/i>), three or more of which form a triad. The prism shape corresponds to the triads (trya<\/i>\u1e47<\/i>uka<\/i> or trasare<\/i>\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>), which form the great elements: earth, water, fire, and air.<\/p>\n

The Theosophical explanation of how things with no magnitude can produce things with some magnitude pertains to its teaching of the various planes of existence. As evolution proceeds, things existing on higher planes become more dense and manifest on lower planes. Thus, the ultimate atoms referred to in Theosophy exist on higher planes and proliferate onto lower planes, and this is how manifestation occurs. This explanation fits in with the Hindu metaphysical systems, and may well be what is meant by the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika teaching. It is noteworthy that the ultimate atoms are specifically referred to in Theosophy as \u201cmathematical points,\u201d and we will return to this below.<\/p>\n

We also see in the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika cosmogony account that motion (karma<\/i>, \u201caction\u201d),8<\/sup> which figures so prominently in the Dzyan Commentary\u2019s statement about the slumbering atoms (\u201cMOTION, which, during the periods of Rest \u2018pulsates and thrills through every slumbering atom\u2019\u201d), is brought in only for the re-manifestation of the cosmos. Does motion exist during dissolution (pralaya<\/i>), as it does in the Theosophical Mahatma Morya\u2019s description given in the Cosmological Notes? Once again, we may be limited by what is preserved in the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika sources that are still extant. Neither the Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btras<\/i> nor the Pad<\/i>\u0101<\/i>rtha-dharma-sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>graha<\/i> speak of this. However, a later Ny\u0101ya treatise by Udayana does speak of this, the Ny<\/i>\u0101ya-kusum\u0101\u00f1jali<\/i>. Rather ironically, it is this treatise that laid out proofs for the existence of God, and firmly established the joint Ny\u0101ya-Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system as staunch proponents of the God idea from that time forward. According to a sub-commentary by Padman\u0101bha-mi\u015bra on another work by Udayana (the Kira\u1e47\u0101val\u012b<\/i> commentary on the Pad<\/i>\u0101<\/i>rtha-dharma-sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>graha<\/i>), Udayana still had access to the R\u0101va\u1e47a-bh\u0101\u1e63ya, the same now lost early Vai\u015be\u1e63ika commentary that was apparently used by the Advaita Ved\u0101nta teacher \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya.9<\/sup> As noted above, the earlier Vai\u015be\u1e63ika that \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya refutes is not the later theistic Vai\u015be\u1e63ika, as is taught by Udayana. Yet Udayana does preserve in his Ny<\/i>\u0101ya-kusum\u0101\u00f1jali<\/i> the otherwise unknown Vai\u015be\u1e63ika teaching of the motion of the ultimate atoms during dissolution (pralaya<\/i>), possibly from the lost R\u0101va\u1e47a-bh\u0101\u1e63ya.<\/p>\n

