 Atoms combine into dyads and triads before they aggregate into bodies of a kind that can be perceived. The theory however faced a question how atoms can combine, if they are indeed partless: unless we can distinguish different parts to an atom, it is difficult to see how they can be said to be next to one another—side by side—any more than mathematical points can be said to join together rather than collapsing into a single point. The response is to deny the analogy to points, since atoms are tangible entities and two of them cannot occupy the same place (Bhaduri 1947, 63), thus atoms do not lose their identity when they aggregate. Another approach to the problem is due to Vasubandhu in the Buddhist tradition (see Carpenter 2021).