Pramanasastra is one of the two branches of Bharatiya Darsana. The other branch is called Prameyasastra . Pramanam means the theory of knowledge. Without Pramana one cannot aquire valid knowledge. Pramanasastra deals with four main factors, viz. the nature of pramana, the nature of prama, the nature of pramata 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 jnana and prama. Jnana means all kinds of knowledge true or false. But when reality reveals true knowledge it is called prama or valid knowledge. The word prama is used only in the sense of true knowledge (yathartha jnana) which is distinct from false knowledge(ayatharthajnana) . Yathartha 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 doesnot represent things as they really are, it is invalid.
In this course students are introduced to various types of Pramāṇas and their properties that are incorporated in Bharatiya Darśanas.
- Teacher: Dr K E Gopala Desikan