By Swami Harshananda
Viruddha literally means ‘contradictory’.
This is a technical term used in Nyāya philosophy. It is the second fallacy listed under hetvābhāsa which has five such technical terms.
In the statement, ‘Air is heavy because it is empty’, the middle term ‘empty’ is contradictory because it disproves the heaviness of air. This is called ‘viruddha’.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore