Prakāra

By Swami Harshananda

Sometimes transliterated as: Prakara, PrakAra, Prakaara

Prakāra literally means ‘mode’.

This is a technical term used in some philosophical works of Nyāya^[1] and Mīmānsā.^[2] A prakāra is that which distinguishes something from the common group. For instance, dravya or a substance is stated to be of nine types. Pṛthvi,^[3] one of them is a prakāra or mode of that dravya. In the phrase ‘daṇḍavān puruṣah’^[4] daṇḍa or stick is the prakāra or mode that distinguishes him from others. Implication and similarity are other senses in which the word is used.

References

↑ Nyāya means logic.
↑ Mīmānsā means Vedic ritualism.
↑ Pṛthvi means earth.
↑ Daṇḍavān puruṣah means the person with the stick.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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[1] Nyāya means logic.

[2] Mīmānsā means Vedic ritualism.

[3] Pṛthvi means earth.

[4] Daṇḍavān puruṣah means the person with the stick.

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