Book Title: Samayasara
Author(s): Kundkundacharya, Jethalal S Zaveri
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 47
________________ Chapter - 1 Samayusāra Annotations : The Jain theory of knowledge (epistemology) holds that the soul is inherently capable of knowing/cognizing all things-the self as well as non-self with all their attributes. But this capacity of the soul is obstructed by the veil of jñānāvaraṇīya karma which permits only a piecemeal and fragmental cognition. The knowledge is perfect when the veil is totally removed and imperfect when there is only partial removal. Again the knowledge is direct (pratyakşa) or indirect (parokşa) according as it emerges without or with the help of any instrument, other than the self, including sense organs and the mind. For the sake of systematic investigation, the various states of knowledge ranging from the most primitive, imperfect and perverted knowledge of the one-sensed organism-such as plants-upto the most perfect and pure knowledge of the omniscient (kevalī), have been classified into five categories : (i) Perceptual knowledge (mati-jñāna) (ii) Scriptural/verbal knowledge (śruta-jñāna) (iii) Knowledge akin to clairvoyance (avadhi-jñāna) (iv) Knowledge akin to telepathy (manahparyaya-jñāna) (v) Omniscience pure and perfect knowledge (kevala-jñāna) Of these, the first two are indirect or mediate as they are dependent upon the help of the sense-organs and mind, while the last three are direct or immediate ones as they are free from the dependence upon the sense-organs. The conception of these (latter) categories may appear rather dogmatic, but it should be remembered that the vital source of Jain Theory of Knowledge lies in this conception. If the soul has the ability to know everything, it must know independently and without any external help. Spatial or temporal distance can obstruct physical movement but it cannot have any limiting influence on the capacity to know. When the soul is unable to penetrate the distance, it is due to the delimitation of its own knowing capacity by the obstructive veil and not due to any inherent privation Knowledge is as independent as existence. Just as existence does not depend upon something external for its existence, so also - 26 :-6For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org Jain Education International

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336