Kumarila Bhatta

Dzieła

• ok. 640Shlokavarttika

  Wierszowany komentarz do Mimamsa Sutry, który broni wewnętrznej ważności poznania i autorytetu Wedy przed buddystami.

Stanowisko

Kumarila is usually counted the most influential Mimamsa philosopher. Against the Buddhist logicians he argued that every cognition is valid by itself (svatah pramanya): we may trust it until it is defeated by a contrary cognition or by evidence of a defect in its source. The Veda, having no author, has no source of defects; its injunctions are therefore reliable. He defended direct realism against Buddhist idealism, attacked the apoha theory of meaning and Bhartrhari’s sphota, and denied that anyone, the Buddha included, could be omniscient or that a God composed the Veda. Advaita Vedanta largely adopted his epistemology; Dharmakirti and Shantarakshita were his great Buddhist opponents.

Życie i kontekst

Kumarila Bhatta lived in the 7th century CE; little is reliably known about his life or homeland. Hagiographies tell that he studied secretly with Buddhist teachers in order to refute them and later, in penance, burned himself on a slow fire of rice husks, meeting the young Shankara as he died – a legend of doubtful historicity. Mandana Mishra is said to have been his pupil; whether Prabhakara was, is disputed.

Dalsze główne dzieła

• Commentary on the Rules (Tantravarttika, 7th century CE)
• Tuptika (7th century CE)