NYAYA (from the Sanskrit ni, into, and dya, going, a derivative from to go; hence, literally, "entering," and, figuratively, •• investigating analytically ") is the name of the second of the three great systems of ancient Hindu philosophy; and it is apparently so called because it treats analytically, as it were, of the objects of human knowledge, material and spiritual, distributed by it under different heads or topics; unlike, therefore, the reanta (q.v.) and slinlchya (q.v.), which follow a synthetic method of reasoning, the former of these systems being chiefly concerned in spiritual and divine matters, and the latter in subjects relating to the material world and man. The Nytlya consists, like the two other great systems of Hindu philosophy (see and SINKIIYA), of two divisions. The former is called NYAYA (proper), and will be exclusively con sidered in this article; the other is known under the name of VAIS'ESJIIKA (q v.). With the other systems or philosophy, it concurs in promising beatitude—that is, final deliverance of the soul from re-birth or transmigration—to those who acquire truth, which, in the case of the Nytlya, means a thorough knowledge of the. principles taught by this particular system.
The topics treated of by the Nyilya are briefly the following: 1. The pramaa a, or instruments of right notion. They are: a. Knowledge which has arisen from the contact of a sense with its object; b. Inference of three sorts (c?, priori, d posteriori, and from analogy); c. Comparison; and d. Knowledge, verbally communicated, which may be knowledge of "that whereof the matter is seen," and knowledge of "that whereof the matter is unseen " (revelation). 2. The objects or matters about which the inquiry is concerned (pramega). They are: a. The Soul Caiman). It is the site of knowledge or sentiment, different for each individual coexistent person, infinite, eter nal etc. Souls are therefore numerous, but the supreme soul is one; it is demonstrated as the creator of all things. b. Body (s'arira). It is the site of action, of the organs of sensation, and of the sentiments of pain or pleasure. It is composed of parts, a framed
substance, not inchoative, and not consisting of the three elements, earth, water, and fire, as some say, nor of four or all the five elements (viz. air and ether in addition to the former), as others maintain, but merely earthy. c. Organs of sensation (indrt,ya); from the elements, earth, water, light, air, and ether, they fl-VC smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing. d. Their objects (artha). They are the qualities of earth, etc.—viz. odor, savor, color, tangibility, and Limit& e.: Ptderstandifig (bialdht), or apprehension (upalabdla), or conception (jndna), terms which are used synonymously. It is not eternal, as the SAnkhya maintains, but transitory. f. The organ of imagination and volition (maws). Its prop erty is the not giving rise simultaneously to more notions than one. g. Activity (pravr'ittt), or that which originates the utterances of the voice, the cognitions of the understanding, and the gestures of the body. It is therefore oral, mental, or corporeal, and the reason of all worldly proceedings. h. Faults or failings (dosha), which cause activity—viz. affec tion, aversion, and bewilderment. i. Transmigration (pretyabhei ea, literally, the becoming born after having died), or the regeneration of the soul, which commences with one's first birth, and ends only with final emancipation. It does not belong to the body, because the latter is different iu successive births, but to the soul, because it is eternal.
Fruit or retribution (pliala), or that which accrues from activity and failings. It is the consciousness of pleasure or of pain. 1. Pain (duh'kha), or that which has the character istic mark of causing vexation. It is defined as "the occurrence of birth," or the origi nating of "body," since body is associated with various kinds of distress. Pleasure is not denied to exist, but, according to the Nytlya, it deserves little consideration, since it is ever closely connected with pain. m. Absolute deliverance or emancipation (apctvarga). It is annihilation of pain, or absolute cessation of one's troubles once for all.