Nagarjuna’s Refutation of Logic (Nyaya) Vaidalyaprakarana

The Vaidalyaprakarana is part of the Madhyamika School of Buddhist Philosophy. It is attributed to Nagarjuna. It is an important polemical treatise directed against the Naiyayikas. Its purpose is to show the logic impossibility that Nyaya categories, or padarthas, exist as described in Gautama’s Nyayasutra. It is part of the Indian philosophical tradition that does not accept the pramanas to be valid means for knowledge. This could be called the “agnostic traditions”. The Vaidalyaprakarana can also be linked to the Indian Vada tradition. Although the Vaidalyaprakarana immerses itself in the dialectical atmosphere of that tradition, its goal is to demonstrate the groundlessness and Dialectics. This treatise provides a clear understanding of the Madhyamika concept of logic. It covers many topics of Indian Philosophy.