A History of Indian Medical Literature v2.c30.782

v2.c30.782

Śāntarakṣita does not reproduce Caraka's text, but gives an original definition of yukti, which is attributed to Caraka. Both he and his commentator regard yukti as a kind of reasoning that concludes to a cause-effect relation (tatkāryatāpratīti) between two things when the one will come about if the other exists (etadbhāvabhavitva); the absence of an example (dṛṣṭānta) distinguishes it from anumāna; Kamalaśīla adds that it differs from pratyakṣa on account of its being conceptual (savikalpatva). At first sight these statements by the two Buddhist thinkers are surprising, since nothing similar is found in the Carakasamhitā. Nevertheless, Cakra found it useful to refer to these views because of his own interpretation of yukti. Cakra's assertion that Śāntarakṣita misrepresents Caraka's views about yukti is an exaggeration because the two definitions are clearly related to