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A SOURCE-BOOK IN JAINA PHILOSOPHY
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is not the consequence of the sense of hearing but it becomes the subject. This is because, knowledge is obtained through language; but language itself is not the essence of knowledge. Language is the medium through which knowledge is presented. Knowledge obtained through previous knowledge or convention in tradition can be considered as śrutaniḥśrita matijñāna, for instance, the knowledge that we get about the word 'cow' or the knowledge to the understanding of the nature of the cow on the perception of the animal is the śrutaniḥsrita matijñāna, because it based on the previous information and the sarskāras that we have already obtained.
Matijñāna is primarily concerned with the cognition of the object in the present while śrutajñāna comprehends the objects with reference to the present, past and the future. Therefore, with reference to the presentation, śrutajñāna is considered to be different from matijñāna. In that case the śrutajñāna is primarily based on the use of language.
The knowledge which is expressed through the language for the sake of understanding and also for communication is called śrutajñāna. In the case of matijñāna, expression in the from the language is not primary.2
AVADHIJÑANA Avadhilñāna is a from of extra-sensory perception. It is pratyakşa or direct perception. In this, we apprehend objects which are beyond the reach of the sense-organs and the mind. However avadhi has limits, it can apprehend only such things which have form and shape. It cannot apprehend the things which have no shape and form. Of the six dravyas, pudgala becomes the object of avadhijñāna, because the other dravyas do not have form. Similarly, there are limitation in the avadhijñāna with reference to the substance (dravya), place (kşetra), time (käla) and nature (bhāva) of the objects. Avadhi is that kind of extra-sensory perception which grasps the objects with
1 2 3
Višeşāvaśyakabhäşya vrtti 168 Tattvārthasūtra-Pt. Sukhalalji pp. 35–36. Tattvārthasūtra 1, 28.
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