Philosophical text
M. NARASIMHACHARY
THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF VISISHTADVAITA — Study Based on the Nyayaparisuddhi of Vedanta Desika: Vedavalli Narayanan; Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., PB NO. 5715, 564, Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi-110055. Rs. 395.
The soundness of any philosophical system is based on the means of knowledge (Pramanas) it adopts. The Visishtadvaita school accepts three means of knowledge: perception, inference and verbal testimony. The present book is the outcome of a detailed study of the Nyayaparisuddhi of Vedanta Desika, the celebrated post-Ramanuja polymath. Desika, one of the greatest dialecticians of his day, has established in the work under reference, the validity of Visishtadvaita logic, against the well-known, traditional Nyaya of Gautama. He mentions that Nathamuni, the first Visishtadvaita preceptor of South India, wrote the Nyayatattva refuting the traditional school of Nyaya reinterpreting it in the light of Visishtadvaita. It is a pity that this work is not available now. Parasara Bhattar’s Tattvaratnakara which also discusses the epistemology of this school shares the same fate.
Redefinition
Desika draws material from these two works which were available by his time and presents in a cogent manner what exactly constitutes Visishitadvaita logic. The reason for redefining epistemology is that Ramanuja in his Sribhashya showed that the Nyaya school, along with a few others like the Yoga of Patanjali, had been rejected by Badarayana in his Brahmasutra (II.1.4) as being non-Vedic in character. One main reason behind this position is the fact that although the Nyaya accepts scripture as a valid means of knowledge, it tries to establish the existence of God through mere logic, without resorting to the third and most important means of knowledge, namely scripture (verbal testimony or Sruti). Desika does not dismiss the Nyaya system outright but shows it its rightful place in the scheme of arriving at knowledge. He synthesises in this work, the Nyaya logic with Visishtadvaita metaphysics.
The work under review discusses the position threadbare in six well-organised chapters. After a brief introduction to the Visishtadvaita tradition and the logical basis provided for it by earlier preceptors, Vedavalli Narayanan examines the nature of knowledge in the second chapter and moves on to an analytical study of Visishtadvaita school regarding perception, inference and verbal testimony in the succeeding chapters.
The last chapter is devoted to an examination of the position of other schools of thought which accepted more number of Pramanas such as analogy, presumption or postulation, non-cognition, recognition, recapitulation, agreement, occurrence and tradition. All these, according to Desika, can be brought under the three means of knowledge accepted by this school. He has dealt with them in his other works like the Tattvamuktakalapa and Paramatabhanga also. His Nyayasiddhanjana, which is the sequel to the present work, deals with the object of knowledge (Prameya).
The author deserves our congratulations for bringing out this rare study on the epistemology of Visishtadvaita, covering all the chief concepts with commendable authenticity and lucidity.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Book Review
