पंचभूत

यन्त्रोपारोपितकोशांशः

Purana Encyclopedia

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

PAÑCABHŪTA : Pṛthvī (earth), Ap (water), Tejas (fire), Vāyu (air) and Ākāśa (ether) are the Pañca- bhūtas (five elements). The whole visible world is com- posed of one or more of these five elements. This is called the Pāñcabhautikasiddhānta (doctrine of five ele- ments). Besides these five dravyas (elementary subs- tance), people in Bhārata have reckoned Time, space, soul and mind also as Padārthas or categories. Dravya, one of the seven categories according to Nyāya Vaiśeṣika- sūtras, has nine svabhāvas (inherent properties). The seven Padārthas of Vaiśeṣika are Dravya, Guṇa, Karman Sāmānya, Viśeṣa, Samavāya and Abhāva.(** 1. Vaiśeṣika. One of the six principal darśanas or systems of Philosophy founded by Kaṇāda. 2. Padārtha. Anything which can be named; a category. 3. Dravya. An elementary substance, the substratum of properties. 4. Guṇa A characteristic or property of all substances. 5. Karman. Motion, action. 6. Sāmānya. General characteristic. 7. Viśeṣa. A peculiar attribute, the eternal distinguishing factor of each of the nine dravyas. 8. Samavāya. Intimate union, inseparable inherence or existence of one thing in another. 9. Abhāva. Nullity or negation. Sāṅkhyas followers of the Sāṅkhya philosophy. Advaitins followers of the Advaita philosophy. Mīmāṁsakas followers of the Mīmāṁsā system of philosophy. Paramātmā The supreme being. Jīvātmā The individual soul enshrined in the body. Kārya Evolute.**)

The word ‘Padārtha’ has got a very wide meaning. The word ‘matter’ in English cannot indicate the full signi- ficance of the word Padārtha. Kaṇāda in his Vaiśeṣika sūtras has given the name ‘Artha’ combining in it the three svabhāvas, Dravya, Guṇa and Karman. Of the above seven padārthas Praśastapāda, the famous logic- ian, has included only the first six in his book ‘Padārthadharma Saṁgraha’. The Vaiśeṣikas of a later period included ‘abhāva’ also and raised the number of arthas to seven. Gautama, the Nyāyasūtrakāra and Vātsyāyana, the Nyāyabhāṣyakāra, and all their followers accepted the number of arthas as seven.

All that can be perceived by the senses are includ- ed in the seven Padārthas according to the sys- tems of Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika. Excepting abhāva all the other six are bhāvas. Kaṇāda has dealt with ‘abhāva’ but has not treated it as a category. Praśastapāda has not mentioned about ‘abhāva’ at all. Gautama deals with six- teen Padārthas. The Mīmāṁsakas take into account only five Padārthas and the Sāṅkhyas count only two Padārthas viz., Prakṛti and Puruṣa. Advaitavādins re- ckon only two Padārthas and to them they are Cit and Jaḍa (Ātmā and Anātman). Viśiṣṭādvaitins add god also to the above and make the number of Padārthas three. According to Nyāya Vaiśeṣikasūtras there are seven Padārthas and they comprise nine kinds of Dravyas which are the Pañcabhūtas (five elements), Kāla (time), Dik (space), Ātmā (soul), and Manas (mind). They are described below:

1) Pṛthvī. (earth). The characteristic of this padārtha is smell. Pṛthvī is of two kinds, Nitya (eternal) and Anitya (perishable). Nitya is in the form of atom (paramāṇu) and anitya in the form of Kārya. They are classified into body, sense organs and objects.

2) Jala (water). Jala has a cold touch. It is of two kinds Nitya and Anitya. Nitya is in the form of paramāṇu (atom); Anitya in the form of Kārya.

3) Agni (fire). It generates heat. It is of two kinds, Nitya and Anitya. Nitya is in the form of paramāṇu and Anitya, in the form of Kārya. There are four kinds of Agnis: Fire of the earth, fire of the sky, fire of the stomach (digestive power) and the fire commonly used.

4) Vāyu (air). It is without form but with the sense of touch. It is also of two kinds. Nitya in the form of paramāṇu and Anitya in the form of Kārya.

5) Ākāśa (ether). This is the carrier of sound. It is single and eternal.

6) Kāla (time). It is general cause for all actions em- bracing the elements. It is also single and eternal.

7) Dik. Places like north, south, east and west which are eternal.

8) Ātmā (soul). It is related to knowledge and is of two kinds, Jīvātmā and Paramātmā.

9) Manas (mind). It is the sense-organ to enjoy pleasures. It is in the form of paramāṇu and eternal.

To know the views of Manu on the origin of the Pañca- bhūtas see under Sṛṣṭi.


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*5th word in left half of page 547 (+offset) in original book.