THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF SANKHYAVAAD

ABSTRACT

Samkhya or Sankhya is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. It is described as the rationalist school of Indian philosophy. It is most related to the Yoga school of Hinduism, and its rationalism was influential on other schools of Indian philosophies. Samkhya considered Pratyakṣa or Dṛṣṭam (direct sense perception), Anumāna (inference), and Śabda or Āptavacana (verbal testimony of the sages or shāstras) to be the only valid means of knowledge or Pramana. Unlike few other schools of Hinduism, Samkhya did not consider the following three Pramanas as epistemically proper: Upamāṇa (comparison and analogy), Arthāpatti (postulation, deriving from circumstances) or Anupalabdi (non-perception, negative/cognitive proof).

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