Essay name: Glories of India (Culture and Civilization)
Author: Prasanna Kumar Acharya
This book, 鈥淕lories of India on Indian Culture and Civilization鈥�, emphasizes the importance of recognizing distinct cultural traits across different societies. The historical narrative of Indian civilization highlights advancements in agriculture, medicine, science, and arts, tracing back to ancient times. The author argues for the need to understand the past to meaningfully engage with the present and future.
Page 352 of: Glories of India (Culture and Civilization)
352 (of 510)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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ORIGINAL LITERATURES 317 commented in the 11th century. Hemachandra (1033-
1172) wrote in sutra style the Pramana-mim膩峁僺膩,
Jayanta (5th century) wrote the Nyaya-ma帽jari which
comments on the Nyaya-sutra and criticises the
Buddhists and the Jains, Bhusarvaj帽a's Ny膩yasara (900)
which shows a marked Saiva tendency and embodies
Vaiseshika doctrines and Varadaraja's Tarkika-raksh盲
which knows Kumarila were mentioned in the Sarva-
dar艣ana-sangraha (1350)
The Tattva-chintamani of Gange艣a (1200) appeared
in four books%; it expounds with much subtlety the
means of proof permitted in the Nyaya, incidentally
expounding the metaphysics of the school at the
same time. Gangesa's followers include, his son Vardha-
mana, Jayadeva, and Raghunatha-Siromani (1500).
Under his inspiration logic (Nyaya) rose to "a developed
and able scheme of inference based on universals and
the formation of universals it explained by a well
thought out metaphysical theory". In the 16th century
the Navya-nyaya "Sanskrit schools of Navadvipa (in
Bengal) formed the centre of intellectual life in the
country."
VAISESHIKA-SUTRA OF KA峁喣�DA
The Vaiseshika-s奴tra is ascribed to an unknown
author or school whose nickname is Kan膩da, atom-eater,
because the system is based on the uncreated and
eternal atoms of which the Creator, individual souls and
matter are formed. While Nyaya-s奴tra deals essentially
with logical reasoning, the Vaiseshika-sutra (200 B. C.)
represents a naturalistic view which finds in atoms
the basis of the material world. Both Sutras accept in
some measure the view of the other. The Vaiseshika
doctrine agrees in many points with the Jain philoso-
phical views. Thus it believes that the real activity
of the soul, denied by the Vedanta of Sankara, holds the
effect to be different from the cause, the qualities from
the substance, and accepts atoms.
accepts atoms.
It is not clear if
the Vaiseshika ever was materialistic in the Lokayata
sense of "deriving the soul from the matter". The
original view of the two Sutras as to God is disputed,
both say very little on the topic "But the title may be
due to working over at the time when they had become
definitely theistic schools."
"
