Manikana, A Navya-Nyaya Manual

A few centuries back there arose in the vast firmament of Sanskrit literature a big and brilliant star, the Tattvacintamani of Sri Gangesopadhyaya. It was acclaimed by all erudite men of that time as the clearest and most authoritative exposition of the principles of Nyaya, and to some extent of Vaisesika, philosophy.

The intrinsic value of this great work prompted not a few of the intellectual giants o succeeding generations to write elaborate commentaries on it, commentaries on the commentaries and so on. Even great writers on other Darsanas, such as Madhusudana Sarasvati and Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati, quoted Tattvacintamani to prove the rightness of the standpoint taken up by them. Such was the popularity and reputation of this invaluable work among the Panditas that it came to be spoken of, as if in affection, by the shortened name of Cintamani and them merely as Mani.

For reasons which we need not consider here, students and even teachers began to neglect the study of the whole work and were content to go through a portion of Anumanakhanda with Sri Raghunatha's commentary, the Cintamani Didhiti, with the assistance of Jagadisi or Gadadhariya. Writers then began to bring out abridgments of the Tattvacintamani like Manisara. To this category belongs Manikana now being presented to the public. Some western scholars of repute have for some time past been evincing a keen interested in the Darsanas of ancient India.

Happily the number of such scholars is increasing. It is naturally difficult for them to begin with such voluminous works as the Cintamani. They are in need of shorter treatises with good English translations. It is to meet this wasn't that Dr. Sarma has undertaken the editing of Manikana with his own translation. He has also most thoughtfully added notes to expound the principles enunciated in the Sanskrit text wherever the necessity was felt.

Dr. Sarma has the good fortune to come in contact during his foreign travels with various scholars interested in the study of Sanskrit literature. He was able to realize what assistance they would require for the understanding of this text. The fact that even to the Indian students who choose Sanskrit for their M.A. degree in our universities, English is more familiar than Sanskrit, might also have influenced Dr. Sarma in deciding to edit the text with a translation and notes.

It is true that the Tarka-samgraha, the Siddhantamuktavali, etc., have been published with translations. But they follow more or less the method Bhasya on the Kanada-sutras. Manikana, on the contrary, is concerned solely with the principles discussed in the Cintamani itself and is, therefore, more useful to those who desire knowledge of that great work.