Jñānaśrīmitra's Vyāpticarcā

Attention: This page reflects the state of 2000. It is meant for documentary purposes and will not be updated any longer.

The objective of this project was an investigation of the Vyapticarca, a Sanskrit text written in the 11th century by Jnanasrimitra. Jnanasrimitra was an outstanding representative of the late phase of the so-called logico-epistemological school of Indian Buddhism. In the Vyapticarca, the author deals with the question of how one can ascertain an invariable relationship between specific objects, a relationship that is regarded as being necessary to infer, for instance, the occurrence of fire at a distinct place, from the occurrence of smoke at the same place. In addition to his own solution, Jnanasrimitra presents proposals made by others. He refers by name to Trilocana as well as to Vacaspati, the author of the Nyayavarttikatatparyatika, and quotes both of them extensively. In addition to an examination of the more technical aspects of the proposed procedures of ascertaining such a relationship, Jnanasrimitra also deals with topics of an even broader philosophical interest as, for example, the existence of universals, and the question of how real the things used in daily life are and whether they can become the subject of cognitions.

The project resulted in a critical edition of the Sanskrit text. The edition also includes a complete word index and a German translation with notes. It is closely related to the examination of Ratnakīrti's Vyāptinirṇaya.

Publications