Jaina Epistemology

SR No.: 006738
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Indra Chandra Shastri
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith
Publication Year: 1990
Total Pages: 516
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 21 MB

Page 139

Epistemology of Jainas
Kumārila also regards the soul as partly conscious and partly unconscious. It is conscious in the part where the act of cognition is produced. In other parts it is unconscious. In this view the Mimämsä goes very near to the Nyaya conception. Roughly seen the Jaina does not favour this view. He says that the soul is an indivisible unit having consciousness as its essential character. It cannot be said that it is conscious in one part and unconscious in the other. But, the Jaina theory of avarana renders this difference insignificant. The Jaina also accepts that the avarana is removed partially. When we see through the eye the avarana is removed only from that part of the soul which is occupied by the pupil. The other parts remain obscured. This is why generally the cognitions through all senses do not occur simultaneously.
114
Regarded from this point of view, the difference is significant in the ethical plane only. When the soul is liberated or the avarana is totally removed; the soul, according to Jainism, becomes omniscient. The question of partial obscurance does not arise in that state. According to the Mimamsa system partial consciousness is a natural state. It is not caused by any external matter as the Jaina maintains. This is why Mimämsä does not believe in the theory of omniscience.
Mimamsa Theory of Consciousness
Cognition, according to Kumarila is a mode of the self. It is described as an act (kriya) or process (vyāpāra). This change or disturbance which takes place in the atman brings about a certain relation with the object known. The self, being by hypothesis omnipresent, is necessarily in relation with all the existents; but, that relation is not the same as is required for knowledge. If it were. Jñana would arise in respect of all objects. The relation that produces jñana is unique. It is described as a sort of comprehension. To know is a transitive verb.2
1. Sastradīpikā p. 56
2. Ibid.