The analysis in this article is driven by a question concerning how self (atman) has been thought by Vaiśesika philosophers within the Vaiśesikasutra commentarial tradition. That is to say, how the category of self is expressed, and how the thinking on self is structured, in Praśastapadabhasya, and in its commentaries Nyayakandala and Vyomavata. The idea of self is discussed within three main aspects: first, cognition and action; secondly, incentive and action; and lastly, merit, demerit, and liberation. The article shows how these interrelated factors are used in order to delineate a self that could be understood in two ways, bodily and disembodied. It is furthermore shown how the bodily self is in focus for these philosophers insofar as it is the key to the possibility of liberation (moksa) through the categories of acting and knowing.
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