Jain Journal 1970 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 26

An Introduction To Jaina Logicians and Their Logic
PUSHPA BOTHRA
Jaina logic began from Siddhasena, who was the first great logician among the Jainas. But to some extent logical discussions are also to be found in the Agamic literature like Bhagavati Sutra, Sthanānga, Samavāyānga and Anuyoga and some works on logic had been written between the Agamic age and the time of Siddhasena. The chief logicians of this period were Acarya Kundakunda and Umasvati.
Kundakunda is supposed to belong to the first or second century A.D. He was the first amongst the Jainas to discuss the Agamic themes in a logical manner. He not only expounded them on the basis of the Āgamas but also discussed the problems in the light of contemporary thoughts. Though Kundakunda did not discuss the problems of pramāṇa, yet his epistemology was influenced by the concept of pramāṇa. He explained pratyakṣa and parokṣa on the basis of the Agamas. He pointed out that sense-knowledge could not be regarded as pratyakşa; it was paroksa. Pratyakṣa was that knowledge which arose in the self directly without the help of the sense organs. He was also the first to have discussed the problem of knowledge. He raised the question, whether knowledge was self-revealing or object-revealing (svaprakāśa or paraprakāśa) and established that knowledge was both self-revealing and object-revealing, just as a lamp revealed itself as well as the object. Later on, all the Jaina scholars accepted this view of knowledge. Kundakunda explained the anekāntavāda of the Agamas in a systematic and clear way. Although he mentioned only the two nayas niscaya and vyavahāra, yet he tried to solve all difficult philosophical problems with the help of these two. The main works of Kundakunda are: Pañcāstikāya, Pravacanasāra, Samayasāra, Niyamasāra, Aṣṭapāhuḍa, Dasabhakt i, Saḍāgamatikā, etc.