ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 04

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

Page 324

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 his the determinate tendency towards the ascertainment of the particular nature of the object. Though h 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. h cognition starts immediately after avagraha and its stages are listed in Table below.
2
Stage Activity name
bhogant (leaning towards), m rga at searching), gave a t (fathoming),
cint (discursive thought) 5 vimara a (enquiry)
Details Intuition starts after contact of the object being cognised. Intuits anvaya and vyatireta attributes of the object. Intuits anvaya attributes after rejecting vyatireta attributes. Repeated intuition of the object for its anvaya attributes. Enquires about nitya / anitya and similar opposing attributes.
2.1.3 Av ya or Ap ya - perceptual judgment: After h arises av ya. Av ya excludes the non-existent characteristics of the object. h is enquiry about right and wrong, ay ya is ascertainment of the right and exclusion of the wrong. It is thus perceptual judgment. For example, when on hearing the sound one determines that the sound must be of telephone and not of conch shell or a person because it is accompanied by certain rhythm being repeated. Ay ya cognition starts immediately after h and its stages are indicated in the Table below. Stage Activity name
Details vartana
Nature of the object starts being cognised after h. limited determination Praty vartana, repeated
Repeated intuition of the object of the knowledge. determination ap ya (determination)
h ends and the cognition of the object of knowledge
get ready for retention. Buddhi, vivid determination
Stabilisation of the clear cognition of the object. Vij na (determinate cognition). Clearer cognition of the object is achieved and ready
for retention
2.1.4 Dh ra - retention of judgement
Av ya is followed by dh ra . Dh ra means retention of the perceptual judgment for a number of instants, which can be countable or non-countable. Nandi Sutra gives dh ra (holding), sth pn (placing), prati th (fixing) and ko tha (firmly grasping) as the synonyms of dh ra . Akala ka defines it as condition of recollection, which is sa sk ra (trace). Vidy Nanda also says so and further clarifies that it is like h of the nature of knowledge called recollection'. V di Deva Suri says it is only concentrated persistence of av ya for a certain length of time. It is not by any means the condition of recollection in future, as it cannot last up to the time of recollection. Hema Candra says that dh ra is the basis or cause of sm ti.
In our daily life, we can compare dh ra to writing in certain books or memory, after ascertaining validity / truth, new information or updating old information for retrieval or use later. Dh ra does not include retrieval of information from memory or written records. In psychology, activities of memory are described as encoding (sth pn ), storage (ko tha) and retrieval. Following characteristics of dh ra emerge from the above discussions:
• It is the last stage of cognition by sense organs. • No new cognition takes place during this stage but it is only the retention of the judgement.
• Sequence of dh ra cognition It starts immediately after av ya as given in Table below Stage Activity name
Details 1 dhara
| Cognition of the object of knowledge continues to exist (avicyuti) dh ra (holding), Vicyuti of the object knowledge due to its non usage, i.e. is capable
of being recalled from memory for days. sth pn (placing),
Object of knowledge is kept in storage (brain) for unlimited time. prati th (fixing)
Object of knowledge with its clear identity is kept in storage
(brain) for unlimited time. ko tha (firmly grasping) Permanent retention in the memory, like rice in storage chamber.
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STUDY NOTES version 4.0