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JAIN CONTRIBUTION OF THE JAINA LOGICIANS TO INDIAN EPISTEMOLOGY 7
6) he has introduced some new hetus also such as kāraṇa (cause) pūrvacara, uttaracara and sahacara.
7) Akalarka has discussed naya and nikṣepa also which has formed an integral part of epistemology.
The Jaina philosophers contributing to Indian epistemology after Bhaṭṭa Akalanka are:
Vidyānanda, Anantavirya,
Māņikyanandin, Vādirāja, Abhayadevasūri, Prabhācandra, Vädidevasüri, Hemacandra, Abhinava dharmabhūṣaṇa, Gunaratnasūri, Mallişena, Vimaladāsa and Yasovijaya. Since it is not possible to disscuss the contributions of all these logicians owing to the short time at my disposal, I think it to appraise you to the contributions of the prominent logicians.
proper
Vidyananda (775-840 AD), the first commentator of Akalanka, was a progound philosopher deeply acquainted with Jaina and other systems of Indian philosophy. He put forth a step to establish the Jaina pramana-sastra logically. He wrote three commentaries viz. Tattvärtha-sloka-vārtika on Tattvärthasūtra of Umāsvāti, Aṣṭasahasri on Aṣṭasati of Bhatta Akalanka and Yuktyanusasanālankära on yuktyanusāsana of Samantabhadra.
In these commentaries he has cogently established the Jaina philosophy and has refuted other systems. Tattvartha-sloka-vārtika, a commentary on the Tattvarthasūtra, presents an exhaustive description of Jaina epistemology. He has discussed all the five types of knowledge. He also deals with perception, recollection, (smarana), recognition (pratyabhi jñāna), reasoning (tarka), inference (anumana) and testimony (agama). Aṣṭasahasri expounds Aptamimāmsā of Samantabhadra and Aṣṭasati of Akalanńka on it, but Astasahasrihas become a kaṣṭasaharri, because its comprehension is an uphill task. Yuktyanusaranalannkāra is an important work for understanding the Jaina philosophy in general.
Apart from his commentaries Vidyananda wrote six independent works. viz. Vidyānandamahodaya, Aptaparikṣā, Pramāṇaparikṣā, Patraparikṣa, Satya-śāsana-parikṣā and śripurapārsvanathastotra. All these works are important for the study of Jaina philosophy, particullarly his pramāṇa-parikṛā is fully devoted to discussing the different aspects of epistemology. Herein Vidyānanta defines pramāņa as right cognition. He repudiated the concept of nirvikalpaka pratyakṣa mainly propounded by Buddhists. He says that perception is a kind of valid cognition and every valid cognition is regarded as determinant cognition. Vidyananda has also dicussed the definition of probans (hetu) and refuted the position of Buddhists and Naiyayikas who consider
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