>AlanZhu1122 at 02:05, 6 July 2021

2021-07-06T02:05:59Z

New page

{{Copy edit|date=June 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
| name = Jayanta Bhatta
| image =
| caption =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| birth_date = c. 820 CE<ref name="Hegde">{{cite book|author=Hegde, R. D.|title=“BHAṬṬA JAYANTA.” Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, vol. 64, no. 1/4|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/41693038|year=1983|pages=1-15}}</ref>
| birth_place =
| birth_name =
| death_date = c. 900 CE<ref name="Hegde" />
| death_place =
| known =
| philosophy = [[Nyaya]] school of [[Hindu philosophy]]
| honors =
| footnotes =
| child = Abhinanda
| home_town = [[Srinagar]]
}}
'''Jayanta Bhatta''' (c. 820 CE - c. 900 CE<ref name="Hegde" />) was a [[Kashmir|Kashmiri]] poet, teacher, logician, adviser to King [[Sankaravarman]], and a philosopher of the [[Nyaya]] school of [[Hindu philosophy]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Francis Clooney|title=Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries Between Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ub0VDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA39|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-973872-4|pages=39–40}}</ref><ref name=csaba15/> An influential but not particularly prolific writer, he is known to have authored three works on Nyāya philosophy, one of which is not currently known to exist, an allegorical drama, and a commentary on [[Pāṇini|Pāṇinian grammar]], which is also not currently known to exist.<ref name="Hegde" />

==Life==

===Life span===
There has been some debate regarding Jayanta's birth year, his lifespan, as well as when his works were written. In his philosophical work ''Nyāyamañjarī'' as well as his drama ''[[Āgamaḍambara]]'', Jayanta refers to King [[Sankaravarman]] (883 - 902 CE) as his contemporary.

''Kādambarikathāsāra'', a work written by Jayanta's son Abhinanda, mentions that Jayanta's great grandfather was a minister of king [[Lalitaditya Muktapida]] who was a ruler of the Karkota dynasty in the second quarter of the 8th century CE.<ref>{{cite book|author=Burgess, James|title=The Indian Antiquary, A Journal of Oriental Research in Archæology, History, Literature, Languages, Folklore, &c., &c.|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Index:The_Indian_Antiquary_Vol_1.pdf|year=1872|page=106}}</ref>
There have been several attempts to place his life span based on references to his work by other authors, as well as references to contemporary events and individuals in his own works, ranging from the middle of the 8th century CE to the start of the 10th century CE. However, most reliable estimates place him around the 9th century CE.<ref name="Hegde" />

===Ancestry===
''Kādambarikathāsāra'' provides some information about Jayanta's lineage. It says his ancestor Shakti was a [[Brahmin]] and a direct [[patriline]] descendant, or [[gotra]], of [[Bharadwaja]] from the [[Gauḍa (region)|Gauda]] region, who lived in Darvabhisara, a hilly region at the border of Kashmir. His son was named Mitra, and his grandson was Saktisvämin(Shaktisvamin).

Saktisvämin, the great grandfather of Jayanta, was a minister of the king of Kashmir [[Lalitaditya Muktapida]] of the Karkota dynasty (c. 724 – 761 CE). Jayanta mentions in ''Nyayamanjari'' that his grandfather obtained a village named Gauramulaka, believed to have been located north of the modern town of [[Rajouri]], from king Muktapida. Saktisvämin had a son named Chandra, Jayanta's father.<ref name="agama">{{cite web |url=http://www.claysanskritlibrary.org/excerpts/CSLMuchAdoIntro.pdf.zip|title=Introduction to Agamadambara|author=Csaba Dezso}}</ref>

===Childhood===
Jayanta was born into a wealthy and respected orthodox Brahmin family.<ref name=csaba15>{{cite book|author1=Bhatta Jayanta|author2=Csaba Dezsö|title=Much Ado about Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kigTCgAAQBAJ |year=2005|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-0-8147-1979-4|pages=15–17}}</ref> He soon turned out to be a [[child prodigy]], at a young age composing a commentary to [[Pāṇini|Panini]]’s [[Ashtadhyayi]] and earned the name ''Nava-Vrittikara'', or ''new commentator''.<ref name="agama"/> Later in life, he mastered various ''[[shastra]]'' and ''[[Agama (Hinduism)|agama]]'', distinguished himself in scholarly debates, and passed on his knowledge to a circle of students.

