Self‑Luminosity of Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta as explained in the Nyayamakaranda
Summary
Rabindra Kumar Pandya examines the Advaita Vedanta doctrine that consciousness is self‑luminous, focusing on Anandabodha Bhattaraka’s twelfth‑century treatise Nyayamakaranda. Anandabodha synthesised earlier Advaita teachings and debated opponents from the Nyaya and Prabhakara schools. The paper outlines the Advaita method of argument: present the opponent’s view, refute it and then state one’s own thesis. Anandabodha argues that cognition reveals itself and its objects; positing a separate ‘knower’ leads to infinite regress. In contrast, Nyaya philosophers treat knowledge as a quality requiring inference, and Prabhakaras accept that knowledge reveals objects but not itself. Anandabodha criticises these positions, asserting that consciousness must be self‑revealing since awareness of cognition presupposes it. He links self‑luminosity to the Advaita metaphysics where the phenomenal world is an illusory superimposition on Brahman. By defending self‑luminosity, Anandabodha affirms the identity of the individual self with the absolute.
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Conclusion
Pandya concludes that the Nyayamakaranda systematically defends the self‑luminous nature of consciousness by refuting Nyaya and Prabhakara objections. Recognising consciousness as self‑revealing upholds the Advaita view that the individual self is identical with Brahman and points toward liberation.