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Jainism As Metaphilosophy Darśana: The Key-word For Philosophy In The Indian Tradition
The term darśana is a derivative of the Sanskrit root-word drs which literally means 'to see'. What does this derivation signify for a concept of philosophy? 'Seeing' in the sense of receiving visual sensations by man perhaps starts the whole enterprise which goes by the name of philosophy today. Since receiving sensations (here, visual sensations) by itself is followed by the mind working on them and converting them into perception, it is highly suggestive of the fact that perceptions in general, provide significant starting points for philosophy. Hence it is not just one type of sensation, viz. visual sensation, nor one type of perception, visual perception, but the various types of sensations such as auditory, olfactory, gustatory and tactual and the various types of perception resulting consequently, that can all be referred to as darśana. The role played by the various sense-organs in introducing man to the world around him may thus be considered to be emphasised here.'
Even when this foundational idea of darsana is considered, it is evident how elastic the term itself is. This is also a pointer to the comprehensiveness of the term. It does not refer to perception alone but includes within its scope, conceptual knowledge as well as intuitional experience, as S. Radhakrishnan puts it.
In such a conception of darśana as philosophy is to be found the Indian approach which, while it makes room for perception as well as inference (with the in-built provision for logic) also provides for intuitional experience. It is however important to note, even at the outset, that though darśana is the most popularly accepted 'equivalent' to philosophy in India, there were other terms which had been made use of earlier. All the same, since the term darśana is most comprehensive in its import, we may confine our attention to it alone here, and comment specially on the way in which the Jaina philosophers may be visualised to have derived a new world of meaning from it.
by Darsana As System of Philosophy Since the three different ingredients of philosophy referred to in the last section are found, on analysis, in the various Indian schools of philosophy, it would be apposite to indicate that darśana stands foremost for the idea of a 'system of philosophy'.
It is significant in this context to note that Haribhadra, a Jaina author of the 5th-6th century, gave the title Şaddarśana-samuccaya (A Compen
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