Akalanka
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Akalaṅka [IAST: Akalaṅka] (also known as Akalaṅkadeva and Bhatta Akalaṅka) was a Jain logician whose Sanskrit-language works are seen as landmarks in Indian logic.[1][2] He lived from 720 to 780 C. E. and belonged to the Digambara sect of Jainism.[1][3] His work Aṣṭaśatī, a commentary on Āptamīmaṃsa of Ācārya Samantabhadra deals mainly with Jaina logic. He was a contemporary of Rāṣṭrakūta king Krishna I. He is the author of Tattvārtharājavārtika, a commentary on major Jaina text Tattvārtha Sutra. He greatly contributed to the development of the philosophy of Anekāntavāda and is therefore called the "Master of Jain logic".[4][5]
Life
Akalaṅka flourished in 750 C. E.[6] He was aware of the contents of the Aṅgas, 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 kālika and utkālika texts which was also employed by the Śvetāmbaras.[7] He is mentioned as a logician and a contemporary of Subhatunga and Rāṣṭrakūta king Krishna I.[6]
The samādhi of Akalaṅka 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 Akalaṅka. Some of these are:[8][9]
- Laghīyastraya: A compendium of three small treatises - Pramāṇapraveśa, Nayapraveśa, and Pravacanapraveśa.[10]
- Pramānasaṅgraha: A work on epistemology or pramāṇa.
- Nyāyaviniścaya: A work dealing with perception, inference and pravacana.[10]
- Siddhiviniscaya-vivarana
- Aṣṭaśatī: A short but important commentary on Samantabhadra's Aptamimamsa.[10]
- Tattvārtharājavārtika: A commentary on Tattvartha Sutra resembling to Nyāyavārtika of Udyotakara[10]
See also
- Acharya Shri Akalaṅka Educational Trust
- Karanthai Samadhi of Acharya Akalaṅka at Thurupammor-Karanthai, Tamil Nadu [11]
- Devardhigani Kshamashraman
- Hemachandra
- Hiravijaya