1. Nyāya: A Brief Introduction

The Nyāya School was started by Gautama or Akṣapāda, so it is known as Akṣapādadarśana. It is also known as Tarkaśāstra or the science of reasoning, Hetuvidyā or the science of causes, Vādavidyā or the science of debate, Pramāṇashāstra or the science of logic and epistemology, Ānvīkṣikī or the science of critical study. The Nyāya School is a school of atomistic pluralism and logical realism.

According to traditions, the Nyāya school of Indian Philosophy is a part of āstika darśanas. The word “Nyāya” means logic and epistemology^[1]. Literally the word “Nyāya” indicates that through means of which the mind is reached to a conclusion “Nyāya” is similar to an argument and the school which treats arguments as essential than others comes to be known as the Nyāya School.

The Nyāya School has two broad divisions viz, Prācina-Nyāya and Navya-Nyāya. In the Prācina-Nyāya School, the main expositions are Nyāyasūtra of Gautama including commentary and sub-commentaries. The first commentary on Nyāyasūtra is Vātsyāyanabhāṣya by Vātsyāyana. In addition to, Uddyotakara composed a Vārttika on Vātsyāyanabhāṣya named as Nyāyavārttika. Vācaspati Miśra composed a subcommentary on Nyāyavārttika which is known as Nyāyavārttikatāparyaṭīkā. Besides Udayana composed a sub-commentary on Nyāyavārttikatāparyaṭīkā which is known as Tātparyaṭīkāpariśuddhi. Vardhamāna composed a sub-commentary on that which is called Nyāyanibandhaprakāśa. Padmanābha composed a sub-commentary on Nyāyanibandhaprakāśa which is known as Varḍdhamānendu. Samkara Miśra composed a sub-commentary on Varḍdhamānendu which is called Nyāyatāparyamaṇḍana.

Viśvanātha composed a commentary which is called Viśvanāthavṛtti on Nyāyasūtra in the seventeenth century. Rādhāmohana also wrote a commentary on the Nyāyasūtra which is known as Nyāyasūtravivaraṇa. Apart from these works, there are some independent works on Nyāya philosophy. Some of the important works are the Nyāyamañjarī of Jayanta Bhaṭṭa, Udayana’s Nyāyakusumāñjali.

In the Navya-Nyāya School, the main works are Tattvacintāmaṇī of Gaṅgeśa. Another significant work on Navya-Nyāya School is Bhāṣāpariccheda of Viśvanātha. There are some commentiaries on Bhāṣāpariccheda are Siddhāntamuktāvalī, Dinakarī and Rāmarudrī. Further, Annam Bhatta’s Tarkasaṃgraha is an important work of NavyaNyāya School. There are some notable commentaries on Tarkasaṃgraha are Tarkadīpikā, Nyāyanirṇaya and Nīlakaṇṭhi. These commentaries are written by Nīlakaṇṭha Bhaṭṭa. Some other important works of Navya-Nyāya schools are Tarkabhāṣa written by Keśava Miśra with the commentary Nyāyapradīpa, Tarkikarakṣā of Varadarāja with the commentary Niṣkaṇṭaka by Mallinātha, Nyāyasāra of Bhāsarvajñā, Nyāyasārapadapanñcikā by Vāsudevasūri, Nyāyatāparyadīpikā by Jayasiṃhasūri etc.

Epistemologically the two schools of Nyāya admitted four means of valid knowledge, viz., perception (pratyakṣa), inference (anumāna), comparison (upamāna) and verbal testimony (śabda). The scholars of Nyāya School do not share the same view regarding the nature and definition of perception. According to Nyāya, the term perception or pratyakṣa is vague, as it is used in two senses: as a result, the apprehension of the reality and the process or the instrument which leads to that result. However, pratyakṣa originally means sense-perception which covers all immediate knowledge whether through the help of the senses or not.^[2] For Naiyāyikas perception is the basis of all knowledge and it is the final test of all knowledge. Thus, perception is the source of all knowledge as well as is the basis of other means of knowledge dependent on perception and these sources presuppose perception or must be based on knowledge originated from perception.^[3]

There are some theories given by Prācina-Naiyāyikas and Navya-Naiyāyikas are as follows:

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

pramāṇairarthaparīkṣaṇaṃ nyāyaḥ. Nyāyabhāṣya , 1.1.1.

[2]:

Nyāyabinduṭīkā., P.7.

[3]:

Sarvapramāṇānāṃ pratyakṣapūrvakatvāt. Nyāyavārtīkatātparyaṭīkā , 1.2.3.