UPSC Prelims 2022 Q56: Aryadeva, Dignaga, Nathamuni — Explained
With reference to Indian history, consider the following pairs:
Historical person : Known as
1. Aryadeva : Jaina scholar
2. Dignaga : Buddhist scholar
3. Nathamuni : Vaishnava scholar
How many pairs given above are correctly matched?
- None of the pairs
- Only one pair
- Only two pairs
- All three pairs
Answer: (c) Only two pairs
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: incorrect — Aryadeva was a Mahayana Buddhist monk, not a Jaina scholar. He was the disciple of Nagarjuna, who founded the Madhyamika (Shunyavada) school. Britannica names him with Buddhapalita and Chandrakirti as one of the most important Prasangika Madhyamika thinkers. His main work, the Chatuhshataka ('Four Hundred Verses'), attacks rival Buddhist schools and the classical Sanskrit (Brahmanical) systems.
- 2: correct — Dignaga (c. 480–540 CE) was a Buddhist logician from south India. His Pramanasamuccaya ('Compendium of the Means of True Knowledge') laid the foundation of Buddhist logic and epistemology. He accepted only two valid means of knowledge, perception and inference. In the 7th century Dharmakirti built on his work.
- 3: correct — Nathamuni was a Sri Vaishnava teacher who, in the 10th century, gathered the Tamil hymns of the 12 Alvars into the Nalayira Divya Prabandham ('Four Thousand Sacred Compositions'). Tradition counts him as the first acharya of the Sri Vaishnava line. He brought the hymns into temple worship, and Yamunacharya and Ramanuja came after him in the same line.
How to eliminate
Mostly this question needs the facts. The names give you little to go on, and some of the clues point the wrong way. 'Muni' in Nathamuni can make you think of a Jaina ascetic, but he was a Vaishnava teacher. 'Deva' in Aryadeva points to no sect at all. Two facts are well known and easy to fix: Dignaga is the standard name in Buddhist logic, and Nathamuni compiled the hymns of the Alvars. If you are sure of these two, at least two pairs are correct. That leaves only two possible answers, two pairs or all three, and everything turns on Aryadeva. Remember him as Nagarjuna's disciple and the co-founder of Madhyamika Buddhism. Useful counter-check: the major Jaina scholars UPSC tends to ask about are Bhadrabahu, Kundakunda, Siddhasena Divakara, Jinasena and Hemachandra. Aryadeva is not among them.
Know more
Philosopher-scholars of early and early-medieval India
UPSC often pairs a scholar with a tradition. The traps come from similar-sounding names and from honorifics like deva, muni, acharya and suri, which every sect used.
| Scholar | Tradition | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Nagarjuna (c. 2nd century CE) | Buddhist, Mahayana | Founded Madhyamika; Mulamadhyamakakarika; doctrine of shunyata (emptiness) |
| Aryadeva | Buddhist, Madhyamika | Nagarjuna's disciple; Chatuhshataka |
| Asanga and Vasubandhu | Buddhist, Yogachara | 'Consciousness-only' school; Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosha |
| Dignaga (c. 480–540 CE) | Buddhist logic | Pramanasamuccaya; Hetuchakra ('Wheel of Reasons') |
| Dharmakirti (7th century) | Buddhist logic | Developed Dignaga's system |
| Kundakunda, Hemachandra | Jaina | Samayasara; Hemachandra wrote at the Chaulukya court |
| Nathamuni (10th century) | Sri Vaishnava | Compiled the Nalayira Divya Prabandham |
| Ramanuja (11th century) | Sri Vaishnava | Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) |
Two Buddhist Mahayana schools of philosophy:
- Madhyamika (Shunyavada): nothing has an independent, fixed nature. It is the 'middle way' between eternalism and nihilism.
- Yogachara (Vijnanavada): only consciousness is real.
The Sri Vaishnava line: the 12 Alvars (c. 6th–9th centuries) sang Tamil hymns to Vishnu. Andal was the only woman among them. Their hymns praise the shrines later counted as the 108 Divya Desams. Nathamuni collected about 4,000 of these verses. His grandson Yamunacharya and then Ramanuja gave the tradition its philosophy, Vishishtadvaita. Shaiva bhakti has a parallel line: the 63 Nayanars, whose hymns are collected in the Tirumurai.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Dignaga: Pair 2 names Dignaga directly. This entry places him in his school and his century.
- Madhyamaka: Aryadeva's place in history depends on his link to Nagarjuna's school of the 'middle way'.
- Nalayira Divya Prabandham: Pair 3 turns on who compiled this collection of 4,000 Tamil Vaishnava hymns.
- Alvars: Knowing who the Alvars were tells you which tradition Nathamuni belonged to.
- Vasubandhu: Tradition makes Dignaga a student of Vasubandhu. This helps you place Dignaga within the Buddhist schools.