290 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [June, 19 10. 



Similarly a right conclusion is not the result of merely an 

 ordinary deduction or anumana. The deduction must have the 

 adventitious quality of what has been termed excellence, if it 



The ordinary anumana is an 



lead 



inference or reasoning in the psychological sense of the term. 



The author of the Nyaya-sutras, however, takes prama 

 in its logical sense. His definition of perception is as follows : 



Translation. — Perception is the knowledge which results 

 from the contact of sense with its object, (1) not employing 

 the aid of language, and (2) being such as is not contradicted 

 by future experience, and (3) of the nature of ascertainment 

 (as opposed to doubt). 



Here mark the clause (2). It distinctly provides for what 

 may be termed logical or valid perception. The Bhasya under- 

 stands it in this sense, and observes that the cognition of the 

 mirage would have been a case of perception, but for the clause 



^TOfH^Tft (2). The following observation of Radhamohana 



Vidydvacaspati in his Nyaya-sutra-vivaranam will substantiate 

 the above remarks : 



• • ♦ 



Translation. — Perception in general is to be defined as the 



sense 



and when this is such as is not contradicted by future ex- 

 perience, it becomes valid [or logical] perception. 



Gotama does not define anumana or deduction. He 

 merely states that it presupposes perception, and is of three 

 kinds, namely, (1) purvavat (inference from cause to effect), (2) 

 gesavat (inference from effect to cause), and (3) samamjato-drista 

 (inference from similarity?). 1 It should be pointed out here, 

 that it is not definitely known at the present day what Gotama 

 precisely meant by these terms. I have given in brackets what 

 seem to me to be the most suitable renderings. Even the old 



na 



that in his time the precise meanings of these terms had al- 

 ready become a matter of conjecture. Gaudapada, in his com- 

 mentary on the Sdnkhyakarikds , has explained these terms in 



due to what is called bile ( fq?| ), which produced the jaundice. The 



moon is perceived to be of the size of a small plate. Here the deception 

 s due to another fault, namely, distance. 



