प्रत्यक्षम् - pratyakṣa

 

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प्रत्यक्षम् - Pratyakṣa 


Etymology

अक्षम् + प्रति  = प्रत्यक्षम्

akṣam + prati  = pratyakṣam

 

The dictionary śabdārthakaustubha[1] to gives the following derivative

प्रतिगतम् अक्षम् इन्द्रियं यत्र – pratigatam akṣam indriyaṃ yatra  - that (knowledge) in which -

·       the sense organ (akṣa)

·       is in contact (pratigata) (with the object)

This is stated as a prādi-samāsa (compound) based on the vārtika - अत्यादयः क्रान्ताद्यर्थे atyādayaḥ krāntādyarthe - to the grammatical rule कुगतिप्रादयः kugatiprādayaḥ (aṣṭādhyāyī  2.2.18).

 

Lexicon

There is one entry in the Amarakośa on this term

प्रत्यक्षं स्यादैन्द्रियकम् … (3.1.79)

pratyakṣaṃ syādaindriyakam …

Pratyakṣa refers to knowledge generated through the senses (through object contact)

This lexical entry is quite in line with the etymological derivation.

 

Textual occurrences

 
Yogasūtra

There is just one occurrence of this term

प्रत्यक्षानुमानागमाः प्रमाणानि ॥१.७॥

pratyakṣānumānāgamāḥ pramāṇāni ॥1.7॥

Among the five activities of the mind pramāṇa (right knowledge) – right knowledge is one and pratyakṣa (direct perception through the senses) is counted as one among the sources of correct knowledge as indicated by the Sūtra.

 

 

Bhagavadgītā

There is just one reference to pratyakṣa in this text. It is found in the 9th chapter. It is as follows - 

राजविद्या राजगुह्यं पवित्रमिदमुत्तमम् ।

प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं सुसुखं कर्तुमव्ययम् ॥ ९.२ ॥

rājavidyā rājaguhyaṃ pavitramidamuttamam .

pratyakṣāvagamaṃ dharmyaṃ susukhaṃ kartumavyayam .. 9.2 ..

Rājavidyā is praised in this verse. Rājavidyā is the knowledge about the Brahman according to the commentary of śrīśaṅkarabhagavatpāda[2]. Rājavidyā is praised as pratyakṣāvagamaṃ - directly experienced. It is not something which is abstract and to be inferred.

Haṭhayogapradīpikā - The word pratyakṣa is not found in this text

 

Observations

It becomes evident based on the references above that among the Yoga texts – that in Haṭhayogapradīpikā, there is no discussion on epistemology. This seem to be true in the case of Bhagavadgītā also, where only a passing mention of the term pratyakṣa is found. Even in yogasūtra the epistemological discussions are minimal and restricted to only one Sūtra quoted above.

00000
 

[1] Śabdārthakaustubha, Vol 4, pg.1892

[2] राजविद्या विद्यानां राजा, दीप्त्यतिशयवत्त्वात् ; दीप्यते हि इयम् अतिशयेन ब्रह्मविद्या सर्वविद्यानाम्  - https://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/display/bhashya/Gita#BG_C09

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