Jaina Theory of Knowledge

Author(s): Mohanlal Mehta
Publisher: Gujarat Vidyapith Ahmedabad

Page 15

2
JAINA THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
(acaksurdarsana), apprehensive clairvoyance (avadhidarsana), and apprehensive omniscience (kevala-darsuna).'
COGNITION AS AN ATTRIBUTE OF SOUL :
The defining characteristic of a living being is consciousness. The main line of demarcation between a living being and a dead entity is consciousness, Existence, origination, decay, permanence, etc., are the general characteristics of all entities. When the Jaina defines a living being as an entity that possesses consciousness, he does not exclude other universal qualities (sadharana dharmas). The definition of a particular substance is through its differentia, i.e., those special qualities that are not found in other substances. When a substance is taken as a whole, or in other words, if we are to describe all the characteristics of a substance, we analyse the complete structure of the entity. This type of analysis is not a definition. It is proper to call it a description.
In the Tattvartha-sutra, soul is defined as the substratum of the faculty of cognition (upayoga). Cognition is nothing more than the manifestation of consciousness in a particular form. It consists of apprehension and comprehension (darsana and jnana) as its constituents. This definition is very liberal having bliss and power included in it. Strictly speaking, soul is an entity having 'four types of infinity' (ananta catustaya) as its attributes. These four types are known as infinite apprehension, infinite comprehension, infinite bliss, and