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Epistemology of Jainas
knowledge becoming perceptual the above difficulties do not Santa Rakṣita says that the constant meditation of the of one's beloved makes the latter appear as if present. He makes a general rule that whatever is meditated upon, whether existent or non-existent, must appear distinctly when the meditation comes to the stage of perfection.
The Jaina does not agree with the Buddhist in that meditation can lead to a perceptual knowledge. The appearance of face the beloved is orly an illusion. The knowledge of an omniscient cannot be placed in the same category. On the contrary it is the highest truth Moreover, nobody can meditate upon many things at a time The meditation on four noble-truths cannot turn into the knowledge of entire universe which is quite different from the former. But, it does not mean that the Jainas hold meditation as useless. They also hold it highly useful for the destruction of karmans and thereby worldly bondage. It is an important member of the six varieties of internal penance (abhyantaralapa), which is essential for soul-purification. The only point of disagreement is that the conceptual knowledge cannot turn into perceptual one. The two are absolutely diffe
rent from each other.
The position of Omniscient in the Buddhist Ethics
The Buddhism holds ten stages (bhumis) through which a Bodhisattva (Buddha-designate) passes before reaching his goal. There are ten pāramitas (perfections) corresponding to ten bhumis Originally, there were six bhumis and six paramitas, but, the Mahāyāna added four more, which are particular to Bodhisattva only.
It should be mentioned here that, according to Buddhism, there are three Śrāvakas, varieties of aspirants; viz. Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas. The Sravakas attain salvation through learning the path of liberation from others. Pratyekabuddhas realize the truth by practising penance and meditation in seclusion. These two types of aspirants attain Nirvana (liberation) in the sixth stage and do
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