An Introduction to Jaina Logicians and their Logic

This article by Pusupa BoTHRA introduces the development of Jaina logic, tracing its origins from the Agamic literature and its systematic establishment by early logicians. The author argues that while logical discussions appear in Agamic texts like the Bhagavati Sutra, Sthananga, Samavayange, and Anuyoga, the formal study of Jaina logic began with Acarya Kundakunda, who is supposed to belong to the first or second century A.D., and Umasvati. Kundakunda, in works such as Pañcāstikāya, Pravacanasāra, Samayasāra, Niyamasāra, and Aptapahuda, explained pratyakṣa and parokṣa based on the Agamas, establishing that knowledge is both self-revealing and object-revealing (svaprakāśa and paraprakāśa). He systematically explained anekāntavāda using the two nāyas of niscaya and vyavahāra. Umasvati, the first Jaina to use Sanskrit in his main work Tattvārthasūtra, discussed the nature of dravya and classified pratyakṣa as knowledge arising directly in the self and parokṣa as knowledge derived from the sense organs. The article identifies Siddhasena, who belonged to the seventh century A.D., and Samantabhadra (5th-6th century A.D.) as the founders of Jaina logic. Samantabhadra introduced a new style in his main work Aptamimāṃsā, while Siddhasena defined the four logical terms pramāṇa, pramātṛ, prameya, and pramiti in his main works Sanmatitarka and Nyāyāvatāra. The author notes that although these scholars laid the groundwork, Buddhist logicians like Dignāga and Dharmakīrti had more fully developed their systems. To fill this gap, Akalaṅka, from the eighth century A.D., expounded the Agamic theory of pramāṇa in a pure logical way. In his great works Laghiyastraya, Nyāyapariśuddhi, Pramāṇasaṅgraha, and Siddhiviniścaya, he classified pratyakṣa into samvyavahārika and mukhyaprākṣa, and parokṣa into smṛti, pratyabhijñā, tarka, anumāna, and āgama. Vidyananda, a 9th-century commentator on Akalaṅka, wrote the Agatasāhasrī and established the Jaina view regarding the possibility of an omniscient being in his Pramāṇaparīkṣā. Manikyanandī's Pañcāstikāya was the first śāstra grantha in logic, containing six chapters on pramātṛ, pratyakṣa, parokṣa, viṣaya, phala, and tadībhāṣa. Prabhācandra, a 13th-century follower, wrote the famous commentaries Prameyakamalamārtaṇḍa on Manikyanandī's work and Nyāyakumudācandrā on Akalaṅka's Laghiyastraya. Abhayadeva Sūri, Vadideva Sūri, and Vādirāja were also great commentators who criticized other systems and established Jaina views. Hemacandra, in the 12th century A.D., wrote Pramāṇamīmāṃsā, which was influenced by Akalaṅka. Finally, Yaśovijaya of the 18

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