atomistic  doctrines  of  space  and  time.  Material
　　   atomism   is  quite   common   in  classical   Indian
　　   philosophy, and it appears to have been maintained by
　　   Saa^mkhya,  Nyaaya,  and  Sarvaastivaada.  For  these
　　   schools  the  paramaa.nu   is  the  ultimate   atomic
　　   component  of all  material  entities.  While  it  is
　　   itself  imperceptible, this  paramaa.nu  or  ultimate
　　   atom is the material

　　　　　　　　　　　　  p.287

　　   cause  of all  sensible  objects.  It is said  to  be
　　   dimensionless, partless.  and indivisible, so that we
　　   may say that its size constitutes a spatial minim.(9)
　　   In certain respects.  however, the paramaa.nu must be
　　   considered  infinitesimal, that is, as having some of
　　   the  properties  of  a geometrical  point.  Thus  the
　　   atomic  size  of  the  paramaa.nu   is  not  properly
　　   additive: We should  expect  the size of the simplest
　　   atomic   compounds   to   be   a  function   of   two
　　   factors--number   of  component   atoms   and  atomic
　　   size--but  only the first  factor, number, is in fact
　　   involved in computing atomic size.(10) This is to say
　　   that the measure  of a dyadic  compound  is not twice
　　   the size of the constituent paramaa.nu, but is rather
　　   a size which is independently  assigned  to the dyad.
　　   Thus  while  the  idea  of  an  atomic  size  of  the
　　   paramaa.nu suggests a doctrine of spatial minims, the
　　   doctrine  that  this size is nonadditive  suggests  a
　　   conception of a truly dimensionless  atom, that is, a
　　   point.
　　　　  Similar  tendencies  can be seen  in some  of the
　　   classical  Indian  theories  of time.  Certainly  the
　　   Saa^mkhya theory of time must be considered  at least
　　   quasiatomistic;  the duration required for a physical
　　   atom to move its own measure of space is said to be a
　　   k.sana, or atomic unit of time.  And in Abhidharma we
　　   find  an  explicit  temporal  atomism, based  on  the
　　   notion  of k.sana as the atomic duration  of a dharma
　　   or atomic occurrence. Here we also see a concern with
　　   the problem of divisibility  and indivisibility.  The
　　   k.sana  is first  defined  as being  of imperceptibly
　　   short duration. In order to account for the processes
　　   which  must occur  during  the lifetime  of a dharma,
　　   however, the k.sana is divided into three constituent
　　   phases: arising,  standing,  and  ceasing-to-be.  The