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is in discord with their meaning as everyday life determines it to be. Such arguments
which fails to satisfy the criteria of soundness must be dismissed as incoherent and
nonsensical, however convincing they may seem.
19
To illustrate how the model he proposes operates, Uddyotakara chooses the philo-
sophically-loaded argument 'sound is not eternal'. Uddyotakara's choice of the argu-
ment 'sound is not eternal' is not incidental. Demonstrating beyond doubt that the
above argument is sound, demonstrates
ipso facto
that the opposite argument 'sound is
eternal' is nonsensical. The argument that 'sound is eternal' is an exceptionally impor-
tant and an entrenched position in Indian culture. Showing it to be nonsensical is a
volatile and subversive move on behalf of Uddyotakara.
Let us now observe how the five-limbs logical model operates:
3.1
The Statement of the Proposition - 'Sound is Not Eternal'.
This piece of verbal knowledge must satisfy the conditions set by the
śabda-pramān
a
.
These conditions are that the perceptual fact which the proposition expresses is sound
and that is expresses it in accord with the rules of grammar. At this stage, the truthful-
ness of the proposition is known only to its proponent. The fact that its truthfulness is
unknown at this stage to the other disputants does not mean that it does not satisfy the
conditions set by the
śabda-pramān
a
. For whether or not it satisfies these conditions
depends solely on the truthfulness of the perceptual fact the propositions expresses
and on the fact that it expresses it in accord with the rules of grammar.
3.2
The Statement of the Reason - 'Sound is Not Eternal because it is Produced'
The statement of the reason must satisfy the conditions set by the
anumāna pramān
a
, the
criterion of inferential knowledge. According to Uddyotakara's account of
anumāna
we
have presented above, if the rules of habitual behaviors determine that sounds are pro-
duced and that whatever is produced is not eternal, the statement 'sound is not eternal'
must be a piece of inferential knowledge. The purpose of the subsequent two stages of
the logical model would be to provide conclusive evidence that sounds are produced and
that whatever is produced is not eternal. If such conclusive evidence would be provided,
inferring that 'sound is not-eternal' would be irresistible, for the following simple reason:
if sound is shown beyond doubt to be the kind of thing which, if it is produced, it is non-
eternal, it makes no sense not to infer that sound is non-eternal.
3.3
The Statement of a Familiar Instance - 'Dishes are Produced and are Not
Eternal'
The familiar instance depends on the
pratyaks
a-pramān
a
, the criterion of perceptual
knowledge. The role of the familiar instance is first, to establish the existence of a group
19
The idea that assertions must be dismissed if they are incompatible with everyday known
facts I have borrowed from Descombes. In DESCOMBES, pp.1 he states: "Phenomenon"
here means whatever may contradict our speculations and lead us to correct out initial de-
scriptions. There are phenomena if there are facts that could result in the overthrow of even
the most entrenched dogmas or in the rejection of the conclusions of even the soundest lines
of reasoning.
