The name ‘Sir Isaac Newton’ is so famous that everybody in this world is aware of it. He is famous for his ‘laws of motion’ and also the ‘law of gravity’. These laws form the basis of classical Physics.

But very few people may not know that the same idea was given by an Indian (Rishi Kanada) long before the era of Newton. The ancient Indian civilization has given birth to many theories of today’s science and technology, but the origin of these theories remained folded and hidden due to several reasons. What the world is thinking today, ancient Indians did it in the Vedic period.

Every civilization, which has brought development economically and socially, has attributed its success to science and technology. India is proud to have one of the oldest civilizations in the world with one-sixth of world's population and one-third of scientific and technological manpower.

The prehistory of India began with the vast Indus Valley civilization, which represented a cultural continuum. The excavations, which were done at Harappa and Mohenja-daro (now in Pakistan) in the 1930s by John Marshall of England, shows the age of India's oldest civilization as more than 2000 B.C.

It is interesting to note that at this dawn of India's history, she did not appear as an infant, but already grew up in many ways. The Indus Valley people created things not only of beauty but also of utilitarian and more typical emblems of modern civilizations. The high point of this civilization was the mature urban Harappan phase (2500-2000 B.C.A) characterized by well-planned cities, extensive external trade, manufacture of artistic seals, development of Harappan script, etc. 

Phase of the Vedic period

The Vedic period precedes a new dimension to the issue of today‟s modern life. It is referred to knowing more about Vedic and Puranic Science. The cultural, religious, social, literary, and political life of the people of the Vedic period is well documented in four Vedas: Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharvana. The rishis or saints have tried to answer many of the mysteries of the world through their intuition and experience. Rig Veda is the oldest book whose main contents were composed in 4500 B.C.A. It was a compilation of 1028 hymns composed by a large number of authors over many generations.

India could not have continued a cultured existence for thousands of years. The search for the sources of India's strength and for her deterioration is long and complicated. Why this should have happened so is more difficult to unravel. When the history of the civilization of ancient India started? No historian, no scientist, no philosopher can tell the exact date and how much development of science was in ancient India.

As much research is going on, the date is going back and back. How much development of science in ancient India was? It is beyond our imagination. Today what we see in the development of science from missiles (without fail the target) to atomic bombs, from cars to airplanes/rockets, etc., all were written in our religious epics viz. Vedas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Sri Bhagavad Gita, and other books of ancient India. From these books, we have come to know that Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Mathematics, Biology, Medical Science, and Astrological Science, all were very much developed in ancient India.

5000 years ago or more, the Indians were worshiping the 9 planets of our solar system, when the rest of the world did not know about the planet. We can say that today‟s development of science has achieved the clue from the science of ancient India. Many things in ancient India were developed when the rest of the world could not start to think. India discovered the shape of the Earth, the Earth moves round the Sun, and other information about the solar system and the universe when the people of the rest of the world had no idea or knowledge about these.

India had given world-class mathematic innovation from “ZERO (invented by Aryabhatt)” to “INFINITY (invented by Bhaskarachary)”. All these are reserved patents on the name of India. All the great innovations in mathematics had got found in India. All the ideas are destroyed or stolen or not documented.

Ancient Indians said, Earth is round in shape and revolves/moves around the sun, while others were busy claiming Earth is flat. But now, the people who laughed at Indians are agreeing that India was the hub of knowledge. Yes, Dr. George Gheverghese Joseph from the University of Manchester has revealed that several inventions and discoveries that were originally the work of Hindus were hijacked by foreigners at the course of time. So, ancient India is the origin of so many inventions and discoveries of today’s modern science and technology of the world. Here we discuss the origin of the law of motion, which is the backbone of classical Physics.

Vaisheshika or Vaiśeṣika (Sanskrit: वैशेषिक) is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy in Ancient Vedic India. They were originally proposed by the sage Kaṇāda (or Kana-bhuk, literally, atom-eater) around the 2nd century BC.

Vaishesika sutras espouses a form of atomism and postulate that all objects in the physical universe are reducible to a finite number of atoms. Vaisheshika is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy of India. Historically, it has been closely associated with the Hindu school of logic, Nyaya (syllogism, inference). The philosophers of this school used to debate on various subjects and try to achieve a conclusion.

Acharya Kaṇāda (Sanskrit: कणाद) was a Hindu sage and philosopher who was born in Prabhas Kshetra (near Dwaraka) in Gujarat, India. He composed his Sutras around 600 BCE.

