Outlines of Jaina Philosophy

SR No.: 011084
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Mohanlal Mehta
Publisher: Jain Mission Society Bangalore
Publication Year: 1954
Total Pages: 195
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 7 MB

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OUTLINES OF JAIXA PHILOSOPHY
of obscuring karma, they occur simultaneously. Akalanka also supports the same view. He says: 'If the knowledge and intuition of the omniscient were to occur in succession, his perfection would be conditional and accidental. To the omniscient who has destroyed all the relevant karmic veils, the universal and the particular reveal themselves simultaneously. The same position is possessed by Vidyānandi who holds that the awareness of the generic form is intuition, and the comprehension of the specific characters is knowledge. The knowledge-obscuring karma and the intuition-obscuring karma obstruct these faculties. Because of the presence of these two, people like us are not in a position to possess intuition and knowledge in all perfection. There is no reason why the universal and the particular should be revealed only in alternate succession and not simultaneously when the two types of karma are destroyed simultaneously due to a particular kind of purification of the self.3
SUCCESSIVE OCCURRENCE OF INTUITION AND KNOWLEDGE
Now, we proceed to the problem of the successive occurrence of intuition and knowledge in the omniscient. Jinabhadra is a great advocate of this view. He has very elaborately dealt with the problem in his Višeşāvaśyaka-bhāşya and Visesaņa-vati. He has mentioned all the three positions and advanced arguments for and against all of them. His own opinion is in favour of the successive occurrence, since he sincerely recognises the validity of the scriptural texts. He argues that if perfect intuition and perfect knowledge are identical and not separate, what is the sense in recognising two separate veils of karma, viz., intuition-obscuring karma and knowledge-obscuring karma ? Moreover, the scriptural conception of five types of knowledge and four types of intuition is condemned by those who are not prepared to accept the successive occurrence of intuition and knowledge. The view of the simultaneous occurrence of intuition and knowledge is also invalid, since two conscious activities
i Sarvärtha-siddhi, II, 9. 2 Aştaśati on Aptamimānsā, 101. 3 Aşta sahasri on Apta-mimāṁsā, 101. # Višeşāvaśyaka-bhāşya, 3093.