Navya-nyāya is the name given to the new school of Nyāya that developed in Navadvipa, which preserved the traditions of both Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika. Its main focus is to define terms in a precise manner and then to formulate or evolve a language as a precise medium of communication. It is keen on rationally explaining human behavior based on cognition, which necessarily refers to relation – an essential concept in this school of thought.
This course introduces the basic concepts of the Navya-nyāya literature and many technical terms which are systematically explained in Navya-Nyāya-Bhāṣā-Pradīpa, a primer of Navya-Nyāya language and methodology. This is followed by a study of Tarka Saṅgraha, which is an entry-level book that is a systematic overview of Nyaya/Vaisheshika in its newer (navya) period.
The mind has the nature of not being in the present. It is always in the past or future. The characteristic of the senses is that they can only function in the present. The nose cannot smell a fragrance that is coming tomorrow or that was there yesterday. We can only hear through our ears what is being spoken now. If you can hook your your sense onto something it likes, the mind goes along with that sense into the present moment. This is the easiest way to bring the mind into the present state.
