Jaina Philosophy

Author(s): Mohanlal Mehta
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 97

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JAINA PHILOSOPHY : AN INTRODUCTION
The answer is : The qualities like knowledge etc. cannot belong to the material body, for the body is 'rūpin' (with form), as is the case with a pitcher. The qualities of a substance having form must be with form (rūpin). Knowledge etc. are formless. Therefore, the substance possessing these qualities, too, must be formless, and hence, it cannot be the body which is with form. Thus, that substance which is formless is nothing but the soul.
Secondly, sometimes it is seen that the qualities like perception, memory etc. are absent even when the body is present as in sound sleep, death etc.' It indicates that knowledge etc. are not the qualities of body but they belong to a separate substance, i.e., soul.
Thirdly, the body cannot be the cause of knowledge, because it is composed of material elements (bhūtas) which do not possess consciousness. The effect must exist in the cause implicitly. If the material elements do not possess consciousness as one of their qualities, how is it possible that the body becomes conscious ? If consciousness is absent in each of the material elements, it will necessarily be absent in the combination as well. As oil is absent in each particle of sand, it cannot be produced from the combination also. Hence, it is illogical to maintain that consciousness is merely a by-product of some peculiar amalgamation of the four mahābhūtas (primary elements), although none of them possesses it separately. The intoxicating nature of wine is not absent in those objects by which it is produced. Intoxication is not a mere by-product. It is systematically produced by those objects in which it exists implicitly. The patent nature of intoxication is merely a manifestation of its latent nature. It is not a product which is quite strange. Hence, consciousness cannot be ascribed to the body. All the spiritual qualities reside in a separate conscious substance. A thing which is absolutely non-existent 1. Prameya-kamala-mārtanda, p. 114. 2. Šāstra-värtä-samuccaya, 44.