________________
Niyamasāra
नियमसार
(dhruva), of the nature of knowledge (jñāna) and perception (darśana), a super-substance beyond the senses - atīndriya, steady (acala), and independent (svādhīna).
The soul (ātmā) is not produced by any cause; it is self-sustaining and eternal (dhruva). It is pure (suddha) in its own-nature (svabhāva). It is of the nature of knowledge (jñāna) and perception (darśana), different from all other substances but one with its own-nature. It is a supersubstance that knows completely all substances in respect of their qualities of touch, taste, smell and sight, and mode of hearing without the help of the senses, at one and the same time. It is different from substances that are amenable to the five senses but knows these substances. It does not accept or reject the objects of knowledge; it is different from the external objects of knowledge but the knower of these objects of knowledge. It does not leave its nature of knowledge; it is one, eternal and pure knowledge-substance, different from all other substances. Such a soul is the eternal truth, to be accepted. Just as the shadow of the tree is transient and fleeting for the traveller, in the same way, the dispositions that the soul entertains on coming in contact with the external objects are transient and fleeting. Such dispositions are worth rejecting; only the eternal soul-nature is worth accepting 1
1 - Acārya Kundakunda's Pravacanasāra - Essence of the Doctrine, p. 241-242.
192