पृथ्वी (earth), अप् (water), तेजस् (fire), वायु (air) and आकाश (ether) are the पञ्चभूतस् (five elements). The whole visible world is composed of one or more of these five elements. This is called the पाञ्चभौतिकसिद्धान्त (doctrine of five elements). Besides these five द्रव्यस् (elementary substance), people in भारत have reckoned Time, space, soul and mind also as पदार्थस् or categories. द्रव्य , one of the seven categories according to न्याय वैशेषिकसूत्रस् , has nine स्वभावस् (inherent properties). The seven पदार्थस् of वैशेषिक are द्रव्य , गुण , कर्मन् सामान्य , विशेष , समवाय and अभाव .

The word 'Padārtha' has got a very wide meaning. The word 'matter' in English cannot indicate the full significance of the word पदार्थ . कणाद in his वैशेषिक सूत्रस् has given the name 'Artha' combining in it the three svabhāvas, द्रव्य , गुण and कर्मन् . Of the above seven पदार्थस् प्रशस्तपाद , the famous logician, has included only the first six in his book 'Padārthadharma Saṃgraha'. The वैशेषिकस् of a later period included ' अभाव ' also and raised the number of अर्थस् to seven. गौतम , the न्यायसूत्रकार and वात्स्यायन , the न्यायभाष्यकार , and all their followers accepted the number of अर्थस् as seven.

All that can be perceived by the senses are included in the seven पदार्थस् according to the systems of न्याय and वैशेषिक . Excepting अभाव all the other six are भावस् . कणाद has dealt with 'abhāva' but has not treated it as a category. प्रशस्तपाद has not mentioned about 'abhāva' at all. गौतम deals with sixteen Padārthas. The मीमांसकस् take into account only five Padārthas and the साङ्ख्यस् count only two Padārthas which is , प्रकृति and पुरुष . अद्वैतवादिन्स् reckon only two Padārthas and to them they are चित् and जड ( आत्मा and अनात्मन् ). विशिष्टाद्वैतिन्स् add god also to the above and make the number of Padārthas three. According to न्याय वैशेषिकसूत्रस् there are seven Padārthas and they comprise nine kinds of Dravyas which are the पञ्चभूतस् (five elements), काल (time), दिक् (space), आत्मा (soul), and मनस् (mind). They are described below:

पृथ्वी . ( earth )

The characteristic of this पदार्थ is smell. पृथ्वी is of two kinds, नित्य (eternal) and अनित्य (perishable). नित्य is in the form of atom ( परमाणु ) and अनित्य in the form of कार्य . They are classified into body, sense organs and objects.

जल (water)

जल has a cold touch. It is of two kinds नित्य and अनित्य . नित्य is in the form of परमाणु (atom); अनित्य in the form of कार्य .

अग्नि ( फ़िरे )

It generates heat. It is of two kinds, नित्य and अनित्य . नित्य is in the form of परमाणु and अनित्य , in the form of कार्य . There are four kinds of अग्निस् : Fire of the earth, fire of the sky, fire of the stomach (digestive power) and the fire commonly used.

वायु (air)

It is without form but with the sense of touch. It is also of two kinds. नित्य in the form of परमाणु and अनित्य in the form of कार्य .

आकाश ( ether )

This is the carrier of sound. It is single and eternal.

काल (time)

It is general cause for all actions embracing the elements. It is also single and eternal.

दिक्

Places like north, south, east and west which are eternal.

आत्मा (soul)

It is related to knowledge and is of two kinds, जीवात्मा and परमात्मा .

मनस् (mind)

It is the sense-organ to enjoy pleasures. It is in the form of परमाणु and eternal.

To know the views of मनु on the origin of the पञ्चभूतस् see under Sṛṣṭi .

वैशेषिक

1. One of the six principal दर्शन s or systems of Philosophy founded by कणाद .

2. Anything which can be named; a category.

3. An elementary substance, the substratum of properties.

4. A characteristic or property of all substances.

5. Motion, action.

6. General characteristic.

7. A peculiar attribute, the eternal distinguishing factor of each of the nine द्रव्य s.

8. Intimate union, inseparable inherence or existence of one thing in another.

9. Nullity or negation. followers of the साङ्ख्य philosophy. followers of the अद्वैत philosophy. followers of the मीमांसा system of philosophy. The supreme being. The individual soul enshrined in the body. Evolute.