Page:A History of Indian Philosophy Vol 1.djvu/184

168 Buddhist Philosophy [ClI. V Dharmmaklrtti (writer of Nyayabindu 635 A.D.), Vinltadeva and Santabhadra (commentators of Nyayabindu), Dharmmottara (commentator of Nyayabindu 847 A.D.), Ratnaklrtti (950 A.D.), PaI)<;lita Asoka, and Ratnakara Santi, some of whose contributious have been published in the Six Budd/list Nyiiya Tracts, published in Calcutta in the Bibli'ot/zeca Indica series. These Buddhist writers were mainly interested in discussions regarding the nature of perception, inference, the doctrine of momentariness, and the doctrine of causal efficiency (arthakriyiikiiritva) as demon- strating the nature of existence. On the negative side they were interested in denying the ontological theories of Nyaya and Sarpkhya with regard to the nature of class-concepts, negation, relation of whole and part, connotation of terms, etc. These problems hardly attracted any notice in the non-Sautrantika and non- V aibhaika schools of Buddhism of earlier times. They of course agreed with the earlier Buddhists in denying the existence of a permanent soul, but this they did with the help of their doctrine of causal efficiency. The points of disagreement between Hindu thought up to Sali.kara (800 A.D.) and Buddhist thought till the time of Sati.kara consisted mainly in the denial by the Buddhists of a permanent soul and the permanent external world. For Hindu thought was more or less realistic, and even the Vedanta of Sali.kara admitted the existence of the permanent external world in some sense. Vith Sali.kara the forms of the external world were no doubt illusory, but they all had a per- manent background in the Brahman, which was the only reality behind all mental and the physical phenomena. The Sautrantikas admitted the existence of the external world and so their quarrel with N yaya and Sarpkhya was with regard to their doctrine of momentariness; their denial of soul and their views on the different ontological problems were in accordance with their doctrine of momentariness. After the twelfth century we do not hear much of any new disputes with the Buddhists. From this time the disputes were mainly between the different systems of Hindu philosophers, viz. Nyaya, the Vedanta of the school of Sali.kara and the Theistic Vedanta of Ramanuja, Madhva, etc.