By Swami Harshananda
Anumāna literally means ‘to measure or draw conclusions, following [a given premise]’.
Indian systems of philosophy have paid considerable attention to the problem of knowledge and the means of obtaining it. The object to be known is called ‘prameya’ (‘that which is measured or known’), the means of knowing it is ‘pramāṇa’ (‘the measure’) and the knowledge obtained thus is called ‘pramā’ (‘that which is measured’).
The pramāṇas accepted by the various schools vary from two to six. However, almost all the theistic schools agreed on three of them and consider them as more basic. They are :
- Pratyakṣa - Direct perception
- Anumāna - Inference
- Āptavākya - Testimony
The āgama or scriptural testimony is considered the highest in last category.
When smoke is seen on a distant hill, though fire itself is not seen directly, we conclude that there is fire on the hill since smoke is invariably associated with fire. Here, the means of our knowledge of fire on the hill is ‘anumāna’ or inference. We are measuring (mā = to measure) or knowing the object of knowledge (fire), following (anu = to follow) a given premise (i.e., the smoke and the invariable concomitance of smoke with fire known to exist from our earlier experiences).
Some technical terms commonly used while defining anumāna are :
- ‘Sādhya’ - What is to be proved; here, the fire
- ‘Hetu’ - The cause for such inference; here, the smoke
- ‘Pakṣa’ - That which takes a side, or causes doubts; here, the hill
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore