Vaisheshika-sutra with Commentary
by Nandalal Sinha | 1923 | 149,770 words | ISBN-13: 9789332869165
The Vaisheshika-sutra 9.2.11, English translation, including commentaries such as the Upaskara of Shankara Mishra, the Vivriti of Jayanarayana-Tarkapanchanana and the Bhashya of Chandrakanta. The Vaisheshika Sutras teaches the science freedom (moksha-shastra) and the various aspects of the soul (eg., it's nature, suffering and rebirth under the law of karma). This is sutra 1 (‘the characteristic of avidya’) contained in Chapter 2—(? Inferential cognition)—of Book IX (of ordinary and transcendental cognition...).
Sūtra 9.2.11 (The characteristic of Avidyā)
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Vaiśeṣika sūtra 9.2.11:
तद्दुष्टज्ञानम् ॥ ९.२.११ ॥
tadduṣṭajñānam || 9.2.11 ||
tat—that; avidyā. false knowledge. duṣṭa-jñānaṃ—imperfect cognition.
11. That (i.e., Avidyā) is imperfect knowledge.
Commentary: The Upaskāra of Śaṅkara Miśra:
(English rendering of Śaṅkara Miśra’s commentary called Upaskāra from the 15th century)
He states the characteristic or definition of avidyā in general:
[Read sūtra 9.2.11 above]
‘Tat,’ an indeclinable word, conveying the sense of a pronoun, alludes to avidyā. That, avidyā, is ‘duṣṭajñāna’, i.e., cognition which is unduly applied, cognition that a thing is what in fact it is not, in other words, cognition determined in the manner of a divergent object, and. having the mode which does not reside in the object in question. Imperfection consists also of cognition taking the form of uncertainty. Doubt, therefore, even where there is only one alternative, is vicious, being identical with non-assurance or non ascertainment.
The four (forms of avidyā), therefore, namely, Doubt, Error, Dream, and Regression or Indecision are included in this aphorism.—11.