DIGNAGA – A GREATBUDDHIST PHILOSOPHER AND LOGICIAN

Here are some notes made on the Buddhist philosopher and logician Dignaga, chiefly taken from ‘A History of Buddhist Philosophy (Continuities and Discontinuities)’ by David J. Kalupahana and some items are also drawn from ‘Buddhist Logic – Book1′ by F. Stcherbatsky.

Dignaga was the last of the great Buddhist philosophers of India who attempted to remain faithful to the original Buddhist tradition. He was born in Kanci, South India into a Brahmin family and lived circa 480-540 C.E.

He was taught by the Vatsiputriya sect and took vows.

The school considered that there was a real personality as different from the elements of which it was composed. This school of Personality attracted him probably due to his Brahminical background.

He lived at a time of heated debates among the various Buddhist schools and he too, had a fervour for debating. He wrote several books refuting the views of his opponents.

Dissatisfied with this doctrine and those who propounded it, he moved north to Magadha where he became a pupil of Vasubandhu.

So, he began his career by being an advocate of a certain metaphysical school of Buddhism but later moved away from it and became a faithful disciple of the Buddha.

Dignaga became an analytical philosopher and logician.

He presented a system of logic which contains non-absolutism (- the Buddha’s position).

When the Kathavatthu of the Abidhamma denied the view that ‘everything exists,’ it was not refuting an imaginary or harmless conception but a conception that was to grow cancerous, hence requiring the services of some of the best analytical minds – those of a Philosopher (Nagarjuna), a psychologist (Vasubandhu) and a logician (Dignaga).

Dignaga’s chief work is his Pramana-samuccaya. It could be hardly understood without the guide of Jinendrabuddhi.

He won fame as a powerful logician in a famous debate with a Brahmin named Sudurjaya at Narlanda University . He then traveled from monastery to monastery teaching, writing and disputing. Such disputes were an outstanding feature of public life in India .

There was great pomp in the presence of the King and a great crowd of monks and laymen. The existence and prosperity of the monastery were at stake. The authorized winner won sponsorship for his community, converts were to be made and new monasteries were to be founded. There was intense learning and great scholarship.

By Dignaga’s celebrity, won in disputation, he became one of the most powerful propagators of Buddhism. He traveled all of India except Kashmir . It may be a reasonable speculation that he visited Sri Lanka , especially as it was a ‘hotbed’ of Buddhism at this time according to Venerable Walpola Rahula, Mahathero. Perhaps he visited Kandy and Digana, too?

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Professor Kalupahana notes that misunderstandings of the Buddha’s teachings developed over time, but these wise men came to recognize this misunderstanding as they learned more, he comments. He has good reason to also believe that Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu and Dignaga were misinterpreted after their deaths.

He explains in his book that the Vajracchedika school represented an attempt to return to the Buddha’s teachings, which were gradually becoming infested with absolutist and transcendental metaphysics. Philosophers like Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu and Dignaga later elaborated on this same theme.

The philosophical speculation of Moggalaputta-tissa, Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu and Dignaga all represented attempts to re-tune to the  teachings of the Buddha. They all showed visible signs of being non-sectarian in their advanced years.

All were determined to resurrect the teachings of the historical Buddha. Their writings have influenced both the great traditions and served as a thread of continuity between them, despite the ideological disagreement that has survived for years.

ROS. 1996