Vaisheshika Sutra or Kanada sutra is the standard text of Vaisheshika school of philosophy. The sutra was authored by Kanada, who is thought to have flourished before the advent of Buddhism. Number of scholars have commented on it since the beginning of christian era, the earliest commentary being Svartha Dharma Sangraha of Prashastapada.
The Vaiseshika sutra proclaims the futility of life in the temporary world (maya) and proposes that an understanding of god can free an individual from Karma, following which liberation will ensue. Major ideas contained in the Vaisheshika Sutra are:
Several traits of substances (dravya) are given as colour, taste, smell, touch, number, size, the separate, coupling and uncoupling, priority and posterity, comprehension, pleasure an pain, attraction and revulsion, and wishes. God is not mentioned in the sutra, but later commentators add it to complete the system.
The Vaiseshika Sutras are divided into ten sections, eight of which are divided further into two subsections called āhnikas: