ABSTRACT
The Vaiśeṣika tradition, started by Kaṇāda (about 400 BC), is pluralistic, realistic and theistic; it supplied metaphysical theories to the Nyāya and adopted its epistemological and logical theories. The two traditions differ from each other on very minor points, and in time became the hyphenated Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika school. Praśastapāda wrote a commentary on Kaṇāda's Vaiśeṣika Aphorisms (Vaiśeṣikasūtras) and called it Padārtha-dharma-saṅgraha (Compilation of the Characteristics of the Categories), which was further commented upon and expounded.
