Concept of Matter in Jaina Philosophy

SR No.: 001663
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: J C Sikdar
Publisher: P V Research Institute Varanasi
Publication Year: 1987
Total Pages: 412
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, & Physics
File Size: 23 MB

Page 49

The Concept of Matter in Jaina Phiolsophy
The Ramanuja School of Vedanta also advocates the doctrine of Cit and Acit1 as the central theme of studies, i. e. the sentient and non-sentient principles. According to the Cārvākas, "everything else including cousciousness and other psychic phenomena, indeed, the whole paraphernalia of the so-called spiritual life is a function of matter."2
in
In a nutshell it can be said that there are two traditions of these principles-Atma tradition and Atom-tradition which manifest themselves as Cetanatattva and Acetanatattva infinite forms and manners with their respective characteristics in the Universe. In Western metaphysics also this 'Dualism of Matter and Spirit' is explained in this way that "Each atom of the nebula...must have had an aboriginal atom of consciousness linked with it; and just as the material atoms have formed bodies and brains by massing themselves together, so the mental atoms, by an analogous process of aggregation, have fused into those larger consciousness."'s
The emergence of the thought on Cetanatattva (sentient principle) can be traced back to Bhutacaitanyavāda (doctrine of consciousness born out of material elements), Svatantrajivavāda (doctrine of independent soul), Svatantra and Paraśrita Jivavada (doctrine of independent and dependent soul).*
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1. Śrībhāṣya, Rāmānuja, 1. 1. 43.
2. The Conception of Matter According to Nyaya-Vaiseṣika,
p. x.
3. The Principle of Psychology, p. 147.
4. Bharatiyatattvavidyā, p. 75; Kalaḥ svabhavo niyatiryadṛccha bhūtāni yoniḥ purusa iti cintyam, Svetasvatara Upanisad1. 2; Idam mahadbhūtamanantamaparaṁ vijñānaghana evaitebhyo bhūtebhyaḥ samutthaya tanyevānuvinaśyati na pretya saṁjñāsti - Bṛhadaranyaka Upanisad, 2.4.12; Viro davvam khettaṁ mahesena vanaṁ pamāņo kāla ya Bhāvo u bhavapuriso samāsayo niggamamgaim; Viseṣāvaśyakabhāṣya, gāthā, 1553;
Virakta...Caitanyakhacitātkāyānnātmā anyo astīti manyate Nyayamañjarī, pt. II, p. 3;