ज्ञान : इंद्रियों के बिना भी संभव

Summary

The text examines the philosophical debate on whether knowledge is possible without sensory organs, focusing on the concept of extra-sensory perception (atindriya jnana) in Indian philosophy. It contrasts the views of the Mimamsa and Charvaka schools, which argue that all knowledge requires sense organs, with those of Buddhist, Jain, and Nyaya-Vaisheshika schools, which maintain that knowledge can occur independently of the senses. The Mimamsakas contend that even extraordinary knowledge must arise from sensory contact, comparing the limits of practice to an inability to leap over the world. In response, Buddhist philosopher Kamalashila uses analogies like a swan learning to cross the ocean and gold purification through heating to argue that practice can lead to extreme refinement, enabling extrasensory knowledge. Jain philosophy asserts that the soul's natural quality is knowledge, which can be fully developed through practice, unlike adventitious qualities. It argues that the removal of defects and coverings allows the soul to know without senses, as knowledge is self-luminous and independent of external aids. Nyaya-Vaisheshika thinkers like Shridhara and Jayanta Bhatta argue that practice can enhance the intellect to its highest state, enabling perception of subtle, distant, or hidden objects, similar to how a cat sees in darkness or a vulture sees from afar. They distinguish between qualities with a stable substrate, like gold's purity, which can be perfected, and those without, like water's heat, which cannot. Samkhya philosophy posits that all things exist in potential or manifest states, with no complete destruction or creation, and that yogic concentration can bring the mind into contact with past and future objects. Western parapsychology also supports the possibility of sense-independent perception, viewing it as extraordinary but not supernatural. The text concludes that while such knowledge is possible, it requires developed senses and mind, and is a stage of spiritual evolution where the soul directly perceives reality.