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NYĀYA AND JAINA EPISTEMOLOGY
1. The contact with substance. 2. The contact with the qualities through the thing in which
they inhere. 3. The contact with the qualities in the generic character as
universals of those qualities. 4. The contact by which sounds are said to be perceived by
the auditory organ. 5. The contact by which the generic character of sound as
the universal of sound is perceived. 6. The contact with negation, i. e. the contact by which negation is perceived.
It should be noted that in Nyāya realism, the contact is not in any sense metaphorical but is actual. It is also not transcontinental as is the case in Kant's philosophy. Nyāya admits not only substance and qualities butt also all kinds of relations as real and can be perceived directly. A special kind of relation or sense-contact with the object is, thus, the indispensable condition of all perceptual knowledge in old Nyāya.
However, Modern school of Nyāya opposes the old definition which insists on sense-object-contact on several grounds. It is objected that definition of perception given by old Nyāya is too wide as it will include other forms of knowledge too and is too narrow as it excludes divine omniscience which is direct perception. It is rightly pointed out that “the Nyāya gives undue importance to indriyārthasannikarsa and belittles the importance of the element of immediacy which ought to be treated as the essential element in pratyaksa."?
