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Epistemology of Jainas
5. It is like a light without which all knowledge would be blind.
6. It is without any quality. We shall discuss the above points and explain the Jaina views regarding them. (1) Consciousness as an Independent Reality
Jainas also hold consciousness as essence (svatattva) of the self and in a way identical with it, but they do not agree in absolute identity. As a matter of fact this difference between the two systems is a natural result of their respective metaphysical positions. According to Jainism consciousness is the essence as well as a faculty of the soul which is neither absolutely different nor absolutely identical with its substratum. The Nyāya system stood on one extreme and advocated absolute difference. The Sänkhya stands on the other extreme and proposes absolute identity. It holds that faculty is nothing but cause in the form of unmanifested effect. It is included in the very conception of the cause. The difference between sand and an oilseed does not lie in the fact that the latter possesses a faculty of producing oil while the former does not; but the very nature of oil-seed differentiates it from the sand i. e, one contains the oil in upmanifested form while the other does not.
The Jaina contends that a faculty is not absolutely same as the cause. We see the same cause producing various effects. The same mango fruit produces different cognitions of colour, form, taste etc. If there is only one cause and not separate faculties giving effect to separate cognitions, the difference in effects cannot be explained. Similarly, the same lamp produces different effects of burning the wick and sucking the oil. Consciousness is only one of the many faculties of the self; the others being Bliss and Power. They cannot be included in consciousness. These faculties cannot exist without a substratum and that substratum is soul. In this respect, the soul is not merely a faculty or an aggregate of them but a separate factor connecting all the faculties and qualities.
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