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JAIN CONTRIBUTION OF THE JAINA LOGICIANS TO INDIAN EPISTEMOLOGY 5
of Buddhist philosophy was refuted vehemently. Vidyananda mentioned in Tattvārtha-sloka-vārttika about Jalpanirnaya the work of Sridatta and in Pramāṇa-parikṣā he mentioned about Vädanyāya the work of Kūmāranandin.
In the eighth century A.D. Haribhadra-sūri (700-770 A.D.), an original thinker and profound philosopher, authoured several works. His famous philosophical works are Anekāntajaya-patākā, Śāstravārtāsamuccaya and Şaḍdarśana-samuccaya. Commentary of Gunaratnasūri is famous on Saddarśana-samuccaya and commentary of Yasovijaya is also renowned on Śāstravārtā-samuccaya.
Thus from Umāsvāti down to Haribhadrasuri, the predecessors of Bhaṭṭa Akalanka developed and enriched the Jaina epistemology.
The advent of Bhaṭṭa Akalanka had a great significance from the point of view of systematization of Jain logic and epistemology. He flourished during the period from 720 to 780 A.D. as is upheld by Pandit Mahendra Kumār Nyāyācārya in the introduction to his Akalankagranthatrayam Bhaṭṭa Akalanka has critically examined the views regarding metaphysics and epistemology of previous Indian philosophers like Diǹnāga, Dharma Kirti, Prajñākaragupta, Karnakagomi and Kumārilabhaṭṭa. He authoured two commentaries entitled Tattvārthavārtika and Aṣṭasati on Tattvārthasūtra of Umāsvāti and Aptamimāmsā of Samantabhadra respectively. In the Tattvärthavārtika Bhaṭṭa Akalanka has discussed the definition of pramāņa and accepted that pramāņa (organ of valid cognition) is valid even after it cognises the object previously cognised. He gave an instance of a lamp which illuminates the object even after the moment it is lit. Although the main subject-matter of Tattvārthasūtra is not intended to propound epistemology, in the context of description of knowledge commentator Akalanka discussed the definitions of pramāņa propounded by other Indian systems also. Aṣṭasati is a precise commentary having the size of eight hundred anuṣṭubh metres. Deep sense, few words and logical acumen are the specialities of Akalanka's style and they are more distinct in Aṣṭasati. Akalanka included some new topics in the commentary and threw a light on pramāṇa-śāstra explaining the Karika No. 101 of Aptamimāmsā. He seems impressed by Buddhist definition of pramāņa also, because he used the term 'avisamvada' for defining pramāņa. He says that Pramāņa is a kind of cognition devoid of discrepancy and indetermination.
Bhatta Akalanka wrote four independent works viz. Laghiyastraya along with the vṛtti, Nyāya-viniscaya along with the vṛtti, Pramāṇasamgraha and Siddhiviniscaya along with the vṛtti. All these four works
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