________________
Matter
253 the Sāmkhya, consciousness belongs to Puruşa or soul, all knowledge must be attributed to the soul, and knowledge cannot belong to Manas which according to the Sāmkhya is purely material. If knowledge were to be attributed to Manas we would have two conscious principles in a body viz:--Puruşa and Manas--which is an unreasonable position. The Nyāya philosophers accordingly hold that the above-mentioned modes of knowledge do not inhere in the Manas but in the soul.
In this connection it may be mentioned that some philosophers of a somewhat Sāṁkhya bias maintain that knowledge or jñāna may be admitted to belong to the soul; but that this does not mean that Iççhā (desire), Dveșa (aversion), Prayatna (volitional activity), Sūkha, (feeling of pleasure), Duḥkha (feeling of pain) must also belong to the soul; they may be attributed to Manas. The Nyāya thinkers criticise this position and contend that these also like knowledge must be attributed to the soul. Vātsāyana points out that one's self-consciousness would show that the soul that knows does also desire to get the object of his desire or avoid the unpleasant one, make effort accordingly and also feel pleasure or pain. This shows that all these viz.Jñāna, Iççhā, Dveșa, Prayatna, Sūkha and Duhkha inhere in and proceed from one and the same substance i.e. the soul.
_ 'एकेनामिसम्बन्धमेक-कर्तृकम् समानाश्रयत्वं च।' NyĀYA THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF KNOWLEDGE
It is then the soul that knows. According to the Nyāyathinkers, however, a substance in its purity is absolutely devoid of its attributes and it is only in some contingency that attributes come to inhere in the substance. Soul is a substance and in itself accordingly, it must be held to be devoid of all knowledge. How then does knowledge come to be associated with the soul? The Nyāya-thinkers answer that on the occasion of Atma-manaḥ-samyoga or a contact of the soul with Manas, knowledge arises in the soul and that the soul becomes a cogniser only through the instru
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
