Conception of Matter According to Nyaya Vaisesika (An Old and Rare Book)

Foreword PARADOXICAL as it may seem, the author of the book is its worst enemy. He has named it 'Conception of Matter'. This name implies the idea that the work confines itself to the material aspect of things. On looking into it, however, one finds that it deals, not only with the material, but with all conceivable aspects of things. Unless, therefore, 'matter' is under- stood in its widest connotation-standing for 'things' or 'beings', it is misleading.

The reader will find that the writer has taken great pains over the work; he does not seem to leave un- noticed any work that is available on the subject. One would wish he had been less generous' in the choice of his authorities. Everything that has been written is not necessarily 'authoritative'. The writer has himself found this to his own cost in several places, where he would have saved himself much bewilderment if he had been more discriminating in the use of the materials at hand. He would have achieved this end if he had concentrated upon the akaragranthas and omit- ted the manuals, especially the later ones, but perhaps the work would have been less 'full and complete than it is. It is hoped that serious investigators in the same field will have reason to thank him for having made their work lighter.

Introduction THE study of Indian Philosophy has emerged, with the slow publication of hitherto obscure texts and with the gradual widening of interest in original researches, from its general and rudimentary stage of the previous century into a critical and systematized form today. The following pages represent a brilliant attempt of this kind and the writer is to be heartily congratulated on the manner in which he has made his learning bear on the subject.

The subject chosen for a special study is the Conception of Matter in Indian Philosophy. It is an interesting theme and as it covers a wide field the writer has done well to restrict himself to a single system only, viz., that of Nyaya-Vaisesika, though he has taken the liberty of going afield on occasions for pur- poses of comparison and illustration. It may be hoped that other writers will, in due course, supplement the work, bringing together in a systematized way all that other thinkers have got to say on the problem of Matter.

The Conception of Matter is elastic as a study of the history of Western Philosophy will show. And even in science the conception has gone through a series of rapid developments into its recognized meaning of the present day physics. Before going further into the question it would be proper to take into account the meaning the writer himself attaches to the term in dealing with the subject.

**Contents and Sample Pages**