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36
RABINDRA KUMAR PANDYA
SAMBODHI
emperical world. Apart from Ātman, no object of the world is self-illuininating, but all objects depend entirely on the Ātman for their manifestation. The self-illuminating nature of the Ātman is proved by the fact that men, after knowing the real nature of the object whether favourable or unfavourable, endeavour to achieve only favourable ones and withdraw themselves from unfavourable objects. The real nature of the objects whether good or bad is not known by the sentient Atinan. This worldly capability of determining the nature of the objects as good or bad undoubtedly proves that Ātman is self-luminous. Anandabodha employs the following syllogism to prove the self-luminosity of the Atman in his Nyāyamakaranda :
Vijñānam avacchedakätmaprakāśādlinam avacchinnaprakāśatvāt yad uktasādliana) sa uaktasādhanah
Yathā dandaprakāśādlino dandprakāśah In his Pramānamalā, Ānandabodh discusses this point mutatis mutandis, but in this text the above syllogism has been modified as follows:
Idam avacchedakaprakāśādlīnam Avacchinnaprakāśatvād dandiprakāśavat.
In this connection Anandabodha refutes the pūrvapaksa view which upholds that Atman can become the object of mental perception (mānasapratyaksavisaya). The Ātman cannot be self-luminous since it depends on mind for its manifestation. Anandabodha refutes this view by saying that Atman cannot be manifested by the mental perception since Ātman cannot be the object of its own cognitive operation or psychosis (vitti) as one object cannot be both kartā (subject) and karma (object). For example, a sword cannot cut itself or a finger-tip cannot touch itself at one and the same time. Since Ātman is the subject of all cognitions it cannot be an object of cognitions. Hence the pūrvapakṣa view is not valid, says Anandabodha. Anandabodha further refutes the view of śālikanātha who in his Prakaranapancikā advocates Ātman as the subject of the cognition (vijñāna). Śälikanātha argues that Ātman, not perceived through the direct mental perception (mänasapratyakaşa), cannot be said to be self-luminous. For the Ātman is manifested in all the object-cognitions (sarvārtha-samvitsu) which
