Navya-Nyāya Scholarship in Nabadwip
The birth of Navya-Nyāya philosophy in classical India is a landmark event. Nabadwip ( a small town 120 km away from Kolkata) was of the main centres of this new style of philosophizing. A large group of scholars devoted themselves to philosophical analysis of the important one in this tradition starting with Raghunātha Śiromaṇi. The present digital library attempts to digitize the works written in this tradition along with the commentaries as far as available.
Gadādhara’s Theory of Objectivity Viṣayatāvāda (Part-One)
In this volume, Sibajiban Bhattacharyya presents an analysis of the fundamental concepts in Navya-Nyāya. The themes that have been discussed in this book are 1. Navya-Nyāya theory of Relation, Being in Aristotle and Navya-Nyāya, Navya-Nyāya theory of universals, Navya-Nyāya theory of abstraction, Navya-Nyāya theory of definition, Navya-Nyāya theory of causation, Comparative analysis of Frege and Gadādhara.
क्रोड्पत्त्रसंग्रहः (Krodapattrasangraha or Critical Notes)
This book is a collection of short essays by Kāliśankara Siddhāntavāgīsa on different issues in Navya-Nyāya. The essays in the present collection include discourses on Gadādhara’s theory of Prāmāṇya, 2. Gadādhara’s theory of Anumāna, 3. On Vyāptipañcaka, 4. On Siṅhavyāghralakṣaṇa, 5. Gadādhara’s theory of Vyādhikaraṇa, 6. On the Siddhāntalakṣaṇa, 7. Gadādhara’s theory of Anugama of Vyāpti, 8. Gadādhara’s theory of Pakṣatā, 10. Gadādhara’s theory of Avayava, 11. Gadādhara’s theory of Sāmānyanirukti, 12. On Savyabhicara, 13. On Sādharaṇa, 14. On Asādharaṇa and 15. On Satpratipakṣa.
जागदीशीव्याधिकरणम् (Jāgadīśvyādhikaraṇam)
This is a prakaraṇa text on the Nyāya theory of vyāpti written by Jagadīśa. The main theme of the work centres around the nature of vyāpti.Knowledge of vyāpti is the cause of inferential knowledge. If the definition of vyāpti is constructed in terms of avyābhicāritatva, then one could explain avyābhicāritatva in five alternative ways. And none of these alternatives is acceptable, for this understanding of vyāpti would fail to account for kevalānvayi inference. In order to remove this problem, the definition of vyāpti is reconstructed as pratiyogivṛttidharmāvacchinna-pratiyogitākabhāvarupa vyādhikaraṇadharmāvacchinnabhāva. Jagadīśa examines this new definition of vyāpti and offers his justification, refuting all the possible objections.
ध्ब्मसजन्यभावयो: कार्यकारणभावरहस्यम् (Dhvaṃsa- Janyabhāvayoḥ Kārya-Kāraṇabhāvarahasyam)
In this essay, Harirama Tarkavagisa undertakes an analysis of the nature of the causal relationship between a positive effect and destruction. The author examines the nature of the inference viz. Dhvaṃsa is due to vināśa. If one takes into consideration this inference, there must be a hetu here and the hetu could be said to have an upadhi viz. Bhāvatva. Harirama, in this context, presents different ways of formulating the causal relation. The author ends this essay by concluding that the positive effect (janyabhāva) could be said to be the cause of destruction (dhvaṃsa) through the relation of pratiyogitva.
शक्तिबाद (Śaktivādaḥ)
In this book, Gadādhara Bhattāchārya presents a theory of the meaning of words. This work is divided into three chapters: 1. Sāmānyakāṇḍa, 2. Viśesakāṣḍa and 3. Pariśiṣtakāṇḍa. In Sāmānyakaṇḍa, the author undertakes a detailed analysis of vṛtti of words. Here one comes across a definition of śakti in terms of which a word denotes its meaning. The theory of anvitābhidhāna has been refuted. In the Viśeṣakaṇḍa, the author undertakes an analysis of the meaning of words denoting an individual and the meaning of the words denoting a universal. Prabhākara theory of meaning has been refuted. This chapter contains an analysis of indexicals and demonstratives. The third chapter viz. Pariśiṣtakaṇḍa contains a defence of the view that the śakti of a word lies in the individual that is qualified by the corresponding universal. Views of several Mīmāṃsaka philosophers have been critically assessed.
