Chapter 4.3.1 - Navya Nyaya (a): Tattva-Cintamani of Gangesopadhyaya

Gangesopadhyaya is known to be the founder of Navya Nyaya School. His native place is a village named Karrion on the banks of the river Kamala and regarded to have lived in the 13^th Century A.D.^[1] He gave a new direction and line of development to the Nyaya philosophy. He was a keen dialectician and a brilliant conversationist. He is believed to have given a place of great importance to pramana. His greatest work ‘Tattva-cintamani’ stands as the premier work of Navya-Nyaya School. His treatment of the epistemological problem of validity of knowledge and criteria of truth anticipates the modern western theories of realism, idealism and pragmatism. His contribution to logical thought is profound and extensive.

Tattva-cintamani or a thought jewel of truths written by Gangesopadhyaya is regarded as the premier work of Modern school of Hindu logic and introduces a new era in the development of logic in India. The book presents epistemology, logic and philosophy of grammar in logical and systematic manner. The book includes four separate books in accordance with the four means to ascertain right knowledge viz., Pratyaksha, anumana, upamana and shabda. While the first book deals with pratyaksha, the second one is about anumana. The third book is very short and it deals with upamana and the fourth book deals with shabda.

Gangesopadhyaya’s treatment of inference is most comprehensive. The term anumana comes from two words Mana and Anu which means knowledge drawn from some other knowledge.

According to Gangesha, Anumana is Vyaptivisista paksadharmata jnana janyam anumitistakkaranam anumanam tacca linga paramarshau na tu paramrshya manam lingam.^[2] The definition includes two parts: viz., vyapti (invariable concomitance/relation/pervasion) and pakshadharmata (notion of being a property of the subject). His definition of inference is knowledge of the nature of minor term such as is qualified by a pervasion, the instrumental cause of this is anumana. The latter involves the notion of a logical subject (pakshata). Gangesha discusses the nature of a subject of inference (paksha), i.e., where a property is sought to be proved on the basis of logic reason (hetu).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

History of Indian Logic p. 371

[2]:

Shri. Mathuranatha Tarkavagisha, Tattva-cintamani of Gangesas Upadhyaya Anumana Khanda with the commentary ‘Rahasya’ (volume II. Part-I) Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan, Delhi, 1990, First Edition, p.2.