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Indirect Knowledge
such parts only; similarly the senses are the windows or the partial removal of the karmic matter. The windows do not help in perception in the positive sense; but they help negatively i.e. by removing the obstruction. Akalanka places the senses in category of external but inseparable cause in contrast with the object, light etc. which are not inseparable.1
The Senses: Their nature
The Nyaya defines senses as the supersensual organ of knowledge having its locus in the animals organism. A sense cannot be itself sensed or perceived. It is only inferred as an organ necessary for the function of perception. The Vedanta and MImamsä also hold similar views. According to the Vedanta senses are the vehicle through which the mind goes out and transforms into the form of object. According to the MImamsă a sense is what produces a clear and distinct knowledge of the object, brought in contact with. According to the above-mentioned three systems the external senses are material substances constituted of the physical elements (bhautika) and localised in the different end-organs. Regarding the internal sense, i.e. the mind they hold different views which will be discussed later on.
According to the Sankhya the senses are not physical bodies like the pupil of the eye, but modifications of subtle material principle called ahankara. He thinks that a physical (bhautika) element cannot account for the perception of a distant object. In perception the senses must have a direct contact with the oojects. But a physical organ cannot have direct contact with an object which lies at a distance or behind a glass. This is possible only if the sense-organ be all-pervading in character and not limited to physical substance. So the Sankhya thinks
1. Tattvartha Rājavārtikā II. 8
2. Tattva Kaumudi p. 3
3. Vedanta Paribhāṣā p. 46
4. Sastradĭpikā p. 36
5. Sankhyakärikā 25
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