शब्दशक्तिप्रकाशिका (Śabdaśaktiprakāśikā (Part-1))
In this book Jagadīa Tarkālaṃkāra presents a detailed analysis of various aspects of śabdapramāṇa from the perspective of Navya-Nyāya. The book starts with a critical assessment of the views of Vaiśeṣika and Mīmāṃsaka philosophers with regard to the veridicality of śabda as a pramāṇa. This is followed by a discourse on the nature of meaningful words, the nature of prākṛti, pratya, nipāta. A definition of a sentence is formulated. The relation between word and meaning in its different aspects has been presented. The book ends with a discussion on the nature and different kinds of samāsa.
शब्दशक्तिप्रकाशिका (Śabdaśaktiprakāśikā (Vol-2))
In the second volume of Śabdaśaktiprakāśikā, Jagadīśa presents a detailed analysis of Prabhākara’s kāryānvitaśaktivāda and refutes this view. Jagadīśa defends the niravacchinna śaktivāda of the words like ākāśa etc. The view of Raghuntha Siromani with regard to the causal nexus of linguistic understanding has been refuted. Jagadisa offers an analysis of the nature of paribhāṣika śabda and argues that proper names given to individuals do not have śakti and they are to be treated as paribhāśaika śabda. Jagadīśa defends the view that śakti resides in all the three loci: the individual, the universal and the relation of samavāya that holds between an individual and the universal. Jagadīśa also refutes the Mīmāṃsaka view that the sentence has lakṣaṇā and the view of Ālaṃkārika regarding the vyāñjanā relation has been rejected. In this book, Jagadīśa offers a detailed analysis of different kinds of lakṣaṇā and in this context, one comes across a criticism of the Prabhākara thesis that the word having lakṣaṇā is not the cause of syntactic knowledge of the sentence. This book ends with an analysis of the nature of yogaruḍa śabda.
নদিয়া চর্চা (Nadiya Charcha)
The present work is a collection of essays on the history of Nadia. The book is divided into four chapters. The first chapter contains essays on the historical and archaeological importance of Nadia. The second chapter consists of articles focussing on the local religious, political and cultural events in Nadia. The third chapter consists of essays focussing on the sports events and cultural events in Nadia. The last chapter has essays referring to the debate concerning the birthplace of Chaitanyadeva.
নদিয়ার ইতিহাস- চর্চা (Nadiyar Itihas Carca)
This book is a collection of essays on varieties of aspects of life in Nadia, presently a district in West Bengal, India. Since once upon a time Navadvipa was the main centre of Nadia, and later Krisnanagar became the capital from where the ruler ruled his kingdom including Navadvipa, much of the history of Navadvipa is closely associated with the history of Nadia. This book is divided into five chapters. In the first chapter, the essays focus on the different archaeological sites found in Nadia and bring to light their historical importance. The second chapter focuses on the rivers, waterways and road transport of Nadia. In the third chapter, the essays highlight the importance of the local festivals and the contribution of logical artisans with special reference to weavers. The essays in the fourth chapter take note of the contribution of the musicians and theatre personalities of Nadia. The book ends with a chapter containing articles on different religious and political movements that took place in Nadia.
নদিয়ার সংস্কৃতি চর্চা (Nadiyar Samskriti Carca)
The present book contains several essays on the history of Nadia. Some of the essays focus on the history and archaeological importance of Nadia. Some other essays focus on the cultural activities in Navadvipa. There are some other essays that describe the literacy and library in Nadia. Folk theaters (jātrā) and modern theaters in Nadia have also been talked about in some essays.
