Source Book in Jaina Philosophy

Author(s): Devendramuni
Publisher: Tarak Guru Jain Granthalay

Page 24

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Darsana :
A Synoptic
Study
Darsana is an expression of man's inherent capacity for intellectual discrimination. The word darśana is derived from the root term drs, to see. Drsyate anena iti darsanam, signifies the meaning that it is perception. Perception may be of different types like senseperception, logical enquiry or insight of the nature of soul. However, darsana in its true sense would refer to the intuitive experience. aided by intellectual discrimination. Dargana would mean the perception of Atman and not merely knowledge of the physical world. It enables one to gain the inner meaning of life and the world. Dardana means direct knowledge'. "intuitive experience'. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan holds the view that “dargana is not an intuition, however much it may be allied to it. Perhaps the word is advisedly used, to indicate a thought system acquired by intuitive experience and sustained by logical argument." The seer who has darśana gains a wider perspective of the view of the life and the world than the scientist and the poet. The scientist looks at reality from a particular aspect and from agalytical point of view, although he draws certain conclusions guided by flashes of intuitive knowledge. The poet has, as his subject, infinite beauty of the whole world in all its manifestations. But the seer, who is a philosopher, looks at life and the world from the synoptic point of view. His outlook is much wider in its scope and includes diverse points of view. He is not bound by the
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Allen & Unwin Limited,
Indian Philosophy, (London: George 1966), Vol. I, p. 43.