Dear Lee Ling,

the nirākāra-(jñāna-)vāda (advocated by the Naiyāyikas, the Mīmāṃsakas, the 
Jainas, and the Vaibhāṣika Buddhists) can be called direct realism. The 
earliest text that formulates the nirākāra standpoint and sparks the 
nirākāra—sākāra debate is probably Śabara’s Śābarabhāṣya (to be more precise, 
the Vṛttikāra’s commentary cited by Śabara in Śābarabhāṣya I, 1, 5). Śabara’s 
commentator Kumārila Bhaṭṭa presents well-developed argumentation for the 
nirākāra-vāda in his Ślokavārttika (V, 4, the Śūnyavāda section). These two 
sources belong to Mīmāṃsā. The Nyāya source advocating the nirākāra-vāda I am 
familiar with is Bhaṭṭa Jayanta’s Nyāyamañjarī. For Bhaṭṭa Jayanta’s defence of 
the nirākāra-vāda, see

Kataoka, K. (2003). Critical edition of the Vijñānādvaitavāda section of Bhaṭṭa 
Jayanta’s Nyāyamañjarī. 
https://www2.lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp/~kkataoka/Kataoka/NMvijR.pdf.
Watson, A., & Kataoka, K. (2010). Bhaṭṭa Jayanta’s refutation of the Yogācāra 
Buddhist doctrine of Vijñānavāda: Annotated translation and analysis. South 
Asian Classical Studies, 5, 285–352.

This is one of many valuable publications I can recommend: Sinha, J. (1938). 
Indian realism. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.

The nirākāra-vāda can be called direct realism, but the sākāra-vāda has no 
correspondence in Western philosophy. The sākāra-vāda encompasses two very 
different theories: indirect realism (representationalism) and phenomenalism.

With best regards,
Olena
--
Ołena Łucyszyna, Dr. habil., Professor of the 
Institute<http://www.iksiopan.pl/index.php/en/structure/research-staff/867-olena-lucyszyna-phd-dr-habil>
of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures
Polish Academy of Sciences
Nowy Świat 72
00-330 Warsaw
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6972-649X



________________________________
Od: INDOLOGY <[email protected]> w imieniu użytkownika Lee 
Ling Ting via INDOLOGY <[email protected]>
Wysłane: piątek, 14 czerwca 2024 10:06
Do: Indology List <[email protected]>
Temat: [INDOLOGY] Direct Realism of Nyāya

Dear members of the list,

Greetings!
I have a question to ask.
What are some of the earliest Nyāya sources that explicitly spell out that 
Naiyāyikas uphold direct realism (not just realism)? I'd appreciate it if you 
could point me in the right direction.
Thank you!

Best regards,
Lee Ling




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