Preface

Among the heterodox systems of Indian philosophy, Jainism is regarded as one of the oldest religions in India having its own metaphysics, philosophy and ethics. It has discussed all the important topics of Indian philosophy. The salient features of Jaina philosophy include its realistic classification of being and its theory of knowledge, with its famous doctrines of syādvāda, anekāntavāda and nayavāda. Jainism is basically an ethical system where ahiṃsā or non-violence features as the most important ethical value. Among the heterodox systems only Jainism accepts the reality of a permanent self, which is denied by the Buddhists and the Cārvākas. The concept of the self propounded by the Jainas is different from other systems and their view about the size of the self bears the stamp of the uniqueness of their view. The Jaina logician Prabhācandra is one of the most prominent logicians of Indian philosophy and his work Prameyakamalamārtaṇḍa is his monumental work on Jaina logic. It throws light upon all the salient features of Jainism. When I was preparing my dissertation for M.Phil examination of Gauhati University, I studied this book to some extent. The importance of this logical work has come to my notice at that time. But I have found that no comprehensive study in a critical way has been done in this work till date. Hence, at the advice of my supervisor, I have decided to prepare a thesis on this work for my Ph. D. degree with a view to find out the salient features of Jainism as reflected in Prameyakamalamārtaṇḍa.

The present thesis has been divided into six chapters including the Introduction. In the introductory chapter, the historical background of Jainism, time