Journal of History of Science, JAPAN
Online ISSN : 2435-0524
Print ISSN : 2188-7535
On the Theory of Movement in Vaiśeṣika System in Ancient India (Ⅱ) -The Movement of Human Body-
[in Japanese]
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1987 Volume 26 Issue 162 Pages 76-90

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Abstract

All continuous movements of human body are composed of a series of momentary movements caused by a volitional effort on human body in Vaiśeṣika system According to Vaiśeṣika system, the mental process of a person is produced by the action between his mental system, "soul", so called ātman and his auxiliary mental organ, "mind", so called manas in his ātman. The ātman is perpetually an immovable substance which controls all mental processes. The manas is a minute substance which does not possess any mental functions, and is constantly moved by the volitional effort in the ātman in a human body. The remembrance is produced by the bhāvanā (the power of remembrance) in the ātman through three cognitions (a kind of special contacts between ātman and manas) e.g. a strong cognition, repeated cognitions, and the special cognition to imagine a miracle. The strong cognition is a special contact beween ātman and manas caused by unusual and unexpected experiences. The repeated cognitions are special contacts between ātman and manas caused by repeated experiences. When a person has an unusual or unexpected experience, the first strong momentary impression based on the experience forms in the ātman of the person through the strong congnition The first impression brings about a strong bhāvanā (the power of remembrance) in the ātman The remembrance based on the experience is caused by intensity of the bhāvanā in the ātman. When a person has an ordinary experience, the first weak momentary impression based on the experience forms in the ātman through an ordinary cognition. This first impression brings about a weak bhāvanā. The intensity of the bhāvanā is accumulated in the ātman through repeated cognitions The remembrance based on the ordinary experience is caused by the increased intensity of bhāvanā in the ātman. As I have shown in my paper,"On the Theory of Movement in Vaiśeṣika System in Ancient India"*,the movements of matter are produced by vega (the power of motion)through two special contacts, e.g.nodana and abhighāta. The nodana is impulsive contact, acting beween a mover and the moved matter. The abhighāta is an impulsive contact, separating instantaneously a colliding matter from the collided solid matter. The above process of movements of the matter is very similar to the process of remembrance. The contact, abhighāta in the movement theory is compared with the contact of a strong cognition between the ātman and manas. The contact, nodana in the movement theory is compared with the contact of repeated cognitions between the ātman and manas. In particular, the forming-process of the vega is very similar to the forming-process of the bhāvanā. This two concepts are contained in the category of saṃskāra (the keeping power). Moreover, the saṃskāra is often used in place of vega or bhāvanā in Vaiśeṣika system. The concepts of vaga and bhāvanā should be studied by the wider concept, namely saṃskāra (a sort of potentiality).

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© 1987 History of Science Society of Japan
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