________________
116
Reals in the faina Metaphysics
tion. The objects of our dreams may be creatures of our minds; but the objects of our perception have a stability peculiar to them; which shows that they have reality independent of our minds. Lastly Vāsanā is incapable of generating the sense of variety of outside things unless there be real things external to mind and there be real variety in them. The Buddhist Sarvāstivāda school accordingly admit the reality of external things and for the matter of that, of matter.
MĀYĀVĀDA
The Sankara school of the Vedānta deny the reality of everything beside the Brahma, including matter. They uphold the doctrine of the only one Real which is rigidly self-identical. All the same, however, they have got to explain the manifold of our experience. This manifold they look upon as unreal and its appearance as real they attribute to Māyā. It is to be noted that this Māyā which explains the manifold is conceived not to be absolutely unreal. It is described as neither real nor unreal. This shows how difficult it was for the Māyāvāda school to deny the reality of the world of matter. The other schools of the Vedānta, however, admit the reality of unconscious matter either directly or indirectly. The Açit or the unconscious manifold, according to the Visiştādvaita school, for instance, is real in itself and is not a creation of the Brahma, although closely connected with him. Sankara himself upheld the doctrine of the practical reality of the material manifold and vehemently defended it against the absolute nihilism of the Buddhist Mādhyamika school.
REALITY OF MATTER ADMITTEED IN THE SĀMKHYA-YOGA, THE NYĀYA-VAISEȘIKA AND THE JAINA SYSTEMS
In Sāṁkhya-Yoga again, we have the reality of the Sthūla Bhūta's or material elements and Tanmātrā's or subtler matters, admitted in unequivocal terms and although the reality thus attributed to matter is a derivative reality, its ultimate principle, the Pradhāna is acknowledged as essen
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
