Nyāya Sūtras

The Nyāya Sūtras are an ancient Sanskrit text traditionally composed by Akṣapāda Gautama (though possibly by more than one author over a period of time), and the foundational text of the Nyāya school of Hindu philosophy. The text consists of five books, each with two chapters, totalling 528 aphoristic sūtras.

Content

The sūtras define the sixteen categories of knowledge; the first book serves as a general introduction, book two covers pramāṇa (epistemology), book three covers prameya (objects of knowledge), and the remaining books discuss the nature of knowledge, logic, debate, and metaphysics. Notably, the text makes no mention of Vedic rituals, opposing uncritical appeals to intuition or scriptural authority.

Significance

Nyāya logic became the dominant framework for rational inquiry across Indian philosophical traditions and influenced Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu thought for over two millennia.

Verification

Core sūtras variously estimated between the 6th century BCE and 2nd century CE; expanded by later commentaries, the earliest surviving being the Nyāyabhāṣya of Pakṣilasvāmin Vātsyāyana (5th–6th century CE), followed by Uddyotakāra, Vācaspati Miśra, and Udayana.

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