His primary area of study was Rasavādam, considered to be a type of alchemy. He is said to have believed that all living beings are composed of five elements: water, fire, earth, air, ether.
Vegetables have only water, insects have water and fire, birds have water, fire, earth and air, and Humans, the top of the creation, have ether—the sense of discrimination (time, space, mind) are one.
He theorized that Gurutva (Hindi/Sanskrit for Gravity) was responsible for the falling of objects on the Earth.
Thus, he was the first person to identify and describe gravity (much ahead of Newton) after Prasnopanishad described it around 6000 BC.

Literature of Vaisheshika

The earliest systematic exposition of the Vaisheshika is found in the Vaiśeṣika Sūtra of Kaṇāda (or Kaṇabhaksha). This treatise is divided into ten books. The two commentaries on the Vaiśeṣika Sūtra, Rāvaṇabhāṣya and Bhāradvājavṛtti are no more extant.
Praśastapāda’s Padārthadharmasaṁgraha (c. 4th century) is the next important work of this school.

Though commonly known as bhāṣya of Vaiśeṣika Sūtra, this treatise is basically an independent work on the subject.

The next Vaisheshika treatise, Candra’s Daśapadārthaśāstra (648) based on Praśastapāda’s treatise is available only in Chinese translation. The earliest commentary available on Praśastapāda’s treatise is Vyomaśiva’s Vyomavatī (8th century). The other three commentaries are Śridhara’s Nyāyakandalī (991), Udayana’s Kiranāvali (10th century), and Śrivatsa’s Līlāvatī (11th century). Śivāditya’s Saptapadārthī which also belongs to the same period presents the Nyāya and the Vaiśeṣika principles as a part of one whole. Śaṁkara Miśra’s Upaskāra on Vaiśeṣika Sūtra is also an important work.

Invention of laws of motion

There are two great scientists behind the invention of the law of motion: (1) Rishi Kanada and (2) Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727). We, all are familiar with Newton's Laws of Motion that Sir Isaac Newton, the physicist formulated the laws of motion first. He published these laws in his book "Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica" on July 5, 1687.

But before Newton, the laws were discovered by Indian scientist and philosopher Rishi Kanada who had given Vaisheshika Sutra in 600 BCE which describes the relation between force and motion. We first discuss Newton's three laws of motion.

First law - Newton's first law states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force.

Newton's first law of motion refers to as the law of inertia. Newton's first law of motion is often stated as an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. That is in an inertial frame of reference; an object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity unless acted upon by a force.

Second law - Newton's second law states that the rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the force applied, and this change in momentum takes place in the direction of the applied force.

In an inertial frame of reference, the vector sum of the forces P on an object is equal to the mass m of that object multiplied by the acceleration f of the object: P = mf (where mass m is constant). Newton's second law of motion pertains to the behavior of objects for which all existing forces are not balanced. The second law states that the acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables: the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object.

Third law - To every action, there is always an equal but opposed reaction or the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal and directed to contrary parts. 

That is, when one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body.

Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that together laid the foundation for classical mechanics. They describe the relationship between a body and the forces acting upon it, and its motion in response to those forces. More precisely, the first law defines the force qualitatively, the second law offers a quantitative measure of the force, and the third asserts that a single isolated force does not exist. These three laws have been expressed in several ways over three centuries.

Rishi Kanada’s Sutra: Now we discuss Rishi Kanada's Sutra (law)

Kanada's Sutra is also called Vaisheshika Sutra written in Sanskrit text authored by Rishi Kanada in ancient India. Rishi Kanda is also known as Kashyapa. Vaisheshika Sutra discusses the role of gravity in the falling of objects. It gives through the analogy of an arrow. First, it gives the mechanism of arrow projection in Sutra 5.1.17 (i.e., projectile).

The first action of an arrow is from impulse; the next action is the resultant energy produced by the first action, and similarly the next. Then it explains why it falls in the next Sutra. Now we discuss this in detail.

The Rishi Kanada’s Vaisheshika Sutra[5, 6, 11]

First Sutra

वेगः निमित्तववशेषात किमणो जायते | Vegah Nimitta Visheshat Karmano Jayate

Translation - Change of motion is due to impressed force. The law states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force

Second Sutra

वेगः निमित्तापेऺात किमणो जायते नियतदिक क्रियाप्रबन्धहेतु | Vegah Nimitta Pekshat Karmano Jayate Niyatdik Kriya Prabandha Hetu

Translation - Change of motion is proportional to the impressed force and is in the direction of the force.

