Nyayavatara

Author(s): Satish Chandra Vidyabhushan
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown

Page 15

न्यायावतार NYAYAVATARA.
TEXT AND TRANSLATION, WITH NOTES. प्रमाणं स्वपराभासि ज्ञानं बाधविवर्जितम् । प्रत्यक्ष च परोक्षच द्विधा मेयविनिश्चयात् ॥१॥
1. Pramâna (valid knowledge) is the knowledge which illumines itself and other things without any obstruction : it is divided as pratyakşa (direct knowledge or perception) and parolşa (indirect knowledge) as knowables are ascertained in two ways.
This definition sets aside the view of those Buddhists (Yogåcårasl who maintain that knowledge illumines itself alone, inasmuch as there is, according to them, no external object beyond it. The same definition is also in direct opposition to the doctrine of the Naiyâyika, Mîuo âmsaka and others, who hold that knowledge illumines the external object alone, as it cannot illumine itself. The Jainas maintain that it is only when knowledge illumines itself that it can take cognizance of the external object. So according to them knowledge, like a lamp, illumines itself as well as the object lying outside it.
Those whose sight has been obscured by darkness often seo many false images, such as two moons, etc. ; men bewildered by sophism are found to believe that every thing is momentary, or the like. With a view to differentiate such kinds of false