Page:The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.djvu/236

Rh way the axle of the Law retains everything (and prevents dis solution). Time may be divided into seconds or extend to Eons. Ether expands and gives room for everything. The soul entering a body will, through the five senses, taste, smell, touch, hear and see. An atom may become a body or assume other forms. To stop the origin of good and evil deeds, and to enjoy the effect of past deeds, and to cut off all bonds is release (salvation).”

The professor of the Sânkhya system then said that the Original Producer (Mûla-Prakriti) is unknowable, undisturbed by mind, grand and all-comprising, possesses three qualities and is the source of all things. From that Being, Intelligence is born: from it, ether: from it, air: from it, fire: from it, water: from it, earth: from the union of these the mind is born: from the mind self-consciousness is born: from ether sound is produced through the ear: from air the sense of touch is produced through the skin: from fire the sense of light through the eye: from water the sense of taste through the mouth: from earth the sense of smell through the nose: from the union of these appear the tongue, hands, feet, anus and genitals: by the union of the (grosser) elements are produced mountains, trees and other objects of this world. In the same manner in which these objects were evolved into existence, they will recede and disappear. Till the universal deluge these will expand continuously throughout space. The soul (Furusha) is easy to be recognised and capable of perceiving all things, one, eternal, unchangeable and sensitive, but without the three qualities, possesses no organ of sense and is incapable of producing anything by itself. There are twenty-five entities, viz., earth, water, fire, air and ether: the skin, the mouth, the eye, the nose, and the ear: the sense of taste, light, tangibility, sound and smell: tongue, feet, hands, anus and genitals: the mind, intelligence, self-consciousness, the Original Producer and the soul.

“After listening to this faultless exposition (of the Sankhya system) she asked the Vaisêshika professor to explain his doctrine. He said that there are six divisions (or categories of objects) viz., substance, quality, action, genus, individuality and con concretion. Of