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added the fourth category of the intutive knowledge of the plant world and un developed animals where cognition is born without the help of either of the mind or the sense-organs-Bhasya, Tattvārthasūtra, 1.14
P. 3 L.2. Nand'īsūtra, 35 illustrates the contact-awareness (vynjanāvagraha) giving the example of a sleeping man who is awakened by a number of calls. Now the sound comes into contact with the ears of the sleeping man in succession for a considerable period before the person concerned actually realises that somebody is calling him. All this is an example of contact-awareness. As soon as the man is awakened to consciousness, the contact-awareness develops into object-awareness (arthāvagraha.)
P. 3.L.6-10. Contact-awareness is not unconscious as it develops, as shown above, into object-awareness. It is only due to its undeveloped state that its existence cannot be directly known, though it can be inferred just as dream-knowledge can be inferred by gestures etc.--Cf ViBhā 195~-198. Having summarised the position of Jinabhadra, Yasovijaya suggests another alternative, viz., contact-awareness may be accepted as conscious only by transference of epithet, as it brings about object-awareness, which is conscious.
P. 3. para 7. Pandita Kailash Chandra Shastri in his book, Faina Nyāya, has given some more arguments, collected mainly from the Digambara works, to prove the non-contactory nature of sight. We give below some of these arguments, as they further support the arguments given by Yasovijaya:
(1) The eyes cannot know the collyrium applied in the eyes. Had the eyes power to know by contact, they would have known the collyrium.
(2) It cannot be argued that since the eyes do not know the covered things, they are not non-contactory. The eyes can know things covered by glass, etc.
(3) The magnet though contactory-cannot attract iron, which is either at long distance or is obstructed by some other object. The same applies to the eyes also.
(4) The supposition that some rays shoot from the eyes
