Jaina Theory of Knowledge

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

Page 16

JAINA THEORY OF APPREHENSION
infinite power. An emancipated soul enjoys all these infinities. The worldly souls do not possess them in all perfection, inasmuch as they are obscured by the veil of the four obscuring (ghatin) karmas, viz., comprehensionobscuring karma, apprehension-obscuring karma, deluding karma, and power-obscuring karma. The liberated souls as well as the omniscients are absolutely free from the association of these four kinds of karma“, hence, they possess the four types of infinity in all perfection. Thus, the definition of soul consists in the possession of the four types of infinity. The first two types are nothing but two different forms of cognition. Hence, cognition is regarded as an important attribute of soul.
DIFFERENTIATION OF APPREHENSION AND COMPREHENSION :
The main line of demarcation between apprehension (darsana) and comprehension (jnana) is that in the foriner the details are not perceived, while in the latter the details are known. In the technical language of the Jaina theory of knowledge, apprehension is called 'nirakara upayoga' and comprehension is termed as ‘sakara upayoga'. Herbert Warren writes : *Before we know a thing in a detailed way, there is the stage where we simply see, hear, or otherwise become conscious of it in a general way, without going into its ins and outs. We simply know it as belonging to a class. This is the first stage of knowledge. It may be called detailless knowledge or indefinite cognition. If this stage is not experienced, there can be no knowledge of the thing.".