Anumana is a Sanskrit word that means "after measurement."
- This is the word used in Indian philosophy to describe an inference, which is widely recognized as one of the pramanas, or methods by which humans may acquire genuine and correct knowledge.
- The literal definition of the term reflects the Indian belief that every conclusion must be based on perception (pratyaksha), the most direct kind of knowledge, and that any proof must ultimately be based on perception.
A hypothesis (pratijna), a cause (hetu), and instances (drshtanta) are the three words that make up a traditional inference.
- The concept to be proven (sadhya) is one element of the hypothesis, and it is based on a certain class of things known as the paksha.
- The sadhya is the claim that there is fire, and the paksha is the specific mountain in the phrase "there is fire on this mountain."
- The item specified in the paksha, as well as the stated cause, must appear in the second word, the hetu.
- The hetu in the above example might be “because there is smoke on this mountain.”
It was required to provide both good and negative instances, referred to as sapaksha and vipaksha, respectively, as evidence.
Because ancient kitchens contained both fire and smoke, a suitable sapaksha might be "like kitchen," whereas a vipaksha could be "unlike lake," because lakes don't have either.
This broad kind of inference is susceptible to a number of validity criteria, one of the most significant of which is vyapti, which states that the explanation provided must account for all instances of the concept to be proven.
Karl H. Potter (ed. ), Presuppositions of India's Philosophies, 1972, has further information.
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