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alighted on the prāņa (vital breath) and then progressively arrived at the conception of the ātman (self) or even Brahman (Absolute). This development of the conception of the soul is corroborated by the use of words like bhūta, prāņa, sattva, etc. for the soult in the Ācārānga Sūtra. Thus, whereas on the one hand we have the Non-dualism of insentient principle (anātmādvaita), on the other hand we find the doctrine of Non-dualism of sentient principle (ātmādvaita). Along with these we find the currents of Dualism or even Pluralism. From the point of view of the division into sentient and insentient principles, the Samkhyas, the followers of the Yoga, the Jainas, and the Nyaya-Vaiśesikas are dualists, but they recognise a plurality of souls as also of insentient principles and so are, as a matter of fact, pluralists. The Buddhists are regarded as Anātmavādins only in the sense that they do not recognise an independent permanent entity called the soul, but what the other systems term 'atman' (self) they regard as an ever-changing aggregate of vedanā (sensation), samjñā (conceptual understanding), samskāra impression) and vijñāna (pure consciousness) -- or nāma (psychical factor) as they call this aggregate. The Buddhists are thus Pluralists.
The Vijñānavādins do not recognise any external object but only ideas or consciousness and thus they are Vijñānādvatins. But even they hold that there are an infinite number of such streams of point-instants of consciousness (→ to put it in the terminology of other darśanas, infinite souls) with their own bondage, and pursuit of the path leading to emancipation. The Samkhya recognises an infinite number of independent souls which are of the nature of pure unchanging consciousness. The Vedāntins admit an infinite number of souls which they interrelate in one way or the other with God--the Supreme Self. The Vedānta of the Sankara tradition alone recognises one ultimate, absolutely unchanging sentient principle, all else being unreal.
* Samaññaphalasutta, Digha Nikaya
† Chandogya Up. 1.11.5; 4.3.3; 3.15.4. G-10
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