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Epistemology of Jainas
The process of the visual perception does not start from the contact between sense and the object. It grasps the object without any contact and reaches the stage of arthāvagraha directly. It is compared with the reflection in a mirror, which reflects the object in contiguity, at once. The speed of this process is swifter than the former, and is kpown as patukrama.
After avagraha both types of the senses have the same speed and the procedure. As a matter of fact the subsequent stages or concerned with the arrangement of the data already supplied. The outer senses play little part in that arrangement. Which is mainly a mental function.
The Mind (Manas) In Western philosophy the mind means both, the self as well as the totality of conscious states; where the self gets its manifestation. In both cases it corresponds to the soul or the psychic activity of Indian systems. It is never applied to the instrunient of those activities as the manas is generally conceived in Indian thought. In our treatment, we have followed the common tradition of accepting the mind and manas as synonyms.
According to the Nyāya and Vaiseșika mind is an internal sense. It is atomic in size and moves around the external senses. Its contact with the soul is an essential condition for knowledge and thus, it controls the non-occurrence of many cognitions at a time.1 Unlike the other senses it is not made of any of the physical elements. It is an eternal substance having an independent existence. 8 It is beyond the sensual perception and can be known through inference only. The mind does not possess any of the physical qualities, consequently its objectivity is not confined to any of them. It is a common instrument for all types of knowledge. But, the subjective qualities of 1. Vaišeșika sūtra, 3.2.1 2. Ibid, 3.2.2
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