________________
PROOFS FOR THE SOUL BEING..
97
other systems of Indian philosophy give their best attention to prove the existence of self.
The Jainas have also offered arguments for the existence of soul. Their discussion also, like others, has Pūrva-paksa (statement of the opponent's view) and Uttara-paksa (statement of their own view). Here, I shall confine myself to the examination of arguments for the existence of soul and shall not discuss Jaina criticisms of the different conceptions of soul in Indian philosophy, I shall also not discuss those Jaina arguments which are of general nature108 and too well known. They can also be found elsewhere. I shall, therefore, concentrate only on those arguments which are based on the doctrine of Pramānas. [i] Argument for the existence of Soul based on Perception
(Pratyakşa) :
The existence of Self is directly proved by our uncontradicted immediate experiences Hence, to argue that the soul does not exist since neither it nor its functions are ever perceived directly109 is wrong because it is proved by experience like happiness, sorrow, memory, etc, In fact, our own experience is the basis even of doubts and denials.110 All the mental
108 The Psychological Argument states that the various psychological
functions of mental life cannot be explained without the hypothesis of a soul. But we can say that William James, David Hume, Buddhists and the Behaviourists do not accept this.
It is further said that self cannot be doubted or denied, because it is the self that by which we know" - Acaranga Sūtra, I. 5.5., cp. Śarkara's statements, "self cannot be doubted for it is the essential nature of him who denies it"-Brahma-Sutra (S.B), II. 3.7); "everyone is conscious of the existence of his own self and no one thinks "I am not"-Brahima Sutra (S.B.) I. 1.1. "If there is no doubt, how do you realise aham"??-Viseșāvas yaka-Bhāşya, 1554-6. In a manner very much similar to Descartes (Cogito ergo sum), Mahāvīra
also proves the existence of self. (Vide, Viseşāvas yaka-bhasya, 1557). 109 Viseșāvas yaka-bhāsya, 1549 110 Ibid., 1557.
JCO-13
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