Third Sutra

वेगः संयोगववशेषववरोधी | Vegah Sanyog Vishesh Virodhi

Translation: Action and reaction are equal and opposite.

The people of the rest of the world knew that India was a home of Knowledge and Wealth on account of which many warriors attacked India so many times in search of wealth and many wise men came to India in search of knowledge. It is proved that ancient books of India were the root of many inventions/discoveries in the world. Sir Isaac Newton might search for this knowledge from India and formulated it in a scientific way or he could invent it independently. The actual fact remains mysterious. But all credits and respects go to Sir Isaac Newton and nothing to Rishi Kanada, though Rishi Kanada invented the entire laws before the 2000 years of Sir Isaac Newton. This is very painful for every Indian.

Also, Sir Isaac Newton formulated the laws of motion in a more scientific way with the help of digits and letters qualitatively as well as quantitatively while Rishi Kanada stated the laws qualitatively.

The Categories or Padārtha

According to the Vaisheshika school, all things which exist, which can be cognized, and which can be named are padārthas (literal meaning: the meaning of a word), the objects of experience. All objects of experience can be classified into six categories, dravya (substance), guṇa (quality), karma (activity), sāmānya (generality), viśeṣa (particularity), and samavāya (inherence). Later Vaiśeṣikas (Śrīdhara, Udayana, and Śivāditya) added one more category abhava (non-existence). The first three categories are defined as artha (which can be perceived) and they have real objective existence.
The last three categories are defined as budhyapekṣam (product of intellectual discrimination) and they are logical categories.

1. Dravya (substance): The substances are conceived as 9 in number. They are, pṛthvī (earth), ap (water), tejas (fire), vāyu (air), ākaśa (ether), kāla (time), dik (space), ātman (self) and manas (mind). The first five are called bhūtas, the substances having some specific qualities so that they could be perceived by one or the other external senses.
2. Guṇa (quality): The Vaiśeṣika Sūtra mentions 17 guṇas (qualities), to which Praśastapāda added another 7. While a substance is capable of existing independently by itself, a guṇa(quality) cannot exist so. The original 17 guṇas (qualities) are, rūpa (colour), rasa (taste), gandha (smell), sparśa (touch), saṁkhyā (number), parimāṇa (size/dimension/quantity), pṛthaktva (individuality), saṁyoga (conjunction/accompaniments), vibhāga (disjunction), paratva (priority), aparatva (posteriority), buddhi (knowledge), sukha (pleasure), duḥkha (pain), icchā (desire), dveṣa (aversion) and prayatna (effort). To these Praśastapāda added gurutva (heaviness), dravatva (fluidity), sneha (viscosity), dharma (merit), adharma (demerit), śabda (sound) and saṁkāsra (faculty).
3. Karma (activity): The karmas (activities) like guṇas (qualities) have no separate existence, they belong to the substances. But while a quality is a permanent feature of a substance, an activity is a transient one. Ākāśa (ether), kāla (time), dik (space) and ātman (self), though substances, are devoid of karma (activity)
4. Sāmānya (generality): Since there are plurality of substances, there will be relations among them. When a property is found common to many substances, it is called sāmānya.
5. Viśeṣa (particularity): By means of viśeṣa, we are able to perceive substances as different from one another. As the ultimate atoms are innumerable so are the viśeṣas.
6. Samavāya (inherence): Kaṇāda defined samavāya as the relation between the cause and the effect. Praśastapāda defined it as the relationship existing between the substances that are inseparable, standing to one another in the relation of the container and the contained. The relation of samavāya is not perceivable but only inferable from the inseparable connection of the substances.

The atomic theory

An interesting story states that this theory occurred to him while he was walking with food in his hand. As he nibbled at the food in his hand, throwing away the small particles, it occurred to him that he could not divide the food into further parts and thus the idea of a matter which cannot be divided further came into existence. He called that indivisible matter anu, i.e. atom. He also stated that anu can have two states – Absolute rest and a State of motion.

The early Vaiśeṣika texts presented the following syllogism to prove that all objects i.e. the four bhūtas, pṛthvī (earth), ap (water), tejas (fire) and vāyu (air) are made of indivisible paramāṇus (atoms): Assume that the matter is not made of indivisible atoms and that it is continuous.

