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78
KARIN PREISENDANZ
enthronement,88 from the chronological point of view this identification seems very improbable.
90
89
92
Kesava Miśra's basic attitude towards the roots of Nyaya is not so much different from that of Vacaspati Miśra of Mithila. For him, too, the venerable author of the doctrinal edifice of Nyaya, whom he calls by his gotra-name Gotama, is a great sage, even the greatest sage, endowed with greatest compassion (paramakäruṇika). Just as Vacaspati, Kesava refers to the Nyayaśästra as Pañcādhyāyi" and Anvīkṣikī. The classical commentaries are referred to by him," but the brief references seem to be second-hand and do not attest to much genuine interest in these works or to their profound study, except maybe of the Tätparyatika or Udayana's unacknowledged - Parisuddhi. A number of positions are attributed to the 'ancient ones' (vṛddhāḥ, prāñcah), but not in opposition to the 'new' scholars. Regarding the substance of his commentary, Keśava is very much. indebted to Vacaspati's Nyayatattväloka, even though he does not take into consideration the more extensive and sophisticated digres sions in this commentary. He frequently paraphrases or summarizes the explanations of the sutra-s in the Nyayatattväloka in his own words or slightly modifies them. Sometimes the correspondences are so close that it is even possible to emend the obviously corrupt text of the edited Gautamīyasūtraprakāśa on the basis of the Nyayatattväloka. It is therefore surprising that Kesava does not mention Vacaspati or his work on the Nyayasütra explicitly anywhere in the Gautamīyasūtraprakāśa. However, there may be some implicit reference after all. In his rather boastful mangalaśloka-s Kesava states that there is indeed no lack of knowledgeable scholars familiar with the ways of reasoning who previously assembled in the dense thicket of Nyaya; however, there are also some scholars of Nyäya, desirous
88 Cf. Gode (1954: 370).
89 Cf. GSP 1, 8: pāramarṣāņi sūtrāņi... (v. 3a).
90 Cf.. GSP 1, 24: atha paramakaruniko bhagavan gotamo maharṣiḥ samsārāngāreṣu pacyamanan samuddidhirsuḥ....
91 Cf. e.g., GSP 1, 12: ... pañcādhyāyiparinatarahasyapraṇayinah... (v. 4c) (cf. the full quotation in n. 96 below) and 3, 13: pañcadhyāyi śāstram.
92 Cf. the continuation of the sentence quoted in n. 90 above: dyasiroratnabhätämänvikşikim praṇītavān
sakalavi
94
I.e., there are a few quotations from the Bhasya, the Varttika and the Tikā as well as from the Nyayamañjarī, and even two references to Sanatani (cf. above, n. 33). Kesava rather uses the neutral expressions anye, apare, eke and kecit. In at least one case (GSP 98, 18), ācāryaḥ seems to refer to Vardhamana, whose position is rejected in favour of that of the 'ancient ones.'