The Tattvasangraha of Shantaraksita (2 Vols)

The Tattvasangraha or ‘Compendium of True Doctrines’, as Dr. Jha translates the term, throws a flood of light on the Buddhist metaphysics, logic and epistemology. A remarkable feature of the work is that it reproduces the views of scholars who would otherwise have remained in perfect oblivion. The commentator Kamalasila gives the names of such authors and quotes from them. The work shows the philosophical activities and speculations of nearly three centuries from the time of Dharmakirti down to Uddyotakara. The Tattvasangraha studied along with Uddyotakara’s Nyayavartika and Kumarila’s Slokavartika gives a good picture of the cultural movements of the centuries. The Buddhist attack on the realism sponsored by Nyaya, particularly the refutation of the soul theories which had created a great commotion in the orthodox circles, and the Buddhist criticism of the infallibility of the Vedas which too had given a big jolt, provoked spirited counter-attacks from the orthodox thinkers and a vigorous defence of the faith which succeeded in undermining the prestige of the Buddhist Church. However, the Buddhist also reacted with vigour and the Tattvasangraha pre-eminently represents this phase of the Buddhist reaction.

The work begins with a critique of the concept of Prakrti or Pradhana followed by an examination of the creatorship of God, Purusa, Atman and the permanence of things. It contains a detailed discussion of the traditional categories like Substance, Action, Ultimate individuality, Quality, Universal and Inherence. Then the traditional means of knowledge-are examined, followed by the treatment of Syadvada, Three points of time, and the Carvaka system. Finally the work deals with a critique of the validity of revelation, of the arguments for the existence of the external world, and of those for the self-validity of knowledge.