Vyāpti as Method: Uddyotakara, Tantrayukti, and the Re-Grounding of Qualitative Inference

Abstract

Contemporary qualitative inquiry faces a persistent inferential crisis: while empirical richness has proliferated, the epistemic warrant connecting observation to generalization remains unstable. This paper argues that the Nyāya-Vārttika of Uddyotakara (c. 550–610 CE) articulates a sophisticated theory of inference that directly addresses this crisis anticipating developments in modern epistemology while offering resources absent from the qualitative methodological canon. By grounding inference in Vyāpti an invariable relation discovered through repeated observation (bhūyo-darśana), purified through the systematic elimination of limiting conditions (upādhi), and validated through successful action (pravṛtti-sāmarthya) Uddyotakara provides a model of inquiry that corrects foundational weaknesses in contemporary qualitative methodology. The paper demonstrates how this inferential architecture can be operationalized through Tantrayukti heuristics, transforming classical Nyāya logic from a historical artifact into a robust research methodology. This framework, formalized as Tantrayukti-Nyāya-Pramāṇa-Inquiry (T-NPI), positions Nyāya not as a pre-modern logical system but as a living meta-scientific tradition capable of re-grounding the logic of discovery and justification in qualitative research.