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Jaina Epistemology and Logic: Development and Doctrines
Aptamimamsā. He seems impressed by the Buddhist definition of pramāņa also, because he used the term avisamvada for defining pramāṇa. He says that pramāņa is a kind of cognition devoid of discrepancy (visamvāda) and indetermination.
Bhaṭṭa Akalanka wrote four independent works viz. Laghiyastraya along with the vṛtti, Nyāyā-viniścaya along with the vṛtti, Pramāṇa-samgraha and Siddhiviniscaya along with the vṛtti. All these four works mainly deal with epistemology and logic. Laghiyastraya is a composite work having three manuals (prakaraṇas) viz. (i) Pramāņa praveśa (ii) Naya praveśa (iii) pravacana praveśa. Pramāņa praveśa contains four chapters on (i)nature of pramāņa (ii) classification (iii) object, and (iv) resultant. Naya pravesa is mainly devoted to the description of Nayas. Pravacana praveśa, though it begins with the definition of pramāṇa, naya and nikṣepa, mainly deals with śrutajñāna, a kind of parokṣa pramāṇa.
Nyāyaviniścaya, another work of Akalanka, has three chapters on perception, inference and testimony.
Pramana- samgraha, an important work of Akalanka, deals with every aspect of epistemology in nine chapters. Siddhiviniścaya is also an important work regarding epistemology and logic. He defines here pramāņa as siddhi. This treatise comprises twelve chapters which are indicative of their subject matter. Akalanka says here that every knowledge is valid due to its corresponding nature and it is invalid due to its discrepancy-(Siddhiviniścaya 1.19)
If we summarize the contribution of Akalanka on the basis of his above mentioned four works, then we can point out his views as follows:
