Knowledge Bank

Four goals of life

Four goals of life as per Hinduism are - 1. To live righteously. 2. To earn by fair means so that you can take care of the needs of those who depend on you. 3. To work towards achieving desires that do not harm others and yourself. 4. To attain liberation from the cycle of rebirths. These are called the 4 Purushathas.

The theory of error

The theory of error, or Akhyati ('nondiscrimination'), was proposed by Prabhakara, a philosopher of the Purva Mimamsa school in the 7th or 8th century CE. This theory explains why people make errors in judgment, such as mistaking the silvery shine of a seashell for a piece of silver. According to Prabhakara, the error arises from the inability to sharply distinguish between two true judgments: 'that object is silvery' and 'silver is silvery.' While both statements are correct on their own, the mistake occurs when the mind combines them into the false judgment, 'that object is silver.' The issue lies not with perception (pratyaksha) or memory, which provide accurate inputs, but with the mind's failure to consider alternative judgments critically.