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Epistemology of Jainas Daršana as Cit and Jõāna as Prakāśa
Dhavalā makes a distinction between jñāna and darśana on the basis that darśana is simple awareness of the self. It is known as cit or caitanya (consciousness). Jõāna is the knowledge of external objects, known as prakāśa (illumination). In the state of darśana, there is no arrangement of the subject and object. It is a sort of awakening, where the self gets ready to know objects.
Nemicandra defines darśana in following verse : Jam sāmannaggahaņam, bhāvāņam ņeya kattu āyaram, Avisesiūņa atthe, damsaņamidi bhaņņae samae.?
The above verse is admitted as the standard way of distinguishing darśana from jñāna. It is generally translated as, that perception of the generalities of things without particularities in which there is no grasping of details, is called darśana in the scriptures. This definition is divided into the following three parts: (1) Jam Sāmaņpaggahaņam bhāvāņam - General apprehe
nsion of the objects. (2) Ņeya kattu āyaram-without particulars. (3) Avisesiūņa atthe--without grasping details.
According to Dhavalā sāma naggahana means the awareness of the self. The self is sāmânya (general) because it is common to every cognition. In the former interpretation sāmaņnaggahaņa meant general apprehension and bhāvāṇam (of objects) stood as its objective. In the present interpretation sāmaạnaggahaņa means the appearance of sāmānya i. e. the self. Bhāvānam is associated with the second particular of peya kattu āyaram.' Thus it means, without qualifying or characterizing it with the objects. Before, the association of attributes of the objects knowledge is simple and without any form or shape. The objects transform the knowledge and give it a particular shape. This shape is described as akāra. 1. Gommațasāra
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