1. Discussion of Vaisheshika doctrines

A considerable number of philosophical doctrines is mentioned and discussed by Somadeva in Yasastilaka. The first section (Kalpa) of Book VI is interesting as a summary of the theories of salvation propounded by different schools of thought, followed by critical remarks on the opinions recorded by the author. The section is called Samasta-samaya-siddhantavabodhana, Elucidation of the doctrines of all the schools', and important as a collection of philosophical tenets current in the tenth century. Another set of opinions is recorded in Book V in the episode of Candakarman and Sudatta, in which the former and his companions give an exposition of the doctrines followed by them, while the latter criticizes and tries to refute all of them. If we add to these the various Jaina doctrines explained and discussed in Yasastilaka, it will not be an exaggeration to describe the work as serving the purpose of a veritable compendium of the philosophical speculations of the age. The principal doctrines summarized in the romance are here grouped together according to the system to which they belong. VAISESIKA DOCTRINES Somadeva refers to two classes of Vaisesika thinkers: the Tarkika Vaisesikas and the Saiddhanta Vaisesikas. The main difference. between the two schools of Vaisesika philosophy is that the Saiddhantas were Saivas or worshippers of Siva¹ and laid stress on faith; while the Tarkikas were followers of the Vaisesika system proper and laid stress on knowledge. The Saiddhantas held that salvation is the outcome of faith as manifested in initiation into the cult revealed by the omniscient Siva in his two aspects, corporeal and incorporeal'. It may be mentioned in this connection that, according to Haribhadra's Saddarsanasamuccaya (vv. 13,59), both the Gunaratna mentions Naiyayikas and Vaisesikas were worshippers of Siva. in his commentary four sects among the followers of Siva: Saivas, Pasupatas and two others, and adds that the Naiyayikas were called Saivas, while the Vaisesikas were called Pasupatas. There was, however, a distinct school of Pasupatas with doctrines of their own, and these do not seem to have been 1 The Siddhantas or the Sivasiddhantas are the Saiva scriptures, and the Saivas were often called Saiddhantikas, e. g. in the Gurgi inscription of Prabodhasiva ( A). See Chap. XIII for this inscription. 2 ' sakala niskalapta praptamantratatrapeksadiksa laksanacchuddhamatranusarananmoksah iti saiddhantavaisesikah | ' Vol II, p. 269.

directly connected with the Vaisesika system. Somadeva himself, as we shall see, mentions their view of salvation separately. The Tarkika Vaisesikas, who do not seem to have been Saivas, held that salvation results solely from the knowledge of the categories based on an understanding of their similarities and dissimilarities; and the categories are Substance, Quality, Action, Generality, Particularity, Inherence and Non-existence. Strictly speaking, this is not an accurate presentation of the Vaisesika view. According to that system, salvation is the result of Dharma and knowledge of the categories is only a means to that end inasmuch as such knowledge produces Dharma, of which the essence is nivrtti or renunciation; and this cannot be realised unless the nature of all objects, external and internal, is comprehended and the evils inherent in them grasped. Besides, Dharma cannot bring about salvation unless it is supported by the will of God. This is the interpretation of Sridhara in his Nyayakandali. Udayana says in his Kiranavali that salvation results from the realisation of the ultimate truth, revealed by the continuous practice of Dharma or renunciation according to the principles laid down in the Veda and other sacred texts, the knowledge of the categories being a preliminary discipline.³ It is interesting to note that Somadeva, like Sivaditya, the author of Saptapadarthi, definitely includes Abhava or Negation among the categories. It is wellknown that Kanada recognised only six categories, but from about the tenth century onwards writers on the Vaisesika system such as Sridhara and Udayana have emphasized the importance of Abhava; and others have given it its legitimate place among the categories. Somadeva attempts to define with precision the nature of salvation propounded by the Vaisesika system. He says that the followers of Kanada hold salvation to be the absolute cessation of the nine attributes of the Soul, namely, knowledge, pleasure, pain, desire, aversion, effort, virtue, vice and 1 ' dravyagunakarmasamanya samavayantya visesabhavabhidhananam padarthanam sadhayaivaidharmyavabodhatatrat jnanamatrat iti tarkika f: 'Ibid. 2 The Prasastapada Bhasya says 'nivrttilaksanah kevalo dharmah paramarthadarsanajam sukham krtva nivartate | tada (see below). Sridhara says 'fa:c nihsreyasasadhanamityabhiprayah | tattvato jnatesu bahyadhyatmikesu visayesu dosadarsanadviraktasya samiha nivrttavatmajnasya tadarthani karmanyakurvatah tatparityagasadhanani ca srutismrtyuditani asamkalpita phalanyupadadana syatmajnanamabhyasyatah prakrstavini- 'dharmo'pi kevalam tavat na nihsreyasam vartakadharmopacaye sati paripakkatmajnanasya atyantikasariraviyogasya bhavat | " karoti yavadisvarecchaya nanugrhyate tenedamuktam-isvaracodanabhivyaktat dharmadeveti | ' 3 'sastrena padarthan vivicya srutismrtitihasapuranopadistayogavidhina dirghakaladaranairantaryasevitannivrttilaksanaddharmadeva tattvajnanamutpadyate yato'pravrjyate | dharmasyaiva pradhanyam | ' 4 Udayana says 'abhavastu svarupavanapi prthak noddistah | pratiyoginirupanadhina nirupanatvat | na tu tucchatvat ' Sridhara says 'abhavasya prthaganupadesah bhavaparatantryat na tvabhavat '. 24

