Kanada and the Vaisesika System

Podcast: Learn with Leshley · Lyon Leshley

Opublikowano: 2026-08-06

What if I told you one of ancient India’s greatest thinkers was literally nicknamed “the atom-eater”? Kaṇāda — founder of the Vaiśeṣika school — built a systematic, almost scientific account of reality starting from indivisible particles (paramāṇu) centuries before modern chemistry. But he didn’t stop at physics. He mapped all of existence into six categories, argued that understanding reality’s true structure is the path to liberation (mokṣa), and integrated moral law into the very fabric of atomic combination. Greek atomism gave us Democritus and randomness. Kaṇāda gave us atoms and purpose. Th...