________________
EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC
been admitted, divided and defined from differ- Ihe Charent points of view by different sages and scholars of different ages and climes to suit their respective systems of thought
váka CrittCism of Knowledge
Whoever has a little acquaintance with the different Indian systems of thought knows full well that the followers of the Chárváka School admit of but one source
one Source
of knowledge, viz Experience, 1. e sense- There is but perception (), contemptuously rejecting of Know ledge and the other sources, viz. Inference, (IR), that is Pratyaksha. Testimony(), Tradition (fau), Implication (अर्थापत्ति), Probability (सम्भव) and Nonentity (H), which are warranted in drawing from facts of experience Little indeed do we know what is really taught by the Sage Brihaspati, the oldest propounder of the most uncompromising materialism and thorough going Epicuranism or whence he drew his inspiration to rely solely on sense perception or facts of actual experience and to overlook other logical inferences and the like which have been in vogue from time immemorial, for, where we perceive smoke we infer at once the fire there, oi, when a reliable person informs any one that there are fruits he
47
