Some Problems in Jaina Psychology

Author(s): T G Kalghatgi
Publisher: Karnatak University Dharwar

Page 38

MIND IN JAINISM
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The material composition of the mind was not uncommon in the philosophies of the East and West alike. In the Brhadāranyakopanişad, mind was looked upon as material. Upanişadic philosophers supposed that mind for its formation depends on alimentation'. It is supposed to be manufactured out of the food that we take (Annamayan manah hi somya manah). Food takes three different forms: the heaviest becomes excrement, the medium quality becomes flesh, and the subtlest part becomes mind, just as the churning of curds gives the subtlest which is butter.33 Later, in the days of Bhagavadgitā, the three temparaments rajas, tamas and sattva were recognized, and they were due to different kinds of food. This may be compared to the modern theory of temperament as depending on the secretion of glands. Therefore, pure food was desirable. The quality of food influenced the quality of mind. In Chandog yopanişad, it is said that when food is pure, the whole nature becomes pure, memory becomes firm...... 34 In the Nyāya theory it is contended that mind, being an additional sense organ, need not be structurally different from the other sense organs. An atom of earth, water or air can, without any logical inconsistency, be credited with the function of mind. Similarly, it cannot be distinguished from ākāśa.35 There has been a controversy between the Naiyāyikas and the Mimāṁsakas about the material size of the mind. The Naiyāyikas believed that mind is atomic in size. Otherwise there would be simulatneous cognition of different things. The impossibility of cognition was referred to in the Brhadāranyakopanisad, "my mind was elsewhere, I could not see..." as quoted earlier. But the Mimāṁsakas hold that mind is unlimited in size. The Vedāntins believe that mind is a created substance devoid of any parts and it must be of medium size, (madhyama parimāna). According to Sāṁkhya Yoga, in the process of evolution, owing to disturbance in the balance of the gunas, buddhi, ahamkāra and manas are gradually evolved. They are jada in nature. Hiriyanna says that, according to this view, the functions that we describe as mental are really mechanical processes of the physical organism, which assume a psychical character only when illuminated by the spirit.36 In the Vedānta also the antaḥkaraṇa is looked upon as bhautika, composed of five elements wherein tejas predominates. Such a description of the non-sentient (jada) aspect of mind is endorsed by the modern theories of mind based on the study of the evolution of behaviour from the primordial amoeba. "The fundamental feature of behaviour is irritability and conductivity, with the specialization of structures sensitive to the different forms of energy in nature. There arises the nervous system which not only
33 Chandogyopanişad, Vol. V, and VI. 1-234 Op. cit Vol. VII. 26. 2. 35 Bhaduri (8): Nyāya Vaišeșika Conception of Mind, as appearing in B.C. Law Volume. 36 Hiriyanna: Outlines of Indian Philosophy, p. 285.
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