| Part of a series on | |
| Hindu philosophy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Orthodox | |
| Heterodox | |
Pratyaksha in Hinduism is one of the three principal means of knowledge, it means that which is present before the eyes clear, distinct and evident.
| Part of a series on | |
| Hindu philosophy | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Orthodox | |
| Heterodox | |
Pratyaksha in Hinduism is one of the three principal means of knowledge, it means that which is present before the eyes clear, distinct and evident.
Pratyaksha (Sanskrit: प्रत्यक्ष IAST: pratyakṣa) literally means that which is perceptible to the eye or visible, in general usage it refers to being present, present before the eye i.e. within the range of sight, cognizable by any sense organ, distinct, evident, clear, direct, immediate, explicit, express, corporeal; it is a Pramana, mode of proof. [1] The Nyaya School recognizes Pratyaksha (perception) as a kind of pramana along with Anumana (inference), Upamana (comparison) and Shabda (verbal testimony); this school recognizes these four kinds only. The Sankhya School does not recognize Upamana as a pramana. To these four auxiliaries which help illuminate things the Vedantins and the Mimamsakas also add Anupalabdhi (non-apprehension) and Arthapatti (presumption)as valid pramanas. [2]
Pratyaksha is one of the three principal means of knowledge. The three principal means of knowledge are – 1) Anumana, inference from data, which depends for its value on the possession of the right data, on the right observation of the data including the drawing of the right analogies, the unerring perception of true identity and rejection of false identity, the just estimate of difference and contrast, and on the power of right reasoning from the right data; 2) Pratyaksha which is the process of collecting and knowing the data, and 3) Aptavakya which is evidence, the testimony of men in possession of the sought after knowledge. [3]
Pratyaksha refers to the faculties of perception with which are connected thoughts ( Chinta ), imagination (Kalpana) and volition (Praytna), which four together as Chetas illuminate the Manas , the ordinary mental equipment of the individual, and give awareness or consciousness (Chetna). [4] There are four types of valid perceptions – a) Indriya pratyaksha or sense perception, b) Manas pratyaksha or mental perception, c) Svavedana pratyaksha or self-consciousness, and d) Yoga pratyaksha or super normal intuition. In sense perception, which is an indeterminate perception the chittashakti (intelligence-energy) acts as the substratum of the senses. Mental perception arises when chittashakti, with the aid of Buddhi , reflects upon objects of senses, and is a determinate perception. Self-consciousness arises when, directed by the tattvas or panchakoshas, raga (attachment), vidya (knowledge), niyati (order of things), kala (time) and kalpa (the elements) along with pleasure and pain become objects of knowledge to chit, the intelligence of the self. Super normal intuition is gained after removal of impurities cover the intelligent-self through practice of the eight-fold yogic-discipline. [5]
Pratyaksha knowledge can be gained through a) Worldly pratyaksha, externally through the five senses and internally through mind, and b) Transcendental pratyaksha which is divided into Samanya, Lakshana, Gyana lakshana and Yogaja. Pratyaksha (apparent or obvious) is divided into Savikalpa , Nirvikalpa and Pratibhigya. [6] Pratyaksha knowledge is intuitive in nature and in Yoga and Vedanta is also known as Aparokshanubhuti. [7]
Nyāya, literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment", is one of the six astika schools of Indian philosophy. This school's most significant contributions to Indian philosophy were systematic development of the theory of logic, methodology, and its treatises on epistemology. Ancient Mithila University was famous for Nyaya Shastra teaching.
In yoga, Indian medicine and Indian martial arts, prana permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects. In Hindu literature, prāṇa is sometimes described as originating from the Sun and connecting the elements.
Hindu philosophy encompasses the philosophies, world views and teachings of Hinduism that emerged in Ancient India which include six systems (shad-darśana) – Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta. In Indian tradition, the word used for philosophy is Darshana, from the Sanskrit root drish.
Vaisheshika or Vaiśeṣika is one of the six schools of Indian philosophy from ancient India. In its early stages, the Vaiśeṣika was an independent philosophy with its own metaphysics, epistemology, logic, ethics, and soteriology. Over time, the Vaiśeṣika system became similar in its philosophical procedures, ethical conclusions and soteriology to the Nyāya school of Hinduism, but retained its difference in epistemology and metaphysics.
Samkhya or Sankya, IAST: sāṅkhya) is a dualistic school of Indian philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, puruṣa ; and prakṛti,.
