Studies in Jaina Philosophy

SR No.: 001616
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Nathmal Tatia
Publisher: Jain Cultural Research Society
Publication Year: 1951
Total Pages: 366
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, Knowledge, Yoga, & Epistemology
File Size: 9 MB

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PROBLEM OF AVIDYA
[CH.
attachment and aversion, and consequently to the full catalogue of worries and tribulations that are attendant upon ignorance. The remedy prescribed by the philosophers of the Nyaya school thus transpires to be a false hope, the will-o'-the-wisp, which will for ever elude the aspirant. Thus the remedy is more intractable than the disease.
In reply to this formidable criticism, Uddyotakara, following Vätsyāyana, asserts that the difficulty proceeds from a fundamental misconception of the nature of knowledge of reality and of the nature of delusion. Delusion is not equivalent to negation of knowledge, but it means false knowledge and false belief. Now we shall have to consider what sort of delusion is the cause of bondage which is exemplified by worldly life. It is delusion regarding the true nature of a limited number of reals such as the self, the body etc., that is responsible for our bondage. So it is the correct knowledge of these reals and the correct appraisement of their values which will put an end to our ignorance and the consequential emotional and volitional perversions. And thus our worldly career and the ties which bind us down to the miserable condition of life will be snapped asunder. As has been said more than once, the primal source of our misery is our ignorance of the nature of our own self and our perverted identification of the self with the not-self. It is not an impossible task to acquire this knowledge even with the aid of our limited resources.
The worldly career of a soul, therefore, means identification of the soul with the material product such as the body. So long as the soul does not become conscious of this false identification, it remains in bondage. But how can the soul become conscious of its own separate identity? How can it comprehend that the world does not belong to it? In other words, how is the knowledge of truth possible? The Nyayasutra says: 'It is possible by the practice of a particular kind of meditation and ecstasy (by means of the concentration of mind)."1 Mere logical disquisition or philosophical understanding is not sufficient for realizing the truth. The soul has to exert itself for its realization. The mind is to be forcibly removed from the sense-organs, and kept in conjunction with the soul with ardent desire to know the truth. This is meditation or ecstasy (samadhi). It is the result of the accumulated strength of endeavours spread over countless number of lives in the past. 3 The soul progressively gains strength and gradually becomes capable of more and more successful meditation and ecstasy. The
1 samadhi-viseṣābhyasat-NS, IV. 2. 38.
2 Cf. sa tu. (samadhi-veseṣaḥ) pratyahṛtasye 'ndriyebhyo manaso dhārakeņa prayatnena dharyamāṇasya 'tmanā saṁyogas tattvabubhutsa-visiṣṭaḥ-Bhāṣya, NS, IV. 2. 38.
3 Cf. pūrvakṛta-phala-'nubandhät tadutpattiḥ-NS, IV. 2. 41.