Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth

 Pramāṇaśāstram is one of the two branches of Bhāratīya Darśanam. The other branch is called Prameyaśāstram . Pramāṇam means the theory of knowledge. Without Pramāṇam one cannot aquire valid knowledge. Pramāṇaśāstram deals with four main factors, viz. the nature of pramāṇam, the nature of pramā, the nature of pramātā and the nature of prameya. Thus, Indian epistemology comes to involve these four basic factors with the help of which different schools of Indian philosophy try to determine the methods of arriving at the conclusions. In Indian epistemology, two terms are used in the sense of knowledge. They are jñānam and prama. Jñānam means all kinds of knowledge true or false. But when reality reveals true knowledge it is called pramā or valid knowledge. The word pramā is used only in the sense of true knowledge (yathārtha jñānam) which is distinct from false knowledge (ayathārthajñānam) . Yathārtha or valid knowledge is a true and definite knowledge of some new facts and is the apprehension which agrees with the real character of the object apprehended. If any knowledge lacks in definiteness or certitude or does not convey any new information or does not represent things as they really are, it is invalid.

            In this course students are introduced to various types of Pramāṇams and their properties that are incorporated in Bhāratīya Darśanas.