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{{short description|Vedic sage and founder of Vaisheshika school of Hindu philosophy}}
{{Distinguish|Canada}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| name = Kaṇāda
| birth_date = Unclear, 6th – 2nd century BCE
| relatives = Kashypa, Sulakshada (parents)
| school_tradition = [[Vaisheshika]]
| notable_ideas = [[Atomism]]
|region=[[Indian philosophy]]|main_interests=:[[Metaphysics]]
:[[Ethics]]
:[[Physics]]|image=|caption=Maharishi Kanada}}
{{Hindu philosophy}}

[[File:Illustration_of_the_atomic_theory_of_Acharya_Kanada_showing_Paramāṇu,_Dvyaṇuka,_and_Tryaṇuka_concepts_from_the_Vaisheshika_philosophy..jpg|thumb|center|acharya Kaṇāda]]

'''Kaṇāda''' ({{Langx|sa|कणाद}}, {{IAST3|Kaṇāda}}), also known as Kaṇabhaksha, Kaṇabhuj{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=175}}{{Sfn|Riepe|1961|p=228 with footnote 12}} was an ancient [[India]]n natural scientist and philosopher who founded the [[Vaisheshika]] school of [[Indian philosophy]] that also represents the earliest Indian [[physics]].{{Sfn| Bart Labuschagne| Timo Slootweg|2012|p=60, Quote: "Kanada, a Hindu sage who lived either around the 6th or 2nd century BCE, and who founded the philosophical school of Vaisheshika.}}{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|pp=98-99}}

Estimated to have lived sometime between 6th century to 2nd century BCE, little is known about his life.<ref>Oliver Leaman (1999), ''Key Concepts in Eastern Philosophy.'' Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415173629}}, page 269</ref><ref>J Ganeri (2012), The Self: Naturalism, Consciousness, and the First-Person Stance, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199652365}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Approximate Chronology of Indian Philosophers|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/language-india/chronology.html|access-date=2022-02-21|website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref>{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|pp=98-99}} His traditional name ''Kaṇāda'' means "eater of atoms",{{Sfn|Monier-Williams|1899|p=245}} and he is known for developing the foundations of an atomistic approach to philosophy in the Sanskrit text ''[[Vaiśeṣika Sūtra]]''.{{Sfn|Riepe|1961| pp=227-229}}<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/thevaiasesikasut00kanauoft/thevaiasesikasut00kanauoft_djvu.txt "The Vaisesika sutras of Kanada. Translated by Nandalal Sinha"] Full Text at archive.org</ref> His text is also known as ''Kaṇāda Sūtra'', or "[[Aphorism|Aphorisms]] of Kaṇāda".{{Sfn|Riepe|1961|p=229}}<ref name="Kak">Kak, S. 'Matter and Mind: The Vaisheshika Sutra of Kanada' (2016), Mount Meru Publishing, Mississauga, Ontario, {{ISBN|978-1-988207-13-1}}.</ref>

The school founded by Kaṇāda explains the creation and existence of the universe by proposing an atomistic theory, applying logic and realism, and is one of the earliest known systematic realist [[ontology]] in human history.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|p=98}} Kaṇāda suggested that everything can be subdivided, but this subdivision cannot go on forever, and there must be smallest entities (''paramāṇu'') that cannot be divided, that are eternal, that aggregate in different ways to yield complex substances and bodies with unique identity, a process that involves heat, and this is the basis for all material existence.{{Sfn|H. Margenau|2012|p=xxx-xxxi}}{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|pp=100-102}} He used these ideas with the concept of [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (soul, Self) to develop a non-theistic means to [[moksha]].<ref>{{cite book|author=James G. Lochtefeld|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N-Z|url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch |url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8239-3180-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch/page/729 729]–731}}</ref>{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=177-186}} If viewed from the prism of physics, his ideas imply a clear role for the observer as independent of the system being studied. Kaṇāda's ideas were influential on other schools of Hinduism, and over its history became closely associated with the [[Nyaya]] school of Hindu philosophy.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|p=98}}

Kaṇāda's system speaks of six properties ([[padārtha]]s) that are nameable and knowable. He claims that these are sufficient to describe everything in the universe, including observers. These six categories are ''dravya'' (substance), ''guṇa'' (quality), ''karma'' (action/ motion), ''sāmānya'' (generality/ commonness), ''viśeṣa'' (particular), and ''samavāya'' (inherence). There are nine classes of substances (''dravya''), some of which are atomic, some non-atomic, and others that are all-pervasive.

