Akalanka [IAST: Akalaṅka] (also known as Akalaṅkadeva and Bhatta Akalaṅka) was a Jain logician whose Sanskrit-language works are seen as landmarks in Indian logic. He lived from 720 to 780 C. E. and belonged to the Digambara sect of Jainism. His work Aṣṭaśatī, a commentary on Āptamīmaṃsa of Acharya Samantabhadra deals mainly with Jaina logic. He was a contemporary of Rashtrakuta king Krishna I. He is the author of Tattvārtharājavārtika, a commentary on major Jain text Tattvartha Sutra. He greatly contributed to the development of the philosophy of Anekantavada and is therefore called the "Master of Jain logic".
Life
Akalanka flourished in 750 C. E. He was aware of the contents of the Angas, although it cannot be said whether they represent an idea rather than a reality for him, and he also seems to have been the first Digambara to have introduced as a valid form of scriptural classification the division into kalika and utkalika texts which was also employed by the Śvetāmbaras. He is mentioned as a logician and a contemporary of Subhatunga and Rashtrakuta king Krishna I.
The samadhi of Acharya Akalanka is located between Thurupammor and Karanthai villages, at a distance of 19 km from Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.
Works
The following Sanskrit-language works are attributed to Akalanka. Some of these are:
- Laghīyastraya: A compendium of three small treatises - Pramāṇapraveśa, Nayapraveśa, and Pravacanapraveśa.
- Pramānasaṅgraha: A work on epistemology or pramāṇa.
- Nyāyaviniścaya: A work dealing with perception, inference and pravacana.
- Siddhiviniscaya-vivarana
- Aṣṭaśatī: A short but important commentary on Samantabhadra's Aptamimamsa.
- Tattvārtharājavārtika: A commentary on Tattvartha Sutra resembling to Nyāyavārtika of Udyotakara
See also
- Acharya Shri Akalanka Educational Trust
- Karanthai Samadhi of Acharya Akalanka at Thurupammor-Karanthai, Tamil Nadu
- Devardhigani Kshamashraman
- Hemachandra
- Hiravijaya
Notes
References
- Dundas, Paul (2002) [1992], The Jains (Second ed.), Routledge, ISBN 0-415-26605-X
- Singh, N.K.; Mishra, A.P. (2007), Encyclopaedia of Oriental Philosophy, vol. 7, Global Vision Publishing House, ISBN 978-81-8220-113-2
- Singh, Nagendra Kr; Baruah, Bibhuti (2003), Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Pali Literature, Global Vision Publishing House, ISBN 978-81-87746-67-6
- Vidyabhusana, Satis Chandra (2006) [1920], A History of Indian Logic: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Schools, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0565-8
Further reading
- Akalaṅka. Tattvārthavārttikā (Rājavārttikam), ed. Mahendrakumar, 2 vols, Kashi, 1953 and 1957.
