Page:A History of Indian Philosophy Vol 1.djvu/481

 x] Dialectical A rguJnents 4 6 5 The earliest beginnings of this method of subtle analysis and dialectic in Indian philosophy are found in the opening chapters of Kathii:z.rattlzu. In the great jJlahiibllaya on Pal).ini by Patafijali also we find some traces of it. But N agarjuna was the man who took it up in right earnest and systematically cultivated it in all its subtle and abstruse issues and counter-issues in order to prove that everything that appeared as a fixed order or system was non-existent, for all were unspeakable, indescribable and self- contradictory, and thus everything being discarded there was only the void (Srmya). Sailkara partially utilized this method in his refutations of N yaya and the Buddhist systems; but Srlhar!;'a again revived and developed it in a striking manner, and after having criticized the most important notions and concepts of our everyday life, which are often backed by the N yaya system, sought to prove that nothing in the world can be defined, and that we cannot ascertain whether a thing is or is not. The refutations of all possible definitions that the N yay a could give necessarily led to the conclusion that the things sought to be defined did not exist though they appeared to do so; the Vedantic contention was that this is exactly as it should be, for the indefinite ajfiana produces only appearances which when exposed to reason show that no consistent notions of them can be formed, or in other words the world-appearance, the phenomena of maya or ajfiana, are indefinable or anirvacanlya. This great work of Srlhar!;'a was followed by Tattvadipikii of Citsukha, in which he generally followed Srlhar!;'a and sometimes supplemented him with the addition of criticisms of certain new concepts. The method of Vedanta thus followed on one side the method of Sunyavada in annulling all the concepts of world-appearance and on the other Vijfianavada Buddhism in proving the self-illuminating character of knowledge and ultimately established the self as the on]y self- luminous ultimate reality. The Theory of Causation. The Vedanta philosophy looked at the constant]y changing phenomena of the world-appearance and sought to discover the root whence proceeded the endless series of events and effects. The theory that effects were altogether new productions caused by the invariable unconditional and immediately preceding ante- cedents, as well as the theory that it was the cause which evolved