Prabhakara Mishra

Prabhakara Mishra (625-75 CE) believed that the mind is the passive recipient of perceptual information about the environment. An observing mind does not see the world in an interpretative filter of ideas that may lead to vague perceptions. All cognitions must be considered true in themselves therefore. When judgements are confused, error occurs. Reality has to be created continuously. Cosmos continuation depends upon the performance of ritual that brings about a fresh reality.

Prabhakara holds that every cognitive act has a soul that is revealed as the subject simultaneously with the object by a spontaneous awareness. Vedic ritual instructions have a motivational force when heard by people whose ritual duty they control. They are like definite imperatives that move to action no matter whatever the agent desires. He restricts the authority of language to the ritual instructions found in the Vedic scriptures. Vedic injunctions relate to an interconnected reality that has to be brought about. The smallest significant unit of language is the sentence. Existent objects do not need verbal testimony. The Vedas cannot be an authoritative source of knowledge for the existence and description of a supposedly already existent entity as they are primarily concerned with enjoining ritual action.

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