নবদ্বীপ মহিমা (Nabadwip Mahima)
This book is perhaps the first attempt to portray the detailed history of Navadvipa. The author starts the discourse with the history of the name ‘Navadvipa’ along with a description of the relation of Navadvipa to the rest of Bengal during the ancient period. The second part of the book contains a detailed description of the scholars of Navadvipa who worked on Navya-Nyāya, Smṛti, and Tantra. In the third chapter, one finds an elaborate presentation of Sri Chaitanya’s biography along with a discussion on Vaishnava religion. Since Navadvipa was ruled by the king of Krishnagar for a long time, there is a discussion on the rulers of Krishnagar, their contribution to the Navadvipa scholarship as patrons. The author also adds a discussion on the famous musicians, eminent persons trained in English education and business persons of Navadvipa.
নবদ্বীপের ইতিহাস ও সংস্কৃতি (Navadviper Itihas O Samskriti)
This work is a historical study of Navadvipa. The present work consists of eleven chapters. The first chapter serves as an introduction to the history of Navadvipa. The second chapter devotes itself to the geographical location of Navadvipa. The third chapter takes note of the Buddhist influence. In the fourth chapter, there is a survey of historical studies done on Navadvipa. The cultural movements in Navadvipa constitute the fifth chapter. The history of old temples and monasteries in Navadvipa is the focus of the sixth chapter. The rule of Krishnachandra is the point of discussion in the seventh chapter. The eighth chapter describes the education scenario in Navadvipa. The debate concerning the birthplace of Chaitanya Deva forms the major part of the discussion in the ninth chapter. In the tenth chapter, one finds a description of crematoriums and graveyards in Navadvipa. The last chapter refers to some historical studies on Navadvipa already done. This book contains some ancient maps and pictures of the old temples of Navadvipa.
প্রস্থানভেদঃ (Prasthānaveda)
The present work is a commentary by Madhusudana Saraswati on a part of Śivamahimāstotra (Hymns to the glory of Śiva) written by Puṣpadanta. In this commentary, Madhusudana talks about eighteen disciplines of knowledge. All the āstika and nāstika systems of knowledge could be included in the eighteen disciplines and all these systems of knowledge, either directly or indirectly, aimed at determining the nature of god. According to Madhusudana, even the philosophy of art written by Bharata aims at worshiping god. Madhusudana argues that one could talk about three fundamental prasthānas viz. ārambhavāda, parināmavāda and vivartavāda. We start our intellectual journey from ārambhavāda and then through pariṇāmavāda reach vivartavāda. It is only in vivartavāda that one realizes that the world is a vivarta of Brahmaṇ. The varieties of prasthānas have been created only to cater to the needs of people of various inclinations.
বাঙালির সারস্বত অবদান: বঙ্গে নব্যন্যায়চর্চা (Bangalir Saraswat Avadan: Bange Navyanyaya Charcha)
This is perhaps the most authentic history of Navya-Nyāya scholarship in Bengal with special emphasis on Navadvipa. In this book, the author presents a detailed description of the biographies and the works of the philosophers of Navadvipa. The author divides his work in the following chapters: 1. The Pre-Śiromaṇī age, 2.Raghunātha Śiromaṇī, 3. Bengali Commentators on Śiromaṇī, 4. The Post-Gadādhara Era, 5. Bengali Naiyāyikas in Kāśidhāma, 6. Nyaya Schools of Bengal. The author, with sufficient historical evidence, determines the time of many of the Navya-Nyāya scholars and he also proposes his views on the authorship of many of the Navya-Nyāya commentaries.
মহামনিষী জগন্নাথ তর্কপঞ্চানন (Mahamanisi Jagannath Tarkapanchanan)
This is a short biography of Jagannatha Tarkapancanan written by Alok Kumar Chakravarti. This biography locates Jagannatha in the larger context of Sanskrit Studies in Bengal during the colonial period. His scholarship on different aspects of Hindu society, especially on the Smriti sastra has been explained in detail.
The birth of Navya-Nyāya philosophy in classical India is a landmark event. Nabadwip ( a small town 120 km away from Kolkata) was of the main centres of this new style of philosophizing. A large group of scholars devoted themselves to philosophical analysis of the important one in this tradition starting with Raghunātha Śiromaṇi. The present digital library attempts to digitize the works written in this tradition along with the commentaries as far as available.