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The Role of Sense Organs (Indriya) in Vaisnava
Philosophy
- Dr Amalendu Chakrabarty
Though by comparison with the western world-view it was said that the basic foundation of Indian philosophy of life was 'world and life negation. Yet it is to be noted that the sages of ancient India or their philosophical speculations in no sense pursued any life-negating super sensory truth.” Their outlook on life flourished both in respect of mundane affairs like riches, wealth and material prosperity on the one hand and spiritual abundance (satyam, rtam, brhat) on the other. But at later times, as much as the concrete objective world began to appear meaningless and sorrowful so much from the philosophical point of view did a negativistic outlook gain in strength gradually in respect of senses as well as the objective world comprehended through them. As a result "the concept of sensation was never crystallized in Indian philosophy : it always remained amorphic."4 As cause of this it has been pointed out : "In the first place, the transcendental trends of Indian thought could not permit any place for the lower stages of human consciousness, for the study of those sense-date which are engaging experimental psychology at the present day and for the ways in which stimuli of external objects are mechanically transformed into psychical states"
But hardly can this be asserted that the various schools of Indian philosophy maintained complete silence on the subject of sense-perceptions. Particularly in all the philosophical systems such as Sānkhya, Nyāya, Pātañjala, Vaišeșika etc. psychology and the faculty of the mind had been elaborately discussed. The psycho-physics of Pātañjala system is widely known. But this is also true that all philosophical systems of India were much more busy in determining TE FTUARATE, 2000 AM \\\\\\\\\\\\\
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