Essay name: Tarkabhasa of Kesava Misra (study)
Author:
Nimisha Sarma
Affiliation: Gauhati University / Department of Sanskrit
This is an English study of the Tarkabhasa of Kesava Misra: a significant work of the syncretic Nyaya-Vaisesika school of Indian philosophy widely used as a beginner's textbook in southern India and has many commentaries. This study includes an extensive overview of the Nyaya and Vaisesika philosophy, epistemology and sources of valid knowledge. It further deals with the contents and commentaries of the Tarkabhasa.
Chapter 5 - Uttarabhaga of Tarkabhasa: Contents
13 (of 64)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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173
souls. Prak峁泃i and souls are co-eternal with God. According to them Soul or
Self is eternally pure and liberated. It is said to be entangled in bondage and
liberated from bondage in relation to Prak峁泃i. When mental modes are
attributed to the self, it is said to be bound. When they are completely
destroyed or merged in their cause, Prak峁泃i, they are no longer attributed to the
self, and it is said to be liberated. Bondage and liberation of the Self are not
real. 23
Vais茅峁ka View of Self
According to Vais茅峁kas the soul is an eternal and all-pervading
substance which is the substratum of the phenomena of consciousness. There
are two kinds of souls, viz. the individual soul (jivatm膩) and the supreme soul
(param膩tm膩 or 默svara). The latter is one and is inferred as the creator of the
world. The former is internally or mentally perceived as possessing some
quality when, for example, one says, 'I am happy', 'I feel pleasure', 'I feel
aversion', and so forth. The individual soul is not one but many being different
in different bodies. Ka峁嚹乨a mentions in his VS that "the ascending life-breath,
the descending life-breath, the closing of the eye lids, life, the movement of
the mind and the affections of the other senses, and also pleasure, pain, desire,
aversion and volition are marks of the existence of the soul. "24 There is no
visible mark of the existence of the soul. A direct perception of the soul
where the soul is both the perceiver and the perceived is not admitted. 25 The
OIP. p. 315
23.
24.
25.
Ibid. 3.2.6.
pr膩峁嚹乸膩nanimeso......ling膩ni. VS. 3.2.4.
