Prajñākaragupta

Prajñākaragupta (also: Prajñakara, Sanskrit, Tibetan: shes rab 'byung gnas sbas pa, ca. 8th–9th century) was a Buddhist philosopher of the Epistemological school. He is known for his extensive magnum opus, the Pramāṇavārttikālaṃkāra (The Ornament of the Commentary on Epistemology), a commentary on Dharmakīrti's Pramāṇavārttika which runs to over 16,200 Sanskrit ślokas. Prajñākaragupta introduced several original innovations to the school of Dharmakīrti, such as the doctrine of backwards causation and a revised theory of perception. According to Eli Franco, Prajñākaragupta is "arguably the most important and most original Buddhist philosopher after Dignāga and Dharmakīrti". The manuscript was discovered and photographed by Rāhula Sāṅkṛtyāyana.

He also wrote the Sahopalambaniyamasiddhi (Ascertaining the Simultaneity of the Object [and Consciousness]), a proof of Yogacara idealism. However, inference can still be seen as a secondary kind of epistemic instrument, since it can lead a person to accomplish their intention (Pramāṇavārttika 3.56). Thus, since inference has pragmatic efficacy, it can be called a pramāṇa, even if it is a concept that does not know the actual form of the object, and is thus ultimately erroneous. The actual pramāṇa in the case of perception is the subsequent conceptual cognition (vikalpa) that immediately follows the initial act of perception. Thus, non-conceptual direct perception can only said to be a pramāṇa indirectly, since it is what prompts one to conceive of an object and then to act. This is quite different from Dharmakīrti's view which sees non-conceptual direct perception as the only real pramāṇa. A problem which arises for this tradition is how to explain the diversity of cognitions if each cognition in the stream of consciousness is the cause of the next (e.g. what causes a cognition of blue to be followed by a cognition of yellow?). For Prajñākaragupta, once one has established a connection between cause and effect, it is equally true that the cause does not exist, regardless of whether the cause is in the future or the present. Since past and future entities are equally just conceptual constructs which are not presently actual but mental fabrications, both inferences (from past causes or future causes) have the same value. If one accepts that one can infer a cause from something which has already perished in the past and no longer exists, one should also accept the validity inferring backward causation from a future entity that has not yet come into existence. Since time is ultimately unreal for Prajñākaragupta, causality does not have to be limited in its function to only one temporal direction. Prajñākaragupta theory was later expanded on by Jitāri (ca. 940–1000) in a short text called Treatise on Future Cause (Bhāvikāraṇavāda). '' Thus, Prajñākaragupta writes:The existence defined by perception (upalambha) is indeed the ultimate existence. The ultimate existence of entities is expressed in this way: “Existence is nothing but perception.” (PVA 213.22, v. 230)

In his Pramāṇavārttikālaṃkāra, Prajñākara also mounts a defense of the theory of self-awareness, which had been explained by previous thinkers through the metaphor of a lamp, which can illuminate a room and also illuminate itself, since as Dharmakirti states, its own essence is illumination (prakāśātmaka).

The wisdom of non-duality At the core of Prajñākaragupta’s thought is the wisdom of non-duality (advaya-jñana) which is the ultimate means of valid cognition (pramāṇa). This non-dual perception (advaita-dṛṣṭi) is what ultimately leads to the end of suffering. Prajñākaragupta identifies it with what Dharmakīrti calls the insight (yukti) that leads to the end of suffering (Pramāṇavārttika chapter II v. 139). Previous commentators had mainly aligned this with not-self. Prajñākaragupta agrees, but also gives an alternative explanation: "yukti is union (yoga), which means that all phenomena are interconnected beyond all differences, that is, non-duality (advaita)" (PVA 116,16-19). Prajñākaragupta’s fundamental view of reality as non-dual consciousness is another reason why he thinks that time is fictional and unreal and why backwards causality is possible. Specifically, it is a yogic perception (yogipratyakṣa) in which a true object appears in a vivid non-conceptual way after repeated practice (abhyāsa) of meditation and reflection on the teachings. This view is contrasted with the "Nirākāravāda" view which holds that the ultimate non-dual consciousness is a content-less pure experience without any images or appearances. According to Prajñākaragupta, the Sākāravāda view is a consequence of Dignaga's classic proof of idealism from "the necessity of things only ever being experienced together with experience" (sahopalambhaniyama).