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COMPENDIUM OF JAINISM
According to Jaina philosophy, Jiva is uncreated and indestructible. As already noticed, Jiva and Ajiva are the two substances which comprise the universe. The primary
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characteristic of Jiva is consciousness which is the hall-mark and centre of life. Attentiveness is its inherent feature, as without it, it cannot have conation. It is the prerequisite of any kind of knowledge. From the popular point of view, Jiva is possessed of four prāņas: bala or power, indriya or the senses, ayu or life and ana-prāṇa or respiration. It possesses them future. The Indriyas or senses are five viz. sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Bala or power is of three kinds viz, the power of the body (action), of speech and mind. From the popular point of view, these vitalities mark out the living beings. Speaking from the realistic point of view, all these are the manifestations of consciousness.
Consciousness which is technically called Upayoga functions or manifests in two ways: Jñāna Darśana (perception) and (knowledge). The difference between Darśana and Jñana is that in former, all the details of an object are not perceived while in the latter all details are known. The distinction between the two terms which are of frequent occurrence in Jaina philosophy must be clearly understood. Darśana is an indeterminate stage in the process of getting knowledge. The sense-object contact which initiates the process of knowledge first stirs the consciousness and in this stage there is a mere awareness of the presence of the object. As such, there is only an indefinite and indistinct idea about the object in question. The details about the object are not perceived and naturally there is no question of identifying the object as belonging to a particular class or group. The process of analysis which is inherent in the human mind enables the conversion of mere sense awareness into sense-perception. The vague consciousness of the object presented to the senses is replaced by a definite comprehension of the class-characteristics of it. The distinction of the object is grasped and this paves the way for a further expansion of the domain of knowledge.
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