What is knowledge? What is life? The pundits do not agree on a
definition that is work-in-progress yet.
For 30,000 years at least, since the emergence of our species on earth,
man has struggled to understand truth. The self is the agent of experience and
action says Nayaya, one of six systems of Indian thought that has engaged with
the question. It is the knower, enjoyer, and actor. Its body is the organ of
knowledge feeling and action.
What is knowledge? What is life? The pundits do not agree on a
definition that is work-in-progress yet.
The vaisesika [of the six knowledge systems] regards life as a
particular kind of effort or voilition of self (jivanayonipriyatna).
Inhalation, exhalation and the like are its actions. They are due to the vital
efforts of the self.
There is no permanent self says the Buddhist. A person is a mind body
complex, an aggregate of thirty two kinds of organic matter and five
constituent elements of being, outward form (rupa), feelings (vedana), ideas
(samjana), dispositions (samskara) and consciousness (vijnana). There is no
permanent ego or self. The self here is equated with ego.
The samkhya [knowledge system] regards the body, the sense organs, mind
(manas), intellect (buddhi), and egoism (ahamkar) as the evolutes of prakriti
constituted of sattava, rajas and tamas. There is interaction between mind and
body in perception and volition but there is no interaction between self and
body or mind. The self is conscious. The mind is unconscious.
According to Jaina the self (jiva) and the not-self (ajiva) are two
entirely different substances. The former is conscious, incorporeal and
immaterial, while the latter is unconscious, copereal and material. Matter
(pudgala) is not-self. Every embodied self (samsara jiva) has a soul and body.
The advaita Vedanta [knowledge system] regards the gross body as
composed of of five elements. It is the instrument
of waking experience. The five external sense organs are produced by the five
quintipuled elements. The auditory organ is produced by ether, the tactual
organ by air, the visual organ by light, the gustatory organ by water, and the
olfactory organ by earth. The four internal organs mind (manas) intellect
(buddhi) egoism (ahamakara) and memory (citta) are produced by the five
elements collectively with a predominance of sattava.
The five motor organs – the vocal organ, the prehensive organ, the
locomotive organ, the excretory organ, and the generative organ – are produced
by the five elements with a predominance of rajas. The organs themselves are
insentient, producing their effect under the guidance of the conscious self.
The five vital airs – prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana are
produced by the five elements collectively with a predominance of rajas.
According to sankhya, life is not physical (bhautika) force but the
common function of all sense organs. It is sustained by the powers of the sense
organs. The five kinds of vital forces –
prana, apana, udhana, samana and vyana – are the modes of
internal organs [ manas, buddhi, ahamkara]. They are airs because of their
motions. The five vital forces are the common functions of the sense organs.
Samkara considers the five vital forces to be the different modes of
one common life. Prana is the air that is
inhaled. Apana is the air that is exhaled.
Vyana is the air that pervades the body. Udana resides in the throat. It is the
air that is belched out. Samana is the air that resides in the intestines and
digests food and drink.
The Advaita Vedanta gives a materialistic view of the nature and origin
of life. The Samkhya gives an idealistic view tending towards the materialistic
because it regards the external and internal organs as evolutes of prakriti or
primal matter. The Vaisesika takes an idealist view
as it traces life to a voilition of self.
The Prapariscara Tantra [knowledge system] describes ten vital forces.
Prana courses upward. Apansa courses downward. Samana assimilatesfood. Vyana
distributes the chyle (rasa) all over the body. Udana accompanies prana (life)
and and produces movement of the eyes. Naga is the cause of belching. Kurma is
the cause of opening the eyes.Krkara is the cause of hunger. Devdatta is the
cause of yawining. Dhananjaya causes various sounds.
As we can see knowledge is a variable across knowledge systems, none of
which can seemingly claim infaliability. Sri Aurobindo however points out, “All
knowledge lies within”. It can be accessed by anyone who has
purified the lower modes of knowing of all its grossness through the yogic discipline.
[Excerpted from Indian Psychology Vol-II pages 13-21 by Jadunath Sinha,
Motilal Banarsidas, New Delhi]
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