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Biological Issues in the Bh.S
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relationship the Bh.so mentions that soul can be identified through five types of colour, two types of smell, five types of taste and eight types of touch.
Acharya Siddhasena Divākara 100 has considered the relation between soul and matter from the non-absolutistic standpoint. As he says: Soul and matter intermixed like milk and water, so it is improper to distinguish them as soul or matter. The physical organism, childhood, youth, etc., belong to the body, but it cannot be said that they are not influenced by the soul. Likewise soul has the modes of sensual knowledge, memory etc. which cannot be characterized as unifluenced by matter. Thus we find relationship between soul and matter, inspite of having very different natures.
The question is whether the nature of the relationship between the soul and matter is material' or 'non-material'? In its worldly career, the soul is not absolutely non-material. According to the Bh.S this relation is bilateral. It is not exclusively due to the soul or due to the matter. Soul and matter are involved as co-operative partners. This follows from the phrase "annamannasinehapadibaddhā."102 It means that the soul has affection which attracts and assimilates, and matter has an affection which gets attracted and assimilated. This bilateral affection' establishes intimate relationship between the two. The relationship has been conveyed through the five expressions: bondage, contact, pervasion, affection and identification.03 According to Acharya Amrtacandra the mode of affection that occurs in the soul is due to it's beginning less association with matter. Mind-body Relationship
We can also discuss this problem under the mind-body relationship, which have haunted philosophers as well as psychologists since ancient times.
We find two words 'Psyche' (citta) and 'Mind' (manas) as synonyms. It is only the Jain philosophy which regards psyche and mind as two different principles. The former is sentient and while latter is non-sentient. 104 In common parlance, we use 'mind' for 'psyche' considering it as sentient. Thus, in some regards the word 'mind' stands for sentient and the word 'body' stands for non-sentient. Now the problem is how mind and body influence each other and what is the exact nature of their mutual relation. The Jain philosophers are clearer about the view that the soul in its worldly existence is not absolutely different from the material body, though in its true nature it is pure unadulterated sentience. They have mutual relation from the time immemorialios and therefore interaction with influence upon each other.
In Western philosophy, the subject of mind-body relation has been a perennial problem. Descartes added a new meaning to the concept of mind. Before him, the philosophers accepted mind and body as two aspects of the same principle, but he considered mind as distinct from the body. Descartes
| SR No. | 002011 |
| Book Title | Scientific Vision of Lord Mahavira |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Chaitanyapragyashreeji |
| Publisher | Jain Vishva Bharati |
| Publication Year | 2005 |
| Total Pages | 202 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, Science, & Philosophy |
| File Size | 12 MB |