________________ Scholastic Orientation xli perverse so long as the soul has not cut the Gordian knot of perverse attitude and attained purification. The perverse attitude is known as darsanamoha or mithyatva or avidya. The attitude of the soul which has not cut the knot is known as oghadrsti (literally, commonplace attitude). The opposite of this is yogadrsti or the attitude of the spiritually advanced soul. It is also known as saddrsti, that is, right attitude. The oghadrsti is held responsible for the origination of the mutually conflicting systems of thought. The eight drstis that we have enumerated above are yogadrstis and not oghadrstis. Of course, of these eight the first four belong to those who have not cut the knot. But even then they are not oghadrstis in view of the fact that they are destined to lead to the yogadrstis. It is only those souls who are destined to cut the knot and attain final emancipation that are capable of these drstis. The eight drstis have respectively been compared to the sparks of straw-fire (trnagni), cow-dung fire, wood fire, the light of a lamp, the lusture of a gem, the light of a star, the light of the sun, and the light of the moon. The first four drstis are unsteady and fallible. The last four are steady and infallible. The eight drstis respectively correspond to the eight famous stages of yoga, viz. vows (yama), sub-vows (niyama), posture (asana), regulation of breath (pranayama), withdrawal of the senses (pratyahara), fixing of the mind (dharana), concentration (dhyana), and ecstasy (samadhi), as found in the system of Patanjali. They are respec ely free from inertia (kheda), anxiety (udvega), unsteadiness (ksepa), distraction (utthana), lapse of memory (bhranti), attraction for some. thing else (anyamud), mental disturbance (ruk), and attachment (asanga). They are respectively accompanied with freedom from prejudice (advesa), inquisitiveness (jijnasa), love for listening (susrusa), attentive hearing (sravana), comprehension (bodha), critical evaluation (mimamsa), clear conviction (parisuddha pratipatti), and earnest practice (pravrtti).5 This is about the general features of the drstis. Now let us state in brief the specific characteristics of them one by one. In the first drsti called mitra the soul achieves very faint and indistinct enlightenment. Here it accumulates the seeds of yoga (yogabija) which eventually fructify into emancipation. The soul is now attrac1 About the Jaina conception of 'knot', vide Studies in Jaina Philosophy, pp. 250--1. 2 Ibid., 14, with Svopajnavrtti:...etannibandhano'yam darsanabheda iti yogacaryah. 3 Ibid., 15. 4 Ibid., 19. 5 Ibid., 16 with Svopajnavstti. Haribhadra here refers to the concensus of opinion of a number of authors regarding the stages of yoga, 6 Ibid., 22.
