________________
92
JAINISM
That the Jaina philosophers did not mechanically distinguish between the mind and the self is also evident from the insistence as referred to above on the modification of the self for a proper discharge of the mental function. The functioning of the mind itself is supposed to differentiate a rational being from the irrational. One of the Jaina classics, Gommaṭasāra has it: "It is by the help of the manas that one can learn, understand the gestures, receive instructions and follow conversation. . .It is through manas that one is enabled to decide before doing what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. It is through manas that one can learn the distinction between the real and the unreal. It is because one has manas that he responds when he is called by his name."14
While concluding it is to be noted that the material constituent of the mind, described as paudgālika, compounded of peculiar material molecules (mano-vargaṇa) is permanent whereas the modifications of it, the modes which are responsible for the mental functions, are not so. But, whatever might be the importance accorded to the grouping of atoms to form the physical mind the conscious activities themselves, it is to be noted that the Jainas strongly believed that in perfection there is no trace of the mental activities, nor of the sensory perceptions.
14 Gommaṭasāra, jīva-kāṇda, 662
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
