Prof. Olle Qvarnström
15th Jaina Studies Workshop
Date: 22 March 2013 Time: 9:00 AM
Finished: 22 March 2013 Time: 5:00 PM
Venue: Brunei Gallery Room: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre
Lecturer:
Abstract:
This paper deals with the Jain portrayal and critique of Sāṃkhya epistemology as expressed in Haribhadrasūri’s Śāstravārtāsamuccaya and Yogabindu. These texts provide us with a series of hypothetical, but in all probability historically anchored, debates concerning the notion of a passive, contentless Self (puruṣa/ātman); and the question of how that contentless Self comes to know. In doing so, they highlight several points of divergence between Jain and Sāṃkhya systems of thought, as well as provide as with knowledge of Sāṃkhya epistemology which hitherto have been unknown due to the paucity of sources that directly pertain to this period in the history of Sāṃkhya philosophy.
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