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PREFACE
My aim in preparing the present booklet has been to make an humble contribution to one of the most significant schools of Indian thought, viz., Jaina Philosophy. Like other thinkers of India, the Jaina philosophers have also contributed to the field of epistemology. The Jaina thinkers have defined knowledge as the essence of soul. The soul has other characteristics also, but the Jaina thinkers always emphasized knowledge as the chief characteristic possessed by the self.
The knowledge or cognition of an object can be of two kinds : either it is restricted to the grasping of the object in its existential generality which is called indeterminate cognition, undifferentiated knowledge or apprehension, or it grasps the object with its individual attributes which is called determinate cognition, differentiated knowledge or comprehension. The present work gives an authentic account of various sub-divisions of these two kinds.
I am thankful to the authorities of Gujarat Vidyapith for publishing this booklet. My thanks are especially due to Prof. Madhu Sen, the Director of the International Centre for Jaina Studies, for taking keen interest in its publication.
Mohan Lal Mehta
B-18, Angal Park Chatuhshringi Pune-411 016 13-12-95
