________________
dhārana: 1) constant stream of this final ascertainment. 2) The impression left behind by it. 3) The memory made possible by this impression. All these operations of the form of matijñānu are dhāraṇā.
Now to examine the meaning of matijñāna in the context of the former sūtra. The question to be answered: How to apply these four stages to matijñāna? In the case of matijñāna by sense organs, there is no problem, however, in the case of mind-born matijñāna, there is. The mind-born matijñāna can be given two meanings. One, is mental perception, and the other is all forms of matijñānu (mati-A), except sense perception (namely memory, recognition, cogitation and inference). Normally, commentators on the TAS do not discuss the four stages, even the impossibility, in the case of mind-born matijñana having the second meaning. But they do discuss them in connection with sense perception and mental perception only. As a matter of fact, avagraha, īhā, āvāya, and dhāraņā. are gradual stages of mati-B (sense perception).15
There are originally four stages of manana, and when Jaina logicians turned manana into the special type of knowledge called mutijñānu, they also transferred these four stages to matijñāna. Here is an example of a dream-reader (interpreter) to demonstrate this concept. 16 When the queen had a dream, she and the king would recount the dream to one who interprets the meaning of such phenomena -- a dream reader. First, the dream-reader grasps what is told by the king and queen. After hearing the dream, he starts to contemplate the meaning of the dream. He [she examines many alternative meanings insinuated in his [her] mind, and after deep reflection, begins to eliminate each interpretation one by one until left with only one interpretation. The dream-reader has now ascertained the final meaning of the dream. This
26 For Private & Personal Use Only
Jain Education International
www.jainelibrary.org
