Pakṣilasvāmin Vātsyāyana was an Indian philosopher, commentator and logician of the

Nyaya Nyāya (Sanskrit: न्यायः, IAST: nyāyaḥ), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment", is one of the six orthodox (Āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Nyāya's most significant contributions to Indian philosophy ...

School. He authored the commentary "Nyāyabhāsya", the first full commentary on the

Nyāya Sūtras The ''Nyāya Sūtras'' is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text composed by , and the foundational text of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy. The date when the text was composed, and the biography of its author is unknown, but variously estim ...

Gautama Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

(c. 150 CE), which is itself the foundational text of the school of philosophy called "

Nyāya Nyāya (Sanskrit: न्यायः, IAST: nyāyaḥ), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment", is one of the six orthodox ( Āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Nyāya's most significant contributions to Indian philosoph ...

Works

''The Nyayabhasya'' is the first commentary on the Nyaya sutras that is still extant, and the first to which we find any reference. Vātsyāyana's commentary sets the agenda for much of Nyāya's philosophical developments throughout its history. His theory of knowledge gives special attention to the nature and importance of cognition as a guide to action. This theme informs several elements of his project, including his realism, his account of epistemic entitlement, and his notion of philosophy's contribution to living well. Vātsyāyana's commentary represents a pivotal moment in Nyaya's development as a distinct philosophical school. He systematically defended Nyāya's views during a period of intense inter-school philosophical debate against rival positions, particularly those of Buddhist skeptics like

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

and Vedic traditions such as

Samkhya Samkhya or Sankhya (; ) is a dualistic orthodox school of Hindu philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, '' Puruṣa'' ('consciousness' or spirit) and '' Prakṛti'' (nature or matter, including the human mind a ...

and Mimamsa. By focusing on critical reasoning and interpreting key Nyaya sutras, Vātsyāyana established Nyaya's positions on topics like selfhood, God, epistemology, and language.

Philosophy

Vātsyāyana argues that achieving the supreme good (liberation) involves understanding key elements: the nature of suffering, its root cause (ignorance), the means to eliminate it (true knowledge of the self and reality), and the method for achieving this (the philosophical framework of Nyaya).

References

Sources

* {{Cite book , last=Dasti , first=Matthew R. , title=Vātsyāyana's Commentary on the Nyāya-Sūtra: A Guide , date=2023 , publisher=Oxford University Press , isbn=978-0-19-762596-5 , series=Oxford Guides to Philosophy , location=Oxford Indian logicians Indian philosophers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Nyaya