'A water buffalo looks something like a cow, and such buffaloes are present in the countryside; on seeing a thing similar to a cow, one recognises it as a water buffalo.' This endorses the concept of

The example endorses the concept of Upamana, knowledge through comparison.

One first learns that a water buffalo resembles a cow.

Carrying that similarity in mind, one moves about the countryside.

On seeing a creature like a cow, one recognizes it as the buffalo.

This grasp of a thing by its likeness to a known thing is upamana.