Upamana Gavaya Case – UGC NET Question

Upamāna is the means of knowing the relation between a word and its object through similarity or comparison. The classic case is where someone hears “a gavaya is like a cow but lives in the forest,” and later on seeing such an animal, recognises “this is a gavaya.” The cognition depends on comparing the new object with the known cow and linking it to the word. This process is neither mere testimony nor ordinary inference.

Option A:
Option A is a case of inference from smoke to fire and does not involve learning a new word’s reference by comparison.

Option B:
Option B correctly captures the gavaya example where similarity between the seen animal and a cow enables identification through upamāna.

Option C:
Option C exemplifies śabda pramāṇa, where scripture gives knowledge through verbal testimony, not through comparison.

Option D:
Option D is an instance of memory, which recalls a past event rather than generating new word–object knowledge via similarity.