Udayana in his Ny<\/i>\u0101ya-kusum\u0101\u00f1jali<\/i> predictably brings in God in his brief statement regarding the motion of the ultimate atoms during dissolution (pralaya<\/i>). Although the Theosophical Mahatmas do not accept the existence of God (see Mahatma letter #10), students of Theosophy will be pleasantly surprised by Udayana\u2019s statement. For Udayana likens this motion during pralaya<\/i> to the breathing of God, very much like The Secret Doctrine<\/i>\u2019s poetic description of the absolute abstract motion that exists even during pralaya<\/i> as the \u201cGreat Breath\u201d (vol. 1, p. 14). The Book of Dzyan speaks of this (Stanza 2, verse 2): \u201c. . . Where was silence? Where the ears to sense it? No, there was neither silence nor sound; naught save ceaseless, eternal breath, which knows itself not.\u201d So if we look at the one existing complete English translation of the Ny<\/i>\u0101ya-kusum\u0101\u00f1jali<\/i>, students of Theosophy will be happy to read, regarding the motion that exists during pralaya<\/i>: \u201cThis motion is often described as God\u2019s inhalation and exhalation.\u201d10<\/sup> If we look at the Sanskrit, however, we find that this \u201ctranslation\u201d is an embellished paraphrase, which the unsuspecting reader who must rely on these so-called translations would never know. Udayana says only that this motion is \u201cbreathed out by God,\u201d \u012b\u015bvara-ni\u1e25\u015bvasita, nothing more. This is nonetheless enough to bring in the image of the breath in relation to the motion that exists during pralaya<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Udayana\u2019s statement is given below, followed by my fairly literal translation. I have been much helped in this by an accurate translation of the first two chapters of the Ny<\/i>\u0101yakusum\u0101\u00f1jali<\/i> made by C. Kunhan Raja, alias Swami Ravi Tirtha.11<\/sup> I have made a more literal translation of this statement only because we need to know what Udayana says about this motion as precisely as possible. Udayana\u2019s Ny<\/i>\u0101ya-kusum\u0101\u00f1jali<\/i> is a very terse work that presupposes full familiarity with the philosophical ideas prevalent among the learned in his time. Much of what Udayana took for granted in his readers is spelled out in the very helpful commentary on it by Varadar\u0101ja, the Kusum\u0101\u00f1jali-Bodhan\u012b<\/i>, which has also been of much use to me. Udayana is giving the reason for rejecting the opponent\u2019s statement that the Ny\u0101ya position cannot be correct, so it is actually one long \u201cbecause\u201d sentence. I have omitted the \u201cbecause,\u201d coming from the ablative ending on the final word, a<\/i>nuv\u1e5btte\u1e25<\/i>, and have broken his one sentence into two sentences at the suffix –vat<\/i>, \u201clike,\u201d on the word a<\/i>nuv\u1e5btti<\/i>, \u201ccontinuity,\u201d in its first occurrence. Three technical terms, requiring explanation, have been given in parentheses in the translation. Two are explained below, and the third, pracaya<\/i>, in a note.12<\/sup> Udayana follows this statement by answering the question of how long pralaya<\/i> lasts. The Sanskrit text is given from the 1957 edition of the Ny<\/i>\u0101yakusum\u0101\u00f1jali<\/i> published in the Kashi Sanskrit Series, no. 30, pp. 304-305.<\/p>\n

\u015bar\u012bra-sa\u1e43k\u1e63obha-\u015brama-janita-nidr\u0101\u1e47\u0101\u1e43 pr\u0101\u1e47in\u0101m \u0101yu\u1e25-parip\u0101ka-krama-samp\u0101danaika-prayojana-\u015bv\u0101sa-sant\u0101n\u0101’nuv\u1e5bttivan mah\u0101bh\u016bta-sa\u1e43plava-sa\u1e43k\u1e63obha-labdha-sa\u1e43sk\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u0101\u1e43 param\u0101\u1e47\u016bn\u0101\u1e43 manda-tara-tam\u0101”di-bh\u0101vena k\u0101l\u0101vacchedaika-prayojanasya pracay\u0101khya-sa\u1e43yoga-paryantasya karma-sant\u0101nasye\u015bvara-ni\u1e25\u015bvasitasy\u0101’nuv\u1e5btte\u1e25 |<\/p>\n

\u201cFor living beings in whom sleep has arisen from fatigue and the impact (sa\u1e43k\u1e63obha<\/i>) on the body, the continuity of the series of breaths has the sole purpose of accomplishing the stages of the maturing of life. Like this, for the ultimate atoms in which impulses (sa\u1e43sk\u0101ra<\/i>) have been acquired from the impact of the disintegration of the great elements, the continuity of the series of motions breathed out by God has the sole purpose of demarcating time, as being slow, slower, slowest, etc., culminating in the conjunction called grouping (pracaya<\/i>).\u201d<\/p>\n

