Dialectical terms (8): Conclusion (nigamana)

In the case of conclusion also Caraka does not give any definition. From the nomenclature of the example it can be inferred that his conception does not materially differ from its concept in the Nyāya-sūtra which holds that conclusion serves the purpose of excluding contradicting suggestions against the establishment of that which is to be proved.^[1] Akṣapāda defines it as the restatement of the proposition after stating the reason.^[2] Praśastapāda calls it by the term pratyāmnāya. He also holds that it is the reiteration of the proposition.^[3] According to the most perfected definition given by Gangeśopādhyāya, conclusion is a sentence that generates the verbal cognition referring to the presence of the major term (sādhya) in the minor term (pakṣa) of inference, which fact is arrived at by the cognition of the presence of reason in the minor term of inference.^[4] In conclusion, Caraka gives an outline of the five member syllogistic expression that gives rise to the verbal cognition conductive to the rise of inferential cognition which was further clearly and judiciously accounted by the Naiyāyikas.