Biology in Jaina Treatise on Reals

Author(s): N L Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 82

Biology in Jaina Treatise on Reals
A.
The consciousness is the eternal nature of the soul (living). It is concommittant with it like the goldness in the transformed forms of bracelet, ring, ear-rings and armlet etc. of gold. This type of specific trasformation of the soul is known as applied consciousness (upayoga). Q. It is contended by the Sānkhyas) that consciousness is in the form of pain, pleasure and delusion. It should be characteised by the corresponding transformations in terms of manifestation of pain, pleasure and delusion. However, the next aphorism 2.9 classifies it in terms of knowledge and conations. This seems to be contradictory. A. There is no flaw here. The consicousness in an in-alienable general property of the soul. There connot be any livingness in other reals which are not associated with this property. The conation and knowledge etc. are the forms of consciouseness. They form a group. There is a maxim that the property of the group is also found in the constituents. Thus, the term 'consciousness' does also mean pain, pleasure etc. This aphorism defines the living in terms of a group of properties. The next aphorism 2.9, however, describes its varieties of knowledge and conation in terms of constituents of this group. Thus, there is no contradiction. 2.Q. What is meant by the term 'differentia or characterstics (Laksana)' here?
The differentia is defined as the specific property which distinguishes an entity from a mixture of entities interpenetrated into each other. Just as the gold is distinguighed by its specific property of yellow colour, density or weight (atomic weight 196 ) from a mixture of silver (atomic weight 108, white) and gold despite their mechanical union, similarly, the soul or the living is distinguished by its inalienable property of consciousness or knowledge etc (which are its function ) despite its union with karmic mattergy through mutual entry of their spacepoints. This distinction is made possible by conscientious observation and analysis.
The differentia has two varieties- (i) inalienable and (ii) alienable. The hotness of fire is the inalienable differentia of fire. The stick of Devadatta is the alienable differentia of Devadatta. The current aphorism mentions consciousness as the non-alienable differentia of the living. 4. Q. In the above illustration, the fire is qualified and its hotness is the quality. Similarly, the soul is the qualified and the knowledge etc. are its qualities. Thus, the quality and the qualified have different characteristics. They are, therefore, different or alienable. A. This is not correct. If there is no differentia for the entities, they cannot be distinguished. If the fire has no hotness, how it could be differentiated from other entities? 5. Q. It is contended again (by the Vaišeşikas) that the object is the definable and the definition is the differentia. And the definable must be different from
77