Logical Thinking in Pramanavartika Treatise
The Pramanavartika is a text of Buddhist Philosophy by Acharya Dharmakirti based on the Logic treatise Pramanasamucchaya of Acharya Dignanaga. Pramanavartika reminds one of Plato`s Republic in the sense it is a large text, the arguments are in deductive form, each argument deducing a conclusion that forms the premises of the next argument, a large volume of sorites. The unique feature about Pramanavartika is that the philosophy is explained in the reverse form also.
The treatise is based on just the five epithets praising Buddha Sahakayamuni in Pramanasamucchaya. The five epithets are Reliable Guide, Compassionate, Teacher, Blessed One and Savior.Buddha is described as Valid Knowledge Incarnate because His teachings of the Four Noble Truths are not contradictory. His teachings convey the Truth and therefore He is known as the Dharmakaya. His teachings are lofty and deep and therefore He is described as Sambhoga Kaya and Nirmana Kaya.
He is known as the Reliable Guide because he has transformed himself from an ordinary mortal into an enlightened one. The Buddha is Reliable Guide because he has Valid Cognition. Valid Cognition is awareness which is non- deceptive. What remains as functional is non – deceptive. Functional would mean impermanent. Valid Cognition is sufficient understood as words uttered. Awareness alone is valid cognition. What is subsequently perceived is not valid cognition. Valid Cognition is established through Labels. The existence of this makes the existence of that. The nature of that is established through itself. Texts are to eliminate ignorance. The meaning of the unknown is valid cognition. Following the cognition of the specific entity, the consciousness of the generic aspect is attained. It is intended as the valid cognition, which is but the awareness of the Self Characteristics of the object, which was earlier not known as it investigates the self-characteristics of the object. The Buddha is endowed with the definition of Valid Cognition he is the Valid Cognition. He is the Pramana Bhuta.
Buddha is not the Creator, the permanent Omniscient One. Since the things to be cognized are impermanent the Valid Cognition must be non-static. Those produced sequentially cannot be produced from a permanent thing. If permanent thing depends upon impermanent things then how can it be God.
It is absurd to think that the Potter is the maker of the ant hills.
There may be two Subjects and the Reason of both maybe having the same name. But since the Subjects are different the reasons are also different although they have the same name. This is known as Similar Results Rejection or KaryaSamya. Seeing the generic label of the varying objects and applying it as a reason is not proper. It is like inferring the words as equivalent to horns as both words and cows are known as gawo.Acharya Dharmakirti intends to show two examples of the uselessness of the proband which is based on a word rather than a fact.
Just as the Creator is labelled as a Cause
Why is it not labelled as Non-Cause
As it is not cause at other times
Why then is it labelled as a Cause?If you say that weapon and medicine can cure injuries then why a post cannot cure injury, because it is not its cause.Why a post is not seen as a cure for injury why only weapon and medicine is seen as cause? Why Creator is not labelled as Non Cause. Why Creator is labelled as Cause. Because a cause has an effect and a non – cause has a non – effect.You are saying the external agent that is the Creator is permanent and cannot disintegrate. For something to be cause it has to disintegrate and since external agent does not disintegrate it is not the cause. If cause of x is other than substantial cause of x then there will be infinite causes.Definition of cause: When it changes it’s nature to produce it is known as Cause.According to the Nyaya System, perception is caused by contact of object with sense organ but according to Buddhist there is an alteration here.Because of the variation in several objects which they themselves are incapable of producing results individually, they come together and produce results due to variation in them.Buddha is a Valid Knowledge incarnate because he knows what to apply and what to avoid. Knowing the insects in the world is not enough. Buddha knows the origin of suffering and the path of liberation.It matters not whether one sees far or not, so long as one sees the truth that is needed. If distant vision means important than all of us should be vultures.Reliable Guide is the one who has Compassion developed over many lives. Many lives is possible. The last moment of mind connects to first moment of mind in next life.The mind does not depend upon the Body. Respiration, Sense Source and Mind do not arise mainly from the Body. All beings arise from the nature of their Karmic seeds. If the inhalation, exhalation, sense organs and thought took their original simply from the gross elements, they would derive from the gross elements everywhere and the whole universe would consist of living beings. But this is not the case. Accordingly, the sense organs, though they do derive from the body, do so in dependence on homogeneous factors of a previous birth. In this way, their connection with a previous birth is certain.The following three verses refute the argument that breath or thought is a power or chemical product of the body. Pg 47.
Should sense powers and so forth arise
Independent of ones own kind that existed previously
Just as one object mutates to give rise to the result
All should equally be able to mutate as there is no difference in the reason
Even if the individual sense power and so forth are harmed
The harm is not felt in the mental consciousness
Whereas when this mind undergoes change
The change is also seen in those sense powers and so forth.
Therefore those karmas which are the dependee mind
Dependent on which the present mind exists
Are the causes of the sense powers
Thus sense powers arise from mind.
The Buddha said
Since the Consciousness of the body aids the mental Consciousness
It is indicated that the mind depends on the body
The body and mind are mutually dependent
The body is not the Unique Indispensable Cooperative Cause of the Mind. The Body and the Mind coexist due to the previous Karma as the common cause. It is like the form of sugar and taste of sugar co existing.
The Mind is the Unique Indispensable Cause of the Mind
On some occasions
The body does help the continuum of the mind
Like a fire to a pitcher
The projecting Karma is the cause for the body and mind to coexist.
The projecting Karma is the cause for the body and mind to coexist.
When the Karmas are exhausted death happens.
Dharmakirti states the precise way in which the body may be the source of thought. Thought is said to have its source in the body simply because it is conditioned by cognitions of the body.
Even if thought could not come into existence without the sense organs neither can the sense organs come into existence without the thought. Thus there is a mutual causal relation between the two and this being so thought and body become causes of each other.
The last thought of a Buddhist saint is not reaggregated because it is free from impurities.
Our thought is altered by fear of the sword rather than the sword