Page:A History of Hindu Chemistry Vol 1.djvu/152

2 Kanāda, the founder of the Vaiseshika system, chiefly occupied himself with the study of the properties of matter. The atomic theory, as propounded by him, has many points in common with that of the Greek philosopher Democritus. His theory of the propagation of sound cannot fail to excite our wonder and admiration even at this distant date. No less remarkable is his statement that light and heat are only different forms of the same essential substance. But Kanāda is anticipated in many material points by Kapila, the reputed originator of the Sāmkhya philosophy. With the purely metaphysical aspects of these systems we are not concerned here. Their theories of matter and its constitution alone fall within the scope of our present enquiry. We shall now briefly refer to some of their doctrines.

The Sāmkhya, in common with other systems of Hindu philosophy, teaches that salvation in after-life is only attainable by perfect knowledge. According to Kapila, there are three sources of knowledge which consists in right discrimination of the perceptible and imperceptible principles