Dvaita Vedānta approaches knowledge with a robust realism, affirming that God, individual souls, and the world are all genuinely and irreducibly real. Within this framework, three pramāṇas—pratyakṣa (perception), anumāna (inference), and śabda (verbal testimony)—are recognized as valid means of knowledge. Perception, both external through the senses and internal through awareness of mental states, is accepted as a trustworthy guide to the empirical world when free from defects. This confidence in perception reflects the school’s conviction that the diversity and difference experienced in ordinary life are not illusions to be overcome, but reliable disclosures of a pluralistic reality.

Inference, or anumāna, is honored as a disciplined extension of perception, drawing on observed relations to reach what lies beyond immediate experience. It is especially important in articulating theological and metaphysical claims that cannot be directly perceived, provided that its premises are sound and its reasoning consistent. Yet both perception and inference are acknowledged to be limited and fallible, particularly in matters that transcend the empirical domain. Their validity is therefore always measured against a higher standard, which Dvaita locates in śabda.

Śabda, above all scriptural testimony, occupies the highest place in this hierarchy of pramāṇas. The Vedas and related sacred texts, understood as the word of Viṣṇu, are regarded as self-valid and free from error, providing indispensable knowledge of Brahman, the soul, and their eternal difference. When apparent conflicts arise among the pramāṇas, clear scriptural revelation is taken to override the deliverances of perception and inference, though not to negate them within their proper spheres. In this way, the three pramāṇas function not as rivals but as complementary, with scripture illuminating what reason and sense experience cannot reach on their own.

This epistemological stance serves a soteriological purpose. True knowledge, especially of the supreme reality of Viṣṇu and the real distinctions between God, souls, and matter, is held to be necessary for authentic devotion and liberation. Because such highest truths lie beyond unaided human faculties, divine revelation through śabda becomes essential, while perception and inference, rightly guided, support and confirm the theistic, dualistic vision. All valid knowing thus ultimately depends on the grace and will of Viṣṇu, even as human beings are called to use their cognitive capacities responsibly within the ordered hierarchy of the pramāṇas.