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 225

200
Epistemology of Jainas owed the Nyāya system not only in the division of jñāna but in the field of definitions also.
The Bhagavats and Stbānānga also refer to the fourfold division but there it is treated separately. It is designated as pramāņa in distinction to jñāna. These Agamas show only the existence of a popular division which had no bearing on the Jaina theory of jñāna. Ārya Raksita for the first time combines them and gives prominence to the popular conception.
(4) The fourth stage is the contribution of Umāsvāti through his Tattvārtha and the auto-commentary. Umāsvāti lived in the fourth century of Vikrama era. He did not like the Anuyogadvāra which left the original Jaina tradition and immerged into that of the Nyāya. He reverted to the Niryuktis and supported the two-fold division of Pratyaksa and Parokşa. Anuyoga tried to assimilate the Jaina tradition in the Nyāya; while, Umāsvāti tried to assimilate the latter into the former. He included all types of cognition as accepted by the Nyāya into Mati and Sruta. Perception, Inference and Analogy were included into Mati and Āgama into śruta. In Bbāsya, he refers to the fourfold division as a view held by some thinkers. His twofold division was later on accepted by all the Jajna scholars and the four-fold division lost ground. The general acceptance of Umāsvāti's view was affected by two reasons: firstly, because it supported the original Jaina tradition. Secondly because it incorporated the view of other systems and thus checked the temptation of leaning towards the popular view. He found out a logical way for accommodation of others without losing his own individuality, which was thrown into danger by Arya Rakṣita.
The Nandi follows Tattvārtha in its two-fold division, but includes sense-cognition into the category of pratyakşa. In this way the mati is divided into pratyaksa as well as paroksa. The sense-cognition is pratyaksamati and the types of mediate cognition are paroksamati. Leaving this innovation, in other respects, the Nandi follows the Tattvārtha.