Comparative Study: Nyaya vis-a-vis Other Schools
Nyaya among schools
Nyaya shares a category framework with Vaisheshika but differs in emphasis: Nyaya focuses on pramana and debate, Vaisheshika on ontology and atomism. Classical Vaisheshika accepts perception and inference, while Nyaya accepts four pramanas including upamana and shabda.
Comparisons to know
- Samkhya: dualism of purusha and prakrti; accepts three pramanas (perception, inference, testimony), not upamana; Nyaya is pluralist and theistic.
- Yoga: Patanjali's citta-vrtti-nirodha; accepts three pramanas and a special Ishvara, but its practical discipline differs from Nyaya's logic.
- Mimamsa: stresses Vedic injunction and shabda; holds svatah pramanya, while Nyaya holds paratah pramanya.
- Vedanta: Brahman-centered; Advaita denies ultimate plurality, whereas Nyaya affirms a plural realist world.
- Buddhist schools: deny a permanent self and often accept only perception and inference; Nyaya defends self, Ishvara, and shabda.
- Carvaka: materialism; accepts perception alone and rejects inference, soul, God, and afterlife.
Worked example
A question asks which school accepts upamana but rejects the Carvaka reduction to perception. The reasoning is: Carvaka accepts pratyaksha only; Nyaya accepts four pramanas and defines upamana as comparison-based knowledge. Therefore Nyaya is the answer.
Traps
Do not say all astika schools accept four pramanas. Do not confuse Samkhya's purusha with Nyaya's self. Do not treat Yoga's Ishvara as identical to Nyaya's creator. Do not call Carvaka an astika school.