Source Book in Jaina Philosophy

SR No.: 001263
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Devendramuni
Publisher: Tarak Guru Jain Granthalay
Publication Year: 1983
Total Pages: 590
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Philosophy
File Size: 10 MB

Page 368

A SOURCE-BOOK IN JAINA PHILOSOPHY
347
(2) upakarana." Nirvriti is the organ itself and upakarana is the protective physical cover like the eyelid in the case of the eye. Each of these two is again sub-divided into antaranga and bahiranga. Bhāvendriya has its distinction from the point of view of its upayoga. Bhāvendriya is a psychic part of the organ, it is also divided into two parts labdhi and upayoga. Labdhi is the manifestation of the specific sense-experience due to the destruction and subsidence of the knowledge obscuring karma. It may be referred to as the removal of psychic impediment which have to be eliminated if sense-experience is to be made possible. Upayoga is the psychic force determining the specific sense-experience coming out of the contact of the specific sense organs with the object of stimulation. Thus the Jainas make a distinction between the physical structure and the psychical element involved in the sense-organs. Jainas have given a detailed analysis of the structure of the sense-organ.
PROCESS OF SENSE EXPERIENCE
The development of the sense-organs is not uniform in all the animals. There are gradations in the animals according to the number of sense-organs posscssed by them. We have one-sensed organism two-sensed organisms, three-sensed, four-sensed, and five-sensed organisms according to the number of sense organ they possess. Similarly, the size of the sense-organs and its capacity to experience may also vary with different animals. The capacity of sense-experience determines the different gradations of animals. Therefore, it can be said that labdhi (the capacity) is the basic factors for the distinction between different sense-organs and their function. Without labdhi, nirvștti, upakarama and upayoga cannot exist.
Next to Labdhi comes nirvytti as an important factor in the function of the sense-organs. Thus, we find that it is possible to have upakaraṇa in the absence of upayoga, nirvștti in the absence of upakarana and labdhi in the absense of niryrtti. But it is not possible to have
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Tattvārthasūtra 2, 17. Tattvärthasūtra 2, 18.