1.1.5
Nyāya Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.1.5
अथ तत्पूर्वकं त्रिविधमनुमानं पूर्ववच् छेषवत् सामान्यतोदृष्टं च
atha tatpūrvakaṃ trividham anumānaṃ pūrvavac cheṣavat sāmānyatodṛṣṭaṃ ca
The line
Inference is preceded by perception, and it is of three kinds: pūrvavat (पूर्ववत्), śeṣavat (शेषवत्), and sāmānyatodṛṣṭa (सामान्यतोदृष्ट).
नेपालीमा
अनुमान प्रत्यक्षपछि आउँछ, र त्यो तीन प्रकारको हुन्छ: पूर्ववत्, शेषवत् र सामान्यतोदृष्ट।
Where it sits
anumāna (अनुमान) from 1.1.3 is being defined. tat picks up pratyakṣa (प्रत्यक्ष) from 1.1.4, so perception is still in force as the prior knowing.
Split: atha (अथ) + tat-pūrvakam (तत्-पूर्वकम्) + trividham (त्रिविधम्) + anumānam (अनुमानम्) + pūrva-vat (पूर्व-वत्) + śeṣa-vat (शेष-वत्) + sāmānyataḥ-dṛṣṭam (सामान्यतः-दृष्टम्) + ca (च)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| atha (अथ) | indeclinable | now |
| tat-pūrvakam (तत्-पूर्वकम्) | nominative singular, neuter | having that as what comes before |
| trividham (त्रिविधम्) | nominative singular, neuter | of three kinds |
| anumānam (अनुमानम्) | nominative singular, neuter | inference |
| pūrva-vat (पूर्व-वत्) | nominative singular, neuter | the kind that has the prior |
| śeṣa-vat (शेष-वत्) | nominative singular, neuter | the kind that has the remainder |
| sāmānyataḥ-dṛṣṭam (सामान्यतः-दृष्टम्) | nominative singular, neuter | what is seen from a general likeness |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and |
The phrases
atha moves the lesson on from perception. tatpūrvaka (तत्पूर्वक) says this new knowing has that earlier knowing before it. tat is perception. One infers from something already grasped.
The three names are pūrvavat (पूर्ववत्), śeṣavat (शेषवत्), and sāmānyatodṛṣṭa (सामान्यतोदृष्ट). ca joins the third name to the first two. The line itself does not spell what each name picks out.
Vātsyāyana (वात्स्यायन)'s reading is the one the later books argue from. pūrvavat (पूर्ववत्) infers the later effect from a cause already known, as rain from a mass of cloud. śeṣavat (शेषवत्) infers the remaining cause from the effect, as rain upstream from a swollen river. sāmānyatodṛṣṭa (सामान्यतोदृष्ट) infers by a general likeness where one has not seen that cause and that effect together, as the sun's motion from its change of place, on the likeness of things one has seen move.
Sanskrit in this line
Before ś (श्), the final t of pūrvavat (पूर्ववत्) is recited c, and ś (श्) is recited ch, so the join is pūrvavac (पूर्ववच्) cheṣavat (छेषवत्). In the split, the two words are still pūrvavat (पूर्ववत्) and śeṣavat (शेषवत्).
Say it back
Say that inference is tatpūrvaka (तत्पूर्वक) and of three named kinds, and be able to give Vātsyāyana (वात्स्यायन)'s three pictures.
Next
1.1.6. Comparison establishes the thing to be known through likeness to something already familiar.