A long-lost 9th-century Sanskrit manuscript titled Padartha-Darpana (The Mirror of Categories) has been discovered in the archives of a private library in Kyoto, Japan. Scholars believe the text was brought to Japan by a traveling monk from Nalanda University in the 12th century. It offers a radical refinement of the Vaisheshika system of ontological categories, introducing a seventh category: 'Reflexive Relationality.'
The manuscript provides a detailed critique of traditional definitions of 'Substance' and 'Quality,' arguing that all entities are defined primarily by their relationships to other objects rather than inherent traits. This discovery is expected to spark a significant re-evaluation of medieval Indian epistemology and its early trans-Asian influence on East Asian logical traditions.