Take a stone. One can divide this up into infinitely many pieces (since the matter is continuous). Now, the Himalayan mountain range also has infinitely many pieces, so one may build another Himalayan mountain range with the infinite number of pieces that one has. One begins with a stone and ends up with the Himalayas, which is a paradox – so the original assumption that matter is continuous must be wrong, and so all objects must be made up of a finite number of paramāṇus (atoms).

According to the Vaiśeṣika school, the trasareṇu (dust particles visible in the sunbeam coming through a small window hole) are the smallest mahat (perceivable) particles and defined as tryaṇukas (triads). These are made of three parts, each of which are defined as dvyaṇuka (dyad). The dvyaṇukas are conceived as made of two parts, each of which is defined as paramāṇu (atom). The paramāṇus (atoms) are indivisible and eternal, they can neither be created nor destroyed.[13] Each paramāṇu (atom) possesses its own distinct viśeṣa (individuality).
The measure of the partless atoms is known as parimaṇḍala parimāṇa. It is eternal and it cannot generate the measure of any other substance. Its measure is it's own absolutely.

Of course, knowledge of Atoms and Molecules was given through Bhagavata Purana and in Rig Veda, where cloning incidents were described.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the Atom bomb invented it after the study of the Hindu Epic Vedas, Puran, and Srimad Bhagavad Gita. The destruction through the application of Brahmmastra and other different weapons in the war of Kurukshetra and Lanka was studied by him. His mission under a team of scientists was named "Trinidi" from 1939 to 1945 under his leadership. The first atom boom was tested on July 16, 1945.

Now John Dalton is the father of today's application of atom boom. Rishi Kanada wrote the law of atom boom in the Vedas. The famous historian JN Kolebrok wrote in his book that Rishi Kanada had more knowledge in comparison to European scientists^[7, 8].

The ancient genius Aryabhata calculated the exact value of Π and invented "0" (Zero) first. He first examined that the earth moves around the sun. He discovered it one thousand years before European scholars discover it. Aryabhata was born in Kusumpur village in Bihar of India. He wrote the book "Aryabhataiyo" in 600 BC. The book is full of scientific knowledge^[9].

From the above discussion, it is a fact that ancient India was the leader of science in all fields of the world. But the invention and discovery in India were not properly documented. If we compare today's science with that day's science, we see that the science in ancient India was more developed than today's science in some fields.

For example, Khajuraho Temples, one of the most beautiful medieval monuments built by the Chandella ruler between AD 900 and 1130, the Iron Pillar nearby Qutub Minar, and other many historical monuments in India are unbelievable on the ground that how did the then people construct?

In the last 1000 years, we, the Indians were suppressed by different Muslim Dynasties and last of all, the English (190 years) on account of which we could not develop our own ancient science. The British imposed their Western education upon us but never tried to revive our ancient knowledge. If our ancient knowledge would have revived and developed, our position might have become unique in the world. After getting independence from the control of foreign rulers, the sociological clutches are released slowly. So India is making strides to become self-reliant in every field of science.

References:

1. Mr. Avinandan Krishna Mandal. "Origin of Laws of Motion (Newton‟s Law): An Introspective Study.” American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER), vol. 9(07), 2020, pp. 87-92
2. OP Jaggi, Dawn of Indian Science, Atma Ram and Sons, Delhi, 1969
3. Vidya, R. (2001): “Science in India: Past, Present and Future”, November 18, 2001(www.folk.uio.no/ravindrv)
4. Wazir Hasan Abdi, Glimpses of Mathematics in Medieval India, History of Indian Science, Technology and Culture, Vol III, part I Oxford University Press, New Delhi,2000, p. 51
5. www.booksfact.com › science › ancient-science › vaish (accessed on 10. 06.2020). [6]. Vaishesika Sutras by Kanada describe Laws of Motion (accessed on 10. 06.2020)
6. http://postcard.news/omg-manchester-university-confirms-isaac-newton-stole-gravity-theory-hindus
7. http://the-hidden-sector.blogspot.in/2011/10/india-discover-laws-of-motion
8. https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Aryabhata
9. postcard.news › omg-manchester-university-confirms-is
10. http://the-hidden-sector.blogspot.com/2011/10/india-discovered-laws-of-motion-before.html