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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
Nyaya Vais'eşika
is the cause of consciousness. If it were so, there will be some absurdities which S. Radhakrishnan
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presents as follows-"If it were a property of the body, it would exist in the various parts of the body and its material constituents. If the latter were also conscious, then we have to regard the individual consciousness as the combination of several consciousnesses produced by the different constituents. If the body has consciousness then all matter must have it, since it is of the same nature as body." But it is not proper to argue that if consciousness is a property of the body it must dwell in every part of the body; for, in that case, it will mean arguing that every part of a roseplant must be fragrant; because the rose flower that it bears possesses fragrance as its property. The body may possess consciousness though it is not conscious in itself. But Gotama says in his aphorism-"Knowledge does not pervade the whole body as it is not found in the hair, nails, etc." According to the Nyaya Vais'eṣika systems matter and spirit are two entirely different categories and there can be nothing common between them. They are exclusive of each other and there is a complete antagonism between them. Body and soul are peculiar by themselves, and hence, consciousness which is a characteristic of the soul cannot be a property of the body. Had consciousness been the essential nature of the body it would have been permanently in all bodies; but it is a fact of experi
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1 Radhakrishnan S.: Indian Philosophy, Vol. II, p. 146. 2 Vidyabhushan S. C. The Nyaya Sutras of Gotama, 3.2. 55, p. 100. केशनखादिष्वनुपलब्धिः ।
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