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The General Conception of Knowledge
65
The Jainas do not accepi the theory of representation as the Buddhist or Sankhya holds.
There are two views regarding apprehension of the object. The Sankhya-system holds that the object is reflected into the mode of buddhi; and the latter grasps that refle-tion only. It has no direct apprehension of the real object. The Sautrāntika also holds the same view with a different version. He maintains that consciousness assumes the form of the object; which he expresses as tadākāratatā (coordination); and thus the object is not grasped directly These two systems follow the theory of representation. On the other hand the Nyāya, Mimāmā and other systems maintain that the object is presented to the subject directly. There is no other via media between the two. They maintain the theory of presentation. The Jainas also accept the latter view. The doctrine of illumination supports it. As the representation is not illumination of the object itself it is reflection or coordination as the case may be.
Four Fundamentals : The conclusions drawn from the above passages of the Agamas and Niryukti can be summed up under the following heads :
(1) Knowledge is identical with the self, but the self is not identical with kaowledge as it contains certain other qualities also.
(2) The function of knowledge is to illumine the objects. It does not create anything new.
(3) The soul is the instrument as well as the agent of cognition.
(4) The objects are presented to the subject directly.
These four factors, constitute the foundation of Agamic theory of knowledge, which developed later on in the numerous branches and in huge literature. In the present chapter we shall discuss these points and try to show their further development.
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