Book Title: Reals on the Jaina Metaphysics
Author(s): Harisatya Bhattacharya
Publisher: Shatnidas Khetsy Charitable Trust Mumbai

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Page 282
________________ Matter 267 if it is attached to the soul from the beginningless time, there is no reason why it would drop down and be separated from the soul at any time. The next doctrine of the Nyāya school, criticised by the Jaina's is that Manas is the Sahakāri-kāraṇa or a cause acompanying the sense-organ. It is said that the sense-organ may come in contact with an outside object; still, perception is impossible without the intervention of the Manas. It is also said that feelings of pleasure or pain arising from the perceptions of outside objects are due to the operation of Manas and not of the sense-organ. The Jaina's, on the contrary, maintain that consciousness of objects is not impossible without the operation of Manas. The sense-organs, according to them are the material counterparts of the soul-attitudes and as such, are capable of giving rise to conscious sensations of objects. The sense-organs have also a power of yielding conscious feelings of pleasure and pain. The Jaina's urge that there are innumerable one-sensed, two-sensed, threesensed, four-sensed, and even five-sensed animals which can perceive objects and have feeling of pleasure and pain, -although they have not Manas in them. This Jaina doctrine about the lower animals is extremely interesting from the view-point of animal psychology. It implies on the one hand that the sub-human animals are not automata having only the material and physical forces working in and moving them but that they have consciousness in them with powers of perceiving and feeling. On the other hand, the Jaina theory suggests also that the consciousness in man is of a different and higher type. It is thus that the Jaina contention is that for the generation of sense-knowledge, the sense-organs are not dependent on Manas. WHY SHOULD MANAS BE ADMITTED? It may be said that if sense-organs have the power of yielding conscious sensations and feelings of pleasure and pain, why should we admit the reality of Manas at all? The Jaina answer to this has already been indicated. In man, we have the power of Guna-dosa-viçāra,-of judging Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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