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India has a long tradition of rhetoric about politics, philosophy, and religion, starting from ancient times. [1]
Indian rhetors in the seventh century BCE held public debates on religion to the public's amusement. [2] The Vedic verses, composed over three thousand years ago, use similes that indicate a developed sense of rhetorics in the intellectual sections of the society. [2]
The ancient Indian epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, include many speeches and debates that are examples of rhetoric. Indian rhetoric utilizes systems of categorization. [2] The Upanishads, a collection of ancient Vedic philosophical dialogues, place some value in categorizing technical terms. [2]
Indian Buddhist rhetoric places value in calm and humorous discourse. [2]
Lloyd (2007) has proposed Nyaya’s inclusion in the field of rhetorical studies, exploring its methods within their historical context, comparing its approach to the “traditional logical syllogism, and relating it to the contemporary perspectives Stephen Toulmin, Kenneth Burke, and Chaim Perelman.” [3]
Nyaya is a Sanskrit word which means just or right and refers to “the science of right and wrong reasoning” (Radhakrishnan & Moore, 1957, p. 356). [4] Sutra is also a Sanskrit word which means string or thread. Here Sutra refers to a collection of aphorism in the form of a manual. Each Sutra is a short rule usually consisted of one or two sentences. Example of a Sutra: “Reality is truth, and what is true is so, irrespective of whether we know it is, or are aware of that truth.” The Nyaya Sutra is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text composed by Aksapada Gautama. [5] It is the foundational text of the Nyaya School of Hindu Philosophy. The date when the text was composed, and the biography of its author is unknown. It is estimated that the text was composed between 6th-century BCE and 2nd-century CE. [3] Zimmer (2013) has said that the text may have been composed by more than one author, over a period of time. [6] Radhakrishan and Moore (1957) placed its origin in the “third century BC…..though some of the contents of the Nyaya Sutra are certainly a post-Christian era” (p. 36). [4] Vidyabhusana (1930) stated that the ancient school of Nyaya extended over a period of one thousand years, beginning with Gotama about 550 BC and ending with Vatsyayana about 400 AD. [5]
Nyaya provides significant insight into the Indian rhetoric. Naya presents an argumentative approach that works a rhetor how to decide about any argument. In addition, it proposes a new approach of thinking of a cultural tradition which is different from the Western rhetoric. It also broadens the view of rhetoric and the relationship among human beings. [3] Nyaya proposes an enlightenment of reality which is associated with situations, time, and places. Toulmin emphasizes on the situational dimension of argumentative genre as the fundamental component of any rhetorical logic. [3] On the contrary, Nyaya views this situational rhetoric in a new way which offers context of practical arguments. [3]
Patanjali was an author, mystic and philosopher in ancient India. He is believed to be an author and compiler of a number of Sanskrit works. The greatest of these are the Yoga Sutras, a classical yoga text. Estimates based on analysis of his works suggests that he may have lived between the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE. Patanjali is regarded as an avatar of Adi Sesha.
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse (trivium) along with grammar and logic/dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or writers use to inform, persuade, and motivate their audiences. Rhetoric also provides heuristics for understanding, discovering, and developing arguments for particular situations.
Sutra in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a condensed manual or text. Sutras are a genre of ancient and medieval Indian texts found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as practiced in the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist traditions.
Nyāya, literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment", is one of the six orthodox (Āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Nyāya's most significant contributions to Indian philosophy were systematic development of the theory of logic, methodology, and its treatises on epistemology.
Charvaka, also known as Lokāyata, is an ancient school of Indian materialism. It is considered as one example of the atheistic schools in the Ancient Indian philosophies. Charvaka holds direct perception, empiricism, and conditional inference as proper sources of knowledge, embraces philosophical skepticism and rejects ritualism. It was a well-attested belief system in ancient India.
Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of Indian philosophical systems that developed in tandem with early Hindu religious traditions during the iron and classical ages of India. In Indian tradition, the word used for philosophy is Darshana, from the Sanskrit root 'दृश' meaning 'to see, to experience'.
Samkhya or Sankhya is a dualistic orthodox school of Hindu philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, Puruṣa and Prakṛti.
Shastra is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense. The word is generally used as a suffix in the Indian literature context, for technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice.
Kaṇāda, also known as Ulūka, Kashyapa, Kaṇabhaksha, Kaṇabhuj was an ancient Indian natural scientist and philosopher who founded the Vaisheshika school of Indian philosophy that also represents the earliest Indian physics.
Hindu texts or Hindu scriptures are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. Some of the major Hindu texts include the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Itihasa. Scholars hesitate in defining the term "Hindu scriptures" given the diverse nature of Hinduism, but many list the Agamas as Hindu scriptures, and Dominic Goodall includes Bhagavata Purana and Yajnavalkya Smriti in the list of Hindu scriptures as well.
The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras and 196 sutras. The Yoga Sutras were compiled in the early centuries CE, by the sage Patanjali in India who synthesized and organized knowledge about yoga from much older traditions.
The Vedas, sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.
The Nyāya Sūtras is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text composed by Akṣapāda Gautama, and the foundational text of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy. The date when the text was composed, and the biography of its author is unknown, but variously estimated between 6th-century BCE and 2nd-century CE. The text may have been composed by more than one author, over a period of time. The text consists of five books, with two chapters in each book, with a cumulative total of 528 aphoristic sutras, about rules of reason, logic, epistemology and metaphysics.
The development of Indian logic dates back to the Chandahsutra of Pingala and anviksiki of Medhatithi Gautama ; the Sanskrit grammar rules of Pāṇini ; the Vaisheshika school's analysis of atomism ; the analysis of inference by Gotama, founder of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy; and the tetralemma of Nagarjuna.
Kalpa means "proper, fit" and is one of the six disciplines of the Vedānga, or ancillary science connected with the Vedas – the scriptures of Hinduism. This field of study is focused on the procedures and ceremonies associated with Vedic ritual practice.
Praśastapāda was an ancient Indian philosopher. He wrote the Padārtha-dharma-saṅgraha and a commentary, titled Praśastapāda Bhāṣya, on the Vaisheshika Sutras of Kanada ; both texts are comprehensive books in physics. In these texts Prashastapada discusses the properties of motion. Ganganath Jha had translated Praśastapāda Bhāṣya which was published in 1916. Prashasta or Praśasta means praised or praiseworthy, lauded or laudable, commended or commendable or eulogized.
Tattvachintamani is a treatise in Sanskrit authored by 14th-century CE Indian logician and philosopher Gangesa. The title may be translated into English as "A Thought-jewel of Truth." The treatise is also known as Pramāṇa-chintāmaṇi.
Vedic learning started in Mithila with the expansion of Vedic and Brahmanic culture eastwards along the Ganges plain. Some sources consider this centre of Brahminical study to form an Ancient Mithila University. From the 12th/13th to 15th century CE it was an important centre of Nyaya Shastra and logical sciences.
Upaskara is a commentary on the Kanada's Vaisheshika Sutra of the Indian philosophy. It was written in the Sanskrit language by the Indian philosopher Sankara Mishra of Mithila.
