Diṅnāga (Dignāga)

Abstract

The article provides an overview of the iconography of Diṅnāga (Dignāga), one of the earliest logicians in theoretical Buddhism, across various artistic and religious contexts. It describes the iconographical variations of the thinker that existed in the Central Asian region, ranging from early 18th-century images in the Mongolian Kanjur to xylographic depictions in the “Ashtasahasrika” pantheon, as well as in the collections “The Three Hundred Burkhans: The Pantheon of Three Hundred Deities” and “The Three Hundred and Sixty Icons: The Pantheon of Three Hundred and Sixty Deities in the Fanxianglou Pavilion” from the second half of the 18th century. These images demonstrate the diversity of regional artistic traditions across Mongolia, Tibet, and China. The article briefly highlights key milestones in Dignāga’s biography, his education at Nalanda under the guidance of Vasubandhu and his developed theory of knowledge. The study is based on extensive historical and iconographical material, including classical texts of the Buddhist tradition, block-print collections, Chinese imperial anthologies, Buddhist pantheons of deities, and contemporary research on Eastern iconography and Buddhist art. The presented findings can be utilised for the precise attribution and interpretation of Dignāga’s images, as well as for studying the evolution of the depictions of great Indian pandits in the art of Northern Buddhism. The scholarly translation and commentary on Lokesh Chandra's article from the Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography were prepared by S.M. Belokurova.