What is Nirvachana (definition)?

For properly understanding a topic, we should be conversant with the correct definitions of the words we use. This was mentioned in the previous lesson. It was in this context that the question ‘what is Nirvachana?’ had come up. Let us continue from there.

Nir-Vachana means, to elucidate appropriately and precisely. It means ‘to explain with the help of unambiguous terms what has to be explained’.
In the present context of understanding Vedanta, we were trying to understand about the phenomenon of the manifest world and about the Self. Understanding itself is Jnana (knowledge).

Jnana

Jnana is of two types. 1. Yathaartha Jnana and 2. Ayathaartha Jnana.

Yathaartha Janna means understanding an object as that object only. For example, in the example of rope-snake, to understand a rope to be a rope is Yathaartha Janna.

Wrongly understanding an object (to be something else) is Ayathaartha Janna. This is also called Asatya Jnana (false knowledge). In the analogy of rope and snake, assuming a piece of rope to be a snake is Ayathaartha Janna.

Objection: When simple terms such as Satya Jnana and Asatya Jnana are available, why should difficult words (Yathaartha Jnana and Ayathaartha Jnana) be used?
Reply: It is true that they are difficult terms. But they possess more clarity. There are two words Yatha + Artha (in the word Yathaartha). ‘To perceive an object as that very object’ is the meaning of these words. That is, to perceive a rope as rope is Yathaartha Jnana. Using the word Yathaartha, rather than Satya conveys this meaning better. Because the term is difficult, the men of wisdom have used another simpler word ‘Pramaa’ in place of Yathaartha. Pramaa means Yathaartha Jnana.

Pramaa (True knowledge, accuracy of perception)

Pramaa is of two types. 1.Smriti (remembrance) and 2. Anubhava (experience).

Smriti is recollection of what has been experienced in the past. Anubhava is perceiving in the present.

Anubhava comes from Pramanas (testimonies) such as Pratyaksha (direct perception). When the knowledge thus obtained with the help of Pramanas remains in the Antahkarana (inner instruments) as Samskara (latent impression) and after some time, due to some reason gets recollected, it becomes ‘Smriti). Therefore, it can be said with certainty that for Smriti to occur, the reason can be anything other than testimonies such as Pratyaksha.

Viewed from this angle, there is clear difference between Anubhava Jnana (knowledge obtained from experience) and Smriti Jnana (knowledge obtained by recollection). The former comes from testimonies such as direct perception etc., while the latter comes from something else. Because of this difference, some argue that Smriti Jnana can not be considered as Pramaa and that only Anubhava Jnana should be considered as Pramaa.

From the above discussion, it is clear that ‘to perceive an object as that very object’ is Pramaa.

Some scholars have explained this in a different way.

Viphala Pravritti (Viphala=failure, futile, fruitless. Pravritti =attempt)

To perceive a snake where there is only a rope is Ayathaartha Jnana. That is, it is Apramaa. (the opposite of Yathaartha is Ayathaartha; the opposite of Pramaa is Apramaa). How could it be known that this is Ayathaartha Jnana (not true knowledge)? The person who had perceived it as a snake took a club and poked at it. After poking several times, he realised ‘this is not a snake; this is only a rope’. In other words, his attempt to find a snake there failed! Here, he faced failure. He was subjected to Viphala Pravritti.

To understand this better, let us consider another example. A person is wandering in the seashore on a sunny afternoon. He is alone. In a distance, he saw a shining piece of silver. Immediately he ran to pick it up. By the time he reached that place, he was gasping for breath. To his disappointment, he found that it was not a piece of silver, but only a seashell. This very seashell, when seen from a distance on a sunny afternoon appeared to him as a piece of silver. At that moment, he was under the impression that it was a Yathaartha Jnana (true knowledge). Therefore, he ran towards it. But when he neared that object, he realised that his effort (to find silver) had failed. That is, he was subjected to Viphala Pravritti. Because of this Viphala Pravritti, he now realised that the knowledge that he had in the beginning was in fact Ayathaartha Jnana.

If he had actually found a piece of silver there, his effort would not have become futile. That is, his Pravritti (attempt) would have been Saphala (fruitful). Then he would have got the confirmation that the knowledge he had in the beginning was Yathaartha Jnana.

Therefore, to confirm whether the knowledge is Yathaartha or Ayathaartha, one should try to procure the object about which the person got the knowledge. If the attempt (Pravritti) becomes successful (Saphala), then it is Yathaartha Jnana. If the attempt becomes futile, it becomes Ayathaartha Jnana.
The above discussion can be condensed as:

‘That knowledge which produces Saphala Pravritti is Pramaa; that which produces Viphala Pravritti is Apramaa’.

Thus, two types of definitions have come up for the word Pramaa. 1. To perceive an object to be that very object is Pramaa and, 2. That knowledge which brings about Saphala Pravritti (fruitful attempt) is Pramaa.

Let us now see if Smriti can be considered as Pramaa. In the background of the above two definitions, it must be said that Smriti can be considered as Pramaa. Let us see how. Smriti shows the past experience as it is now. Therefore, according to the first definition, it can not be anything other than Pramaa.

Let us now see if Smriti can satisfy the second definition. Certain knowledge was obtained by recollecting. For example, the recollection "I was short when I was a boy" came now. With the help of reasoning, it was established that I was indeed short then. Thus, the attempt in this regard was Saphala (fruitful). Therefore, Smriti (recollection) too should be considered as Pramaa.

However, some scholars do not accept these verifications or the above definitions of Pramaa.

It might be true that you have established (with the help of reasoning) that you were dwarf in your boyhood. But can you take upon yourself that form now? Certainly not! Thus, your Pravritti (attempt) here is not Saphala (fruitful). ‘Thus Smriti (recollection) is not Pramaa’ is their conclusion.

It is not proper to say that one should always make an effort to confirm the knowledge one gets before accepting it to be true and that only after such confirmation one should accept it as true. For example, dense smoke is visible on a hill. Common sense says that there is forest fire on the hill. Because this knowledge is true, the farmers are taking precautions to prevent their cattle from going in that direction. If it is said that this knowledge is not true, it would mean that every farmer should climb the hill, see the fire there, and then realise that the knowledge that they had got in the beginning was correct. This is impracticable. Therefore, the scholars have given another definition for the word Pramaa: ‘The knowledge that is obtained with the help of Pramanas (testimonies) such as Pratyaksha etc., is Pramaa’.

What are Pramanas? How many are they? What is Pratyaksha? What is Pramana? It appears as though this discussion is drawing us very far. In whatever way we define it, the summary is ‘Pramaa is that knowledge which produces Yathaartha and that which produces Pramaa is Pramana’.

It means that to know the definition of the word ‘Pramana’, one should first know the definition of the word ‘Pramaa’. In this lesson, two definitions for Pramaa were proposed and subsequently both the definitions were discarded in favour of a third definition. But according to the third definition, Pramana and Pramaa are interdependent. That is, to understand one, the other has to be understood first. It is like saying ‘one can not marry unless one is cured of madness and madness can be cured only if one marries’. This is called as Anyonyaashraya Dosha (fault of mutual dependence)

In order to come out of this catch-22 situation, Vedanta proposes a different definition for the word Pramaa.

(to be continued)