Nyaya And Jaina Epistemology

Author(s): Kokila H Shah
Publisher: Sharadaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre

Page 88

COMMON SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE....
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testimony comes from a person, who knows the truth and speaks the truth about anything for the guidance of others.
A sentence by itself cannot give us any knowledge. Similarly a mere perception of the words or of a sentence cannot lead to any knowledge about objects. It is only when one perceives the words and understands their meanings that he acquires any knowledge from a verbal statement. Thus, the validity of verbal knowledge depends on its being based on the statement of a trustworthy person and its possibility depends on the understanding of the meaning of that
statement.
There are two ways of classifying sabda. According to Vātsyāyana "verbal knowledge is of two kinds-viz. dṛṣṭārtha or that relating to perceptible objects and adṛṣṭārtha or that relating to imperceptible objects."29 Under the first head is included the trustworthy assertions of ordinary persons and scriptures which are limited to ordinary sensible objects of this world, e. g. evidence given by witness in law courts. The second includes all the trustworthy assertions of ordinary persons related to supersensible objects which cannot be known by means of perception.
According to another classification given by later Naiyāyikas, sabda is of two kinds, viz. Vaidika or scriptural and Laukika or secular. In Vaidika testimony, we have the words of God. It is perfect and infallible by its very nature. Here the question of validity does not arise. As distinguished from this, secular testimony is not always valid. Only that which consists in the words of trustworthy persons is valid.
The first classification of sabda is based on the nature