Dignaga
Dignaga is the founder of Buddhist logic and epistemology — the pramana school whose analysis of perception and inference shaped philosophical debate across India for a millennium.
Life
Born in South India (Kanchipuram by most accounts) into a Brahmin family, Dignaga studied with the Yogacara master Vasubandhu’s line at Nalanda’s tradition and spent his career teaching across the great monasteries. Tibetan tradition embellishes his biography with debate-victories over Brahmin opponents; the historical record is thin but his influence documents itself through his rivals and commentators.
Teachings/Works
The Pramanasamuccaya (“Compendium of Valid Knowledge”) set the frame still studied: perception (pratyaksha) grasps only particulars; inference (anumana) operates on universals through three-membered logical form; language never touches the particular, so meaning is exclusion (apoha). His Alambanapariksha and Hetuchakra also survive (partly in Tibetan translation).
Legacy
Dharmakirti systematized him; every later Indian school — Nyaya above all — defined itself against or through Dignaga’s terms. Tibetan Buddhism made his logic its core curriculum (Tshad-ma studies), and modern philology has recovered his revolution from Sanskrit fragments and Tibetan translations.
Verification notes
- Dating (c. 480–540) follows recent scholarship; older texts gave c. 400–480.
- His works survive largely in Tibetan translation and Sanskrit fragments.
- Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).