UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Anupalabdhi is recognised by Bhatta Mimamsa as an independent pramana responsible for cognitions of non-existence or absence. It explains how we know that something is not present when appropriate conditions for its perception are in place but it is nevertheless not experienced. This non-perception is treated as a positive indicator of absence rather than as a mere lack of perception. Hence the pramana described in the stem is anupalabdhi.

Option A:
Option A, sabda, provides knowledge via verbal testimony and does not by itself address how we directly know that something is absent from a given locus. Relying only on testimony would not explain the immediacy of many absence cognitions.

Option B:
Option B, smriti, is memory and relies on past impressions; it cannot explain fresh awareness that an object is currently not present at a particular place.

Option C:
Option C is correct because anupalabdhi is specifically formulated to ground negative knowledge, such as knowing that a book is not on the table when one looks and fails to see it under normal conditions. By positing this pramana, Mimamsa can systematically handle negative existential judgments.

Option D:
Option D, laukika pratyaksha, pertains to ordinary perception of positive entities and cannot alone account for direct awareness of their absence, which is conceptually different.