Pratyāmnāya

By Swami Harshananda

Pratyāmnāya literally means ‘restatement,’ ‘that which comes in its place’.

This is a technical word used in two senses.

• In logic, it is used in the sense of re-asserting the pratijñā or the original statement when the same is doubted or objected to.
• In the dharmaśāstras, it is used to indicate a substitute when the original rite cannot be done. For instance, when a particular expiation cannot be performed by the transgressor, another which is a simpler or easier one, is prescribed. If the sinner is unable to donate a cow as expiation for a sin, he is permitted to pay some gold coins as prescribed. This is called pratyāmnāya.

References

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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Deval Sancheti

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