In this essay, we will take the concept of liberation under Nyaya Philosophy and compare it with the understanding of liberation under some different schools.  Nyaya philosophy is one of the schools that come under the Indian schools of Philosophy. It is mainly concerned with the conditions of correct thinking and also the means or the ways of acquiring a true knowledge of reality. Like many of the other schools, it has its own theory of attaining moksa or liberation for the individual self. In the case of Nyaya philosophy, “To attain liberation one must acquire a true knowledge of the self and all objects of experience.” ( Chatterjee and Datta 1948, p. 239). For the Naiyayikas, liberation is only possible when they are in a complete state of negation, of all pain and suffering. As our body has a physical presence and has sense organs, it is exposed to objects that are unpleasant and undesirable. Thus liberation can only be attained when the soul is separated from the body which can only happen after death. God also plays a very important part in attaining liberation as “According to the Naiyayikas, the individual self can attain true knowledge of realities and, through it, the state of liberation only by the grace of God.” (Chatterjee and Datta, p. 240).

Jaina philosophy also has its own theory of liberation, which can only happen with the “complete dissociation of the soul from the matter.” ( Chatterjee and Datta 1948, p. 118). This can only be done by stopping the influx of matter into the soul as well as removing all the matter that has mingled with the soul.  Like Nyaya philosophy, Jainas also stress on the necessity of right knowledge as it can remove ignorance, which is deemed to be the cause of all the unwanted passions that lead to the influx of matter such as greed, infatuation etc.  Unlike the Naiyayikas, who can only attain liberation after death, the Jainas believe that liberation can be attained in this lifetime by studying the teachings of individuals who have already attained liberation. The individual must also have faith in these teachings and must also have the right conduct in order to stop the influx of new karma and the eradication of bad karma. Thus, “The path to liberation lies through right faith, knowledge, and conduct. Liberation is the joint effect of these three.” ( Chatterjee and Datta 1948, p.120). Another difference between Nyaya philosophy and Jaina philosophy is that for the Naiyayikas, God plays a key role in the process for liberation while on the other hand, the Jainas don’t believe in God at all.

Sankhya philosophy is similar to Nyaya philosophy in many ways as “Like the Nyaya-Vaisesika system, the Sankhya aims at knowledge of reality for the practical purpose of putting an end to all pain and suffering” ( Chatterjee and Datta 1948, p. 292). Even the theory of liberation under Sankhya philosophy is similar to that of Nyaya philosophy as “In the Sankhya system, liberation ( Mukti), is just the absolute and complete cessation of all pain without a possibility of return.” ( Chatterjee and Datta 1948, p. 323). The only way to get rid of pain forever is only possible through the knowledge of reality. Same as in the Nyaya philosophy, even in Sankhya philosophy liberation can only be attained only after the emancipation of the soul from the body. Although the role of God for liberation is given in Nyaya philosophy, the existence of God in Sankhya Philosophy is open to interpretations. Instead of God, the Sankhya recognizes two ultimate realities which are spirit (purusha) and matter (prakrti).

The last school in this essay are the Carvakas. They are materialistic beings and they do not believe in a soul. Thus the Nyaya theory of liberation does not apply to them as they don’t believe in a soul and thus don’t believe in life after death. They also refuse the idea of having liberation in this life as they think they both pleasure and pain are bound by the body and that you can only minimize the pain. Their concept of liberation is to “attain the maximum amount of pleasure in this life, avoiding pain as far as possible.” (Chatterjee and Datta 1948, p. 75).  They also do not believe in the existence of God.

Thus we can see that each school has their own version of what liberation is. Even though there are variations between them, most of them call for the end of suffering, either in this life or after death.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:-

Chatterjee, Satishchandra and Dheerendramohan Datta. 1948. An Introduction To Indian Philosophy. Calcutta: University of Calcutta