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A SOURCE-BOOK IN JAINA PHILOSOPHY
measured. However, unlike Vaiseşikas, Sankhya and Yoga darśanas, do not make Kāla as an independent substance.
Vedanta darśana is also called Uttaramīmārnsä or aupanişdika darsana. The propounder of this school of thought was Bādarāyaṇa. Bādarāyaṇa has not discussed the naiure of time but sankarācārya has presented his theory of absolutism. According to him, Brahman is the only reality. Ātman is the Brahman, all else is appearance. According to this theory, substances like ākāśa, atoms, etc. are not independent reality. However, as we have seen earlier other Vedāntins like the Visistādvaitins, of Rāmānuja school of thought and other forms of Vedāntins like Nimbārka, Madhva, Vallabha, etc. have given their interpretation of the relation of the Brahman and the Ātman although the foundational principle of the Brahman as the sole reality continues to determine their interpretations of the Brahman. They have not considered Kāla as an independent substance. All the Vedāntins along with the Sāṁkhya and the Yoga are agreed that the Kāla is a form of perception and is not an independent substance. Thus we have two views regarding the substance Kala in the Jaina philosophy. Similarly in the Vedic tradition, we have also two views, the one advocating the time as an independent substance and the other denying the independent substantially to Kāla (time).
THE BUDDHIST CONCEPTION OF KALA (TIME)
The Buddhists consider time as a mental construct for the sake of the practical purpose. Time is not an independent substance. It is an only experience. It is a cognition. The past, the present, the future are all phenomenal distinctions of time made for practical purposes and they are not real time.
1
Darsana ane Cintana, part 2, p. 1028-Bhāşya of Yogadarśana, pāda 3, sūtra 52. Atthśālini 1, 3, 16.
2
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