Jain Journal 1978 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 23

The Nature and Forms of Knowledge
- Jaina View –
AMAL MAJUMDAR
Man finds himself in the possession of certain convictions which roughly speaking, he calls knowledge. But all his convictions are not of the same value, and that he has to distinguish them as true and false. The awareness of such a distinction between true and false, what is also referred to as valid and invalid knowledge presupposes an enquiry into the origin and validity of all knowledge.
The sanskrit word jñāna stands for all kinds of cognition irrespective of the question of truth and falsehood. But in Indian conceptions of knowledge pramā is used to designate only a true cognition (yathārthaiñāna) as distinct from a false one (mithyā-jñāna). Consequently knowledge, strictly speaking, should always stand only for a cognition that is true, uncontradicted or unfalsified.
In every knowledge there must be a knower who knows and there must be some objects which is known. In the absence of any one we cannot have knowledge. But there must be a relation, a sort of contact between two. That is to say that the knower must come in contact with the object. Knowledge is different from our states of mind because it is certain and valid. There is always possibility of error or doubt that may creep into knowledge. So we have to understand the nature of knowledge.
In the present paper I want to discuss the nature and forms of knowledge as viewed by the Jainas in brief. Because the subject is very wide in scope, it can not be treated fully in a small dissertation. My treatment of the topic falls under five sections, viz. (1) Self and knowledge (2) Is knowledge svaprakāśa or paraprakāśa ? (3) Is knowledge eternal or noneternal ? (4) Darśana and jñāna. (5) Forms of knowledge.
Jaina epistemology is closely related to the karma-theory which forms the basis of Jaina ethics and practical religion. The karma-theory is as old as Jainism itself and so we can regard the Jaina theory of knowledge as of great antiquity. There seems to have been no controversy