ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02

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

Page 114

INTERNATIO
SCHOOL
OF
SELF STUDY IS THE SUPREME AUSTERITY
STUDY NOTES version 5.0
स्वाध्याय परम तप
AN STUDIES
Source of knowledge and its owner - Jñātā
Soul/self or Jiva is differentiated from other substances by its distinguishing characteristic of jñana. Hence jñāna is found nowhere else except in jīva. Both soul and jñāna are concomitant and co-existent and the soul is the knower (Jñātā).
Jñana and soul are both of the same size else parts of soul will be without jñāna or jñāna will exist somewhere (other than soul) svdehaparimana, Dravyasamgraha Gatha-10
Means of Indirect Cognition by Empirical Self
Empirical soul needs other media to cognize the objects as it is masked by jñana and darśana obscuring karmas. Accordingly it has sense organs (indriyas). Mind is also described as quasi-sense in Jain scriptures. There are five senses namely skin (touch sense), tongue (taste sense), nose (smell sense), eyes (colors and forms sense) and ears (hearing sense). Eyes and mind can perceive their objects without touching or contacting them while the remaining sense organs need contact with their subjects to cognize. Each sense organ has limitations of the distance and time for their respective subject as detailed in Dhavala. Further the jiva is classified according to the number of sense organs it has (starting with touch and moving on to taste, smell, see and hear). Jīva with up to four senses cannot have mind and the five-sensed jīva can be with or without mind. Sense organs are classified as physical (Dravya) and psychical (Bhāva) and shown below in Fig1.
Physical sense organs are further classified as form (Nivṛtt) and upakarana (capability to use physical organs to perceive matter). Nivrtti is further classified as external (form of each sense organ as we see it) and internal which is the internal part of sense organ associated with the external part. Upakaraṇal enabler are essential as they assist and protect (upakāra) both internal and external sense organs (e.g. eye brow and black eyeball are the upakarana of eye). Psychical sense organs on the other hand are the manifestation of soul resulting in the inclination and capability of each sense organ to know their respective subjects. Psychical sense organs are further classified as capability and its utilization, which are due to the dissociation cum subsidence of mati-jñānāvarṇīya-karmas. Matter sense organs are effective only when associated with psychical sense organs (as they have the cause-effect relationship). Each sense organ can cognize only its own attribute, e.g. skin can cognize touch, eyes can cognize form and colour and so on.
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