pramanas

[petra kieffer-Pülz]

Dear All,

thanks to all who commented on the pramanas till now.

The terms are in Pali (I only gave the Skt. terms for convenience),  
the expression is paccakkhānumānasaddatthāpattippabhedassa  
pamāṇacatukassāpariccāgī, and it is to be found in Vajirabuddhi| 
s Vajirabuddhiṭīkā (Chaṭṭhasaṅgāyana edition 3,22-23), i.e.  
in an undated  subcommentary on the Vinaya.
	Vajirabuddhi here comments on the expression catukkam apariccāgī,  
which forms part of a verse given by him in the very beginning of the  
text, and characterizing a vattā (vaktṛ). In Pali this verse to my  
knowledge is documented only a second time in the 9th century  
Mahāniddesa-Aṭṭhakathā, and only these two texts comment on it.  
The Vajirabuddhiṭīkā gives three explanations, one of wich is the  
pramāṇa-tetrad. The Nidd-a has two identical explanations, only the  
pramāṇa-tetrad is missing.

The mentioning of four pramāṇas is certainely conditioned by the  
catukkaṃ of the verse. However, I thought it highly unlikely that  
the author invented this list, and I hoped it would throw some light  
on his background and perhaps time (between 9th and 12th century),  
who possibly enjoyed a Sanskrit education, perhaps in South India.

Petra


Am 22.04.2009 um 11:31 schrieb Vincent Eltschinger:

> Dear Petra,
> Though I am also very curious about the context where this list  
> occurs,
> let me say that it does not match other, pre-epistemological lists  
> (from
> Dignaaga onwards, late Buddhist philosophers accept only two  
> pramaa.nas,
> i.e., pratyak.sa and anumaana). In what appears to be the earliest
> Buddhist "dialectical" text, the "hetuvidyaa section" of the
> Yogaacaarabhuumi, only pratyak.sa is explicitly said to be a  
> pramaa.na,
> but other items have the same function (to provide arguments for the
> reason): anumaana, aaptopade'sa (= 'sabda), similarity and  
> dissimilarity
> (to be treated as one or two elements). In the *Upaayah.rdaya  
> (preserved
> in Chinese only, and retranslated into Sanskrit by Giuseppe Tucci),  
> the
> list provided matches the Naiyaayika one: pratyak.sa, anumaana,
> aaptopade'sa, and upamaana. However, the Buddhist  
> "idealists" (Asa.nga in
> the Abhidharmasamuccaya, Vasubandhu in the Abhidharmako'sabhaa.sya,  
> in the
> Vyaakhyaayukti and probably, contra Frauwallner, in the Vaadavidhi)
> generally reckon three pramaa.nas: pratyak.sa, anumaana, and  
> aaptopade'sa.
> As far as I know, then, arthaapatti does not occur in the available
> Buddhist works concerned with pramaa.nas.
> Yours sincerly,
> Vincent Eltschinger
>
>> Dear All,
>>
>> I've got a list of four pramāṇas in a Pāli text, these are:
>>
>> pratyakṣa
>> anumāna
>> śabda
>> arthāpatti
>>
>> Can anybody tell me, whether these four are typical for specific
>> branches of Buddhist philosophy or perhaps other Indian philosophies?
>>
>> Would be grateful for any information,
>> Petra Kieffer-Pülz
>>
>> **************
>> Dr. Petra Kieffer-Pülz
>> Wilhelm-Külz-Str. 2
>> 99423 Weimar
>> Germany
>> Tel. 03643/770447
>> kiepue at t-online.de
>>

**************
Dr. Petra Kieffer-Pülz
Wilhelm-Külz-Str. 2
99423 Weimar
Germany
Tel. 03643/770447
kiepue at t-online.de