Page:The Advaita philosophy of Śaṅkara.pdf/7

Rh of superhuman powers commanding our homage and worship. The inanimate universe, including the soul and mind of man, they left to itself, and believed it to be the result of an act of Divine creation. The Vaiseshikas accepted the generalizations of Gautama, but went a sStep further in analysing the nature of material existence. They acknowledged the existence of an extra-cosmic Deity, but like Gassendi, nearly dropped the idea and busied themselves with the atoms and their nature. With them the universe began with atoms—infinite and eternal, moved by the will of the Divine Power. Thus as Gautama built up the metaphysics, Kanada supplied the physics of a philosophy which generally goes under the name of Nyaya. It is enough for our purpose to State only these fundamental principles, for they enable US to understand what explanation the Nyaya puts forth regarding the relation of matter and spirit. Α philosophy built upon mere abstractions and generalizations from phenomena, which can in reality never be individually generalized from, must result either in pure Atheism, ΟΓ anthropomorphic Deism. 'Generalization so far from apprehending reality, is a process, which takes us away from it, and the further it advances, the more abstract Our thought becomes, the further do we recede from the real objective truth of things.' If the Nyaya and Vaiseshika, thus, represent the positive side of the method of abstract generalization, the Ckarvakas (and the Jainas)‬, represent the negative aspect. They were not far from the modern materialists when they maintained life) thought or energy to be the result of material Organisation, but their philosophy made few disciples and converted none. All experience is in favour of declaring that dead matter as such is never capable of producing life, and even the best representatives of modern physical Science stand confessed of their ignorance of the real nature of matter and energy per se, at th altar of eternal Truth. Observation has proved it beyond doubt that every atom of matter is full of energy in one form or another; and it is evident that the very fundamental the conception of matter