Chapter 28.7 - Introduction to the Nyaya school of Philosophy

[Full title: The Six Systems—Orthodox philosophy (6): Nyaya]

Nyaya had its origin with the sage Gautama. Kautilya calls it by the term Anviksiki. The Vedas are the ultimate authority for the the. Digitized by $3 Foundation USA

adherents of this system which has its peculiarity in that that it seeks to prove everythinmg through logic and analysis . It has two streams, the old and the new, Pracina Nyaya and Navya Nyaya. Pracina began with the Nyaya-sutras of Gautama. For attaining right knowledge , Prama , the Nyaya accepts sixteen categories: pramana, means of knowledge; prameya, object of knowledge; samsaya, doubt/indecision; prayojana, purpose; drstanta, example; siddhanta, final opinion; avayava, a component part of a logical argument or syllogism; tarka, argument; nirnaya, conclusion; vada, discussion; jalpa, disputation; vitanda, wrangling; hetvabhasa, fallacy; chala, circumvention; jati, futile answer; nigrahasthana, unfitness to be argued with. According to Nyaya with the proper knowledge of these categories a person attains nihsreyasa, spiritual bliss, which is the highest aim of life. It accepts the dawn of true knowledge as salvation. It, therefore, attaches importance to the means to attain it, the means for gaining right knowledge. Like Vaisesika Nyaya also accepts atom to be the primary cause of creation, the atom which has no beginning and no end. It is the minutest particle. It cannot be viewd visually. Its existence can only be inferred. It was in existence in the beginning of the creation. That is why it does not perish. It is eternal. The world which is based on this eternality will have to be accepted as eternal in the ultimate analysis. Atom is the material cause (upadana-karana) of the world while Isvara is the instrumental one (nimitta-karana). Atom (Paramanu), Soul (Atman) and Isvara are the three that are eternal. It is through them that the world subsists. Isvara cannot be seen, He can only be inferred. The only purpose of true knowledge is to bring the individual self to truth which is the means for salvation, viz., attaining that state where there is neither happiness nor sorrow. The means for true knowledge, the means for salvation is to read scriptures, imbibe their teachings and to listen to the cdiscourses of the holy people (apia-vacana). This will clear the

mind of doubts. By following the Yogic processes of meditation (dhyana ) , fixation of mind (dharana) and absorption in the object of fixation (samadhi) one can have self-realization. Nyaya system has two traditions, old and new. The old tradition accepts sixteen categories while the new one, under the greater influence of Vaisesika accepts seven of them only. The oldest work of old tradition is the Nyaya-sutra of Gautama which is divided in four parts. It is assigned generally to the 3 rd cen. A.D. The most well-known and authoritative exposition (Bhasya) on it is that of Vatsyayana which is accepted to be a work of the 4 th cen. A.D. The Buddhist logician Dinnaga of 5 th cen. A.D. refuted with forceful arguments the views of Vatsyayana. Uddyotakara of the 6 th cen. A.D. wrote a commentary on Vatsyayana's Bhasya under the title Nyayavartika which was commented upon by the great logician Vacaspatimisra of the first half of the 9 th cen. A.D. The title of his commentary is the Nyayavartikatatparyatika, a masterly work which gave new life to the Nyaya system after deadly blows of the Buddhists. Udayana in 984 A.D. wrote a commentary on it under the title Nyayavartikatatparyaparisuddhi. He also wrote four independent works on the Nyaya system: Nyayakusumanjali, Atmatattvaviveka, Kiranavali and Nyayamanjari. Another scholar of the old system of Nyaya was Jayanta who wrote the work Nyayamanjari. Bhasarvajna of the 10 th cen. A.D. gave a survey of the system of logic in his work the Nyayasara. The new tradition of Nyaya started with Gangesa Upadhyaya of the last part of the 12 th cen. A.D. He wrote the Tattvacintamani which discusses in depth the four proofs, Pramanas accepted by-Nyaya in an highly abstruse technical jargon of avacchedakavacchinna not easily comprehensible which later became a hallmark of profundity of knowledge of the system and which was also adopted by the grammarians of the new school, Navya-vyakarana. His son Vardhamana (1225 A.D.)

wrote Bhasyas on the works of Udayana and Vallabha. In the second half of the 13 th cen. A.D. Jayadeva, also a playwright and rhetorician of note, wrote a commentary Aloka on the Tattvacintamani. A Begali Brahmana of the name of Vasudeva Sarvabhauma wrote a commentary Tattvacintamanivyakhya on the Tattvacintamani of Gangesa. Three of his pupils of the names of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the founder of the Gaudiya sect of the Vaisnavas, Raghunatha Siromani, the great logician and Krsnananda Agamavagisa, the author of the Tantrasara attained great fame. Raghunatha Siromani of the 15 th cen. A.D. wrote two great works, Didhiti and Padarthakhandana. Jagadisa (16 th cen. A.D.) and Gadadhara (17 th cen. A.D.) were two other great authorities of the Navya Nyaya system. Apart from a number of commentaries they enriched the Navya Nyaya system with their works Sabdasaktiprakasika and the Vyaptipancaka. Nyayasutravrtti of Visvanatha is another great work of this system.