Just as God can be omitted from the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika cosmogony account given by Pra\u015bastap\u0101da without any loss of coherence, so God can be omitted from the account of the motion of ultimate atoms during dissolution (pralaya<\/i>) given by Udayana without any loss of coherence. The Vai\u015be\u1e63ika teaching of ad\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6da<\/i>, the automatically acting \u201cunseen\u201d force produced by karma, is quite enough to explain how cosmogony occurs, without any need for God. Here, too, God is not necessary for the motion of the ultimate atoms during pralaya<\/i>, which motion is explained as being due to their sa\u1e43sk\u0101ras<\/i>. The sa\u1e43sk\u0101ras<\/i> are karmic \u201cimprints\u201d or \u201cimpressions\u201d that become \u201cconditioning forces\u201d (as Bhikkhu Dhammajoti well translates this word in Buddhist texts), leading to \u201ctendencies\u201d (as Anantalal Thakur translates it in Vai\u015be\u1e63ika texts). Ganganatha Jha translated this word as \u201cpotencies\u201d in the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika cosmogony account given above. I have used \u201cimpulses\u201d here. The ultimate atoms acquire these sa\u1e43sk\u0101ras<\/i> from the sa\u1e43k\u1e63obha<\/i>, \u201cimpact,\u201d that occurs when the great elements disintegrate into their component ultimate atoms at the time of the dissolution of the cosmos. About this, Umesha Mishra explains that \u201cbefore an object is destroyed a kind of shock (sa\u1e45k\u1e63obha<\/i>) is given to that object and then the object is destroyed\u201d (Conception of Matter according to Ny\u0101ya-<\/i>Vai<\/i>\u00e7<\/i>e\u1e63ika<\/i>, 1936, p. 197). Similarly, Sadananda Bhaduri says about this: \u201cIt is only as the result of a violent shaking or impact that a body is dissolved\u201d (Studies in Ny\u0101ya-<\/i>Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika Metaphysics<\/i>, 1946, p. 147). The term sa\u1e43k\u1e63obha<\/i> is glossed in the Kusum\u0101\u00f1jali<\/i>-Bodhan<\/i>\u012b<\/i> commentary by Varadar\u0101ja as abhigh\u0101ta<\/i>, which means \u201cstriking, impact.\u201d So due to this impact (sa\u1e43k\u1e63obha<\/i>) at the time of the disintegration of the great elements, the ultimate atoms acquire sa\u1e43sk\u0101ras<\/i>, \u201cimpulses,\u201d which result in a continuous series of motions that last throughout the time of the dissolution (pralaya<\/i>) of the cosmos. The idea that God breathed out these motions is not necessary to the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system.<\/p>\n

In the Theosophical system, the motion that is symbolically called the \u201cGreat Breath\u201d is not the breath of God, but rather is the breath of the one existence, which is the one element, also called space. Blavatsky writes: \u201cIts one absolute attribute, which is ITSELF, eternal, ceaseless Motion, is called in esoteric parlance the \u2018Great Breath,\u2019 which is the perpetual motion of the universe, in the sense of limitless, ever-present SPACE\u201d (The Secret Doctrine<\/i>, vol. 1, p. 2). She explains further (vol. 1, p. 55): \u201cThe \u2018Breath\u2019 of the One Existence is used in its application only to the spiritual aspect of Cosmogony by Archaic esotericism; otherwise, it is replaced by its equivalent in the material plane\u2014Motion. The One Eternal Element, or element-containing Vehicle, is Space<\/em>, dimensionless in every sense; co-existent with which are\u2014endless duration<\/em>, primordial (hence indestructible) matter<\/em>, and motion<\/em>\u2014absolute \u2018perpetual motion\u2019 which is the \u2018breath\u2019 of the \u2018One\u2019 Element. This breath, as seen, can never cease, not even during the Pralayic eternities.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Theosophical teachings, the breath of the one element is its life. The one existence may therefore be called the one element or the one life, and is equivalent to living matter or living substance. The breath of the one element is the same as the perpetual motion of matter, and this motion is its inherent life. The Mahatma K.H. makes this clear (Mahatma letter #10): \u201cWhen we speak of our One Life we also say that it penetrates, nay is the essence of every atom of matter; and that therefore it not only has correspondence with matter but has all its properties likewise, etc.\u2014hence is<\/em> material, is matter itself. . . . <\/em>Rejecting with contempt the theistic theory we reject as much the automaton theory, teaching that states of consciousness are produced by the marshalling of the molecules of the brain; . . . we believe in . . . the pulsations of inert matter\u2014its life. . . . In other words we believe in MATTER alone, in matter as visible nature and matter in its invisibility as the invisible omnipresent omnipotent Proteus with its unceasing motion which is its life, . . .\u201d<\/p>\n

It follows that every atom is alive, and each atom is a life. Blavatsky explains: \u201cThe Second idea to hold fast to is that THERE IS NO DEAD MATTER. Every last atom is alive. It cannot be otherwise since every atom is itself fundamentally Absolute Being. Therefore there is no such thing as \u2018spaces\u2019 of Ether, or Akasha, or call it what you like, in which angels and elementals disport themselves like trout in water. That\u2019s the common idea. The true idea shows every atom of substance no matter of what plane to be in itself a LIFE.\u201d13<\/sup><\/p>\n

