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Epistemology of Jainas
Arthavagraha;1 which is knowledge without any doubt. Vyañjanavagraha results into Arthavagraha. If it were without any knowledge, it cannot transform into a knowledge. Jñana does not necessarily mean a cognition but, also its cause.
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It is interesting to contrast this view with that of the logical period, where Sannikarsa is explicitly rejected as not knowledge, and therefore Apramāņa. It is the paucity of our philosophical discussions that when the same thing comes from a rival system it is severely attacked and it is forgotten that the criticism goes against their own tenets also.
Jinabhadra suggests another explanation also. He says that a thin ray of knowledge exists in Vyañjanāvagraha as well, but is unmanifest on account of its dimness. A single ray of light cannot appear distinctly in thick darkness. The contact, in the case of a deaf does not result into cognition, nor it contairs even the thinnest ray of knowledge. Consequently, it cannot be accepted as Vyañjanavagraha. It means that Vyanjanavagraha is a contact of the object with living senses only. Even in the stage of mere contact they possess some distinction from the dead senses. This distinction is based on two grounds. Firstly, the living senses differ from the dead ones in their capacity of producing knowledge. Secondly, the living senses begin their function from the very first moment. If they are like the dead in that stage, they cannot produce knowledge in the subsequent stages also.
It can be further objected that knowledge is always manifest. It is like the light which is ever-illuminated. To say the knowledge as unmanifest, is a contradiction. They are contrary to each other like the light and darkness.
Jinabhadra replies that 'unmanifest' does not mean here, that the thin ray of knowledge is unmanifest even to its own extent. It is always manifest to the extent of its size. But, that manifestation is so feeble that we cannot realize it. It is just like the cognition of a sleeping or unconscious person. He is 1. Višeṣāvaśyaka Bhāṣya G. 200
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