The Divine Embrace: The Role of the Senses in Puṣṭimārga *

Sense-perception is accepted by all Indian philosophical systems as a valid means of epistemic knowledge. Most of them also acknowledge categories or entities which are beyond the senses and, therefore, cannot be known through direct sense-perception. Accordingly, other means of veridical knowledge, like inference (anumāna), verbal testimony (śabda), comparison (upamāna), inference from circumstances (arthāpatti), non-recognition (anupalabdhi), equivalence (sambhava), and traditional instruction (aitihya) are accepted by different philosophical schools. ¹