---
type: Reference
bundle: nyaya-vaisheshika
bundle_version: 0.9.0
id: nyayakusumanjali
title: Nyāyakusumāñjali (Udayana)
description: Udayana's classic work of rational theism, marshalling inferential arguments for the existence of Īśvara as the intelligent efficient cause of the world; with his Ātmatattvaviveka and Kiraṇāvalī, the high point of classical Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika.
tags:
- reference
- udayana
- nyayakusumanjali
- theism
timestamp: '2026-07-02'
okf_version: '0.2'
license: CC BY-SA 4.0
---

# Nyāyakusumāñjali (Udayana)

The Nyāyakusumāñjali ('a handful of flowers of Nyāya') by Udayana (c. 10th-11th century CE) is the classic systematic defence of theism in Indian philosophy, presenting and defending inferences for Īśvara as the omniscient efficient cause who orders eternal atoms according to the karma of souls. Udayana is the towering figure of late classical Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika: his Ātmatattvaviveka defends the enduring self against Buddhist momentariness, and his Kiraṇāvalī expounds the Vaiśeṣika categories. This bundle anchors the Īśvara concept, the enduring plural ātman, and the defence of anyathā-khyāti to Udayana's works.