mental impressions. Somadeva illustrates this statement by quoting a verse which tells us that, according to the sage Kanada, the nature of an emancipated being is the same as that of the soul, as it may be supposed to exist outside the body. taduktam- bahih sariradyadrupamatmanah sampratiyate | uktam tadeva muktasya munina kanabhojina || This is in conformity with what we know of the Vaisesika conception of salvation, which is also described as a quiescent condition comparable to a fire that has burnt up its fuel. The actual number of the attributes of the soul given by Somadeva is immaterial, since the Bhasya of Prasastapada enumerates as many as fourteen of them.3 The vital point is the complete loss of attributes in the state of emancipation. Sridhara says that salvation does not consist in eternal bliss but in the continued existence of the soul in its own pristine condition, divested of all specific attributes. He meets the objection of Mandana that this kind of salvation is nothing but annihilation, by contending that the cessation of specific attributes does not amount to annihilation in the case of the eternal soul. Nevertheless, the view that salvation consists in the eradication of specific attributes is rejected in philosophical texts of diverse schools, e. g. in Samkhyasutras 5. 75, Bhojavrtti on Yogasutras 4. 33 and Bhasarvajna's Nyayasara. Somadeva makes some statements criticizing the Vaisesika views on salvation. He criticizes the Saiddhanta Vaisesikas by saying that faith alone cannot lead to salvation; the Udumbara fruit never becomes ripe on account of the faith of a hungry fellow. Further, if Mantras or mystic texts brought about the purification of the Self, no one would undergo the hardship imposed by self-discipline. Diksa or initiation, too, cannot bring about salvation, as it is seen that the worldly blemishes which existed before initiation persist even after the completion of the rite.' As regards the Tarkika Vaisesikas, Somadeva criticizes their view that knowledge leads to salvation. Knowledge, he says, helps one one to comprehend things, but 1 'jnanasukhaduhkhecchadvesaprayatnadharmadharmasamskaranam navasamkhyavasaranamatmagunanamatyantonmuktirmuktih iti kanadah I' 2 'tada nirodhat nirbija syatmanah sariradinivrttih punah sariradyanutpattau dagdhendhananalavadupasamo moksa iti ' Prasastapada Bhasya. 3 ' tasya gunah buddhisukhaduhkhecchadvesaprayatnadharmadharmasamskara samkhyaparimanaprthaktva samyogavibhagah | ' 4 'nastyatmano nityam sukham tadabhavanna tadanubhavo moksavastha kimtu samastatmavisesagunocchedopalaksita svarupasthitireva | ' 5 'yaduktam mandanena visesagunanivrttilaksana muktiruccheda paksanna bhidyate iti | visesagunocchede hi sati atmanah svarupenava- sthanam nocchedo nityatvat | ' 6 See Naisadhacarita, trans., Appendix I, p. 497. 7 sraddha sreyo'rthinam sreyahsamsrayaya na kevala | bubhuksitavasat pako jayeta kimudumbare || patravasadivanmantradatmadosapariksayah | drsyeta yadi ko nama krti klisyeta samyamaih || diksaksanantarat purvam ye dosa bhavasambhavah | te pascadapi drsyante tanna sa muktikaranam || PP. 270-271. I

not to acquire them; the mere perception of water, for example, does not slake one's thirst.¹ is: it may Somadeva offers some further criticism on the kind of salvation set be readily says forth by the Vaisesikas. The purport of what he admitted that there is no knowledge or bliss of a worldly character in salvation, but if it is assumed to be a condition in which knowledge is totally absent, what would be the character of the emancipated soul? There cannot be a soul without knowledge, just as there cannot be fire without heat.* The opinion of the Yoga system of Patanjali is cited to show that knowledge exists in the state of salvation. Somadeva argues that such beings as Sadasiva or Isvara cannot be held to be worldly entities since they are omniscient, and if they are not worldly entities, they must be held to be emancipated beings. Now, Patanjali tells us that Isvara, who is untouched by worldly ties such as the Klesas, Karman and its effects, and impressions , possesses omniscience in an unlimited degree. The example of Siva or Isvara, emancipated yet omniscient, thus shows that knowledge can co-exist simultaneously with salvation. Somadeva reinforces his argument by quoting a verse from Avadhuta, addressed to Siva, in which universal knowledge is attributed to the Exalted One, besides irresistible power, aversion to pleasure, contentment, self-control, supreme bliss and unimpeded energy. On these grounds Somadeva, like many other thinkers, rejects the Vaisesika view of salvation as a colourless condition devoid of attributes .

1 jnanadavagamo'rthanam na tatkaryasamagamah | tarsapakarsayogi syaddrstamevanyatha payah || P. 271. 2 bodho va yadi vanando nasti muktau bhavodbhavah | siddhasadhyatayasmakam na kacit ksatiriksyate || nyaksaviksavinimomkse mokse kim moksilaksanam | na hyagnavanyadusnatvallaksma laksyam vicaksanaih || P. 272. Ms. A remarks: samastapadarthavalokana- vinasalaksane (mokse ). 3 " kim ca sadasivesvaradayah samsarino mukta va | samsaritve kathamaptata | muktatve 'klesakarmavipakasayairaparamrstah purusavisesa isvarastatra niratisayam sarvajnabijam ' iti patanjalijalpitam, 'aisvaryamapratihatam sahajo viragastrptinisargajanita vasite- ndriyesu | ' ityavadhutabhidhanam ca na ghateta | " P. 272. 4 For the verse from Avadhuta see Chap. XVIII.