Tarka Shastra
Tarka Sastra is a science of dialectics, logic and reasoning, and art of debate that analyzes the nature and source of knowledge and its validity. Sastra in Sanskrit means that which gives teaching, instruction or command. Tarka means debate or an argument. According to one reckoning, there are six sastras. Vyakarana is one of them. Four of the sastras are particularly important Vyakarana, Mimamsa, Tarka, and Vedanta.
The sastra has concepts called "poorva paksha" and "apara paksha". When one raises a point (poorva paksha) the other one criticizes it (apara paksha). Then the debate starts. Each one tries to support his point of view by getting various references. The meaning of the word tarka also is specific, in that it does not imply a pure logical analysis but a complex activity of discourse guided by strict definitions and goals so as to have. This concept is referred in Bhagawad Gita as "vAdaH pravadatAmasmi" (vibhooti yOga).
Tarkasamgraha which is the foundational text of logic and discourse was al the text followed as a Guidelines for discourses. Tarka may be translated as "hypothetical argument." Tarka is the process of questioning and cross-questioning that leads to a particular conclusion. It is a form of supposition that can be used as an aid to the attainment of valid knowledge.
There are several scholars well-versed in Tarka Sastras – Adi Shankara (788-820 CE), Ramanujacharya,Madhwacharya, Uddyotkar (Nyayavartik, 6th-7th century), Vācaspati Miśra (Tatparyatika, 9th century), Udayanacharya (Tatparyaparishuddhi, 10th century), Jayanta Bhatta (Nyayamanjari, 9th century), Vishwanath (Nyayasutravrtti, 17th century), and Radhamohan Goswami (Nyayasutravivaran, 18th century), Kumaran Asan. Paruthiyur Krishna Sastri and Sengalipuram Anantarama Dikshitar were specialized in Vyakarana, Mimamsa and Tarka Sastra. Also, Krishna Sastri excelled all those scholars of his contemporary period in Tarka Sastra.
Bibliography
- Tucci, Giuseppe (July 1929). "Buddhist Logic before Diṅnāga (Asaṅga, Vasubandhu, Tarka-śāstras)". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 3. Cambridge University Press: 451–488. JSTOR 25193933. OCLC 729532565.
- Vassiliev, Boris (1937). ""Ju-shih Lun": A Logical Treatise Ascribed to Vasubandhu". Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London. 8 (4). Cambridge University Press: 1013–1037. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00082367. JSTOR 3488492.
- Krishna Jain (2011). Tarka-śāstra: eka rūpa-rekhā (Raj Verma Sinha, translator) [A textbook of logic: an introduction]. Naī Dillī: Ḍī. Ke. Priṇṭavarlḍa. ISBN 9788124604274, ISBN 8124604274,OCLC 769743700 [language: Hindi, translated from 2007 English original ISBN 8124604266, ISBN 9788124604267, OCLC 636929116]
- Pavitra Kumāra Śarmā (2007). Tarka śāstra. Jayapura: Haṃsā Prakāśana. OCLC 309717739 [language: Hindi]
- Gulābarāya. Tarka śāstra. Kāśī: Nāgarīpracāriṇī Sabhā. OCLC 33938711 [language: Hindi] (on Hindu logic)
- George William Brown (1915). Hindi logic. Jubbulpore: Christian Mission Press. OCLC 82179416 [language: Hindi]