Dignaga

Acharya Dignāga

Dignaga (Skt. Dignāga; Tib. Chok kyi Langpo; Wyl. phyogs kyi glang po) (circa 6th century AD) was one of the six great commentators (the ‘Six Ornaments’) on the Buddha’s teachings. He was one of the four great disciples of Vasubandhu who each surpassed their teacher in a particular field. Dignaga exceeded Vasubandhu in pramāṇa. His reputation as unequalled in debate was cemented through his celebrated victory over the bramhin named Sudurjaya at Nālandā monastery.

Among his disciples was Iśvarasena, who later became the teacher of Dharmakīrti.

Writings

His early (extant) works were:

• The Abhidharmakoša-marma-pradīpa - a condensed summary of Vasubandhu's seminal work
• A brief summary of the Aṣṭasāhasrika-prajñāpāramitā sūtra

His remaining works were all pertaining to logic:

• Ālambana-parīkṣā
• Trikāla-parikṣa
• Hetu-cakra-samarthana
• Nyāyamukha
• Pramāṇa-samuccaya, which was a condensation of all these works

Further Reading

• Hattori, Masaaki. Dignāga, On Perception. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1968.
• Hayes, Richard P. Dignāga on the Interpretation of Signs. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer, 1988.