A History of Sanskrit Literature c33.s5.6

c33.s5.6

The *Nyāya Sūtra* found an expositor in Pakṣilasvāmin Vātsyāyana, who wrote the *Nyāyabhāṣya*² before the Buddhist logical Dignāga. His work resembles in style the *Mahābhāṣya*, and he propounds modifications of the Sūtra in short sentences comparable to Vārttikas, but this is far from sufficient to justify us in assigning him to the second century B. C. The fourth century is more plausible, though a rather earlier date is not excluded. Uddyotakara Bhāradvāja, a fervent sectarian of the Pāçupata belief, in his *Nyāyavārttika*³ defended Vātsyāyana and explained the Sūtra and Bhāṣya; his date falls *c.* A. D. 620. A further comment on this work was written by Vācaspati Miçra (*c.* 850) in the *Nyāyavārttikatātparyaṭīkā*,¹ on which Udayana in the tenth century wrote the *Tātparyapariçuddhi*.² Udayana, as a convinced theist, in his *Kusumāñjali*³ in Kārikās with a prose explanation proved the existence of God, and in the *Bauddhadhikkāra*⁴ assailed the Buddhists, who had developed an important school of thought which manifestly greatly influenced the Nyāya itself.