About the Book Vacaka Gunaratna's (c. 1600 A.D.) Sukhabodhika Tippanika, both a commentary on Gangega's Tatty-acintdmani (Anumanakharrcla) and also a sub commentary on a commentary of the Tattvacintamani, which is hitherto unpublished, is here published for the first time. The Tattvacintamani is one of the most famous and difficult works of Indian philosophy. The present commentary on it greatly contributes to the understanding of this very important work. Though it is called Tippana, it is not merely an annotation-type commentary. In fact, it is a good expository commentary, lucidly explaining the knotty points. It evinces deep study and under-standing of Navya-Nyaya and its methodology. It expounds subtle points, draws fine line of distinction between the cognate or closely related concepts and terms, discusses readings, refers to or quotes from authors and authoritative texts, and ably explains some grammatical points. It raises doubts and then answers them lucidly and convincingly. Thus, the Sukhabodhika- Tippanika represents a positive and distinctive contribution to the vast commentarial literature on the Tattvacintamani.
About the Author NAGIN J. SHAH, a renowned Sanskrit’s and eminent scholar of Indian philosophy, has edited the present work. His first work Avalanche’s Criticism of Dharmakirti's Philosophy-a Study, published in 1966, was widely acclaimed by scholars all over the world. At present he has several brilliant works to his credit. The following are the works in English: Essays in Indian Philosophy, Samanta-bhadra's Aptamimanzsci-Critique of an Authority, A Study of Jay anta Bhatta's Nyayamanjari-a Mature Sanskrit Work on Indian Logic (in three parts). And the following works are in Gujarati: Sikhya-Yoga, ,Nyciya-Vaigesika, Bluiratiya Tattvajilana, Sankara Vedanta-Acidic, Buddha Dharrna-Darg.ana. He has also given an excellent English translation of Muni Nyayavijayaji's voluminous important Gujarati work Jaina-Darsana (English title: Jaina Philosophy and Religion). Moreover, he has edited, from the old original manuscripts, the unpublished Nyayamaiijari-Granth-vibhaga. Again he has edited (1) Jaina Theory of Multiple Facets of Reality and Truth, (2) V.R. Gandhi's Religion and Philosophy of Jaina and (3) Ac. Hemacandra's Pramcinamimanisa-A Critique of Organ of Knowledge, A Work on Jaina Logic (Sanskrit Text in Roman Script with English Translation, Pt. Sukhlalji's Extensive Introduction and Philosophical Notes).
Foreword The central aims of our Institute are to preserve ancient manuscripts, editing and publishing unpublished works, and disseminating knowledge on ancient and medieval India. Pursuant to these aims, we are happy to publish the Sukhbodhika Tippaikei written by a late medieval Jaina scholar, Vacaka Gunaratna. This work deals with the subjects like upaditi and badha. Gunaratna's work embodies the criticism on those subjects that were discussed in the famous work, the Tattvacintamaiti of Geiger Upadhyaya, a versatile exponent of Wavya-nyaya: As a result, he was also known as `Tarkika Siromani.' The `Navya-nyaya' reached the scholars in this sphere in the whole of India within a short span of time because of its extremely subtle and direct style and content. The Wavya-nyiiya' dates from c. the 12 cent. A. D. The prevalence of logic in those centuries was so wide that this new approach and Nicoya methodology influenced the field of durian. The study of this important school of logic, in that period, became an essential part of learning. And massive critical literature grew around the Tattvacintatrialti. The Jaina mendicant-scholars, too, got interested in the study of this new school of Indian logic. They also composed some works after studying the Navya-nyaya. Vacaka Gunaratna, was one of them. The work in question, until this date, had remained unpublished. The erudite scholar of Jaina Vidya, Pt. Dalsukhbhai Malvaniya, had recommended editing the aforenoted work while discussing the future study and publication programme of our Institute. The only single available manuscript of this work is in the holdings of the L. D. Institute of Indology. We next planned to publish this work in book form, approached Prof. Nagin J. Shah, and requested him to edit this work. To our delight, he agreed this rare work. We are grateful to Dr. Shah for diligently editing this work. We are likewise thankful to the Institute's Management and its members for making the manuscript available. We express our thanks to Kanubhai Bayar for the elegant printing of this work.
We hope that, this book will be useful to those who are interested in Indian philosophy and Navya-nyaya system of logic.
Introduction Manuscript Description The manuscript, which we utilized, of Gunaratna's Sukhabodhikd Tippanika on Tatrvacintaniani belongs to the L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad, well-known for its collection of manuscripts and antiquities. It is a paper manuscript which is in good condition. It bears No Its size is : 27.5 x 12 cms. It has 304 folios. Folios Nos 1, 45-47 are missing. And No. 104 is given to two folios. Similarly, No. 227 is also given to two folios. Each side of a folio has 17 or 18 lines, and each line has 50 to 52 letters.
No other manuscript of the work is available.
Title and Structure
It is unfortunate that the first folio of the manuscript is missing. But the last folio, at the end, contains :
Gunaratna calls his commentary Tippanika. This suggests that his commentary is of the nature of annotations. But this seems to be misleading. It is more than mere annotations. This will be clear from our evaluation of the commentary. It is only out of modesty that Gunaratna calls it Tippanika. He gives an adjective `sukhabodhik to his Tippanikei; the adjective is apt because the commentary (Tippanikei) lucidly explains the knotty points of the texts it deals with. Thus Sukhabodhikd Tippanikei is the title of the work. Here we should note that at the end of the section on parantaria there occurs :Ufa truira Dlebi I And again at the end of the section on kevaleinvayigrantha we have it that Prakaikd was the tentative title while Sukhabodhikd Tippanika was the title finalized on the completion of the commentary ?
It is noteworthy that Gunaratna explains the famous Tatrvacintonian of Gangega (c. 1300 - 1350 A.D.) from the beginning of Upaddhi to the end of &Mho, as also a commentary thereon. Thus it is both a commentary on Tattvacintdmani and a sub commentary on a commentary of Tattvacintaniani (of course covering the concerned portion). We can definitely say that the commentary Gunaratna comments on is not the one either by Mathuranatha or by Raghunatha Siromani. It is because many pratikas are not from them. But we are not able to identify positively that commentary which Gunaratna comments on.
Pratikas from Tattvacintaniani are clearly indicated by `it nu-datit' and those from the commentary by 'it Oka'. Sometimes we find pratfkas without such indications. Moreover, in the first half of the Sukhabodhikd it is not clearly stated that 'now the Sukhabodhika on the nu-la (i.e. Tatt-vacintanzaqi) starts (atha tika)' , whenever the Sukhabodhika on the mida begins, or that 'now the Sukhabodhikd on the tika starts (atha tika)' whenever the Sukhabodhika on the tikd begins. But in the second half of the Sukhabodhikd we do find such clear statements and hence there is no possibility of confusion there in the second half of the Sukhabodhikd. And it is note-worthy that Gunaratna stops commenting on the commentary from in Tattvacinteinian (p. 561).
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
