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According to Jain philosophy, living beings are neither created nor destroyed. As already indicated, living beings and non-living beings are the two substance types which comprise the universe. The primary characteristic of living beings is consciousness that distinguishes it from non-living beings. Manifestation of consciousness is its inherent feature, as without it, it cannot perceive and cognize which are the prerequisites of any kind of knowledge.
1.1 Distinctive characteristics of siva (Living being) The further distinctive characteristic of living being (jīva) is its manifestation of consciousness4. That, which arises from both internal and external causes and concomitant with consciousness, is upayoga (active or attentive consciousness). Consciousness manifests itself in two ways namely intuition (darśana) and knowledge (jñāna). The difference between intuition and knowledge is that the former is detail-less knowledge (a feeling of sheer existence) while the later is with all the details of the object of knowledge. It is important to understand the difference between these two terms as they occur very frequently in Jaina texts. Darśana is an indeterminate stage in the process of cognition. The object of knowledge gets in contact with sense organs and initiates the process of cognition. At this stage it is just a mere awareness of the existence of the object. So at this stage there is an indefinite and indistinct idea about the object in question. The details about the object are not perceived and so there is no question of identifying the object as belonging to a particular class or group. The process of discrimination or analysis that is inherent in the human mind enables the enhancement of mere sensual awareness into sensual perception. The vague consciousness of the object presented to the senses is replaced by a definite comprehension of its class and characteristics. The distinction of the object is grasped and this paves the way for a further expansion of the knowledge domain.
According to Pujyapāda knowledge is with details and the intuition is without details. Apprehension of the mere object (the universal) is intuition and awareness of the particulars is knowledge.
1.2 Two main types of living beings Living beings are further described as of two types, namely empirical souls or the tranmigratory soul (saṁsārī-jīva) and pure or liberated souls (Muktātmā). Transmigration
* Upayogo laksanam, Tattvārtha-sūtra XI.8 5 Sansărino muktāśca, Ibid II. 10
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STUDY NOTES version 5.0
| SR No. | 007712 |
| Book Title | ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | International School for Jain Studies |
| Publisher | International School for Jain Studies |
| Publication Year | 2012 |
| Total Pages | 404 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 13 MB |