________________
IO2
OUTLINES OF JAINA PHILOSOPHY
in cognising them, and consequently, he would cease to be omniscient, the reply is: Mere knowledge of desires, aversions, etc., is not sufficient enough to make a person tainted unless the self is transformed in that very mode. The omniscient self cannot be affected by desires, etc., in the least. Hence, it cannot be tainted by the attachment, etc., of others by merely knowing them. Besides, desires and aversions are produced by our impure mental states and senses and not by the self which is pure and perfect. The omniscient self is pure and perfect. Hence, it cannot be tainted by the imperfections of sensory cognition. It is further urged that the omniscient is not capable of perceiving the past and future, inasmuch as they are non-existent. On the other hand, if they are perceived as existent, the perception of the omniscient person is illusory. The Jaina says: The past and future are perceived by the omniscient not as present, but as past and future. Hence, no question of illusion arises. The past things are as much existent and real in relation to their own time as the present things are existent and real in relation to the present. The same argument can be applied to the future. The omniscient knows the past as existing in the past and the future as existing in the future. Because of the absolute destruction of the obscuring veils of karma, the cognition of an omniscient person is not produced by the senses, but it is produced directly by the self. Hence, the omniscient directly perceives all the objects of the past, present, and future. In other words, the limitations of space and time are only for sensory perception. They cannot obstruct the perception of an omniscient person. To summarise, an omniscient self directly and immediately perceives all the objects of the universe, past, present, and future, subtle and remote, by a single ever-lasting cognition without the assistance of the medium of external senses and mind. Omniscience is the culmination of the faculty of cognition of the conscious principle.
EMPIRICAL PERCEPTION
Now, we come to empirical perception. Empirical perception is conditioned by the senses and mind and is limited.' The
Heśatuh
sarı yazahārikamniti.
Pariksă
1 Indrzvanındriyanımittari
mukha, II, 5.
