Pramana: Fine-Tuning Large Language Models for Epistemic Reasoning through Navya-Nyaya

Overview Pramana introduces the first large language models fine-tuned on explicit Navya-Nyaya epistemological methodology—a 2,500-year-old Indian logical reasoning framework. This work bridges ancient epistemology with modern AI to address the fundamental epistemic gap in LLMs: the inability to ground claims in traceable evidence sources, distinguish valid knowledge from pattern-matching, and express appropriate epistemic humility. Core Innovation Unlike generic chain-of-thought prompting which relies on implicit reasoning patterns, Pramana enforces structured 6-phase methodology: Samshaya (Doubt Analysis): Classifies uncertainty into 5 taxonomic categories Pramana (Evidence Sources): Mandates explicit grounding in 4 valid knowledge sources (Pratyaksha/perception, Anumana/inference, Upamana/comparison, Shabda/testimony) Pancha Avayava (5-Member Syllogism): Constructs formal arguments with universal rules (Vyapti) grounded in concrete examples (Drishtanta) Tarka (Counterfactual Testing): Verifies conclusions via reductio ad absurdum Hetvabhasa (Fallacy Detection): Systematically checks 5 reasoning error types Nirnaya (Ascertainment): Distinguishes definitive knowledge from hypotheses requiring verification This integration of logic and epistemology provides cognitive scaffolding absent from standard reasoning approaches, preventing conflation of evidence types, forcing explicit universal rule statements, enabling systematic error detection, and maintaining epistemic humility. Architecture & Training Models Developed: Stage 0 (Proof-of-Concept): Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct fine-tuned on 20 examples Stage 1 (Minimum Viable Reasoner): DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama-8B fine-tuned on 55 examples Training Methodology: QLoRA (4-bit quantization) for efficient training LoRA rank 64, targeting all attention + FFN layers Supervised fine-tuning with structured Markdown format Training costs: