UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

In the standard triad of knower, known and means of knowing, prameya refers to the object that becomes known when valid cognition occurs. Schools like Nyāya speak of pramātṛ (knower), pramāṇa (means) and prameya (object). The prameya is what is grasped as a result of applying an appropriate pramāṇa.

Option A:
Option A correctly identifies prameya as the thing known, such as a pot, a self or a universal, which stands as the intentional object of knowledge.

Option B:
Option B confuses prameya with pramāṇa, the instrument like perception or inference that leads to knowledge.

Option C:
Option C mixes prameya with pramātṛ, the knowing subject, which is a different element of the knowledge situation.

Option D:
Option D speaks of doubt, usually called saṃśaya, which is analysed separately from prameya; doubt may concern an object but is not itself the object of valid cognition.

A, B and C correctly describe padārtha and include standard Nyaya–Vaisheshika categories, and E matches common exam patterns. D is false because “buddhi/jñāna” is at least discussed categorically in Indian philosophies (and in Nyaya–Vaisheshika it is treated under the category of quality/guṇa of the self), so it is incorrect to claim cognition is never treated categorically anywhere. Hence A, B, C and E only are correct.

Option A:
Option A is correct because it includes all true statements and excludes D, which is an overgeneralisation.

Option B:
Option B is incomplete because it omits E (exam identification angle).

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it includes D (false) and omits A (definition of padārtha).

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it omits B (dravya/guṇa/karma examples) and includes D (false).

Prameya denotes the thing that is known when a pramana operates, for example the pot perceived or the fire inferred. It stands as the intentional object towards which cognition is directed. In Nyaya analysis of knowledge, prameya is one of the basic components alongside pramana, pramata and pramiti. Thus the object mentioned in the stem is called prameya.

Option A:
Option A, pramana, is the means or instrument of knowing, such as perception or inference, not the object that is grasped. Confusing the two collapses the distinction between channel and content.

Option B:
Option B is correct because prameya literally means that which is to be known, capturing the role of the object in the epistemic situation. It helps clarify that knowledge always has some thing as its focus.

Option C:
Option C, pramiti, refers to the cognition or knowledge itself, such as the awareness “this is a pot.” It is an internal event rather than the external object.

Option D:
Option D, pramata, is the subject or knower who experiences the cognition. While related, the knower is not the object that is being known.