Comparative Study of Indian Science

Author(s): Harisatya Bhattacharya
Publisher: C S Mallinath

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2. Pramana,
Roughly speaking, every system of philosophy claims to give true knowledge as distinguished from Illusion, Doubt and Inattention which we have in our ordinary life. This true knowledge is called Pramana in Indian philosophy. The ways or means of attaining it are also called the Pramanas. We have seen that the Jaina thinkers describe Pramana as-"the certain knowledge regarding the Self and the Non-self." They contend that this definition of the Pramana does not tally with the one given by the Mimansakas which is as follows:
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Pramana. makes to us known what was unknown." The Jaina philosophers urge that the Mimansaka definition of the Pramana excludes Smiriti or Recollection from its scope; for Recollection gives us knowledge not of an entirely new thing but, as is, well known, of a thing previously perceived or otherwise cognised. It is to be noted that not only the Mimansakas but the thinkers of all the orthodox schools of Indian philosophy refuse to recognise Smarana as a special mode of the Pramana. The Jainas on the contrary, for reasons to be discussed latter on, admit Recollection as one of the sources of Valid Knowledge.
A lively debate seems to have been indulged in, in ancient India, regarding the number of the Pramanas