________________
Critique of Knowledge
91
undefined. Vyañjanāvagraha has been just described as implicit awareness, the physiological and stimulus condition of awareness. It gradually develops into awareness and gives the sensation. It is very often described as 'contact awareness'. However, it would not be appropriate to call this 'awareness' although there is the stimulation flowing in. Awareness gradually emerges later, through the accumulation of stimulation. It is merely potentiality of awareness, or implicit awareness.
As soon as a person becomes conscious, the stage of vyañjanāvagraha is over, and it transforms itself into arthāvagraha. This may be called the stage of sensation proper. It is awareness of the object. In the Nandisutra there is a statement that, in this stage, we are aware of the sound as 'this is sound' or 'colour' or 'touch', but not exactly cognize the nature of the sound, colour or touch. But in the Viseşāvasyakabhāşya' this kind of determinate awareness, as 'this is sound' is denied in the stage of sensation. It is merely awareness of the occurrence of the cognition because it lasts only for one moment. It is, therefore, indeterminate and indefinite. It does not reach the stage of cognition of specific content.
On the basis of such a distinction regarding the two stages of Avagraha, it is stated that Vyañjanāvagraha lasts for indefinite moments, gradually proceeding towards the level of consciousnss.80 The physiological and stimulus conditions of awareness in the form of sensation continue to accumulate for a number of moments till the threshold of awareness is reached. But once the stage of awareness in the form of sensation is reached, it lasts only for an instant, which is an indivisible point of time and is infinitesimal.
Western psychologists, like Stout, describe sensation as something of the nature of immediately experienced warm or
78. Nandi sūtra, 35 79. Vis eşāvas yakabháşya, 253. 80. Nandisūtra, 35.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