This life remains, even when the cosmos goes out of manifestation, and it is this that keeps the eternal ultimate atoms in motion during pralaya<\/i>, like in sleep. This is because, as the Mahatma Morya said in the \u201cCosmological Notes,\u201d quoted above, motion is the imperishable life of matter. At that time there is only \u201cspace pervaded by atoms in motion. Everything else passes away for the time, but matter which these ultimate atoms represent . . . is eternal and indestructible, . . .\u201d (p. 384). The remainder of this quotation had been re-stated earlier in the \u201cCosmological Notes\u201d: \u201cMotion . . . is the imperishable life (conscious or unconscious as the case may be) of matter, even during the pralaya, or night of mind. When Chyang or omniscience, and Chyang-mi-shi-khon\u2014ignorance, both sleep, this latent unconscious life still maintains the matter it animates in sleepless unceasing motion.\u201d (p. 377).<\/p>\n

It is here that the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika teachings as we now have them differ from the Theosophical teachings. Vai\u015be\u1e63ika does not teach that the ultimate atoms are alive; their motion is therefore not inherent in them. In Theosophy, motion is the inherent life of the ultimate atoms. This difference between the two teachings is, of course, hardly surprising. The distinctive teaching of eternal ultimate atoms has defined the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system to such an extent that Vai\u015be\u1e63ika has come to be known as a system of atomism. By contrast, Theosophy is not at all known as a system of atomism, or even as teaching atomism, because of its teaching of the one existence. Indeed, Theosophy has the maxim: \u201cIt is on the doctrine of the illusive nature of matter, and the infinite divisibility of the atom, that the whole science of Occultism is built.\u201d (The Secret Doctrine<\/i>, vol. 1, p. 520). Vai\u015be\u1e63ika, on the other hand, has been known in the West for teaching eternal ultimate atoms that are indivisible, although the Sanskrit term for this in fact means \u201cwithout parts\u201d (niravayava<\/i>) rather than \u201cindivisible.\u201d Just as we had to determine what kind of atoms are without parts in Vai\u015be\u1e63ika, so we must determine what kind of atoms are infinitely divisible in Theosophy, along with what kind of matter is illusive. For we have just been reading about matter that is eternal and atoms that are eternal.<\/p>\n

The Theosophical teaching on the eternal ultimate atoms was considerably clarified in 2010, with the publication of the lost \u201cTransactions of the Blavatsky Lodge,\u201d discovered in 1995 by Daniel Caldwell.14<\/sup> It was clarified thanks to Blavatsky being persistently questioned about the atoms that she spoke of too briefly in The Secret Doctrine<\/i>. In her replies, Blavatsky called the atoms taught in Theosophy \u201cmathematical points\u201d more than a dozen times, just like Chatterji called the atoms taught in Vai\u015be\u1e63ika \u201cpure points.\u201d Just like the Mahatma Morya surprisingly spoke of the seventh or highest principle as being molecular, i.e., atomic, Blavatsky several times defined the atom as the seventh principle of a molecule, existing on the seventh or highest plane. This true atom, then, is not physical, not the atom of modern science, as she said many times. Each molecule, appearing as a single atom, is composed of an infinity of finer molecules; and these comprise the six lower principles of the true atom, being the infinitely divisible manifested atoms. Some of these statements had appeared already in the Transactions that were published in 1890 and 1891. But in the newly published Transactions there are more of these statements, leading to greater clarification of the Theosophical teaching on the eternal ultimate atoms that remain even during pralaya<\/i>. It will be worthwhile to quote some of these statements.<\/p>\n

The following quotations, when they occur in both the 1890-1891 and 2010 versions, are given from the earlier published Transactions, as reprinted in the Blavatsky Collected Writings<\/i>, volume 10. Blavatsky had a chance to edit the earlier version. For these quotations, references to the 2010 unedited and often differing version are also included in parentheses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThus the Egg, on whatever plane you speak of, means the ever-existing undifferentiated matter which strictly is not matter at all, but, as we call it, the Atoms. Matter is destructible in form while the Atoms are absolutely indestructible, being the quintessence of Substances. And here, I mean by \u2018atoms\u2019 the primordial divine Units, not the \u2018atoms\u2019 of modern Science.\u201d (p. 353; cp. 2010 ed., p. 137)<\/p>\n

