Anekantavada

Author(s): Harisatya Bhattacharya
Publisher: Atmanand Jain Sabha

Page 47

recollection again, it remembers past matters that come up before it suitably and in inference and authoritative knowledge, the subject comes to know things of past, present and future, that are suitably presented before it. It is then not the simple co-existence-in-time of the object with the subject but its suituble presentation at the time of its cognition which acoounts for its actual knowledge by the subject. As for the knowing subject, the Jainas maintain that in the matter of knowing the subject may be looked upon both as formless and as having a form. The subject is essentially consciousness which certainly has not the form of a material thing and in this respect, the subject is formless. But consciousness consists in knowing a thing and is varied overy moment in accordance with the form of the object cognised. These changing modes of consciousness may be looked upon as its forms and the subject of consciousness in knowing an object may rightly be said to be assuming forms from time to time. These subjective changes of forms assumed by the know. ing subject are caused by the removal or mitigation of the obstacles to its knowing. Thus according to the Jainas, the subject of knowledge is a reality which comes to cognise the object when internally the knowledge-enveloping forces becoing