Ānvīkshikī
Ānvīkshikī · ānvīkshikī, “the science of inquiry”
Grammar: feminine noun, from anvīkshā (looking into, inquiry), from anu + īksh (to look): “the science of inquiry”.
Meaning: the science of reasoning and of self-knowledge; the first of the four vidyās (branches of knowledge) that a king must learn, with trayī (the three Vedas), vārttā (agriculture, cattle-keeping and trade) and daṇḍanīti (the science of rule and punishment). The Agni Purāṇa glosses it as nyāya, vedānta and the like.
In the scriptures: in the duties of a king, the Agni Purāṇa says that from those learned in the three Vedas he must learn the three Vedas, the ancient daṇḍanīti, ānvīkshikī (nyāya, vedānta and the like) and artha-śāstra; vārttā he learns from the world (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 225).
The king, endowed with vinaya (discipline), should sit with the learned and with those skilled in the practice of each, and reflect on the four vidyās: ānvīkshikī, the three Vedas, vārttā and daṇḍanīti. Each gives its own fruit: from ānvīkshikī come ātma-jñāna (knowledge of the ātmā) and knowledge of the true nature of things; knowledge of dharma and adharma depends on the three Vedas; gain and loss depend on vārttā; justice and injustice depend on the right use of daṇḍanīti (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 238). Those fit to be the king’s amātyas (ministers) are skilled in ānvīkshikī and the other vidyās (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 239).
In the stotra to Devī Lakshmī, she is praised as all the vidyās: “O Devī, you who shine and give the form of mukti! You are also Yajña-vidyā, Mahā-vidyā, Guhya-vidyā, Ātma-vidyā, Ānvīkshikī, Trayī, Vārtā and Daṇḍanīti” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 237).
Related terms: Trayī · Vārttā · Daṇḍanīti · Vidyā · Ātma-jñāna · Nyāya
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 225, 237–239