Jaina Theory of Knowledge

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

Page 66

JAINA THEORY OF COMPREHENSION
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account of the activity of the sense-organs and mind, is possessed of proper words according to the conventional application, and is capable of expressing its object clearly, is verbal comprehension, whereas the rest is non-verbal comprehension’.57 Speculation, simple perceptual judgment, and the like are also possessed of proper language, nevertheless, they fall in the category of nonverbal comprehension, since there is no deliberate application of language in these cases. Mere verbal association is not considered sufficient to raise a cognition to the status of verbal comprehension. True, in our usual perception we associate the object with its name as soon as we perceive it. But we do not proceed any further. There are cases of perceptual cognitions which do not stop at simple verbal association but continue further into discursive thought with the assistance of language. It is only this continuation that leads them to the category of verbal comprehension.
EXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTION :
Indian philosophers have distinguished between sensory perception and extra-sensory perception. Extrasensory perceptions are above the laws of sensory perceptions. They do not require any help of the general laws and conditions of normal cognition. They transcend the categories of time, space, and the like.
There has been ample research work in the field of Psychical Research that shows the possibility of cognition independent of the assistance of the senses and mind. Such