Doctrine of Panchabhootas, the five elements, in India
To account for the apparently unordered, diverse world of matter and qualities, the doctrine of panchabhootas or five elements gradually evolved in India. These are prithvi (‘earth’), ap (‘water’), tejas (‘fire’), vaayu (‘air’) and aakaasha (‘ether’: a non-material ubiquitous substance). Actually, the translated terms like earth, water, etc., do not adequately represent the words prithvi, ap, ..., which have wider connotations. They have been used here only for immediate understanding.
All gross things are formed of the five elements. Water was considered as the first cause in Rigveda. Later, the concept of five elements evolved in the Upanishadic literature. A passage in Taittireeya Upanishad says: “From this soul (aatman), verily, aakaasha arose; from aakaasha, wind (vaayu); from wind, fire (agni); from fire, water (ap); from water, the earth (prithvi); from the earth, herbs; from herbs, food; from food, semen; from semen, the person (purusha).” Among the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy, Saamkhya, Vaiseshika and Nyaaya laid emphasis on the five elements.
The Jaina, Bauddha and Chaarvaaka schools have only four elements, and do not require aakaasha.
According to Saamkhya, the elements have the following attributes: aakaasha: shabda (sound); vaayu: shabda and sparsha (touch); tejas: shabda, sparsha and roopa (colour); ap: shabda, sparsha, roopa and rasa (taste); prithvi: shabda, sparsha, roopa, rasa and gandha (odour). The last attribute associated with each element is its special characteristic.
For instance, ‘rasa’ in the case of ap. All gross things are formed by the grouping and regrouping of the five elements. The noticeable differences among substances are due to the different types of collocations and groupings. The Saamkhya doctrine of panchamahaabhootas influenced the conceptual framework of Ayurveda, the principal Indian medicinal system. The five categories of matter, that is, ‘earth’, ‘water’, ‘fire’, ‘air’ and ‘ether’, and the corresponding five senses, namely, smell, taste, vision, touch and hearing, are all the evolutive products of prakrti (primordial-matter-stuff).
The body as well as food and drugs are all composed of these five mahaabhootas. Their presence in the body is described in terms of three doshas, or functional units, namely, vaayu, pittha and kapha. Kapha is a combination of the principles of prithvi and ap, and broadly represents anabolism (growth and building). Pittha is a combination of the principles of ap and tejas, and represents transformation and catabolism (chemical processes associated with the digestion of food); and vaata is a combination of the principles of vaayu and aakaasha, and represents regulation, circulation and control.
An individual remains healthy as long as the three doshas are in a state of equilibrium. Disease manifests when these doshas are out of balance. A judicious use of plant, animal and mineral substances formulated into medicines, and also dietary and behavioural changes can restore health. The doctrine of panchabhootas is elaborated in the Vaiseshika and Nyaaya systems. According to them, prithvi, ap, tejas and vaayu are all material and each of them is of two kinds: eternal in the form of atoms, and non-permanent in the form of products.
The special qualities associated with them are odour, taste, colour and touch respectively. Apart from these four qualities, each of them possesses particular combinations of other qualities, namely, number, dimension, distinctness, conjunction, disjunction, distance, proximity, gravity, fluidity and faculty. Aakaasha is regarded as non-material and all-pervading. Its special quality is sound. Apart from the five elements, four others, namely, dik (space), kaala (time), aatma (self) and manas (mind) are also dravyas (substances). It needs to be emphasised that the translated words are only indicative.
It is very interesting to note that space, time, self and mind are also substances! The panchabhoota idea is elaborated in the Nyaaya-Vaiseshika system in a sophisticated framework in which the finite and the material (prithvi, ap, tejas and vaayu), the non-material and all-pervading (aakaasha, dik and kaala), and conscious (aatma), as well as manas have been integrated in a rational way.
Early Greek thinkers also attempted to explain all observed matter and phenomena using a single principle, namely, ‘water’ first, but added ‘air’, ‘fire’ and ‘earth’ too later. There is a noticeable commonness in the Indian and Greek attempts at reducing the knowable phenomena into the interplay of four or five elements. But there are many differences too, when one goes into the details. According to some scholars, there is a possibility of many of the ideas being transferred from India to Greece.
According to modern physics, the structure of space-time is directly related to the distribution of matter/energy. To this extent, the inclusion of space and time in the generic concept of ‘substance’ is striking and impressive. However, it is a qualitative idea in India, whereas it is a quantitative law with definite, observable consequences in modern physics.
This column has drawn heavily from the work done by the late Prof. B V Subbarayappa on the doctrine of five elements and related concepts. The Nyaaya-Vaiseshika system goes beyond the doctrine of five elements, and develops a logically structured atomic theory. We will explore atomism in India in the next article.
M S Sriram (This is the sixth article in the series on India’s contributions to science and technology)
(sriram.physics@gmail.com)
Theoretical Physicist and President, Prof. K.V. Sarma Research Foundation