My Personal Journey into Vaisheshika Darshan - Second Question - Objects of Knowledge - Padārthas

What is Dharma?

In the first post of my series on Vaiśeṣika Darshan, we started with the basic question - What is Dharma? As Jagadguru Kripalu Ji Maharaj points out that the word Dharma (धर्म) originates from the Sanskrit root word 'dhru (धृ)', which means to bear, or support. It can be interpreted as a support system that serves a purpose for us, so by definition is not self-serving. 

A purposeless life is a boring life, at least that's my imperfect philosophy. We as human beings don't just want to live a daily life centered around survival but we strive for knowing the unknown. Whether that's knowledge of oceans, stars, soil, chemicals, the human body, or other sentient beings. Just for curious minds, the Sanskrit word for knowledge is ज्ञान (gyaan - from root word ज्ञा) which means to know or to be aware of.

Back to our discussion. A system that supports us should provide us a purpose and means to fulfill that purpose. But to understand our purpose a journey of discovery needs to be undertaken. If we want to go from point 'A' to point 'B', we at least should be aware of the nature of 'A' and 'B'. Vaisheshika Darshan defines this 'purpose' as an elevation in both material (Abhyudaya = future prosperity ) and metaphysical (Nishreyas = ultimate bliss / mukti / nirvana) worlds. 

What is success? Vaisheshika Darshan focuses on both material and spiritual success

And nishreyas relies on a solid foundation of abhyudaya; as a healthy body leads to a healthy mind that can pursue higher goals (an ancient reference to wellness & well-being of both body and mind!)

After all, hard work & knowledge elevates me in this physical world and is often a stepping stone for satiating my curious inner self through metaphysical elevation. Haven't most of us wondered whether there is a higher purpose to our daily grind? A calling, as some may call it, whether that's serving the poor, raising the kids, or knowledge of the nature of reality. Our calling is unique to us. 

And from the second sutra (Chapter 1 Aphorism 2) onwards the discussion of the nature of reality begins, it will take us through the categorization of various aspects of the world as well as their commonalities and differences. Because through this knowledge of the world around us the journey of self-discovery can begin. 

Imagine Rishi Kanada (author of Vaiśeṣika) conducting a thought experiment, trying to understand the nature of the world. It's the same thought experiment the likes of Aristotle, Galileo and Newton conducted centuries later. Kanada formed his philosophy of Vaiśeṣika around circa 600 BCE. 

What is a Padārthas?

He like the Greek philosophers that came much later, discusses the nature of reality and how best to categorize everything around us in fundamental building blocks. And as you understand and categorize the world around you, it helps to understand similarities and differences. And this categorization helps in differentiating and defining the 'me' and the surroundings. And categorization in Vaiśeṣika results in six fundamental objects or six Padārthas, as Vaiśeṣika calls these. 

A side note - An example of categorization can also be found in the works of Aristotle - for example, both a man and a picture are animals. These have only a name in common and the definition of being which corresponds to the name is different; for if one is to say what being an animal is for each of them, one will give two distinct definitions.

Reference: Chapter 1 - Categories - The Complete Works of Aristotle – Barnes, Jonathan, Aristotle

The six Padārthas

Although comprehending the exact English meaning of Padārthas is difficult, it's made of two Sanskrit words 'Pada' signifying word, and 'Artha' signifying meaning. The best way to describe  Padārthas will be various objects of knowledge. And these six objects are dravya (substance), guṇa (qualities), karman (motion), sāmānya (universality), viśeṣa (particularity), and samavāya (inherence) can be used to give meaning to everything around us. 

Reference: Kak, Subhash. Matter and Mind: The Vaiśeṣika Sūtra of Kaṇāda (p. 48). Mount Meru Publishing. Kindle Edition. 

For example, if we need to acquire knowledge of a ballpoint pen, the awareness (or knowledge) of the ballpoint pen is via its quality of shape, color, touch, etc. And furthermore, it shares some qualities with other objects (family of writing instruments in this case) and is unique (ballpoint with say blue ink) in its own way. 

Can we acquire the knowledge of eternal bliss our ultimate goal through its qualities? Yes, that's the viśeṣa (particular) knowledge Vaiśeṣika will help us with! A lot more to come next.