142080 UE Dignaga on Sentence Meaning. Jinendrabuddhi's Pramanasamuccayatika, Chapter V (2025S)

In the summer term of 2025, we will begin with Jinendrabuddhi's commentary on Dignāga's Pramāṇasamuccaya 5.43b (§59 in Pind 2015). There Dignāga is refuting a Sāṅkhya opponent’s criticism of the apoha theory. After this discussion, Dignāga discusses the relation between word- and sentence-meaning in the apoha theory on the background of Bhartṛhari’s philosophy.

Dignāga's Pramāṇasamuccaya (ca. sixth century CE) is our earliest complete witness to the school of systematic philosophical analysis known as the logico-epistemological tradition of Buddhism. The understanding of this text poses significant challenges. The Pramāṇasamuccaya, or the “Summary of pramāṇa”, simply states Dignāga’s ideas without providing detailed discussions. Additionally, the text survives only in two Tibetan translations of very low quality, which makes them of little use for a clear understanding of its content.

Fortunately, one word-by-word commentary on Dignāga’s important text has survived in Sanskrit: Jinendrabuddhi's Viśālāmalavatī Pramāṇasamuccayaṭīkā (perhaps eighth or ninth century CE). This commentary helps us overcome the main obstacles to understanding Dignāga’s “Summary” by citing and paraphrasing much of the root text in the original Sanskrit, and by clarifying the background of many of Dignāga’s ideas. Jinendrabuddhi’s frequent quotes from otherwise unavailable works supplement his commentary, making it an abundant resource for comprehending the Buddhist epistemological tradition’s history.

The course allows participants to gain first-hand insight into the ongoing work on a diplomatic and critical edition of the Sanskrit text of the fifth chapter of Jinendrabuddhi's commentary. The primary goal of this course is to familiarise participants with philological-historical methods and editorial techniques, and to encourage them to participate in discussions led by the main editors.