Letter of the Month
Knowledge is all about being aware of the truth of what Ais,r while t h aYoga p a and t t i Bhakti (P r e s uaim m ptot i o n ) change the mind for cannot be clubbed the better, so together with technically they fall Ainntheucategory m a nofa karma, working to (Inference), it is an change something. independent & For knowledge even a sankalpa tovalid distinct change anything is means of an impediment, knowledge having because then our change itspriorities own identity. from knowing what - Poojya Guruji is to working for what should be. - Poojya Guruji
Arthapatti & Anumana Que: 'Presumption' (Arthapatti Pramana) appears to be very similar to 'Inference' (Anumana Pramana). In both we come to a definite conclusion about an unseen object on seeing some of its visible aspect. Cant we club both of these Pramana's under Inference itself? ______________________________________________ Hari om ! No, Arthapatti (Presumption) cannot be clubbed together with Anumana (Inference), it is an independent & distinct means of knowledge having its own identity. There may be some apparent similarities between the two but they are not. Some schools of philosophy, viz Samkhya and Naivayikas do club both these together under Anumana, but that is not the contention of Vedantins and Mimansakas. In Inference there is a definite knowledge about an unseen object on the basis of an invariable conconmittance (vyapti) between its two aspects - like fire & smoke. In such an inferential conclusion we have a definitive prior knowledge of the relationship between these two aspects of the object. So whenever there is smoke we can safely infer about the presence of fire. However, in Presumption there is no such vyapti gyana. It is basically an assumption which is so definitive that it is a non-negatable, valid knowledge. Let us imagine a fat person who doesnt eat in the morning, yet keeps gaining weight. Assuming that he is otherwise a healthy person, we can safely ‘presume’ that the person obviously prefers to have lavish dinners in the night. This is presumption. Lets take another example. We know where ever there is smoke there is fire (anvaya-vyapti), but can you also say that where there is no smoke there is no fire (vyatireka-vyapti). Well, in a way we can, but for this we have to first assume the connection between the anvaya-vyapti and the vyatireka-vyapti - and this assumption is arthapatti. So both are definitely class apart. Love & om Guruji
Page # 7