Question
According to the Advaitic text Vedāntaparibhāṣā, “Those means of knowledge are six in number (tāni ca pramāṇāni ṣaṭ)”. These are:
The correct answer is
Perception (pratyakṣa), Inference (anumāna), Comparison (upamāna), Verbal Testimony (āgama), Presumption (arthāpatti), and Non-apprehension (anupalabdhi).
Pramāṇāni in Vedāntaparibhāṣā
The Advaitic text Vedāntaparibhāṣā identifies six primary means of knowledge, known as pramāṇāni. These are the valid sources through which correct knowledge (pramā) can be obtained.
Six Means of Knowledge Listed
According to Vedāntaparibhāṣā, the six pramāṇāni are:
- Perception (pratyakṣa)
- Inference (anumāna)
- Comparison (upamāna)
- Verbal Testimony (āgama, also known as Śabda)
- Presumption (arthāpatti)
- Non-apprehension (anupalabdhi)
This list constitutes the recognized instruments for acquiring valid knowledge within the framework discussed in the text.
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Important Questions from Religion & Indian Society
- Which school of classical Indian philosophy asserts the following?
1. It is fallacious to take any knowledge claim (jñāna) as absolute.
2. To recognize that all knowledge claims are contextually and partially true does not lead to skepticism. - Which one of the following classical Indian schools of thought do the philosophical texts Spandakārikā and Pratyabhijñāsūtra belong to?
- “Desire, cognition etc. are qualities that necessarily require a substance and therefore individually constitute the necessary mark or sign of substance, which could then be identified as soul.”
Which one of the following classical Indian thinkers has made this argument? - Which of the following options is/are included among the four states of Ātman as delineated in the Mānḍukya Upaniṣad?
- Which of the following options is/are NOT correct according to Śaiva-siddhānta?
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