________________
Dharmakirti's Attitude towards Omniscience
243
logically and empirically-as had the Buddha before him-that self-grasping is at the root of all the mental problems with which we are afflicted : greed, anger, etc., and that its elimination is the basis of ultimate and undecaying happiness. There is no question that the Buddhist analysis is psychologically astute; what is not so obvious is that a realization of the four noble truths, and especially of selflessness, can effect the sort of ontological transformation that is said to occur when one enters the path of seeing (darśanamārga) and becomes an arya, irrevocably destined for arhatship or Buddhahood. The relation between psychology and ontology is problematic, and returns us to the equally difficult problem of the nature and potential of the mind.
In the final analysis, it may be that the best a Buddhist can offer someone who is sceptical regarding the Buddha's attainments and veracity is the simple invitation to "come and see" (ehi passako), still, it is to Dharmakirti's credit that he realized the philosophical problems posed by Buddhist religious doctrines and that-trying his best to eschew both superfluous claims and dogmatic assertions-he tried to resolve them, by showing that the Dharma is uncontradicted by either perception or inference. Dharmakirti may not always have been aware of his own presuppositions and not all his arguments are equally effective, but they are conscientiously made, and ultimately do credit to the critical, empirical spirit possessed--if we are to believe the nikājas-by the Buddha himself.
Notes
3.
1. Swami Agebapanda Bharati, The Ochre Robe, London : 1961, p. 223. 2 Ibid.
Ram Jee Singh, The Jaina Conception of Omniscience, No, 43 in L. D. Series,
Ahmedabad, 1974, pp. 56-57. 4. Ibid., p. 60. 5. Ibid. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid, pp. 59-60 8. Ibid., p. 49. 9. K. N. Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge (reprint, Delhi : Motilal
Banarsidass, 1980), p. 381. 10. D. I. 17, 18; M. I. 326-329, cited Ibid., p. 203. 11. Ibid., pp. 203-204. 12. Jayatilleke's translation, Ibid., p. 468. 13. Ibid. Even more concise and "essential" is the classic formulation of the
Buddha's knowledge given at Vin. I. 41 : "The tathāgata has spoken of the causes of those dharmas that arise from causes, and also of their cessation ---SO
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