Mīmāṁsā is a Sanskrit word that means "reflection" or "critical investigation" and thus refers to a tradition of contemplation which reflected on the meanings of certain Vedic texts. This tradition is also known as Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā because of its focus on the earlier (pūrva) Vedic texts dealing with ritual actions, and similarly as Karma-Mīmāṁsā due to its focus on ritual action (karma). It is one of six Vedic "affirming" (āstika) schools of Hinduism. This particular school is known for its philosophical theories on the nature of dharma, based on hermeneutics of the Vedas, especially the Brāḥmanas and Saṃhitas. The Mīmāṃsā school was foundational and influential for the vedāntic schools, which were also known as Uttara-Mīmāṁsā for their focus on the "later" (uttara) portions of the Vedas, the Upaniṣads. While both "earlier" and "later" Mīmāṃsā investigate the aim of human action, they do so with different attitudes towards the necessity of ritual praxis.
The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras and 196 sutras. The Yoga Sutras was compiled in the early centuries CE, by the sage Patanjali in India who synthesized and organized knowledge about yoga from much older traditions.
Vishishtadvaita is one of the most popular schools of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. Vedanta literally means the in depth meaning of the Vedas.Vishisht Advaita is a non-dualistic school of Vedanta philosophy. It is non-dualism of the qualified whole, in which Brahman alone is seen as the Supreme Reality, but is characterized by multiplicity. It can be described as qualified monism or qualified non-dualism or attributive monism. It is a school of Vedanta philosophy which believes in all diversity subsuming to an underlying unity.
Dignāga was an Indian Buddhist scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic. Dignāga's work laid the groundwork for the development of deductive logic in India and created the first system of Buddhist logic and epistemology (Pramana).
The Nyāya Sūtras is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text composed by Akṣapāda Gautama, and the foundational text of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy. The date when the text was composed, and the biography of its author is unknown, but variously estimated between 6th-century BCE and 2nd-century CE. The text may have been composed by more than one author, over a period of time. The text consists of five books, with two chapters in each book, with a cumulative total of 528 aphoristic sutras, about rules of reason, logic, epistemology and metaphysics.
Pramana literally means "proof" and "means of knowledge". In Indian philosophies, pramana are the means which can lead to knowledge, and serve as one of the core concepts in Indian epistemology. It has been one of the key, much debated fields of study in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism since ancient times. It is a theory of knowledge, and encompasses one or more reliable and valid means by which human beings gain accurate, true knowledge. The focus of pramana is how correct knowledge can be acquired, how one knows, how one does not know, and to what extent knowledge pertinent about someone or something can be acquired.
In Indian philosophy, Paroksha refers to mediate knowledge or indirect cognition, mediated by sensory-intellectual apparatus, in which thought systems psychological insights that have evolved in the context of two levels of realities, empirical and transcendental, are gained through both direct cognition and indirect cognition of things that exist in the universe.
Anupalabdhi means 'non-recognition', 'non-perception'. This word refers to the Pramana of Non-perception which consists in the presentative knowledge of negative facts.
In Hindu philosophy, Sakshi, also Sākṣī, "witness," refers to the 'pure awareness' that witnesses the world but does not get affected or involved. Sakshi is beyond time, space and the triad of experiencer, experiencing and experienced; sakshi witnesses all thoughts, words and deeds without interfering with them or being affected by them. Sakshi or Shiva, along with Shakti (will/energy/motion), represents the Brahman, the totality itself in its most fundamental state, the concept of all mighty, revealed in ancient philosophical texts of Hinduism.
Kasaya is attachment to worldly objects and is an obstacle in the path leading to Nirvikalpa Samadhi: it is overcome through viveka, discrimination.
Chinta in Hindu philosophy refers to mentation i.e. mental activity, especially thinking.
Vidya figures prominently in all texts pertaining to Indian philosophy – meaning science, learning, knowledge, and scholarship. Most importantly, it refers to valid knowledge, which cannot be contradicted, and true knowledge, which is the intuitively-gained knowledge of the self. Vidya is not mere intellectual knowledge, for the Vedas demand understanding.
Kalpanā is derived from the root - kalpanama (कल्पनम्) + ना, and means – 'fixing', 'settlement', 'making', 'performing', 'doing', 'forming', 'arranging', 'decorating', 'ornamenting', 'forgery', 'a contrivance', 'device'. and also means – 'assuming anything to be real', 'fictional'.
Adhyavasāya generally means – 'apprehension', 'clinging to', 'mental effort' and also 'perseverance', 'having decided'.
Yoga philosophy is one of the six major orthodox schools of Hinduism, though it is only at the end of the first millennium CE that Yoga is mentioned as a separate school of thought in Indian texts, distinct from Samkhya. Ancient, medieval and most modern literature often refers to Yoga-philosophy simply as Yoga. A systematic collection of ideas of Yoga is found in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a key text of Yoga which has influenced all other schools of Indian philosophy.