Technical Terms of Navya-Nyāya Language and its Methodology

Abstract

The Navya-Nyāya language1 (Neo-logic) exhibit one of the purest languages of human intellect. It has been assists India’s intellectual academic culture and traditions. From the 10th Century AD Navya-Naiyāyikas emphasized one-step further in intelligentsia and came out with a precise technical language which is a special form of Sanskrit-delimits ultimate mining of each and every word and capture reality as it is, destroy Jalpa and Vitaṇdā kind of dialogues in intellectual countering amid different school of thoughts. Since Navya-Nyāya language is a peculiar language based on logic-thought and reality invented by Great Indian logicians that is why it has been treated an artificial language as well. Due to unique features of Navya-Nyāya language many traditional philosophical problems have been scientifically clarified and resolved. Navya-Nyāya methodology proved to be so multifaceted not just for philosophers, but also in poetics, linguistics, legal theories, and other domains of medieval Indian thought process. Apart from philosophers, Navya-Nyāya style of writing has also been adapted by grammarians, aestheticians and the scholars of rhetoric and poetry. The reason for this could be the ease of putting one’s views methodologically and unambiguously when using Navya-Nyāya language for universal thinking. Navya-Nyāya made the evolution that there was Navya-Vyākaraṇa, Navya-Mīmāṁsā and Navya-Vedānta’s new school of thoughts arose. These terms came into configuration only because of Navya-Nyāya and these other schools followed the footsteps of Navya-Nyāya very systematically. The focus of modern Navya-Nyāya was to define terms in a precise and particular manner and then to formulate or emerge a language which may be called ‘the precise medium of communication’. It was necessary to evolve a new or should we say an artificial language to do away with the possible ambiguity, which is a basic quality of any natural language. Since natural language cannot be totally ambiguity-free, NavyaNyāya can serve the academic needs. To understand our Indian Intellectual Traditions in medieval period or the actual meaning of our Śāstras written after 10 th century AD, this NavyaNyāya language and Methodology is highly efficient device. Without proper knowledge of Navya-Nyāya, intellectual development of aforementioned period cannot be properly known. Hence, this, paper would try to revive the basic features of Navya-Nyāya by analysing its technical terms so that it could serve contemporary academic needs and so on.