1.1.4
Nyāya Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.1.4
इन्द्रियार्थसन्निकर्षोत्पन्नं ज्ञानमव्यपदेश्यमव्यभिचारि व्यवसायात्मकं प्रत्यक्षम्
indriyārthasannikarṣotpannaṃ jñānam avyapadeśyam avyabhicāri vyavasāyātmakaṃ pratyakṣam
The line
Perception is a knowing born of the contact of sense and object, not fixed by a word, not straying, and decisive.
नेपालीमा
प्रत्यक्ष भनेको इन्द्रिय र विषयको सम्पर्कबाट जन्मेको ज्ञान हो, शब्दले तोकिएको होइन, भड्किएको होइन, र निश्चयात्मक हो।
Where it sits
pratyakṣa (प्रत्यक्ष) from 1.1.3 is the word being defined. pramāṇa (प्रमाण) stays in the background as the class this belongs to.
Split: indriya-artha-sannikarṣa-utpannam (इन्द्रिय-अर्थ-सन्निकर्ष-उत्पन्नम्) + jñānam (ज्ञानम्) + avyapadeśyam (अव्यपदेश्यम्) + avyabhicāri (अव्यभिचारि) + vyavasāya-ātmakam (व्यवसाय-आत्मकम्) + pratyakṣam (प्रत्यक्षम्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| indriya-artha-sannikarṣa-utpannam (इन्द्रिय-अर्थ-सन्निकर्ष-उत्पन्नम्) | nominative singular, neuter | arisen from the contact of sense and object |
| jñānam (ज्ञानम्) | nominative singular, neuter | knowing |
| avyapadeśyam (अव्यपदेश्यम्) | nominative singular, neuter | not depending on a verbal designation |
| avyabhicāri (अव्यभिचारि) | nominative singular, neuter | not straying from the thing |
| vyavasāya-ātmakam (व्यवसाय-आत्मकम्) | nominative singular, neuter | having a decision as its nature |
| pratyakṣam (प्रत्यक्षम्) | nominative singular, neuter | perception |
The phrases
The definition is built on jñānam (ज्ञानम्). The long adjective gives the cause: sense, object, and their sannikarṣa (सन्निकर्ष), contact. From that contact a knowing arises.
avyapadeśyam (अव्यपदेश्यम्) keeps out knowing that waits on a name. One can see a thing before one has a word for it. vyapadeśa (व्यपदेश) is a verbal designation.
avyabhicāri (अव्यभिचारि) keeps out the miss, the knowing that strays onto the wrong thing. vyavasāyātmaka (व्यवसायात्मक) keeps out a mere waver. Perception in this line is a settled grasp. Doubt is defined later, on its own.
Sanskrit in this line
avyabhicāri (अव्यभिचारि) is the neuter nominative of the stem avyabhicārin (अव्यभिचारिन्). The masculine would be avyabhicārī (अव्यभिचारी). The short i matches jñānam (ज्ञानम्).
Say it back
Give the four marks of pratyakṣa (प्रत्यक्ष) in the order of the line: contact, non-verbal, non-straying, decisive.
Next
1.1.5. Inference comes after perception and is of three kinds.