\u201cQuestion. Is the Radiant Essence, Milky Way, or world-stuff, resolvable into atoms or is it non-atomic?
\nAnswer. In its precosmic state it is of course non-atomic if by atoms you mean molecules; for the hypothetical atom, a mere mathematical point, is not material or application [applicable?] to matter, nor even to substance. The real atom does not exist on the material plane. The definition of a point as having position, must not, in Occultism, be taken in the ordinary sense of location; as the real<\/i> atom is beyond space and time. The word molecular is really applicable to our globe and its plane, only: once inside of it, even on the other globes of our planetary chain, matter is in quite another condition, and non-molecular. The atom is in its eternal state invisible even to the eye of an Archangel; and becomes visible to the latter only periodically, during the life cycle. The particle, or molecule, is not<\/i>, but exists periodically, and is therefore regarded as an illusion.\u201d (p. 370; cp. 2010 ed., pp. 210-211)<\/p>\n

\u201cAn atom is simply a mathematical point with regard to matter. It is what we call in occultism a mathematical point.\u201d (2010 ed., p. 210)<\/p>\n

\u201cQuestion. But what is an atom, in fact?
\nAnswer. An atom may be compared to (and is for the Occultist) the seventh principle of a body or rather of a molecule. The physical or chemical molecule is composed of an infinity of finer molecules and these in their turn of innumerable and still finer molecules. Take for instance a molecule of iron and so resolve it that it becomes non-molecular; it is then, at once transformed into one of its seven principles, viz<\/i>., its astral body; the seventh of these is the atom. The analogy between a molecule of iron, before it is broken up, and this same molecule after resolution, is the same as that between a physical body before and after death. The principles remain minus<\/i> the body. Of course this is occult alchemy, not modern chemistry.\u201d (pp. 370-371; cp. 2010 ed., pp. 211-213)<\/p>\n

\u201cBrahm\u00e2 is called an atom, because we have to imagine it as a mathematical point, which, however, can be extended into absoluteness. Nota bene<\/i>, it is the divine germ and not the atom of the chemists.\u201d (p. 385; cp. 2010 ed., p. 277)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the infinitesimally small and totallic Brahm\u0101. It may be the unknown limited quantity, a latent atom during Pralaya, active during the life cycles, but one which has neither circumference or plane, only limitless expansion.\u201d (2010 ed., p. 277)<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. A. Keightley: <\/i>Question 6. Are the atoms\u2014in the occult sense of the term\u2014eternal and indestructible, like the Monads of Leibniz, or are they dissolved during Pralaya?
\nMme. Blavatsky: <\/i>Now look at this question, if you please. This proves that the atoms are in your conceptions somethings, when there is no such thing in this world as atoms, except as mathematical points, as I say. The atoms, whether representing the Monads of Leibniz or the eternal and indestructible mathematical points of substance which our occult doctrine teaches, can neither be dissolved during Pralaya nor reform during Manvantara. The atoms do not exist as appreciable quantities of matter on any plane. They are mathematical points of unknown quantity here. And whatever they are or may be on the seventh plane, each is and must be logically an absolute universe in itself, reflecting other universes and yet it is not matter and it is not spirit. . . . The atom is and is not. The atom is the mathematical point, the potentiality in space; and there is not, I suppose, a space in this world that is not an atom.<\/i>\u201d (2010 ed., p. 347-348)<\/p>\n

\u201cAtoms confined to our world system are not what they are in space, or mathematical points. These latter are certainly metaphysical abstractions, and can only be considered in such terms; but what we know as atoms on this plane are gradations of substance, very attenuated. This will be easily understood by those who think over the occult axiom which tells us that spirit is matter, and matter spirit, and both one.\u201d (2010 ed., p. 366)<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. B. Keightley: <\/i>That question of atoms is consistently cropping up in The Secret Doctrine.
\nMme. Blavatsky: <\/i>It does. And I had the honor of telling you what I meant by atoms, that I used them in that sense of cosmogenesis. I said they were geometrical and mathematical points.\u201d (2010 ed., pp. 398-399)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vai\u015be\u1e63ika is an ancient system, and only remnants of its teachings have been preserved. The teaching on ultimate atoms is given only very briefly in its primary text, the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btras<\/i> (4.1.1-7, Thakur edition).15<\/sup> More is given in the primary text of its sister system, the Ny\u0101ya-s\u016btras<\/i> (4.2.16-25). Some more was preserved in the Pad<\/i>\u0101rtha-dharma-sa\u1e43graha<\/i> by Pra\u015bastap\u0101da, including an account of cosmogony. In what has been preserved in this compendium we have the unusual teaching that the eternal ultimate atoms remain in existence even when the cosmos goes out of manifestation. This teaching is also found in Theosophy. It is found elsewhere only in the Buddhist K\u0101lacakra system. Even though Jainism also teaches eternal ultimate atoms, according to Jainism the cosmos never goes out of manifestation. The ultimate atoms taught in early Buddhism are not eternal, so they do not remain during the dissolution of the cosmos. The teaching that eternal ultimate atoms remain during pralaya<\/i> has been little studied in Vai\u015be\u1e63ika, and it has been little studied in Theosophy. Yet it is an essential part of the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika cosmogony, necessary for the ultimate atoms to be eternal, and it is an essential part of the cosmogony given in the Book of Dzyan. Blavatsky summarizes what stanza 3 of the Book of Dzyan teaches, at the same time indicating how the one existence and the many eternal ultimate atoms or mathematical points need not be contradictory (The Secret Doctrine<\/i>, vol. 1, p. 21):<\/p>\n

