Ø Vaisesika fused with the Nyaya which accepted the ontology of the former and developed it in the
light of its epistemology.
Ø Entire system of this school is reduced to six or seven padartha- means the meaning of a word. A
category is called padartha.
Ø Vaisesika categories are different from categories of Aristotelian, Kantian and Hegelian. It is
metaphysical classification of all knowable objects or of all reals.
Ø Originally Vaisesika believed in six categories (bhava), the sevnth one was added later viz; Abhava.
Ø All that is real comes under the object of knowledge and is called padartha, these are seven:
i. Substance (dravya): Substratum where actions and qualities inhere and which
is coexistent material cause of the composite things produced from it.
earth- prthvi
fire- tejas
water- ap
air-vyas
eather- akasa
time- kala
space- dik
spirit- atman
mind- manas
3. Akunchana (contraction)
4. Prasarna (expansion)
5. Gamana (locomotion)
iv. Generality (samanya): class concept, class essence or universal. It is the common characteristics
of the individual and it does not includes the sub-classes.
4. Atyantabhava: pseudo-idea, the absence of a relation between two things in the past, the present
and the future.
Ø Nyaya-vaisesika believes in the theory of asatkaryavada (the effect does not pre exist in its cause).
Ø The realistic pluralism of Vaisesika is not a synthetic philosophy. It is mere common sense explanation
and may, at best, be regarded as scientific analysis. The Vaisesika gives us a mere catalogue of
categories without making any attempt to synthesize them.
Ø Atomistic pluralism is no final philosophy, but it is an important stage in the development of Indian
philosophy.
i. Vaisesika recognizes seven categories and classifies all reals under them.
Nyaya recognizes sixteen categories and all categories of Vaisesika lies under one ategory (prameya) or
the knowable.
ii. Vaisesika recognizes only pratayaksa and anumana, Nyaya does four-
pratayaksa, anumana, upmana, sabda pramana.