Verse 5: What is right cognition?

prati-viṣaya-adhyavasāyaḥ dṛṣṭaṃ tri-vidham-anumānam-ākhyātam |
tat-liṅga-liṅgi-pūrvakam-āpta-śrutiḥ āpta-vacanaṃ tu ||

viṣaya – an object of attention
adhyavasāya – apprehension / mental effort
dṛṣṭa – seen
anumāna – inference
liṅga – sign, indicator, manifest, effect
liṅgi – indicated, unmanifest, cause
śruti – hearing
āpta – credible source
vacana – speaking

Perception, inference and valid testimony.

1. Direct perception is actual contact of the senses with the objects of perception. I see the fire in the hearth and the smoke that rises from it.
2. Inference relies on direct perception in the past: I recognize a fire on the hill because I’ve seen a fire in the hearth.
   • An inference is a relationship between a minor object (liṅga) and a major object (liṅgi). I can infer fire (major object) from the presence of smoke on the hill (smoke & hill are minor objects).
   • There are three kinds of inference.
     1. Apriori – this inference relies on direct perception in the past. The minor object has been perceived in the past and the major object is inferred from it: having directly perceived the fire in the hearth (minor object) I can infer, from the smoke on the hill, the universal fire (major object).
     2. Aposteriori – this inference relies on deduction. A deduction is the removal of all other possibilities until only one possibility remains. I infer that the effect of oil (minor object) is present in the cause of a seed (major object) because I cannot extract oil out of a grain of sand … or anything other than a seed. This gives rise to Causality.
     3. Familiarity – this inference reaches into what has not and cannot be perceived: from the direct experience of color (minor object) I infer the sense of seeing (major object). I and no one else has or ever will directly perceive “seeing”.
3. Valid testimony comes from trusted teachings and teachers. Valid testimony relies on Inference: I infer that if I hear knowledge (minor object) from a reliable teacher (major object ) it is valid.

1. Perception is the field of rajas that impresses itself on the field of tamas. It is like a volcano that oozes out experience.
2. Within the field of experience, perception is a three-fold flower.
3. Perception itself is the 1^st and central petal.
4. The 2^nd petal is inference.
5. Inference is a center made up of 3 centers all of which are associated with a minor object and a major object.
6. A minor object resides within the 1^st leaf of perception.
7. The major object resided within a center within inference.
8. A minor object is a piece of the major object
9. The 3^rd petal is valid testimony. It is an echo of inference where the major objects are presents without the minor objects.