Pramāṇa

In Indian philosophy, a reliable source of knowledge, such as perception, inference or testimony.

Also: pramana, means of knowledge, knowledge source, valid cognition

What it means

A pramāṇa is a means that produces true cognition; the notion is central throughout classical Indian epistemology. A belief that turns out false did not come from a genuine pramāṇa, only an apparent one. Schools disagreed about how many there are. The Cārvāka accepted perception alone. Buddhist logicians such as Dignāga and Dharmakīrti built their theories on perception and inference, and rejected testimony as an independent source. The Nyāya school accepted four: perception, inference, comparison or analogy, and testimony from a reliable speaker. Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta thinkers accepted further sources such as presumption, and Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā added non-cognition, the means by which we know that something is absent. The debate parallels Western questions about which sources of knowledge are basic.

The questions it belongs to

• 2.2 Sources of KnowledgeWhich ways of finding things out actually work?
• 2.2.4 TestimonyDo you need a reason to trust, or a reason not to?

Thinkers

• Gautama (Akṣapāda)
• Dignāga
• Dharmakīrti
• Gaṅgeśa

Traditions

• Indian
• Buddhist

To read

• Pramāṇasamuccaya (Compendium of Valid Knowledge) — Dignāga
• Pramāṇavārttika (Commentary on Valid Knowledge) — Dharmakīrti
• Tattvacintāmaṇi (The Jewel of Reflection on Reality) — Gaṅgeśa

Sources and further reading

• Epistemology in Classical Indian Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• Nyaya (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Written by the Coordinates of Thought editors and checked against the sources above on 29 October 2026. Not peer-reviewed. How we write and check.

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