In Defense of Indeterminate Perception in Nyāya

This paper re-examines the status of indeterminate perception in Nyāya epistemology. Recent interpretations have either questioned its coherence or sought to preserve it by reformulating its epistemic role, typically assuming that indeterminate and determinate perception are causally distinct cognitive events. Against this assumption, the paper proposes an alternative interpretation grounded in Gaṅgeśa’s causal theory of cognition. It argues that indeterminate and determinate perception are analytically distinguishable stages within a single, continuous perceptual episode. On this reading, perceptual content remains constant while epistemic articulation progressively unfolds. This analytic model preserves the textual distinction between the two stages while situating indeterminate perception within Nyāya’s realist framework.