The
Indian logic was spread over three periods:-
1. Ancient
2. Medieval and
3. Modern
The Indian logic
founders and their works
|
|
Ancient |
Medieval |
Modern |
|
Founder Book Time School |
-Aksapada
Gautama -Nayaya
Sutra -2nd
/3rd century CE -Nyāya
School |
-
Dignāga -
Pramāṇasamuccaya -5th/
6th Century CE -Buddhist
School |
-Gangesa-
Upadhayaya -Tattva-Cintamani -13th
Century CE -Navya-
Nyāya |
Contribution
of Dignāga in the history of Indian logic:-
Introduction: - In the
history of Buddhist logic the name of Dignāga occupies a prominent place. He
was the founder of Buddhist logic and has been called as “the father of
mediaeval Nyāya’ as a whole. He lived at the beginning of 5th century
(480 -540) CE. According to the Tibetan sources he was born in Simha-Vaktra, a
shrub of kanchi (Kanchipuram) in the south, in a brahmin family. According to
the Tibetan tradition, he took as his spiritual preceptor ‘Nagadatta of
Vatsiputriya School, before being expelled and becoming a pupil ‘Vasubandhu’ Dignāga
also went to the Nalanda Mahavihara where he defeated a brahmin logician named ‘Sudrajaya’
in a religious discussion. He is said to have died in a jungle of Orissa.
The Dignāga is credited
with the authorship of about a hundred treatises on logic. Most of these are
still preserved in Chinese and Tibetan translations. I-tsing says that Dignāga
treatises on logic were read as textbooks at the time of his visit to India.
Among the most important works of the Dignāga is the ‘Pramāṇasamuccaya’ his greatest work and also many other.
Contributions
of Dignāga:-
Dignāga is said to have
revolutionized entire course of Indian logic which has its beginning in Nyaya-sutra.
His magnum opus Pramāṇasamuccaya is both a path finder as well as path breaker.
Pramana-Samuccaya’ was the entire thinking of the Dignāga and gave a wide horizon
to epistemological thinking. He gave a new meaning to many concepts and also
invented new technical words for his logical system sva-laksana (the particular) and samanya-laksana(the universal) are the most notable contributions
of the Dignāga to the treatises and history of Indian logic.
Some
greatest works of the Dignāga are:-
1.
Pramāṇasamuccaya (प्रमाण समुच्चय)
2.
Alamban-pariksa (आलंबन परीक्षा)
3.
Trikalya-pariksa ( त्रिकाल परीक्षा)
4.
Hetu-cakra (हेतु चक्र)
5. Nyaya-mukha (न्याय
मुख)
Pramāṇasamuccaya
(Compendium of the Means of True Knowledge):-
It was corrective and
flawless interpretation half Nyāya from Buddhist view point. It was an
idealistic account and evolution of epistemology as against the realistic
understanding of the phenomena. Pramāṇasamuccaya is the basic point of departure
of Buddhist logic. Dignāga inherited inspiration as well as wisdom from his
teacher Vasubandhu and composed Pramāṇasamuccaya. Dignāga examine and ruthlessly criticize the
argument of Nyāya school. The conflict started between the Nyayaikas and
Buddhist school with the writing of Pramāṇasamuccaya. The conflict between Nyayaikas
and Buddhist lasted un-interrupted six long centuries. The result of this long
drawn conflict was the production of a vast amount of polemics literature
The seminal work on
Buddhist logic and epistemology (pramāṇa) composed in 247 verses by Dignāga. It
comprises six chapters:
(1)
Direct Perception (pratyakṣa) - 48 verses
(2)
Inference for One's Own Benefit
(svārtha-anumāṇa) - 51
(3)
Inference for Another's Benefit
(parārtha-anumāṇa) - 50
(4)
Examination of Examples (dṛṣṭānta-parīkṣa) - 21
(5)
Examination of Exclusion of the Other
(anya-apoha-parīkṣā) - 52
(6)
Examination of Universals (jāti-parīkṣā) -
25
This work was extremely
influential throughout India.both within the Buddhist world and beyond, and its
contents set the agenda for philosophical debate for many centuries after it
was written. Unfortunately, only a few fragments survive of the original
Sanskrit although a complete translation is available in Tibetan. The text was
widely studied in Tibet until the translation of Dharmakīrti's Pramāṇa-vārttika
superseded it in influence, except perhaps among the Nyingma School.
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