The Concept of Prama and Pramana: An Analysis in the light of Pramanasastra

Abstract

The present paper enunciates the meaning, definition and nature of “pramā-pramāṇa” among the diverse schools of Indian philosophy. An attempt is made to represent the nature, form and method of valid knowledge enriched with the commentaries, sub- commentaries of original sources/literature of epistemological traditions in Indian philosophy (Pramāṇaśāstra). An overview of various issues, views, and comparative exposition of any system of epistemology deals with the following disputational questions: “What is knowledge?”, “What is valid knowledge?”, “How to distinguish valid knowledge from invalid knowledge?”, “What are the instruments/means of arriving at valid knowledge?”. To these ends, the paper attempts to synthesize the divergent views of all the concerned schools of Indian epistemology.