Kanada — India's answer to Aristotle

He who of His own will spreads out the production, preservation, and destruction of the universe; He who, even though shining forth in suppression of all these, still is not known by other than wise men. He, by knowing whom as He is in Himself, men are saved from further immersion into the waves of the stream of transmigration; the same is Bhava (i.e., the Lord of Creation), and He is easy of access by the path of communion with Him in constant devotion. May He be pleased to give you prosperity. I adore Bhavani (the consort of Bhava), Mahesi (the consort of Mahesa, the Great Lord;, who, Herself bearing limbs as dark as the cloud, still dispels the mass of darkness by myriads of collected rays; who while cutting asunder the bond of re-birth of Her devotees, is Herself bound by love to Bhava and is His constant delighter; who, although She is born of the Immobile (the Himalaya), still moves from place to place; and who while being the consort of the Pure (Siva), is seated on a corpse.

— from the Vaisesika Sutras of Kanada

Kanada (6th–2nd BC) was a Hindu philosopher and Indian sage who founded the Vaisheshika school of philosophy, which put an emphasis on understanding truth through observation of the natural world. As his name, which means “atom eater,” implies, Kanada was in many ways the Eastern counterpart of Aristotle who like Kanada produced a philosophy of nature based on his many observations of the physical world. Because he grounded his work in empirical data, Kanada is considered one of the earliest realist philosophers (which include Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas) in human history.