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PRABUDDH JEEVAN
FEBRUARY 2014
consciousness of it as the Buddhists believed. Thus it Sankhyas, Perception, Inference and Testimony; four is a system of Realism, Pluralistic Realism, since the by the Nyāya School; Perception, Inference, Analogy reals are many external objects, independent of our and Testimony; five by a Mimāmasaka Prabhākara, knowledge of them.
Perception, Inference, Analogy Testimony and PreThe substances which their Philosophy accepts are sumption, and six by the Mimāmasakas, the additional taken directly from experience, and no attempts at philo- sixth being Not-Being. sophical simplification are made. The Nyāya -Vaiseșika The Nyāya theory of Perception : Gangesa, a accepted the Atomic theory of the existence of four at- Naiyāyika, defines Perception as Knowledge whose oms, Earth, Water, Fire and Air. These atoms are eter- instrumental cause is not knowledge. According to nal and all-pervasive. The 5th substance is Space Gautama it arises from the contact of a sense-organ (Akāśa) which is also eternal and all-pervasive. Time with its object. In normal Perception the factors involved is another substance which accounts for change. The are: (1) the object of Perception, (2) the external me7th substance is Relative Space (Dik-Direction). The dium, e.g., Light in visual Perception, (3) the appropri8th substance is the Soul (Atman), which is separate ate sense-organ (4) the Mind or Manas, the central confor each person. The 9th is Mind (Manas), which is necting organ, without the help of which the sense oratomic in size, and which when it comes into contact gans cannot operate on their objects, and (5) the Self. with the soul, the senses and objects, become the OC- In normal perception all these factors operate propcasion of the generation of knowing, feeling, willing. And erly. When any of them does not do so, erroneous Perfinally we have Isvara or God. In Addition to substances, ception or Illusions arise. we have other existences which do not exist by them- Manas or Mind is a condition of Perception. It mediselves. There are Quality (Guņa), Action (Karma), Gen- ates between the senses and the Self. If it is pre-occuerality (Sāmānya), Speciality (Vishista), Inherence pied, Perception will not arise. If it is in contact with one (Samavāya). The ideal of Philosophy is, with the help sense-organ, it cannot be so with another. It is thereof knowledge and a proper understanding of Fallacies fore atomic, anu, and not vibhu or all-pervading: for whereby error may be avoided, to know the respective that is the reason why some experiences have a succharacteristics of the above entities, the 6 Padārthas; cessive character. Dravya, Guņa, Karma, Sāmānya, Visesa, and The Nyāya School is Realistic and so in the act of Samavāya as stated above. When this knowledge is Perception a naturalistic relation between the self and attained, all Passions disappear and the Soul is liber- the object is believed to take place : the outward object ated.
stamps its image on the Self as the seal impresses The Origin of Knowledge (Pramāna) and the four itself on the wax. Further, Nyāya assumes the existMeans of Right Knowledge in Nyāya : The Nyāya- ence of objects external to the Percipient and by his Vaiseșika regarded that knowledge is produced by a Realism the Naiyāyika is saved from the subjectivism collocation of certain non-intelligent as well as and solipsism of the Buddhist, which forces the latter intellingent elements through their conjoint action: this to believe that we have only momentary feelings and collocation is the Pramāņa or the determining cause of that the external world is a mere imagination of the unKnowledge.
learned. According to the Nyāya School there are four Gotama says that Perceptual Knowledge is inexPramāņas or Means of Right Cognition-Perception pressible. A thing when simply perceived is perceived (Pratyakşa), Inference (Anumäna), Analogy as bearing no name. Of Perception there are two kinds: (Upamāna), and Testimony (Sabda).
the Determinate and the Indeterminate. The former imIt is to be noted that different schools had different plies a knowledge of the Genus to which a thing beviews as to the Pramānas to be accepted by them. The longs, e.g., as a Cat; but Indeterminate Perception is following will give a comparative statement.
devoid of such consciousness. While the former is Only one Pramāna was accepted by the Chārvākas, Knowledge about an object, the latter is Knowledge of Perception; two were accepted by the Vaiseșika and Acquaintance with an object.* the Buddhists, Perception and Inference; three by the Inference: It is the second Pramāņa or Means of
