Question

What was ancient Indian perspective on matter

Answer 1

The basic Vaisheshika concepts of matter, action, attribute, time and space are described.Matter, consisting of vibratory atoms, can be localized by its attributes that need notcorrespond to any straight-forward physical map. This view is somewhat like that of the positivists.It is significant that the school defines matter not in terms of something gross that isanchored to the commonsensical notion of an object, but rather in terms of something thathas attributes associated with it. Matter or
padartha
, is whatever is knowable within theframework of the overarching spacetime, which is taken to be continuous and infinite.The most surprising aspect of this conception is the idea of “nothingness” or “vacuum”. Itis defined as a unique category in itself, subject to analysis by determining its relationshipto the observer.