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CHAPTER XXVIII
MADHVA LOGIC
Perception. PRAMÅŅA has already been defined as true correspondence with objects, and it has also been mentioned that it is divided into two kinds, kevala-pramāna and anu-pramāņa. Kevala-pramāna is that by which direct and immediate intuition of objects of cognition is made; in fact it is both the intuitive process and the intuition. Four kinds of such direct intuition are admitted in the Madhva school of thought, viz., God's intuition, intuition of His consort Lakşmi, intuition of sages (Yogins), intuition of ordinary persons. God's intuition is always correct, independent (svatantram), beginningless and eternal, perfectly clear and has its scope or field everywhere (sarvārtha-visayakam). Lakşmi's intuition is dependent on Iśvara and inferior in clearness to His knowledge; it is equally beginningless, eternal, and correct, and has for its object everything except the entire extent of God Himself.
The specially efficient knowledge attained by yoga is that which belongs to Yogins: these are of three kinds. The first is of those straight sages (rju-yogin) who deserve Brahmahood. Excepting that this kind knows I'śvara and Laksmī only partially, it knows everything; this knowledge increases with the increase of yoga, until mukti is attained. These sages know of God more than other individual souls can do. Next to these comes the knowledge of Gods (tāttvika-yogi-jñānam); it is inferior in scope to the knowledge of Yogins. Next comes the knowledge of ordinary persons, and of these also there are three classes in a descending order of merit; first, those that deserve liberation, secondly those that suffer rebirth, thirdly those who are in a still lower state of existence. Pramāņa as intuition (kevala) is to be distinguished from anupramāņa, as means of such intuition, which may be of three kinds, perception, inference, and testimony of the scriptures (agama). The contact of any faultless sense-organ with a faultless object.
1 īśvara-jñānam lakṣmi-jñänam yogi-jñānam ayogi-jñānam ceti. Nyāyapaddhati, p. 16.
