Akamksa with Special Reference to Navya Nyaya System (An Old and Rare Book)

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In this volume I have made an attempt to examine the concept of akamksa as found particularly in Nyaya philosophy. The cognition of akamksa is a necessary precondition for the generation of verbal knowledge. As we cannot lead life at all without verbal knowledge, the necessity of discussing the concept of akamksa arises.

While proceeding with the subject I have taken necessary care to illuminate the Nyaya view expressed in highly technical Sanskrit language in simple English so that the Western scholars can feel at home in the Indian field as well.

Actually I got interested in the concept of akamksa while 1 was pursuing my pre-Ph. D research work. From then on I tried to study the concept from various angles. This book may be said to be an extended version of my initial dissertation.

In this attempt of mine in such a field, I am indebted to Pandit Visvabandhu Bhattacharya and Prof. Tapan Kumar Chakraborti of Jadavpur University who showed me the way and guided me all through. I also take this opportunity to express my heartiest gratitude to Prof. Amita Chatterjee of Jadavpur University who has always inspired me with valuable suggestions.

My special gratitude and thanks to my uncle, Sri Sivaprasad Das Gupta for his tremendous encouragement in this attempt of publication. Perhaps he was more concerned and anxious than me in this endeavour.

I thank Sri Debasish Bhattacharya of Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar who has taken all the load of printing and publishing.

Last but not the least, I thank all my family members for their spontaneous cooperation.

Even without any philosophical background one can understand that certain combinations of words give sense while others do not. For example, if one says "The cow is white", it carries some meaning. But if one says "A cow, a white, is", it does not convey any meaning. While the first kind of utterance makes communication possible, the second does not. In other words, we have no verbal knowledge from the second type of combinations. Actually there are certain conditions which are to be fulfilled if one is to understand a sentence. My objective in this book is to analyse one of such conditions, viz., akaṁksa- jnana (the cognition of akamksa). The role that the cognition of akariksa plays in origination of verbal knowledge cannot be underestimated. In absence of the cognition of akamksa one can never understand a significant sentence and in that case the whole structure of communication would break down. Therefore, one has to study the nature of akamksa.

It is maintained that verbal knowledge is produced when the knower understands the relation among the referents of the terms constituting a sentence generating verbal knowledge. The memory of the referents may be present before the generation of verbal knowledge. But verbal knowledge cannot be originated unless the relation among the referents is grasped. And this relation can be comprehended because of akamksa. Therefore, an elaborate discussion of this concept should feature in any study of philosophy of language.

Here in this book we have tried to present the whole matter from the Nyaya point of view. Incidentally we have to discuss certain opposite views. For it is customary in Indian philosophy to refute the viewpoint of the opponents before establishing one's own position.