Jayanta Bhatta | |
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| Personal life | |
| Born | c. 820 CE[1] |
| Died | c. 900 CE[1] |
| Home town | Srinagar |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Philosophy | Nyaya school ofHindu philosophy |
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Jayanta Bhatta (c. 820 CE –c. 900 CE[1]) was a poet, teacher, logician, and an advisor to KingSankaravarman ofKashmir. He was a philosopher of theNyaya school ofHindu philosophy.[2][3] He authored three works onNyāya philosophy: one of which is not known, an allegorical drama, and a commentary onPāṇinian grammar, He refutes the arguments given byBuddhist philosophers likeDharmakirti andDignāga against theVedas and establishes the authority of theVedas.[1]
Jayanta was born into a wealthyGaur Brahmin family.[4][3] He was achild prodigy, composing a commentary toPanini’sAshtadhyayi and earned the name Nava-Vrittikara, or new commentator.[5] Later in life, he mastered variousshastra andagama, distinguished himself in scholarly debates, and passed his knowledge on to his students.[citation needed]
Jayanta's birth year, lifespan, dates of his written works are a subject of scholarly debates.[citation needed] His philosophical workNyāyamañjarī as well as his dramaĀgamaḍambara, refer to KingSankaravarman (883 – 902 CE) as a contemporary.[citation needed]
Kādambarikathāsāra, a work written by Jayanta's son Abhinanda, mentions that Jayanta's great grandfather was a minister of kingLalitaditya Muktapida, who was a ruler of the Karkota dynasty in the second quarter of the 8th century CE.[citation needed] Several attempts to specify his life span are based on references to his work by other authors and references to contemporary events and individuals in his work. They range from the middle of the 8th century CE to the start of the 10th century CE. However, most reliable estimates place him around the 9th century CE.[citation needed]
Kādambarikathāsāra provides some information about Jayanta's lineage. It says his ancestor Shakti was aGaur Brahmin and a directpatriline descendant ofBharadwaja gotra from theBengal, who lived in Darvabhisara, near the border ofKashmir. His son was named Mitra, and his grandson was Saktisvämin (Shaktisvamin).[4][6]
Saktisvämin, the great grandfather of Jayanta, was a minister of KashmirLalitaditya Muktapida of the Karkota dynasty (c. 724 – 761 CE). Jayanta mentions inNyayamanjari that his grandfather obtained a village named Gauramulaka, believed to have been located north of the modern town ofRajouri, from King Muktapida. Saktisvämin had a son named Chandra, Jayanta's father.[5]
TheAgamadambara provides details about Bhatta's political career.[citation needed] He was an adviser to Kashmiri kingSankaravarman. In his position, he played a role in banishing the Nilambara (Black-Blankets) sect from Kashmir.[citation needed] Commenting onTantric literature, he argued that the Nilambara sect promoted "immoral teachings". Jayanta claimed the Nilambara "wear simply one blue garment, and then as a group engages in unconstrained public sex". He argued that this practice was "unnecessary" and threatened the fundamental values of society.[7]
Jayanta wrote three known treatises onNyaya philosophy, of which two survive.[citation needed] His first, theNyayamanjari (A Cluster of Flowers of the Nyaya tree) is a commentary on Nyaya-aphorisms that serves as a critique of the theories of rival philosophical systems like theMīmānsādarśana.[citation needed]
His second, theNyayakalika (A Bud of the Nyaya tree) is an overview of the basic tenets of theNyāya Sūtras, a foundational text of the Nyaya school. His third work,Pallava (probablyNyayapallava, A Twig of the Nyaya tree) though quoted inSyadvadaratnakara, has not survived.[1][5]
Jayanta mentions inNyayamanjari that he wrote this treatise during his confinement in a cave by the king.[8] This treatise is unique because it is an independent work, not a commentary of an earlier work.[citation needed]
Secondly, according to Jayanta, the purpose of Nyaya is to protect the authority of theVedas, Hinduism's oldest scriptures, whereas earlier Nyaya scholars considered Nyaya to be anAnvikshiki (scientific study) providing true knowledge about the real nature of the objects of cognition.
Jayanta, in his Nyayamanjari, identifies ignorance (moha), attachment (raga), and antipathy (dvesha) as three distinct defects (dosas) that drive human actions:[9]
Jayanta considersmoha as the worst defect arguing that it gives rise toraga anddvesha. He further argues that all defects stem from false knowledge and are resolved by right knowledge, however, each defect is psychologically distinct.[9]
His major literary work isĀgamaḍambara, a Sanskrit play in four acts. The hero of his quasi-philosophical drama is a young graduate of theMimansa school, who wants to defeat all opponents of Vedas through reasoning.[5]
The discussion of God's Existence is found in part 1 ofNyaya Manjuri. Jayanta adheres to a realist viewpoint of God and the world and defends the possibility of reasoned arguments favoring God as a realistic and adequate cause of the world.[10]
Jayanta Bhatta criticized theLokayata school of philosophy for not developing a Lokayata culture. He said, "The Lokayata is not anAgama. viz. not a guide to cultural living, not a system of do's and don’ts; hence it is nothing but irresponsible wrangling."[11]
TheClay Sanskrit Library published a translation ofĀgamaḍambara by Csaba Dezső under the title ofMuch Ado about Religion.
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