Nyaya Sutra

Introduction

The founding text of the Nyaya school, attributed to Akshapada Gautama and arranged in five books; scholars think it grew over several centuries and reached its present form around the second or third century CE. Its sixteen topics include the four means of valid knowledge – perception, inference, comparison and testimony – the five-membered syllogism, and the forms of debate, from honest discussion to wrangling and cavil, with lists of fallacies and “futile rejoinders”. The sutras also argue against Buddhist and sceptical positions, defending, for instance, the reality of wholes and of an enduring self. Vatsyayana’s commentary, the Nyayabhashya, became the starting point of the long Nyaya tradition.

Connections

Builds on

• Vaisheshika Sutrac. 150 BCE · Kanada

Taken up in

• Nyayakusumanjalic. 1000 · Udayana