Both Nyaya and Vaisheshika: 1. accept the liberation of the individual self as the end goal 2. believe that liberation is attained only through the right knowledge of reality Which among the above is/are correct?

Both Nyaya and Vaisheshika: 1. accept the liberation of the individual self as the end goal 2. believe that liberation is attained only through the right knowledge of reality Which among the above is/are correct? Correct Answer <span style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); text-align: justify;">Both 1 and 2</span>

The correct answer is Both 1 and 2.

• Vaisesika is allied to the Nyaya system of philosophy.

Key Points

• Both systems accept the liberation of the individual self as the end goal; both view ignorance as to the root cause of all pain and misery; and both believe that liberation is attained only through the right knowledge of reality.
• There are, however, two major differences between Nyaya and Vaisesika.
  • First, Nyaya philosophy accepts four independent sources of knowledge — perception, inference, comparison, and testimony — but vaisesika accepts only two — perception and inference Second, Nyaya maintain s that all of reality is comprehended by sixteen categories (padarthas), whereas vaisesika recognizes only seven categories of reality.
• These are dravya (substance), guna (quality), karma (action), samanya (generality), visesa (uniqueness), samavaya (inherence), and abhava (nonexistence).
• The term padartha means “the object denoted by a word,” and according to vaisesika philosophy, all objects denoted by words can be broadly divided into two main classes — that which exists, and that which does not exist.
• Six of the seven padarthas are in the first class, that which exists.
• In the second class, that which does not exist, there is only one padartha, abhava, which stands for all negative facts such as the nonexistence of things.