Vidyānandin's Discussion with the Buddhist on "Svasaṃvedana, Pratyakṣa and Pramāṇa"

Two of the terms in the title are from Vidyānandin's Tattvārtha-slokavārttika (TAŚV, 1, 6, 11), which is his commentary on Umāsvāti's Tattvārthasūtra (TAS). Sūtra 6 of the TAS states the following: pramāna-nayair adhigamah, 'knowledge—of the seven categories—is obtained through the pramānas and the nayas'). Vidyānandin's commentary on this sūtra 6 entails a total of 56 ślokas, with his own prose vārttika on each of them in varying lengths. TAŚV 1, 6, 1-8 deal with particulars and universals, for which he uses the synonymous pairs aṃśalaṃśin and avayavalavayavin. That he is attacking the Buddhist position regarding this age old theme in Indian philosophy, is evident also in that he quotes DharmakĪrti's Pramāna-vārttika. By the time he comes to his TAŚV 1, 6, 6, he establishes that an object as a whole is open to perception and that the Buddhist also accepts perception as a valid means of knowledge, but does not accept the perception of an object as a whole. From TAŚV 1, 6, 11 onwards Vidyānandin continues with the same theme, elaborating his attack of the Buddhist view even further, doing so in terms of svasamvedana, pratyakśa and pramāna (self-awareness, perception and valid means of knowledge). The presentation will attempt to deal with these concepts in order to see how Vidyānandin vindicates the Jaina position vis-ā-vis the Buddhist one. This presentation will continue from my previous study of Vidyānandin's TAŚV 1, 6, 1-10.