\u201cStanza III. describes the Re-awakening of the Universe to life after Pralaya. It depicts the emergence of the \u2018Monads\u2019 from their state of absorption within the ONE; the earliest and highest stage in the formation of \u2018Worlds,\u2019 the term Monad being one which may apply equally to the vastest Solar System or the tiniest atom.\u201d<\/p>\n

This stanza of the Book of Dzyan concludes with the following verse:<\/p>\n

\u201cThen Svabh\u0101va sends Fohat to harden the atoms. Each is a part of the web. Reflecting the \u2018Self-Existent Lord\u2019 like a mirror, each becomes in turn a world.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Notes<\/p>\n

1. The phrase \u201cempty ultimate atom\u201d translates the original Sanskrit \u015b\u016bnya-<\/i>param<\/i>\u0101\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>. Its Tibetan translation is stong pa rdul phra rab<\/i>. This Tibetan term, or a close variant, was used by the Dalai Lama in his dialogues and translated as \u201cspace particle\u201d or \u201cempty particle\u201d in his books: Consciousness at the Crossroads<\/i>, 1999, pp. 49, 51; The New Physics and Cosmology<\/i>, 2004, pp. 85, 87-88, 94, 96, 183, 209; and The Universe in a Single Atom<\/i>, 2005, pp. 85-90.<\/p>\n

2. See: \u201cThe Problems of the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system and the lost Vai\u015be\u1e63ika literature,\u201d by Anantalal Thakur, pp. 9-17 in his \u201cIntroduction\u201d to Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ikas\u016btra of Ka\u1e47\u0101da, with the Commentary of Candr\u0101nanda<\/i>, edited by Muni Jambuvijayaji, Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1961, posted here with the Sanskrit texts. We do not know if the Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-Ka\u1e6dand\u012b<\/i> is the \u0100treya-bh\u0101\u1e63ya.<\/p>\n

3. These two are: Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ikadar\u015bana of Ka\u1e47\u0101da, with an Anonymous Commentary<\/i>, edited by Anantalal Thakur, Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1957; and Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ikas\u016btra of Ka\u1e47\u0101da, with the Commentary of Candr\u0101nanda<\/i>, edited by Muni Jambuvijayaji, Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1961.<\/p>\n

4. See: \u201cR\u0101va\u1e47a-bh\u0101\u1e63ya<\/a>,\u201d by S. Kuppuswami Sastri, Journal of Oriental Research<\/i>, Madras, vol. 3, 1929, pp. 1-5, attached.<\/p>\n

5. Pad<\/i>\u0101<\/i>rthadharmasa<\/i>n<\/i>graha of Pra<\/i>\u00e7<\/i>astap<\/i>\u0101<\/i>da, with the <\/i>Ny\u0101yakandal\u012b<\/i> of <\/i>\u00c7r<\/i>\u012bdhara<\/i>, translated by Ganganatha Jha, serialized in The Pandit<\/i>, 1903-1915; reprint, Benares, 1916; photographic reprint as: Pad<\/i>\u0101<\/i>rthadharmasa<\/i>\u1e45<\/i>graha of Pra<\/i>\u015b<\/i>astap<\/i>\u0101<\/i>da, with the <\/i>Ny\u0101yakandal\u012b<\/i> of <\/i>\u015ar\u012bdhara<\/i>, translated by Ga\u1e45g\u0101n\u0101tha Jh\u0101, Varanasi, 1982, pp. 108-111.<\/p>\n

