Reals on the Jaina Metaphysics

Author(s): Harisatya Bhattacharya
Publisher: Shatnidas Khetsy Charitable Trust Mumbai

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Reals in the Jaina Metaphysics and invariably followed by Indian philosophers of the past. Very seldom will a treatise of one school of philosophy be found which does not describe and examine incidentally some points of the philosophical systems of the rival schools. We believe, it is the duty of the present day scholars of Indian philosophy to stick to this method of comparison and widen its scope wherever possible. If our philosophers of the past, for example, compared the Vaiseșika theory of Space with the Vedāntic, Sāṁkhya and the Buddhistic, the modern scholar would do well in continuing the study by going a step farther and comparing the Indian doctrine of Space with those of Aristotle, Descartes and Kant. This would save the Indian philosophy from inanity with which it is sometimes charged. As a matter of fact, some of the philosophical problems and doctrines of the present day seem to have been discussed with considerable zeal and ability by the ancient philosophers of India and the results of their study have by no means been negligible. In some cases, the theories of Indian thinkers of the past are likely to arouse considerable interest in the scholars of modern times. We shall here present one such matter which seems to have been much discussed in ancient India and which is still a matter of considerable investigations now-a-days. The Indian theories regarding this matter will appear to have much value for the present psychologists.
In describing Perception, the author of the Nyāya Sūtra's has said:इन्द्रियार्थसनिकर्षोत्पन्नं ज्ञानमव्यपंदेश्यमव्यभिचारि व्यवसायात्मक प्रत्यक्षम् ।
Urugia P-7-8; 11
PURE SENSATION AND PERCEPTION. THE NyĀYA View: WARD'S VIEW: THE SĀBDIKA View: THE BUDDHIST View: "THE JAINA VIEW
Pratyakṣa or Perception, as every one knows, arises from a contact of a sense-organ with its object. The question arises: What do we actually sense when the sense-organ comes in contact with the object? It is said that the author of the Nyāya-Sūtra's by inserting the word 'Avyapadeśya'