_ that samanya (generality) and
vi'se@sa are relative to each other [Footnote ref 2]. Caraka's sutras were
therefore probably written at a time when the Vais'e@sika doctrines were
undergoing changes, and well-known compendiums were beginning
to be written on them.

The _Vais'e@sika sutras_ seem to be ignorant of the Buddhist
doctrines. In their discussions on the existence of soul, there is
no reference to any view as to non-existence of soul, but the
argument turned on the point as to whether the self is to be an
object of inference or revealed to us by our notion of "I." There
is also no other reference to any other systems except to some
Mima@msa doctrines and occasionally to Sa@mkhya. There is no
reason to suppose that the Mima@msa doctrines referred to allude
to the _Mima@msa sutras_ of Jaimini. The manner in which the
nature of inference has been treated shows that the Nyaya
phraseology of "_purvavat_" and "_s'e@savat_" was not known. _Vais'e@sika
sutras_ in more than one place refer to time as the ultimate
cause [Footnote ref 3]. We know that the S'vetas'vatara Upani@sad refers to
those who regard time as the cause of all things, but in none of the

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[Footnote 1: Professor Vanamali Vedantatirtha's article in _J.A.S.B._,
1908.]

[Footnote 2: Caraka (I.i. 33) says that samanya is that which produces
unity and vis'e@sa is that which separates. V.S. II. ii. 7. Samanya and
vis'e@sa depend upon our mode of thinking (as united or as separate).]

[Footnote 3: _Vais'e@sika sutra_ (II. ii. 9 and V. ii. 26).]

282

systems that we have can we trace any upholding of this ancient
view [Footnote ref 1]. These considerations as well as the general style of
the work and the methods of discussion lead me to think that these
sutras are probably the oldest that we have and in all probability
are pre-Buddhistic.

The _Vais'e@sika sutra_ begins with the statement that its object
is to explain virtue, "dharma" This is we know the manifest duty
of Mima@msa and we know that unlike any other system Jaimini
begins his _Mima@msa sutras_ by defining "dharma". This at first
seems irrelevant to the main purpose of Vais'e@sika, viz, the description
of the nature of padartha [Footnote ref 2]. He then defines dharma as
that which gives prosperity and ultimate good (_nihsreyasa_) and
says that the Veda must be regarded as valid, since it can dictate
this. He ends his bo