“Somdutta who is never seen eating during the day time is constantly gaining…
2024
“Somdutta who is never seen eating during the day time is constantly gaining weight. Therefore, she must be eating during the night time.” As per classical Indian philosophy which instrument of knowledge is used in the above statement?
Answer: D. Postulation — Concept: In classical Indian epistemology a pramāṇa is an accepted means of valid knowledge. Arthāpatti — postulation or presumption — is the pramāṇa in which…
- A.
Perception
- B.
Analogy
- C.
Verbal authority
- D.
Postulation
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Correct answer: D
Concept: In classical Indian epistemology a pramāṇa is an accepted means of valid knowledge. Arthāpatti — postulation or presumption — is the pramāṇa in which a fact that is nowhere perceived or reported must be supposed, because some already accepted fact would otherwise remain unaccountable. The technical name of that relation is anyathānupapatti, "not possible otherwise": the supposition is forced by the incompatibility of two granted facts and by nothing else.
Application to this statement:
Two facts are granted about Somdutta: her weight keeps increasing, and she is never observed taking food during the day.
A continuous increase in weight is not possible without intake of food, so the two granted facts cannot stand together as they are.
The incompatibility is removed only by supposing a further fact that is neither stated nor observed — that the taking of food happens at night.
Since that supposition is demanded solely by the unaccountability of the granted facts, the knowledge of night-eating is reached by arthāpatti, postulation.
Contrast with the other instruments of knowledge:
Instrument of knowledge | What it would require, and what the statement gives |
|---|---|
Pratyakṣa (perception) | Direct contact between a sense organ and the eating itself; the night-eating is nowhere observed or reported in the statement. |
Upamāna (analogy) | A similarity stated in advance between a familiar and an unfamiliar object; no such comparison is supplied in the statement. |
Śabda (verbal authority) | The sentence of a trustworthy speaker or an authoritative text; no testimony is quoted in the statement. |
Anumāna (inference) | An invariable concomitance already established in past instances, as smoke is with fire; no such universal rule is applied here, the missing fact is postulated to keep the granted facts from conflict. |
Hence the instrument of knowledge employed in the statement is postulation, arthāpatti.