प्रमाण
Pramana
pramāṇa
In simple words
Pramana means a reliable way of knowing. Indian philosophers argued about how many there are: some accept only perception, others add reasoning, reliable words, comparison and more.
What is it?
A pramana is a means of acquiring valid knowledge (prama). Every Indian school had to state which pramanas it accepts, because this determines what can be known and argued. Charvaka accepts perception alone; Buddhist logicians accept perception and inference; Sankhya and Yoga add testimony; Nyaya adds comparison; Mimamsa and Vedanta add postulation and non-cognition. For Vedic schools, scripture (shabda) is the decisive source on matters beyond the senses.
Scholar’s note
Nyaya Sutra 1.1.3 lists perception (pratyaksha), inference (anumana), comparison (upamana) and testimony (shabda). Prabhakara Mimamsa adds arthapatti (postulation); Kumarila and Advaita add anupalabdhi (non-cognition), giving six. Debates concern svatah-pramanya (intrinsic validity, Mimamsa) versus paratah-pramanya (extrinsic validity, Nyaya), the structure of inference (the five-membered syllogism, vyapti), and whether scripture is authorless (apaurusheya) or authored by God.How its meaning differs
Nyaya accepts four pramanas and developed the classical theory of inference; it holds that knowledge is validated by its fit with successful action.
Mimamsa holds knowledge to be intrinsically valid unless defeated, and treats the authorless Veda as the sole source for dharma; Kumarila accepts six pramanas, Prabhakara five.
Advaita accepts six pramanas for worldly knowledge and holds that the Upanishads alone reveal Brahman, while noting that ultimately the Self is self-evident rather than an object of any pramana.
Buddhist epistemologists such as Dignaga and Dharmakirti accept only perception and inference, and reject scripture as an independent pramana.
Charvaka accepts only perception, questioning whether inference can ever be certain, and so rejects unseen realities such as rebirth.
Jain thought divides knowledge into direct and indirect kinds, and pairs pramana with nayas (partial standpoints).
Sankhya and Yoga accept perception, inference and reliable testimony.
Where it appears in the Gita
Let scripture be your authority on what to do
कर्तव्यमें शास्त्र ही प्रमाण
तस्माच्छास्त्रं प्रमाणं ते कार्याकार्यव्यवस्थितौ।
In deciding what should and should not be done, scripture is your authority; knowing what it prescribes, you should do your duty here.
कर्तव्य-अकर्तव्यकी व्यवस्थामें शास्त्र ही प्रमाण है; उसे जानकर तुम्हें शास्त्रविहित कर्तव्य-कर्म करना चाहिये।
13.11अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं
अध्यात्मज्ञानमें नित्य-निरन्तर रहना, तत्त्वज्ञानके अर्थरूप परमात्माको सब जगह देखना —यह (पूर्वोक्त बीस साधन-समुदाय) तो ज्ञान है (और) जो इसके विपरीत है, वह अज्ञान है— ऐसा कहा गया है।
Where else it appears
Follow this idea
Trace the idea from one source to the next.
- 1Traditionन्यायNyayaNyaya's classical list of four means of knowing.
- 2Textन्यायसूत्रNyaya SutrasThe foundational text of Indian logic and epistemology.
- 3Traditionचार्वाक / लोकायतCharvaka / LokayataThe minimal position: perception alone.
- 4Traditionबौद्ध दर्शनBuddhist philosophyBuddhist epistemology: perception and inference only.
- 5Traditionपूर्व मीमांसाPurva MimamsaMimamsa's defence of scripture and the intrinsic validity of knowledge.
- 6Gita verseBhagavad Gita 16.24The Gita names scripture as the authority for what ought and ought not to be done.
- 7Conceptअनेकान्तवादAnekantavadaJain many-sidedness adds a theory of partial standpoints.
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