Nyaya-Vaisheshika (critical and historical study)
by Aruna Rani | 1973 | 97,110 words
This essay studies Nyaya-Vaisheshika—A combination of two of the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy. The study also discusses in detail the authors of various works and critically analyzes key concepts of Nyaya-Vaisesika. Such Indian philosophies seek the direct realization of the Atman (the self) to attain ultimate freedom and bliss....
4. Authors of Nyaya (f): Bhasarvajna
To the close of ninth century or the beginning of the tenth century, there flourished a great and independent thinker named Bhasarvajna. He wrote a book named Nyaya Sara 1. Jayanta-Bhatta, Nyaya-Manjari, Page 303.
58 on Nyaya system. As the name implies, Nyaya Sara is a survey of the Nyeya philosophy. It became so popular that it was commented upon by great scholars of the period and there were eighteen commentaries on it, as was recorded by l Gunaratna. Nyaya Sara is divided into three chapters in accordance with the three mans of right knowledge (pramanas), namely, Pratyaksa pariccheda, Anumanapariachoda and Agmapariccheda. Bhasar vjna discarded the upmana-pramana which was a vulnerable point of the Nyaya sehool. Bhasarvjna is blamed to follow the line of the Jainas and the Buddhists in the treatment of logical problems. But this is quite wrong because the difference between the two kinds of treatment of logical problems is that the orthodox scholars followed Gautame and dealt with pramanas and prameyas and other allied topics, while the Jainas and the Buddhists confined themselves to the treatment of pramana alone and thereby restricted their treatment of logic rigidly to the science of reasoning. We find that the latter portion of Nyaya Sara is wholly devoted to the treatment of prameyas, like any other work of orthodox school. Hence, the view 2 held by Dr. S.C. Vidya Bhusan that Bhasarvina followed the 1. Gunaratna's commentary on Sarva Darasna Sangraha, Page 94. 2. S.C.Vidyabhusan, History of Indian Logie, Page 359.
lines of the non-orthodox scholars and confined his treatment of logic mainly to its limited though rigid sense, that is, the treatment of pramanas, is not correct. Bhasarvina, while treating the prameyas (though treated somewhat on different lines), believes that amongst the prameyas, Atma and Apavarga are the only two main prameyas, like Gautama and Vatsyayana. From all this, we can say that Bhasarvina occupies a unique position in the Nyaya system and tells us many things about the earlier aspects of this system