A Critical and Comparative Study between Buddhist Atomism and Greek Atomism

If we continuously keep on dividing some finite mass, then it will finally reach a state when we won’t be able to divide it further. Thus, the indivisible unit that we come across at the end is called atom. An atom is indivisible, eternal, partless and imperceptible. Atoms are the indivisible, smallest particle of some finite mass. These atom are the root of the world and every worldly thing. Those who believe in this doctrine are called atomists. Both the system of Hīnayāna Buddhists have accepted and developed the atomic theory. Ancient Western philosopher Leucippus and Democritus are known as Greek atomists. In this short discussion I want to highlight the main features of Buddhist atomism and Greek atomism. In this regard I will also discuss the comparison between Buddhist atomism and Greek atomism to show which atomic theory is more acceptable.