________________
42
be said to hive perished on the destruction of that object in its apucity as a knowable, and hence that particular mode too of the soul can be said to have perished. But this should not be understood to main that the soul totally perishes. Such modes keep on arising anl perishing, but there is a continuity of consciousness which should not be lost sight of, and in respect of which the jiva is imperishable. In the Jaina view, every entity his the three-fold nature of origination (utpada), destruction (vyaya) and persistence (dhrauvya). The soul persists in the midst of this sort of origination and destruction. The soul is self-luminous (Cl. Brh. Up. 4.3.6); this self-luminosity is the same as jñānu (sentiency, knowledge) and this shows that this jñānanature of the soul is in no way dependent on the existence or non-existence of miterial objects; particular knowledge alone is thus dependent. Thus the existence of the soul as an inherently sentient, self-luminous entity persisting in the midst of change has been proved. The soul is doer and enjoyer and can experience pleasure-pain, bondage, transmigration, and emancipation. *
* The Nyāja-Vaišeșika system regards the soul as eternally unchanging and as the substrate of a number of qualities like knowledge, pleasure, etc. which are produced in it by its association with the body. Thus, the soul is not inherently conscious, but is capable of being conscious. The Sārnkhya-Yoga regards the soul as pure sentiency, quality less, unaffectel, absolutely unchanging, non-doer, non-enjoyer, merely a witness; all operations of knowledge, pleasure, pain, bondage, salvation, etc. are on account of its association with the buddhi (intellect! The Buddhist views will be discussed later; as also the Vedāntic. The Mimāmsā view seems to be very much like that of the Nyāya-Vaišeşika. The Vedāntic view of the soul is similar to that of the Säikhya-Yoga, only the soul is not absolutely independent as in the latter. . In all these systems the soul is entirely distinct and yirtually independent of God even if God is recognised. Only the Vedānta recognises God and regards the souls as illusory manifestations of God ( Sankara) or as real and in a way non
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org