Mathuri, Jagadisi and Kanadi on Gangesa’s Avayavacintamani (with the Mula and Translation. Didhiti Annexed at the End)

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This critical edition prepared by Professor S. C. Goswami contains the text of Avayava-section of Gangesha's Tattvacintamani Book II and its verbatim translation into English along with commentaries on it composed by Mathuranatha Tarkavagisha and Jagadisha Tarkalankara, two neo-logicians of Navadwipa school. Kanadi also on the same text has been incorporated side by side. The entire Tattvacintamani, a premier work on Navya-Nyaya was first published by the Asiatic Society in the Bibliotheca Indica Series in the year 1892 in more than one volume. Pt. Kamakhyanath Tarkavagisha was the editor and that was printed in the Baptist Mission Press. The commentary of Mathuranatha wherever available was attached with the basic text. On the portion of Avayava, manuscripts consulted for preparing the body of Mathuranatha's commentary was faulty and that resulted in misrepresentation of Avayava-Mathuri in that edition. Attempts for correction of the mistake could not be undertaken due to non-availability of Mathuri on that section in this part of India. Readings in manuscripts going by the name of Mathuri contained simply an admixture of Kanadi and Jagadisi, two different commentaries on the said text. After a long gap of almost a century the actual version of Mathuri on Avayava has been restored successfully from southern and western part of India by the present editor. Thanks to Professor Goswami for his useful initiative in searching out missing works of Navya-Nyaya from all possible whereabouts of Sanskrit manuscripts.

Navya-Nyaya and Avayavacintamani

Gangesa Upadhyaya is known as the founder of Navya- Nyaya tradition in India. He lived in the adjoining area of Mithila in Bihar in the first half of 14th century A.D. His Magnum Opus Tattvacintamani in four parts deals with the four Pramanas i.e. the first category of Goutama's Nyaya-Sutra (1.1.1.). This book of Gangesa attracted the logicians of India during and after his life-time for the novelty of language and technique of penetrating deeper and deeper into the intricate theories of both Nyaya and Vaiseṣika system of Indian Philosophy. In course of time it gained the status of a basic text of a different kind of philosophical system known as Navya-Nyaya. The study of Tattvacintamani at a time became a symbol of scholarship and erudition. Students from different parts of Indian subcontinent flocked in Mithila to study Tattvacintamani and thus Mithila became a renowned centre of the study of Navya-Nyaya. Plethora of commentaries were written upon this single text during centuries. A thorough change of attitude in explaining the theories of Logic, Language and Metaphysics came into being in the works of latter writers on Navya-Nyaya i.e. Nyaya-Vaiseṣika system of philosophy. Gradually this branch of study spread to many parts of India and with the advent of Basudeva Sarvabhauma Navadwipa became a centre of the study of Navya-Nyaya. His famous student Raghunatha Siromani had the credit of surpassing all other scholars of Navya-Nyaya in his time by his keen sense of intellect and proficiency in this particular branch of learning. It was for him that Navadwipa gained the superior position so far enjoyed by Mithila alone as a centre of the study of Navya-Nyaya. Navadwipa is fortunate to have produced a galaxy of world- famous Nyaya-scholars shortly after Siromani and it is for those scholars that Navadwipa is still remembered as a reputed centre of learning of Navya-Nyaya. Prominent among those scholars are Janakinatha Tarkacudamani, Mathuranatha Tarkavagisa, Jagadisa Tarkalankara, Gadadhara Bhattacharya, Bhavananda Siddhantavagisa, Viswanatha Nyaya-pancanana etc. All these scholars and others whose names are not possible to mention here in order to make this introduction short-cut have a large number of books on Navya-Nyaya to their credit. A considerable number of books composed by those authors still remain unpublished and many among them are known now only in names. Manuscripts of Navya-Nyaya representing Bengal School are preserved mainly in the libraries of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, Govt. Sanskrit College, Calcutta and Samskrita Sahitya Parishat, Calcutta. There are many other manuscript-libraries in Calcutta and there is every possibility that known and unknown texts on Navya-Nyaya may be found in their collections. Even in the districts of Bengal museums and manuscript-libraries are in plenty and they contain manuscript-deposits which obviously may include manuscripts on Navya-Nyaya also. A systematic exploration of manuscripts on Navya-Nyaya in those libraries and museums is a need of the day. For want of proper care and of application of scientific method of preservation those manuscripts which notwithstanding heavy odds still keep their existence in tact may eventually get totally lost never to be recovered. A good many number of manuscript collections of those libraries and museums remain unnoticed in the Catalogus Catalogorum of Aufrecht and even in the New Catalogus Catalogorum of Madras University.