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SOME POSITIVE JAINA ARGUMENTS..
tion to accepting consciousness as the nature of the soul. Kundakunda, therefore, says that the soul and knowledge are not separable from each other like fire and heat but, are coextensive with each other.188 But this essential knowing abi. lity of the soul, as has already been said, is crippled by its long association with the karmic matter, and comes back to its original glory when the obstacles are removed.139
The logic working here is very simple : when the nature of the soul is to know and when there are no obstacles in between the knower and the known, knowledge naturally becomes all perfect. Various analogies have been used to explain this point. Vīrasena'40 and Vidyānanda 141 both refer to a popular analogy employed by Haribhadra.149 As the fire burns fuel when there is no obstacle, similarly the knowing-self will know everything, when all obstructions are removed. A negative analogy is also used : just as a diamond covered with dust does not reflect its usual lusture, so the self covered with knowledge-obscuring karmas, etc., does not know everything, 143
The basic idea behind this argument has been made clear by Akalanka144 when he says that the soul is capable of knowing everything (sarvārtha-grahan2-samarthya ) and hence when its cover is removed, nothing remaias unknown. Samantabhadra145 has already prescribed the path of penances for the total and final liquidation of the karmic-fetters.
It is true that both the Buddhists and Jainas admit of certain obstructions or covers to our knowledge. However, the Buddhist attitude is influenced by other considerations; so that
138 Kundakunda, Pravacana-sara, I. 23-25. 139 Ibid., 1. 43, I. 53, I. 55-58. 140 Virasena, Jayadhavala Tika, p. 66. 141 Vidyānanda, Aşta-sahasri, p. 50. 142 Haribhadra, Yoga-bindu, 431. 143 Akalanka, Nyāya.viniscaya, 23, 465, 466. 144 Ibid., 361-362, 410, 414. 145 Samantabhadra, Apta-mimān sẵ, 5, 6.
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