'Udaynacharya' (great scholar of Mithila) birh anniversary today

Udayana also known as 'Udaynacharya' (Udyanacharya, or "Master Udayana) lived in the 10th century, in Kariyan village in Mithila, near present day Darbhanga, Bihar state, India. Udayana was a very important Hindu logician who attempted to reconcile the views held by the two major schools of logic (Nyaya and Vaisheshika). This became the root of the Navya-Nyaya school of the 13th century, established by Gangesha Upadhyaya (“New Nyaya”) school of “right” reasoning, which is still recognized and followed in some regions of India.
Udayana wrote a sub-gloss on Vachaspati's work called the Nyaya-vaartika-taatparya-tiikaa-parishuddhi. He wrote several other works such as the Kusumanjali, Atma-tattva-viveka, Kiranaavali and Nyaya-parishishhta (also called Bodha siddhi or Bodha shuddhi).
UdayanAchArya (a "tArkika-n") and Kumarilabhatta (a "mImAmsaka-n"). To the "mImAmsakA-s" the Buddhist's summary rejection of Vedic ritualism was the proverbial red rag waved under the nose of a raging bull !Kumarilabhatta, it can be seen, has written copiously criticising the Buddhist's distaste for Vedic ritualism। He and UdayanAchArya were chiefly responsible for the failure of Buddhism to acquire a large following in the country(Scholars mention here the texts of "tarkapAdam" of Kumarilabhatta and the "bauddhadhikAram" by UdayanAchAryA).
Udayanaachazrya was a Hindu philosopher and Nyaya-vaartika scholar from Mithila (Now North Bihar). Little is known about his biography, but he is famous for many of his seminal theses on Nyaya-vaartik and debate on buddhism and Vedic rituals. His birthplace is a village Kariyan in the modern Samastipur district of Bihar.


 

 Philosophy :
 Two schools of thought for logical proof for the existence of God in Hindu philosophy, the old Nyaya system was concerned with the critical examination of the objects of knowledge by means of logical proof, while the earlier Vaiseshika system dealt with particulars—objects that can be thought of and named. Udayana assumed, with the Vaiseshika, that the world was formed by atoms, from which physical bodies also derived. But he was equally concerned with the mind and its right apprehension of objects in nature. His vigorous thinking was set forth in the Nyaya-Kusumanjali and the Bauddhadhikkara, the latter an attack on the atheistic thesis of Buddhism. Living in a period of lively controversy with the Buddhists, Udayana defended his belief in a personal God by resorting to the two natures of the world: cause and effect. The presence of the world is an effect that cannot be explained by the activity of atoms alone. A supreme being had to cause the effect and regulate the activity of the atoms; hence, according to Udayana, God exists. In a debate with Buddhists in India he was the final victor. After him no Buddhist philosopher undertook again a debate with Nyaya. Thus the nine-centuries long debate ended.

There was once a great scholar in Mithila named Udayan Acharya. He was a great pandit in Naya philosophy. He was able to defeat everyone and establish his own verdict. No one dared to argue with him. Even learned Buddhist and Jain philosophers avoided meeting with him out of fear. Once, Udayan Acharya developed a desire to study Jagannath philosophy. He found in the Skanda Purana a verse that read: (Purushottama Mahatmya 7.30). Whoever takes darshan of Daru-Brahma Jagannath will immediately be liberated. Although Udayan had faith in Lord Jagannath, still he could not believe this state¬ment. Yet he had a desire to examine the verse more thoroughly.

One time he traveled to Puri. He arrived at night and went to take rest, planning to go for darshan the following morning to see if he would get liberation like the verse said. Early the next morning, the head pujari came to the temple gate, but he could not open it. Others soon arrived, and all tried their best, but none could open the temple. No puja could be done, and there was no mangala-arati. A message was sent to the King, who came person¬ally and tried to open the doors. Still they would not open. Every¬one thought that a very sinful person had arrived in Puri whom the Lord did not want to see. For the entire day the doors remained shut. Finally everyone went home and took rest. During the night, Lord Jagannath appeared to the head pu¬jariin his sleep and told him, "As long as this non-believer Udayan Acharya is in Puri, My door will not open. I am only available to those who have faith in Me. Faithless people cannot reach Me."

The next morning Udayan Acharya performed puja to his salagram-sila. At that time the head pujari of the Jagannath temple, along with many others, arrived at Udayan Acharyas place. The pujari asked, "Are you Udayan Acharya from Mithila?" Udayan Acharya stood and replied, "Why, yes, I am." The pujari said to him, "You have no faith that one will attain liberation just by tak¬ing darshan of Lord Jagannath. That is why Lord Jagannath s tem¬ple did not open yesterday. As long as you remain here, His doors will not open." Udayan was surprised to hear this, and immedi¬ately understood his mistake. He said, "Due to one sinful person like me, so many people will be deprived of having darshan of Lord Jagannath. I must go myself to pray to the Lord for forgive¬ness. Let me see whether He listens to my prayer." Udayan Acharya went to the temple and, being very humble, he prayed to Lord Ja¬gannath. Immediately the door of Lord Jagannaths temple opened, and everyone took darshan of the Lord.