Navyanyaya Language and Methodology

FORWORD

Navya Nyaya represents one of finest products of human intellect that has been sustaining India's intellectual culture for the last few centuries. It offers devices of logical argumentation and supplies us with a novel set of terminology for mapping reality. It originated at Mithila, flourished in Bengal and traversed the whole of India to influence the thought processes of Indian intelligentsia in diverse fields. It exerted influence on different systems of thought so much so that they adopted the Navya Nyaya methods to counter their opponents and propagate their thesis. That Navya Nyaya can still serve our academic needs needed not be overemphasized. A re-look of Navya Nyaya language and methodology at this I. T. age may be highly rewarding.

The Asiatic Society, Kolkata has been successfully organizing Courses on Navya Nyaya : Language and Methodology since October, 2000. it was conceived, developed and imparted by Professor V. N. Jha, Director, CASS and by him with Dr. Mrs. Jha of CASS, Pune at the Asiatic Society. On the first level course Navya-Nyaya-Bhasa-Pradipa by Mahesh Chandra Nyayaratna was taught and to relate it to the universal model of thinking and modern theories of language communication. At the first level (repeatedly given in various parts of India including Kolkata), the course was primarily concerned with the methodology of the philosophical understanding of the Nyaya system. In the more selective second level (Kolkata having the rare experience of being one), Professor Jha concentrated exclusively on the language communication theory of the Naiyayikas. The issue is seminally important to the diverse disciplines of modern knowledge system from humanities to sciences including social sciences, where the need for perfect communication through language is very important. Before entering into the intellectual dialogue, one can learn different aspects of the problem of communication from this rich Nyaya tradition. The Sabdabodha process explained on the basis of Navya-Nyaya-Bhasa-Pradipa and Bhasa Pariccheda with Siddanta-Muktavali is really enchanting in many respects.

A few papers on the subject are published to mark the occasion of holding the National Level workshop from 25.12.2004 to 03.01.2005 to facilitate better understanding of Navya-Nyaya: Language and Methodology

Click Here for More Books Published By Asiatic Society, Kolkata