ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 103

Sense organs cognise only the general features of the object during avagraha. The object is free from association with names at this stage. For example in the above example, the man who is awakened is just conscious of some sound and not of the specific source or nature or its purpose etc. Actually he is at this stage not even aware of 'This is sound' which becomes firm only in the third stage of natijñāna i.e. avāya. The object-perception being instantaneous cannot be considered to have developed such a form.
Thā - discrimination Thā is the inquisitive pursuit for the knowledge of specific details of the perceived datum i.e. a desire to know whether it is THIS or THAT. Thus similarities and differences of the object with other objects become the subject of consciousness in this stage. It follows in the wake of avagraha whereby the object is cognized distinctly. For example in avagraha a person simply hears (partial cognition) a sound while in thā he cognizes the nature of the sound also. The process of Thà thus continues for a certain period of time though it never exceeds one muhūrta (48 minutes).
Some Jain scholars subscribe to this view and hence declare that contact-awareness is the beginning of awareness, object-perception is dawning of awareness and thā is the determinate tendency towards the ascertainment of the particular nature of the object. Though tha is a kind of discrimination, yet it is different from doubt. It strives to ascertain the true nature of the object by means of reason and logic to lead towards the acceptance of truth and avoidance of the untruth. Thā cognition starts immediately after avagraha and its stages are listed in Table below.
Stage
Details
Activity name Ābhogantā (leaning towards), Mārgaṇatā (searching),
2
Intuition starts after contact of the object being cognised. Intuits anvaya and vyatireka attributes of the object. Intuits anvaya attributes after rejecting vyatireka attributes.
Gaveṣaṇatā (fathoming),
Cintā (discursive thought)
Repeated intuition of the object for its anvaya attributes. Enquires about nitya / anitya and similar opposing attributes.
5
Vimarśa (enquiry)
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