6. Ga\u1e45g\u0101n\u0101tha Jh\u0101\u2019s \u201cof all things\u201d translates the pronoun te\u1e63\u0101m<\/i>, \u201cof these\/those,\u201d where he has supplied the unstated \u201call things\u201d as the referent for the pronoun. There are three main commentaries on the Pad<\/i>\u0101<\/i>rtha-dharma-sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>graha<\/i>. All three commentaries supply the \u201cbodies and sense-organs\u201d as the referent for the pronoun: te\u1e63\u0101\u1e43 \u015bar\u012brendriy\u0101n\u0101m<\/i> (Vyomavat\u012b<\/i> by Vyoma\u015biva, edited by Gaurinath Sastri, 1983, p. 97, line 27; Ny\u0101yakandal\u012b<\/i> by \u015ar\u012bdhara, edited by Vindhye\u015bvar\u012bpras\u0101da Dvivedin, 1895, p. 51, line 13; edited by J. S. Jetly and Vasant G. Parikh, 1991, p. 136, line 12; Kira\u1e47\u0101val\u012b<\/i> by Udayana, edited by Narendra Chandra Vedantatirtha (fasc. 4), 1956, p. 315, line 2; edited by Jitendra S. Jetly, 1971, p. 62, line 10). They are here listed in chronological order: Vyomavat\u012b<\/i>, Ny\u0101yakandal\u012b<\/i>, and Kira\u1e47\u0101val\u012b<\/i>.<\/p>\n

7. The nine classes of ultimate realities, called dravya<\/i>, which is usually translated as \u201csubstances,\u201d are: (1-4) the ultimate atoms (param<\/i>\u0101\u1e47<\/i>u<\/i>) of earth, water, fire, and air; (5) \u0101k\u0101\u015ba<\/i>, which in Vai\u015be\u1e63ika is not the fifth element, but rather is space as the medium in which things exist; (6) k\u0101la<\/i>, time; (7) dik<\/i>, literally \u201cdirection,\u201d as in north and south, so refers to space as the directions of space, and has sometimes been translated as relative position; (8) \u0101tman<\/i>, selves or souls (9) manas<\/i>, minds.<\/p>\n

8. The word for motion used in Vai\u015be\u1e63ika is karma<\/i>, \u201caction,\u201d as may be seen, for example, in its usage in Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btra<\/i> 1.1.6 (or 1.1.7 in earlier editions), translated by Anantalal Thakur as: \u201cThrowing upwards, throwing downwards, contracting, expanding and moving are the (five) actions.\u201d (See note 15 below for his Sanskrit edition and translation.) Therefore many writers on Vai\u015be\u1e63ika translate karma<\/i> as \u201cmotion.\u201d<\/p>\n

9. Udayana in his Kira\u1e47\u0101val\u012b<\/i> commentary on the Pad<\/i>\u0101<\/i>rtha-dharma-sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>graha<\/i> refers to the very extensive (ativistara<\/i>) commentary on the Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btras<\/i> that he apparently had access to (Kira\u1e47\u0101val\u012b<\/i>, ed. \u015aiva Chandra S\u0101rvvabhouma, fasc. 1-3, Bibliotheca Indica, work no. 200, Calcutta, 1911-1912, p. 34). Padman\u0101bha-mi\u015bra in his Kira\u1e47\u0101val\u012b-Bh\u0101skara<\/i> sub-commentary says that this very extensive commentary was written by R\u0101va\u1e47a (ed. Gopi Nath Kaviraj, Benares, 1920, p. 12: r\u0101va\u1e47a-pra\u1e47\u012bta); i.e., it is the lost R\u0101va\u1e47a-bh\u0101\u1e63ya. (Reference: Anantalal Thakur, \u201cIntroduction\u201d to Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ikas\u016btra of Ka\u1e47\u0101da, with the Commentary of Candr\u0101nanda<\/i>, p. 13, repeated in Origin and Development of the <\/i>Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika System<\/i>, p. 166.)<\/p>\n

10. Ny<\/i>\u0101yakusum\u0101\u00f1jali of Udayan\u0101c\u0101rya<\/i>, translated by N. S. Dravid, Vol. 1, New Delhi: Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 1996, p. 202. The full statement in this translation, actually an embellished paraphrase, is: \u201c(The proper explanation of the re-emergence of the creative process is this): During sleep which is induced by fatigue in the living body the process of exhalation and inhalation\u2014whose sole object is the gradual dissipation of the span of life of the body\u2014goes on (as long as the body is destined to live). Likewise the motion of the atoms (which are the ultimate constituents of the universe) generated by the impact of the disintegrating process on the four major elements of the universe, has as its sole object the determination of the duration of annihilation. The atomic motion taking place during annihilation is of the nonproductive kind and it increases or decreases accordingly as the annihilation-process is near or far from its end. This motion is often described as God\u2019s inhalation and exhalation.\u201d
\nThe translation of the K<\/i>usum\u0101\u00f1jali<\/i> made by E. B. Cowell and published in 1864 is of Udayana\u2019s verses only, along with a commentary by Hari Dasa Bhattacharya. It does not include Udayana\u2019s extensive prose portions that make up most of his book.<\/p>\n

