Dignaga and Dharmakirti: Smoke and Fire

An own-words introduction to Dignaga, Dharmakirti and the Buddhist pramana tradition: perception and inference, smoke and fire, the three conditions, apoha, particulars, reliable knowledge, later Indian thinkers and Tibetan reception. Narrated by Tara, an AI voice. Provisional interpretation, not an authoritative translation, lineage transmission or practice authorization. Biographical stories, including the wall verse and Sudurjaya debate, are traditional accounts rather than independently verified history. Direct debate stories involving Kumarila or Shankara have chronological problems. Comparisons with Sellars, Kant, Saussure, Ockham and Brentano are the narrator's glosses, not claims of influence. Clarifications: the personalist school mentioned is Pudgalavada; shimshapa is a kind of tree. The criticism about scaffolding is an interpretive gloss, not an attributed quotation. Invariable co-occurrence paraphrases sahopalambhaniyama. Original narration CC0 1.0 Universal; underlying texts and translations retain their own rights.

Chapters
00:00 Why a monk would write logic
11:35 Perception: the first way of knowing
23:34 Inference: smoke, fire, and the three-part test
33:16 Apoha: words mean by saying no
42:47 What is real, who is reliable, and what is it all for?
52:21 The late crew, the Tibetan afterlife, and what to carry