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Reals in the Jaina Metaphysics
obviously gross and unconscious. Accordingly they felt the necessity of admitting a medium which could effectuate a working connection between the object of cognition and the cognising principle. They thought that the material objects of the senses gave out subtle particles which were carried through the currents of air and which, subtle as they were could come in contact with the sense-organs. These material particles which were thus the medium of tertium quid, so to say, made perception possible and were called "Effluvia" by Empedocles and Aristotle and "Eidola" by Democritus and Epicurus.
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SENSES COME IN CONTACT WITH OBJECTS
Of course, when we have the tactual sensation of an object, it is clear that our sense-organ of touch is in actual contact with the object of touch. Similarly, in the case of tasting a thing, our tongue is in contact with it. No one would deny that even when an object, the smell of which we perceive, is at a distance from us, our olfactory sense-organ is in touch with the object through the "effluvia" or "eidola" arising from it. The sense organs which thus actually come in contact with their objects in order to give rise to sensations, are called "Prāpyakāri" in Indian philosophy and the Indian philosophers of all the schools agree that the senses of touch, taste and smell are all Prāpyakāri in this
sense.
No-ACCORDING TO BUDDHISTS
With respect to the sense-organ of hearing the Buddhist philosophers contend that it is not Prāpyakāri. In other words, they say that in the matter of an auditory sensation, the sense of hearing does not come in contact with the object in any way. They point out that in every sound there is what they call a दिग्देशव्यपदेश. This means that whenever we hear a sound, we have as an integral part of the sound some such apprehension as that "this cloud-roar is from the eastern direction", "this singing of the bird is from the wood". It cannot be said that in such
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