The ideas of Kaṇāda span a wide range of fields, and they influenced not only philosophy, but possibly scholars in other fields such as [[Charaka]] who wrote a medical text named ''[[Charaka Samhita]]''.{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|pp=55-56}}

==Lifetime==
The century in which Kaṇāda lived is unclear and has been a subject of a long debate.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|p=98}} In his review of 1961, Riepe states Kaṇāda lived sometime before 300 CE, but convincing evidence to firmly put him in a certain century remains elusive.{{Sfn|Riepe|1961|pp=228-229}}

The ''Vaiśeṣika Sūtra''s mention competing schools of Indian philosophy such as ''Sāṃkhya'' and ''Mīmāṃsā'',{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|p=54}} but make no mention of Buddhism, which has led scholars in more recent publications to posit estimates of 6th century BCE.{{Sfn| Bart Labuschagne| Timo Slootweg|2012|p=60, Quote: "Kanada, a Hindu sage who lived either around the 6th or 2nd century BCE, and who founded the philosophical school of Vaisheshika.}}{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|pp=98-99}}{{Sfn|H. Margenau|2012|p=xxx-xxxi}} The ''Vaiśeṣika Sūtra'' manuscript has survived into the modern era in multiple versions and the discovery of newer manuscripts in different parts of India by Thakur in 1957 and Jambuvijayaji in 1961, followed by [[critical edition]] studies, suggest that the text attributed to Kaṇāda was systematized and finalized sometime between 200 BCE and the start of the common era, with the possibility that its key doctrines may be much older.{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|p=54}}{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|pp=98-99}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Wilhelm Halbfass|title=On Being and What There Is: Classical Vaisesika and the History of Indian Ontology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x7cLHPj1dj8C |year=1992|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1178-0|pages=79–80}}</ref> Multiple Hindu texts dated to the 1st and 2nd century CE, such as the ''Mahāvibhāṣa'' and ''Jñānaprasthana'' from the [[Kushan Empire]], quote and comment on Kaṇāda's doctrines.{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|p=55}} His ideas are also mentioned in Buddhist texts attributed to [[Aśvaghoṣa]] of the same period.{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|p=55}}

In [[Jainism]] literature, he is referred as ''Sad-uluka'', which means "the Uluka who propounded the doctrine of six categories".{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|p=54}} His ''Vaiśeṣika'' philosophy similarly appears with alternate names, such as "''Aulukya'' philosophy" (derived from his nickname ''Uluka'' "owl").{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|p=54}}{{refn|group=note|A legend in the Hindu tradition states that ascetic scholar Kanada would spend all day in his studies and in meditation, eat only once every night like an owl.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|p=99}}}}

Kaṇāda was influential in Indian philosophies appearing in various texts by dictators, philosophers, and more, such as Kashyapa, Uluka, Kananda, Kanabhuk among others.{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=175}}{{Sfn|Riepe|1961|p=228 with footnote 12}}

==Ideas==
Physics is central to Kaṇāda's assertion that all that is knowable is based on motion. His ascribing centrality to physics in the understanding of the universe also follows from his invariance principles. For example, he says that the atom must be spherical since it should be the same in all dimensions.<ref>[https://medium.com/@subhashkak1/kaṇāda-the-great-physicist-and-sage-of-antiquity-5a2abd79b6f1 Kak, S. Kaṇāda, Great Physicist and Sage of Antiquity]</ref> He asserts that all substances are composed of four types of atoms, two of which have mass and two are massless.

Kaṇāda presents his work within a larger moral framework by defining Dharma as that which brings about material progress and highest good.{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|pp=55-56}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Purusottama Bilimoria|author2=Joseph Prabhu|author3=Renuka M. Sharma|title=Indian Ethics: Classical traditions and contemporary challenges|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g78Cw4xQmsMC |year=2007|publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-0-7546-3301-3|page=76}}, Quote: "Kanada's Vaisesikasutra: dharma is that from which prosperity and the highest good come about."</ref> He follows this ''sūtra'' with another that asserts that the Vedas have gained respect because they teach such Dharma, and something is not Dharma simply because it is in the Vedas.{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|pp=55-56}}

