Udyotakara (c. 6th century CE) was a philosopher of the Nyaya

Nyaya

' is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic...

 school of Indian philosophy. Subandhu’s mentioned him as the rescuer of the Nyaya. He was a brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 of Bharadvaja gotra

Gotra

In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...

 and he belonged to the Pashupata sect. His philosophical treatise, the was written to defend Vatsyayana

Vatsyayana

Vātsyāyana is the name of a Hindu philosopher in the Vedic tradition who is believed to have lived during time of the Gupta Empire in India...

's against the criticisms made by Dignaga

Dignaga

Dignāga was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic.He was born into a Brahmin family in Simhavakta near Kanchi Kanchipuram), and very little is known of his early years, except that he took as his spiritual preceptor Nagadatta of the Vatsiputriya school, before being...

.

Life and work

Very little is known about the life of Udyotakara. The only place mentioned in his text is Shrughna, which is identified with the present-day Sugh in Yamuna Nagar district

Yamuna Nagar District

Yamuna Nagar district is one of the 21 districts of Haryana state, India. The district came into existence on 1 November 1989. It occupies an area of 1756 km²...

 in Haryana

Haryana

Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

. His is divided in to five chapters.