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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
Nyāya Vais'eşika
279
Supreme Self (Paramātman) and the individual soul (Jivātman). The Supreme Self or the Paramātman is not only all-pervading and eternal but his knowledge is all-pervading. He is omniscient; while the individual soul is all-pervading and eternal but is one separately for each body. The self is that which has knowledge. The supreme self is devoid of pleasure and pain which are characteristic features of the lower soul or the individual soul (the Jīvātman).
The soul is the real doer of the actions and not the sense organs or the body, according to these systems. It is said in the Bhaşa Pariccheda about the soul -“The soul is the inspirer of the organs, etc., for an instrument requires an agent.”% Vis'vanātha Nyāya Pañcānan says in his commentary on the above Sūtra -“The generic attribute of soulhood is inferred as the determinant of the inherent causality of pleasure pain, etc.,....” “It is observed that cutting instruments such as an axe cannot produce any result without an agent..... Hence an agent over and above them is inferred."3 Thus, it is made clear here that the ultimate doer of all actions is the soul. The soul is the final source of energy that is absolutely necessary for an action. Moreover, the material objects, though appear to be moving, do not move by themselves; they are not automovers. They do not possess the energy to move themselves spontaneously. They move due to some external force that is applied to them. All
1 Annambhatta : Tarkasangraha, p. 17. 2. Mādhavānanda ( Swami): Bhāsā Pariccheda, Sūtra 47, p.65, 3 Ibid, pp. 65, 66.
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