{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=240
| image1 = (A) Hindu puja, yajna, yagna, Havanam in progress.jpg | width1=2339|height1=3685
| image2 = Feeling magnetic attraction.jpg |width2=2575|height2=2000
| image3 = Thunderstorm on River Ganga.jpg |width3=1280|height3=720
| image4 = (Canavalia lineata) sprout at Madhurawada.JPG | width4=2960 |height4=1665
| footer = Kanada makes empirical observations such as the rising upwards of fire, magnetic movement, rain and thunder, the growth of grass, and offers naturalistic explanations to them in his text ''Vaisheshika Sutra''.{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|p=57}}
}}
Kaṇāda and early Vaisheshika scholars focused on the evolution of the universe by law.<ref name="SiemensRoodt2008"/> However, this was not unusual for his times since several major early versions of Hindu philosophies such as Sāṃkhya, Nyāya, Mīmāṃsā along with sub-schools of Yoga and Vedanta, as well as non-Vedic schools such as Jainism and Buddhism, were similarly non-theistic.<ref>{{cite book|author=Surendranath Dasgupta|title= A History of Indian Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PoaMFmS1_lEC |year=1992|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0412-8 |pages=281–285 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Roy W. Perrett |title=Philosophy of Religion: Indian Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sf9XAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-70329-5 |pages=xiii–xiv}}</ref> Kaṇāda was among the sages of India who believed in man's potential to understand existence and reach [[moksha]] on his own, without God, a notion of ancient Indians summarized by Nietzsche as the belief that "with piety and knowledge of the Veda, nothing is impossible".<ref name="SiemensRoodt2008">{{cite book|author1=Herman Siemens|author2=Vasti Roodt|title=Nietzsche, Power and Politics: Rethinking Nietzsche's Legacy for Political Thought|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=L2sEL7Kj6lcC| year=2008| publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-021733-9|pages=578–579}}</ref>

The text states:<ref name="Sinha">[https://archive.org/stream/thevaiasesikasut00kanauoft#page/n7/mode/2up The ''Vaisheshika sutras'' of Kanada], 2nd Edition, Translator: Nandalal Sinha (1923); Editor: BD Basu; Note: this is the translation of non-critical edition of the manuscript</ref>
* There are nine constituents of realities: four classes of [[atoms]] (earth, water, light and air), space ([[akasha|''akāṣa'']]), time ([[Kāla (time)|''kāla'']]), direction (''diśa''), infinity of souls ([[Ātman (Hinduism)|''Ātman'']]), mind ([[Manas (early Buddhism)|''manas'']]).<ref>O'Flaherty, p. 3.</ref>
* Every object of creation is made of atoms (''paramāṇu'') Atoms are eternal, and their combinations constitute the empirical material world.
* Individual souls are eternal and pervade material bodies for a time.
* There are six categories ([[padārtha|''padārtha'']]) of experience—substance, quality, activity, generality, particularity, and inherence.

Several traits of substances ([[dravya|''dravya'']]) are given as colour, taste, smell, touch, number, size, the separate, coupling and uncoupling, priority and posterity, comprehension, pleasure and pain, attraction and revulsion, and wishes.<ref>Vitsaxis, Vassilis. Thought and Faith: Comparative Philosophical and Religious Concepts in Ancient Greece, India, and Christianity. Somerset Hall Pr 2009-10-01 (October 2009). P. 299. {{ISBN|1935244035}}.</ref>

Thus the idea of the subdivision is carried further to analytical categories as well, which explains its affinity with [[Nyaya]].

===Observations and theories===
In the fifth chapter of ''Vaiśeṣika Sūtra'', Kaṇāda mentions various empirical observations and natural phenomena such as the falling of objects to the ground, rising of fire and heat upwards, the growth of grass upwards, the nature of rainfall and thunderstorms, the flow of liquids, the movement towards a magnet among many others, asks why these things happen, then attempts to integrate his observations with his theories on atoms, molecules, and their interaction. He classifies observed events into two: those caused by volition, and those caused by subject-object conjunctions.{{Sfn|Bimal Krishna Matilal|1977|p=57}}<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/thevaiasesikasut00kanauoft#page/296/mode/2up The Vaisesika Sutras of Kanada], pp. 152-166, Translated by Nandalal Sinha (note this translation is of the old disputed manuscript, not critical edition)</ref><ref name=wells>John Wells (2009), [http://darshanapress.com/The%20Vaisheshika%20Darshana.pdf The Vaisheshika Darshana], Darshana Press, Chapter 5 verses (main and appendix), critical edition</ref>

His idea of the observer, that is the subject, being different from objective reality is completely consistent with [[Vedanta]], which speaks of the difference between "Apara" and "Para" knowledge, where "Apara" represents normal associational knowledge whereas "Para" represents deeper subjective knowledge.

