Aptamimansa

Author(s): Vijay K Jain
Publisher: Vikalp Printers

Page 79

Verse 26
pratijñā: proposition; statement of that which is to be proved.
2. Because it is full of smoke (middle term). - hetu: statement of reason.
3. Whatever is full of smoke is full of fire, as a kitchen. - dṛṣṭanta or udaharana : statement of a general rule supported by an example.
4. So is this hill full of smoke. upanaya: application of
the rule to this case.
5. Therefore the hill is full of fire. nigamana:
conclusion.
The hetu or the reason consists in the statement of the mark or the sign (linga) which being present in the subject or the minor term (pakṣa) suggests that the latter possesses a certain property predicated of it. It is the assertion of the middle term (hetu) by which the relation or not of the minor term (pakṣa) to the major term (sādhya) is known. While the pratijñā is a proposition of two terms, the hetu is a one-term proposition.
There is inseparable connection (vyāpti) between the major term (sadhya) and the middle term (hetu). In other words, there is inseparable presence of one thing in another, e.g., no smoke without fire. Absolute non-dualism loses its essential characteristic the instant a middle term is employed to establish it as there is inseparable connection between the major term (sādhya) and the middle term (hetu). If from the middle term (hetu) there should be establishment of nonduality, there would be duality of the middle and major terms. If non-duality is established without the middle term why not establish it by mere speech? And, if established by mere speech, without the middle term, there is no problem in establishing its opposite too, i.e., dualism, likewise.
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