== Political career ==
The ''[[Agamadambara]]'' provides valuable details about Jayanta Bhatta's political career. He was an adviser to the Kashmiri king [[Sankaravarman]]. In his position, he played a role in banishing the Nilambara (Black-Blankets) sect from Kashmir. Commenting on [[Tantric sex|Tantra literature]], he argued that the Nilambara sect promoted "immoral teachings". Jayanta claimed the Nilambara "wear simply one blue garment, and then as a group engages in unconstrained public sex". He argued that this practice was "unnecessary" and threatened the fundamental values of society.<ref>{{cite book|last=Flood|first=Gavin D.|author-link=Gavin Flood|title=The Tantric Body, The Secret Tradition of Hindu Religion|publisher=I.B Taurus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Uer8W670IoC|year=2006|isbn=978-1-84511-011-6|pages=48-49}}</ref>

== Works ==

===Major philosophical works===
Jayanta wrote three known treatises on [[Nyaya]] philosophy, of which only two are extant. His first, and what is considered to be his ''[[magnum opus]]'', the ''Nyayamanjari'' (A Cluster of Flowers of the Nyaya tree) is a commentary on Nyaya-aphorisms but also serves as a critique of the theories of rival philosophical systems like the [[Mīmāṃsā|Mīmānsādarśana]].

His second, the ''Nyayakalika'' (A Bud of the Nyaya tree) is an overview of the basic tenets of the [[Nyāya Sūtras]], a foundational text of the Nyaya school of philosophy. His third work, ''Pallava'' (probably ''Nyayapallava'', A Twig of the Nyaya tree) though quoted in ''Syadvadaratnakara'', is not currently known to exist.<ref name="Hegde" /><ref name="agama" />

Jayanta mentions in ''Nyayamanjari'' that he wrote this treatise during his confinement in a forest by the king. This treatise is unique because this is an independent work, not a commentary of an earlier work, which was the common practice at the time.

Secondly, according to Jayanta, the purpose of Nyaya is to protect the authority of the ''[[Vedas]]'', the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, whereas earlier Nyaya scholars considered Nyaya to be an ''[[Anviksiki|Anvikshiki]]'' (scientific study) providing true knowledge about the real nature of the objects of cognition.

=== Major literary works ===
His major literary work is ''{{IAST|[[Āgamaḍambara]]}}'', a Sanskrit play in four acts. The hero of his quasi-philosophical drama is a young graduate of the [[Mimansa]] school, who wants to defeat all opponents of Vedas through reasoning.<ref name="agama" />

== Philosophical position ==

=== The existence of God ===
The discussion of God's Existence is found in part 1 of ''Nyaya Manjuri''. Jayanta adheres to a realist viewpoint of God and the world and defends the possibility of reasoned arguments favoring God as a realistic and adequate cause of the world.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Clooney|first=Francis Xavier|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=ub0VDAAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s|title=Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries Between Religions|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2010|pages=39-45}}</ref>

=== Criticism of Lokayats ===
He criticized the [[Charvaka|Lokayata]] school of philosophy for not developing a Lokayata culture. Thus he said,

"The Lokayata is not an [[Agama (Hinduism)|Agama]]. viz. not a guide to cultural living, not a system of do's and don’ts; hence it is nothing but irresponsible wrangling."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Narain|first=Harsh|url=https://archive.org/details/MythOfCompositeCultureHarshNarain/page/n33/mode/1up?q=The+Lokayata+is+not+an+Agama.+viz.+not+a+guide+to+cultural+living%2C+not+a+system+of+do%27s+and+don%E2%80%99ts%3B+hence+it+is+nothing+but+irresponsible+wrangling+++|title=Myths of Composite Culture and Equality of Religions|year=1990|pages=33-34}}</ref>

==English translations==
The [[Clay Sanskrit Library]] has published a translation of ''{{IAST|[[Āgamaḍambara]]}}'' by Csaba Dezső under the title of ''Much Ado about Religion''.

== See Also ==

* [[Nyaya]]

== Notes ==
{{Hindu philosophy}}<references/>{{Indian philosophy}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatta, Jayanta}}
[[Category: 9th-century Indian philosophers]]
[[Category: Kashmiri people]]
[[Category: Kashmiri writers]]
[[Category: Poets from Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category: 9th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category: Indian logicians]]
[[Category: Nyaya]]
[[Category: Year of death unknown]]
[[Category: Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category: Indian male writers]]
[[Category: Scholars from Jammu and Kashmir]]

Jayanta Bhatta - Revision history

>AlanZhu1122 at 02:05, 6 July 2021