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The General Conception of Knowledge
139
prativijñaptiḥ' i.e. consciousness is an intimation of awareness in every simple case.
But, this awareness cannot appear in life in its true separate condition, it is always accompanied by some secondary mental phenomenon. These constitute the second part of Mind and are known as citta, dharmas. Although, quite undifferentiated in itself, the pure sensation is, nevertheless, distinguished from the stand-point of its origin and its environment i. e. the elements by which its appearance is accompanied. From this point of view there is a set of six different kinds of consciousnesses corresponding to a set of six receptive faculties (indriyas) and a set of six kinds of objects. We thus, have six categories of consciousness beginning with visual sensation or precisely, pure sensation, arising in connection with some colour and ending with consciousness associated with supersensous objects, not percievable by senses.
Consciousness has been compared in Milindapraśna with a watchman at the middle of the crossroads beholding all that come from any direction. Buddhaghoṣa in Atthasālini says that consciousness means that which thinks its object. If we are to define its characteristics we must say that it knows (vijñāna), goes in advance (puvvangama) connects (sandhāna) and stands on Nämarūpa (nāmarūpapadasthānam). When the consciousness gets a door, the objects of sense are discerned and it goes first as the precursor. When a visual object is seen by the eye, it is known only by consciousness, and when the dharmas are made objects of mind, it is known only by the consciousness. Buddhaghoșa also refers here to the passage in the Milindapraśna we have just referred to. He further goes on to say that when states of consciousness rise one after another they leave on gap between the previous and the latter, and therefore consciousness appears as connected. When there are the aggregate of the five skandhas, it is lost; but there are the four aggregates as Nāmarūpa. He further asks, is this consciousness the same as the previous consciousness or different
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