This is nyaya, one of the six classical schools (darshanas) into which Hindu philosophy is divided, and it is the orderly structure which can match the systematic approach of knowledge, reasoning, and reality. For people enamored from Hinduism's analytical facet, here is a rigorous intellectual framework that will change your understanding of truth and knowledge.

Origin and Foundational Text

Sage Gautama (also called Akshapada) founded Nyaya and wrote the Nyaya Sutras, which were composed around the second century BCE. This fashioning of the original text consists of five books (adhyayas) with each having ten chapters featuring 528 aphorism-type sutras that establish a generally comprehensive system of logic and epistemology.

The opening sutra (Nyaya Sutras 1.1.1) states:

 "प्रमाणप्रमेयसंशयप्रयोजनदृष्टान्तसिद्धान्तावयवतर्कनिर्णयवादजल्पवितण्डाहेत्वाभासच्छलजातिनिग्रहस्थानानां तत्त्वज्ञानान्निःश्रेयसाधिघमः"

 Meaning: "The highest good (deliverance) is attained through true knowledge of sixteen categories: means of valid knowledge, objects of knowledge, doubt, purpose, example, established doctrine, premises, reasoning, conclusion, discussion, debate, destructive criticism, fallacy, quibble, futile rejoinder, and points of defeat."

In other words, this sutra represents Nyaya's central tenet that liberation is achieved through proper understanding and application of logical principles. 

The Four Pramanas: Valid Sources of Knowledge

At the heart of Nyaya is its theory of pramanas (valid means of knowledge). Nyaya recognizes four main sources:

Pratyaksha (Perception): The observation is made through the senses directly. "Indriya-artha sannikarsha-jannam jnanam avyapadesyam avyabhichari vyavasayatmakam pratyaksham" (Nyaya Sutras 1.1.4)

"Knowledge arising from the contact of senses with objects, which is non-verbal, unerring, and definite, is perception." 

Anumana (Inference): Knowledge derived through rationalization. 

"Atha tatpurvakam trividham anumanam purvavat sesavat samanyato drstam ca" (Nyaya Sutras 1.1.5) "Inference, which depends on perception, is of three kinds: from cause to effect, from effect to cause, and from common observation."

Upamana (Comparison): Knowledge through similar things. Upamana (Comparison): Knowledge through similar things.

Prasiddha-sadrishyat sadhanam upamanam" (Nyaya Sutras 1.1.6) "Comparison is the knowledge of a thing through its similarity to another well-known thing."

Shabda (Testimony): Knowledge gained through a reliable verbal testimony. "Apta-upadesah shabdah" (Nyaya Sutras 1.1.7) 

"Word is the instructive assertion of a reliable person."

 The Five-Membered Syllogism (Pancavayava)

 Nyaya invented a much sophisticated syllogistic reasoning with five components:

Pratijna (Proposition): Statement of what is to be proved. Example: "This hill has fire." Hetu (Reason): Statement of the reason. Example: "Because it has smoke."

Udaharana (Example): Universal connection between reason and what is to be proved. Example: "Wherever there is smoke, there is fire, as in a kitchen."   

Upanaya (Application): Applying the universal connection to a specific case. Example: "This hill has smoke."   

Nigamana (Conclusion): Restatement of the proposition as proven. Example: "Therefore, this hill has fire." 

This structure (described in Nyaya Sutras 1.1.32-39) provides a clear method for establishing valid knowledge.  

Nyaya and the Modern Life

Nyaya answers for the contemporary person in several ways:

Educational skills in critical thinking: Nyaya trains the mind to assess claims by making use of evidence consistency in reasoning. 

Greater intellectual confidence: This particular understanding of logical if principles enables determination between truth and falsehood in this world inundated by information. 

Spiritual clarity: Nyaya suggests here that the discipline of one's mind is indeed spiritual, which clarifies much of the confusion that blocks out spiritual self-realization. 

In the Nyayabindu, Buddhist logician Dharmakirti, a follower of Nyaya, put it in these words, "Knowledge alone is the lamp that removes the darkness of ignorance."

Further Study 

For increasing your understanding of Nyaya:

Read Bimal Krishna Matilal's "The Character of Logic in India", for modern interpretation. 

Read Vatsyayana's Nyaya Bhashya. This is the first major commentary on the Nyaya Sutras. 

Read Uddyotakara's Nyaya Vartika for further elaboration. 

Introduction of conditions into Hindu thought by reading S. Radhakrishnan's "Indian Philosophy" (Volume 2). 

The beauty of Nyaya lies in its ability to convince that clear thinking is not at odds with spirituality but is rather one of the essentials for it. Thus the Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.6) states: "Only truth prevails, not untruth." Nyaya provides the intellectual tools to discern this truth, making it an invaluable darshana for those seeking clarity on the Hindu path.