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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s10.t9: Nyaya Sutra

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s10.t9

Language
English

Nyaya Sutra

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*Nyaya Sutra* is a fundamental scripture of Nyaya in ancient Indian philosophy, and is the first literature putting forward the systematic logical thought and debate rules in India. It was written by Gautama in about the 1st century CE. The existing *Nyaya Sutra* includes the additional contents added later, which is finished at about 3rd - 4th century CE.

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The main and auxiliary annotations of *Nyaya Sutra* include *Nyaya-Sutra-Bhasya* by Vatsyayana (about 4th-5th century CE), *Nyaya-Varthika* by Uddyotakara (in 6th century CE), *Nyaya-varttikatatparya-tika* by Vācaspti mi ra (in 9th century CE), *Nyaya-varttikatatparya-tātparya-parisuddhi* by Udayana (in 10th century CE) and so on. *Nyaya Sutra* establishes some basic concepts and

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*The Nyaya Sutra: A New Commentary on an Old Text, English edition (front cover)*

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builds the theoretical framework of Nyaya. *Nyaya Sutra* is divided into five volumes, with each volume having two chapters. Its main theoretical model is “16 truths”, including pramana, prameya, doubt, motivation, example, theory, discussions, thinking, conclusion, reasoning, argumentation, no defense, uncertain reason, misinterpretation, opposition and misunderstanding. It mainly discusses the thoughts about the logical reasoning and debate rules of Nyaya. Many theories of Nyaya are put forward or discussed during the interpretation of the 16 truths.

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The main theories put forward in *Nyaya Sutra* include reasoning by five-part syllogism, reasons of producing mistake in reasoning, behaviour of debate failure, main methods to get correct understanding and so on. Reasoning by five-part syllogism is also called “five-branches-type argument”. It is a relatively fixed basic mode of reasoning first put forward in the history of Indian thought, and plays an important role in the formation and development of systematic logic theory in India. The theory holds that there are five basic elements during the reasoning, namely, the proposition, the reason, the example, the application and the conclusion. “The proposition” is the proposition put forward in the reasoning,” the reason” is the reason to demonstrate proposition, “the example” is the specific example or evidence used to demonstrate proposition, “the application” is the application of reason and example into the reasoning, and “the conclusion” is the conclusion drawn according to the final statement of one’s own proposition. Behaviour of debate failure is an important analysis of *Nyaya Sutra* on debate, and the theory on such aspect is mainly manifested in the conclusion of 22 misunderstandings. The main way to get the correct understanding actually is the pramana theory. There are four pramana being put forward in Nyaya Sutra, namely, Partyaksa-pramana, Anumana-pramana, upama-pramana and avavada-pramana.

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Nyaya Sutra also connects its theories of reasoning and debate with the religious issues. *Nyaya Sutra* first emphasises that reaching the highest good needs the knowledge of “16 truths”. The core theory of 16 truths is about the knowledge of reasoning and debate. *Nyaya Sutra* thinks that this kind of knowledge is actually the supreme wisdom, and that achieving them will eliminate ignorance, while Vimukti relies on the elimination of ignorance. Therefore, the knowledge of logical reasoning and debate is inseparable with Nyaya's ultimate goal of achieving the liberation by freeing from Samsara. The thought of *Nyaya Sutra* plays a crucial role in the development of Indian philosophy. Many sects have absorbed its logical and debate ideas. It is the reference in the development of Buddhism. Many thoughts in ancient Buddhist hetuvidya are built on the basis of the absorption and transformation of Nyaya’s relevant thoughts. The thought of *Nyaya Sutra* still have significant influence in modern times in India. Some famous Indian ideologists in modern times compare the thought of *Nyaya Sutra* with the western logic, integrate some ideas, and put forward some new theoretical insights.

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The thought of Nyaya Sutra is also introduced into China with the Buddhism in ancient time. The ancient Chinese understanding of Nyaya is largely from the Buddhist relevant literatures. These literatures are mainly those about hetuvidya theory, especially the contents involving ancient hetuvidya in the Buddhist scripture.

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In Chinese Buddhist scriptures, there are also many contents about *Nyaya Sutra*. The representatives include Upāya-Kauśalya-hrdaya-śāstra, Prakaraōàryavàcà-àstra, Mahàyànàbhidharma-samuccaya-vyàkhya and Tarka-sastra. Upāya-Kauśalya-hrdaya-śāstra makes discussions on the theory of four pramana of *Nyaya Sutra*, and such contents like uncertain reason, opposition and misunderstanding. Tarka-sastra, Prakaraōàryavàcà-àstra and Mahàyànàbhidharma-samuccaya-vyàkhya also make the discussions on

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[Figure: ‘Prakaranasyavaca-sastra (Xianyang sheng jiao lun)’]

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syllogism being similar to the theory of five-branches-type argument in *Nyaya Sutra*.

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In modern China, the thought of *Nyaya Sutra* receives great attention from Chinese academic circle. *Nyaya Sutra* has been translated into Chinese in China, and many Chinese versions have been officially published or issued. Some research papers on the theory of *Nyaya Sutra* have ever been issued in Chinese professional academic journals. Many works about Indian philosophy published in China also include some contents about the thought of *Nyaya Sutra*, and they also appears on the Indian religion and philosophy courses opened in China’s colleges and universities, even some academic dissertations of Chinese postgraduates are with the theme of *Nyaya Sutra*.

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(*Yao Weiqun*)

Cites (3)