===The concept of paramanu (atom)===
{{see also|Mahābhūta|Dravya|Akāraṇavat}}

{{Quote box
| quote = '''Vaiśeṣika Darśana''' 
[[Dharma]] is that through which there is the accomplishment of rising to the unsurpassed good. Because it is an exposition of that, it has the authority of [[Veda]]. – ''Vaiśeṣika Sūtras 1.1-2'' 
(...) That there is only one individual (soul) is known from the absence of particularity when it comes to the emergence of an understanding of happiness and suffering, (whereas) a multiplicity of individuals is inferred from their perseverance in dharma, and from the strength of their teaching. – ''Vaiśeṣika Sūtras 3.16-18'' 
The true being is eternal, having no cause. Its indicator is its effect. The presence of the effect arises from the presence of its cause. – ''Vaiśeṣika Sūtras 4.1-3''
| source = —Kaṇāda, Translated by John Wells<ref>John Wells (2009), [http://darshanapress.com/The%20Vaisheshika%20Darshana.pdf The Vaisheshika Darshana], Darshana Press</ref><ref>For Sanskrit and an alternate translation: Debasish Chakravarty (2003), Vaisesika Sutra of Kanada, DK Printworld, {{ISBN|978-8124602294}}</ref>
| width = 33%
| align = right
}}
Kaṇāda proposes that ''paramāṇu'' ([[atom]]) is an indestructible particle of matter. The atom is indivisible because it is a state at which no measurement can be attributed. He used invariance arguments to determine properties of the atoms. He also stated that ''anu'' can have two states—absolute rest and a state of motion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/roopa51.pdf|title=Space, Time and Anu in Vaisheshika|author=Roopa Narayan|publisher= Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA|access-date=29 May 2013}}</ref>

Kaṇāda postulated four different kinds of atoms: two with mass, and two without.<ref name="Kak"/> Each substance is supposed to consist of all four kinds of atoms.

Kaṇāda's conception of the [[atom]] was likely independent from the similar concept among the ancient Greeks, because of the differences between the theories.<ref name=edwardcraig199/> For example, Kaṇāda suggested that atoms as building blocks differ both qualitatively and quantitatively, while Greeks suggested that atoms differed only quantitatively but not qualitatively.<ref name=edwardcraig199>{{cite book|author=Edward Craig|title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Index|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FWa85vgoTQC |year=1998|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-18715-2|pages=198–199}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Timeline of atomic and subatomic physics]]
* [[List of Indian inventions and discoveries]]
* [[Leucippus]]
* [[Vedanta]]
* [[Vaiśeṣika Sūtra]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJbsAAAAIAAJ|title=Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|year=2002|isbn=978-1-898723-93-6|author=Jeaneane D. Fowler}}
*{{cite book|author=H. Margenau|title=Physics and Philosophy: Selected Essays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gfrtCAAAQBAJ |year=2012 |publisher=Springer Science |isbn=978-94-009-9845-2}}
*{{cite book|author=Bimal Krishna Matilal|title=Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyJ--9uUtx0C |year=1977|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-01807-4 }}
*{{cite book|author=Subhash Kak|title=Matter and Mind: The Vaiśeṣika Sūtra of Kaṇāda|year=2016|publisher=Mount Meru Publishing|isbn=9781988207148}}
*{{cite book|last=Riepe|first=Dale Maurice |title=Naturalistic Tradition in Indian Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UZZGEhp8gasC |year=1961 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (Reprint 1996)|isbn=978-81-208-1293-2}}
*{{cite book|author1=Bart Labuschagne|author2=Timo Slootweg|title=Hegel's Philosophy of the Historical Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zHa3WiPqpiYC |year=2012|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-22618-0}}
*{{cite book|first=Chandradhar|last= Sharma|title=A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3gQVd5WogsC |year=2000 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0365-7}}

==External links==
* [https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/015/10/0905-0925 Early Atomism - Resonance magazine, Oct 2010]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131226223953/http://www.childrensbooktrust.com/books/info/sci.htm Scientists of India by Dilip M. Salwi - Children's Book Trust] - {{ISBN|81-7011-318-0}}, 2007

{{Rishis of Hindu mythology}}
{{Indian Philosophy}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanada}}
[[Category:Ancient Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Atomists]]
[[Category:Ancient physicists]]
[[Category:Metaphysicians]]
[[Category:Rishis]]

Kaṇāda - Revision history

Igorsiw at 12:30, 3 May 2026