Jñānaśrīmitra (fl. 975-1025 C.E.) was an Indian Buddhist philosopher of the epistemological (''
pramana
''Pramana'' (Sanskrit: प्रमाण, ) literally means "proof" and "means of knowledge".Buddhist philosophy
Buddhist philosophy refers to the philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that developed among various schools of Buddhism in India following the parinirvana of The Buddha and later spread throughout Asia. The Buddhist path combin ...
, which goes back to
Dignāga
Dignāga (a.k.a. ''Diṅnāga'', c. 480 – c. 540 CE) was an Indian Buddhist scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic (''hetu vidyā''). Dignāga's work laid the groundwork for the development of deductive logic in India and ...
and Dharmakīrti . He was also a poet, a ''dvārapaṇḍita'' (gate-scholar) of
Vikramasila
Vikramashila (Sanskrit: विक्रमशिला, IAST: , Bengali:- বিক্রমশিলা, Romanisation:- Bikrômôśilā ) was one of the three most important Buddhist monasteries in India during the Pala Empire, along with N ...
and was the teacher of Ratnakīrti. Jñānaśrīmitra was well known by Hindu and Jain thinkers and was the most significant Buddhist figure of his era.
Thought
Jñanasrimitra's philosophical work focused on
Buddhist logic
Buddhist logico-epistemology is a term used in Western scholarship for ''pramāṇa-vāda'' (doctrine of proof) and ''Hetu-vidya'' (science of causes). Pramāṇa-vāda is an epistemological study of the nature of knowledge; Hetu-vidya is a syste ...
and
epistemology
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Epis ...
(''
pramana
''Pramana'' (Sanskrit: प्रमाण, ) literally means "proof" and "means of knowledge".''apoha'') outlined by Dignaga and how it relates to the
philosophy of language
In analytic philosophy, philosophy of language investigates the nature of language and the relations between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of meaning, intentionality, reference, ...
, meaning and the nature of conceptual thoughts and awareness. In his ''Apohaprakaraṇa'' (“Monograph on Exclusion”), Jñanasrimitra elaborates on the theory of ''apoha'' and its relation to epistemology as well as defending the theory from Hindu critics. Jñanasrimitra was also a defender of
Yogācāra
Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through t ...
idealism, writing that “this entire triple-world is established to be nothing but consciousness ('' vijñaptimātra'')."
Jñanasrimitra's ''Vyāpticarcā'' (Analysis of Pervasion) focuses on inferential relations termed ''
vyapti
a Sanskrit expression, in Hindu philosophy refers to the state of pervasion. It is considered as the logical ground of inference which is one of the means to knowledge. No conclusion can be inferred without the knowledge of vyapti. Vyapti guarant ...
'' (pervasion), the relations between two distinct entities such as smoke and fire. According to Horst Lasic, Jñanasrimitra's position on this topic is that "inference-warranting relations between two distinct entities must be effect-cause relations, and that the presence of such relations can be detected only through a specific sequence of perception and non-apprehension."
Jñānaśrīmitra was also known as the major defender of the Sākāra school of
Yogācāra
Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through t ...
Buddhism against
Ratnākaraśānti
Ratnākaraśānti (also known as Śāntipa) (c. 10th-century CE) was one of the eighty-four Buddhist Mahāsiddhas and a monk at the monastic university of Vikramashila in what is now modern-day Bihar in India. At Vikramashila he was instructed by ...
, the principal defender of the rival Nirākāra school.McCrea; Patil, 2010, p. 3. He also wrote a treatise against the Hindu creator God ( ''Isvara'').
Works
*''Advaitabindu'' (Drop of Non-dualism)
*''Abhisamayahrdaya''
*''Anekacintamani''
*''Anupalabdhirahasya''
*''Apohaprakarana'' (Monograph on Apoha)
*''Bhedabhedapariksa''
*''Sākārasiddhiśāstra'' (A Treatise Proving That Awareness Contains an Image)
*''Sarvaśabdābhāvacarcā''
*''Isvaradusana'' (Disproving God)
*''Karyakaranabhavasiddhi''
*''Ksanabhangadhyaya'' (On momentariness)
*''(Adhyardha)Prajnaparamita(naya)satapancasatika ''
*''Sakarasamgrahasutra''
*''Sarvajnasiddhi''
*''Sarvasabdabhavacarca''
*''Vyapticarca''
*''Vrttamâlâstuti''
*''Yoginirnaya(prakarana)''
Notes
References
*Lawrence J. McCrea, and Parimal G. Patil. Buddhist Philosophy of Language in India: Jnanasrimitra on Exclusion. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. 216 pp.
*Satis Chandra Vidyabhusana; A History of Indian Logic: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Schools
*Michael Hann (Editor), Mahesh Deokar (Editor); Vrttamalastuti of Jnanasrimitra with Sakyaraksita's Vrttamala(Stuti)Vivrti (Studia Indo Buddhica) Hardcover
*Kellner, Jnanasrimitra's Anupalabdhirahasya and Sarvasabdabhavacarca, A critical Edition with A Survey of His Anupalabdhi-Theory; ISBN (Paperback): 3902501065, 9783902501066
*Hahn, M. 1971. Jñānaśrīmitra’s Vrttamâlâstuti. Ein Beispielsammlung zur altindischen Metrik. Nach dem tibetischen Tanjur zusammen mit der mongolischen Version herausgegeben, übersetzt und erläutert. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
*Kellner, B. 2007. Jñānaśrīmitra’s Anupalabdhirahasya and Sarvaśabdābhāvacarcā: A Critical Edition with a Survey of His Anupalabdhi-Theory. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde no. 67. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien.