Sambodhi 2005 Vol 28

Author(s): Jitendra B Shah, K M Patel
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 40

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RABINDRA KUMAR PANDA
SAMBODHI
are strictly ontological questions which are necessarily connected with epistemology. 2. The Nature of Pramāna
The soul (jīva), according to Jaina philosophy, is the knower, enjoyer, and an active agent?. Consciousness is not separated from the soul nor can soul exist without consciousness. It is not an adventitious quality of the soul, dependent upon some external causal factors as the Hindu logicians accept. It has three fundamental modes, namely, cognition, feeling, and conation. All souls, however, do not manifest all these three modes. Plant-souls experience feelings only. Animal souls' experience only two viz. feeling and conation and human souls experience all these three viz. feeling, conation and cognition. The perfect souls, technically called siddhas possess pure knowledge which is unconditioned and unlimited by the influences of material objects. The actions, emotions and the cognition of the siddha souls are not determined by the changes that occur in their bodies. They are completely self-determined by the intrinsic purity of the soul which is capable of experiencing infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite bliss and infinite power whereas the activities of the non-siddha souls are actuated by delusion, attachment and aversion. So, in the Jaina philosophy the soul is defined as pure intelligence? And intelligence is common to all souls. The soul has two states namely Pāriņāmika and Apārināmika. The former state is the soul's innate condition in which the soul remains in the form of pure intelligence. It is not different from knowledge, and yet not identical with it, - in some way both and different. Knowledge constitutes its very essence. The path of emancipation consists of knowledge, intuition and conduct. In the state of emancipation also the soul is absorbed in bliss with its knowledge unhindered. Ignorance is said to be a fault (dosa) which leads to bondage.
The Jaina epistemologists believe in the idea that Jiva's knowledge of this universe is eternal. Even the past and the future objects of knowledge are existent. Absence of the object from the senses is not a barrier to have supernormal cognition; it is the limitation of the senses alone that they cannot cognize the objects that are not presented to them. The intuitive experience is said to be twofold : relative (imperfect) and absolute (perfect). In the first case the intuition is known as avadhijñāna when its object is a physical substance and it is called