11. The Ny<\/i>\u0101yakusum\u0101\u00f1jali of Udayan\u0101c\u0101rya<\/i>, translated by Swami Ravi Tirtha, Vol. 1, Books 1 and 2, Adyar Library, 1946, pp. 99-100, paragraph 176. The full statement in this more accurate translation is: \u201cIf it be so said, it is not so; for there is continuity for the breathing of God in the form of a succession of activity of ultimate atoms, of the nature of lesser and still lesser intensity, which end with the contact designated pracaya (i.e<\/i>. mere coming together without creating volume) and whose sole purpose is to demarcate time, (of ultimate atoms) which have obtained a residue from the agitation of the break up of the great elements (i.e<\/i>., the five elements), (just) like the continuity of the succession of breaths, whose sole purpose is to secure the process of the fruition of life for the living beings who have obtained sleep derived from the fatigue of some agitation of the body.\u201d
\nThis book is quite rare, so I have scanned it and posted it here with the Sanskrit texts. Swami Ravi Tirtha is a pseudonym for C. Kunhan Raja, as noted by George Chemparathy (An Indian Rational Theology: Introduction to Udayana\u2019s Ny<\/i>\u0101yakusum\u0101\u00f1jali<\/i>, 1972, p. 190).<\/p>\n

12. The term pracaya<\/i>, \u201cgrouping,\u201d is defined by Candr\u0101nanda in his commentary on Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btra<\/i> 7.1.16 as a \u201cloose conjunction\u201d: pra\u015bithila\u1e25 sa\u1e43yoga\u1e25 pracaya\u1e25. The same gloss is given by Pra\u015bastap\u0101da in his Pad<\/i>\u0101<\/i>rtha-dharma-sa<\/i>\u1e43<\/i>graha<\/i>, where it is further explained: 1895 edition (Pra<\/i>\u015b<\/i>astap<\/i>\u0101<\/i>da-bh<\/i>\u0101\u1e63<\/i>ya<\/i>), pp. 130 ff.; 1971 edition with Kira\u1e47\u0101val\u012b<\/i> commentary, pp. 136 ff.; 1983-1984 edition with Vyomavat\u012b<\/i> commentary, vol. 2, pp. 50 ff.; 1991 edition with Ny\u0101yakandal\u012b<\/i> commentary, pp. 327 ff.; G. Jha translation, pp. 284 ff.<\/p>\n

13. \u201cThe \u2018Secret Doctrine\u2019 and Its Study\u201d (notes of personal teachings given by H. P. Blavatsky to Robert Bowen), cited from An Invitation to The Secret Doctrine<\/i>, 1994, p. 4.<\/p>\n

14. The Secret Doctrine Commentaries: The Unpublished 1889 Instructions<\/i>, by H. P. Blavatsky, transcribed and edited by Michael Gomes, The Hague: I.S.I.S. Foundation, 2010. These have also been published in April, 2014, as The Secret Doctrine Dialogues<\/i>, Los Angeles: The Theosophy Company (not yet seen by me).<\/p>\n

15. The Sanskrit edition and English translation of the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btras<\/i> prepared by Anantalal Thakur is by far the most definitive edition and translation available today. It is based primarily on the readings found in the anonymous commentary that he published in 1957 and found in the text as commented on by Candr\u0101nanda that was published in 1961 (see note 3 above). It was published in Origin and Development of the <\/i>Vai<\/i>\u015be\u1e63ika System<\/i>, 2003, pp. 24-121. It completely supersedes the editions and translations of the Vai\u015be\u1e63ika-s\u016btras<\/i> as commented on by \u015aa\u1e45kara-mi\u015bra that had long been the standard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Vai\u015be\u1e63ika system, one of the six Hindu dar\u015banas (worldviews or schools of philosophy), is not known for its cosmogony. It is known as an ancient Indian system of atomism. The cosmogony it has is the manifestation and dissolution of the four great elements (mah\u0101-bh\u016bta) that form the world (earth, water, fire, and air), and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creation-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1141"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1692,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions\/1692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}