The Bhikṣuṇī Maṇimēkhalai

254
Book XXVII
[The Various Systems of Beliefs]
Setting about on her mission to the city of Vañji, she went to the
assemblage of the teachers of the different persuasions, and
addressing the leader of the votaries of the path of the Vēda, asked
him to let her know the ultimate truth as he understood it.
Vēdavādī
Discoursing on the instruments of knowledge as recognized by his
school, he pointed out that,
‘Three teachers are recognized as of authority, namely, Vēdavyāsa,
have recognized
instruments of knowledge to be ten, eight and six respectively. These
are (1) direct perception (Pratyakṣa), (2) Inference (Anumāna), (3)
similitude (Upamā), (4) authority (Āgama), (5) inferential assumption
(Arthāpatti), (6) appropriateness (Iyalbu or Svabhāva), (7) tradition
(Aitihya), (8) non-existence or negation (Abhāva), (9) inference by
elimination or by correlation (Mītchi or [190] Oḷibu, Sans.: Pāriśēṣa)
and (10) occurrence (Uṇḍāneṟi or Uḷḷaneṟi, San.: Sambhava).
Of these, (1) Kātchi, direct perception, is of five kinds, according as
they are perceived by the particular sense organ, namely, sensation of
the colour by the eyes, sound by the ear, smell by the nose, taste by the
tongue, and touch by the body. By means of these is experienced
pleasure or pain. Contact of these with the life principle (Prāṇa, or
Uyir of the text), the means of communication of these (vāyil), and the
mind that experiences these (manas), operating without interruption
lead to understanding without exclusion, without error and without