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Rare 9th-Century 'Jnana-Pradipa-Mala' Scroll Found in Private Kathmandu Archive Reshapes Early Epistemology

📅 April 7, 2026 📰 Kathmandu Post Heritage
Rare 9th-Century 'Jnana-Pradipa-Mala' Scroll Found in Private Kathmandu Archive Reshapes Early Epistemology

A previously undocumented 9th-century manuscript titled 'Jnana-Pradipa-Mala' (The Garland of the Lamp of Knowledge) has been identified in a private family archive in Kathmandu. The scroll, written in the late Gupta script, is a comprehensive treatise on the Pramana-Vidya (science of knowledge), focusing on the nature of 'Self-Evident Truth' and the role of intuition in logical deduction. It is attributed to a lost lineage of Kashmiri logicians who influenced the early development of Navya-Nyaya.

The manuscript is unique for its detailed critique of sensory reliability, arguing that all empirical data must be filtered through a 'primary ethical intuition' before it can be accepted as valid. This synthesis of logic and morality marks a significant departure from the purely analytical approach of later medieval schools. The Nepal Manuscript Preservation Project is currently digitizing the text to make it available for global scholarly review.

Original source: Kathmandu Post Heritage