Scope and Importance of the Present Study

The importance of Tarkasaṃgraha with its commentary Dīpikā as a primer of Indian logic is well established. Though it is a small work, even then all the categories of Vaiśeṣika philosophy and the pramāṇas of Nyāya Philosophy are presented and discussed. Annaṃbhaṭṭa has not explained different theories in his original work, i.e. Tarkasaṃgraha. But this lacuna is filled by him in his commentary Dīpikā. It is true that the purpose of Annaṃbhaṭṭa in writing this work, which he mentions as ‘for the easy understanding of the dull-witted persons’, is readily fulfilled. This work is by far the most-used of the introductory works of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika philosophy. The large number of commentaries on both Tarkasaṃgraha and Dīpikā point to their popularity. The work along with its commentary has been translated in many modern languages and it has been edited several times by several scholars. We can mention here the names of Athalye, Bodas, Dhundiraja Sastri, Gajendragadkar etc. These are ample scope of the study on the Tarkasaṃgraha. Though the above-mentioned authors deal with the Tarkasaṃgraha in detail, yet their works being translations of the original work or being edited versions, do not discuss the philosophy of this work in a systematic manner. Hence, a study of the Tarkasaṃgraha underlining its philosophical importance is necessary. So, a need is felt to study this work extensively and critically so that its true significance can be brought out.