Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t10.35

v1.c7.s7.t10.35

*Pratyakṣa* means direct sense perception; *Anumāna* means logical inference and can be further divided into three kinds. *Purvavat anumāna* (subsequent inference) – is that which has an antecedent, a cause, just as, on account of the dark clouds, you infer rain. *śeṣvat anumāna* (antecedent inference) – when you see muddy water flowing down a river, you infer a torrential rain upstream. *Sāmānyato dṛṣṭa* (analogous inference) – when you see a tree blooming in one place, you infer another such tree is flowering in another place.