Living Systems in Jainism: A Scientific Study: 09.02 ►Relation between Subject and Object

There are two important views on the relationship between a subject and an object. Kundakunda (1^st century BCE-1^st century CE) in Pravachanasara says: "The knower has jnana of his nature and all the objects are within the range of jnana, just as the objects of sight are within the ken of the eye, though there is no mutual inherence." Further, "The knower, who is beyond sense-perception stage, necessarily knows and sees the whole world neither entering into nor entered into by the objects of jnana." He says that jnana exists as both a power and as a function. The jnana power is confined to the body, but its function is not limited; in fact, it covers the whole universe. The soul is co-extensive with jnana and jnana is co-extensive with the object. Jnana operates on the object, just as a sapphire thrown in milk pervades the whole of milk with its luster. In the case of an Omniscient, the object of jnana comprises the whole physical and non-physical world.

The later scholars did not appreciate Kundakunda's explanation. Akalanka (7^th CE) states that consciousness has two forms: the cognition form and the object form. The cognition form is like a mirror without any reflection. The object form is like a mirror with a reflection. The cognition form is common to all apprehensions, but the object form is different with every appearance. The cognition form is pure consciousness. The reflection in a mirror is just like its prototype. But the latter is not the content of the mirror. The mirror contains only the reflection. Similarly, jnana contains only the images. They distinguish one image from the other, not the physical objects. The content of jnana is not different from jnana itself.

Jainism holds that the soul does not come into direct contact with objects, nor are objects represented via media. Rather, they are illuminated by the soul when the obscuring karma is removed. Thus "jnana" (or knowledge) means the removal of this obscuring karma, which naturally results in the illumination of an object. The jnana does not take the form of an object and an object is not the cause of jnana. The object does not exist in jnana, it only manifests in it. Cognition never appears without an object. Whenever there is cognition it must be associated with an object.