dge in us is an unwarrantable hypothesis,
for knowledge appears as a revelation of our own self. This
brings us to a consideration of Jaina metaphysics.

The Jivas.

The Jains say that experience shows that all things may be
divided into the living (_jiva_) and the non-living (_ajiva_). The
principle of life is entirely distinct from the body, and it is most
erroneous to think that life is either the product or the property
of the body [Footnote ref 2] It is on account of this life-principle that
the body appears to be living This principle is the soul. The soul is
directly perceived (by introspection) just as the external things
are. It is not a mere symbolical object indicated by a phrase or

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[Footnote 1: _Prameyakamalamarta@n@da,_ pp. 38-43.]

[Footnote 2: See _Jaina Varttika,_ p. 60.]

189

a description. This is directly against the view of the great
Mima@msa authority Prabhakara [Footnote ref 1]. The soul in its pure state
is possessed of infinite perception (_ananta-dars'ana_), infinite
knowledge (_ananta-jnana_), infinite bliss (_ananta-sukha_) and infinite
power (_ananta-virya_) [Footnote ref 2]. It is all perfect. Ordinarily
however, with the exception of a few released pure souls (_mukta-jiva_)
all the other jivas (_sa@msarin_) have all their purity and power
covered with a thin veil of karma matter which has been accumulating
in them from beginningless time. These souls are infinite in number.
They are substances and are eternal. They in reality occupy innumerable
space-points in our mundane world (_lokakas`a_), have a limited
size (_madhyama-parima@na_) and are neither all-pervasive (_vibhu_)
nor atomic (_anu_); it is on account of this that _jiva_ is called
_Jivastikaya_. The word _astikaya_ means anything that occupies
space or has some pervasiveness; but these souls expand and
contract themselves according to the dimensions of the body
which they occupy at any time (bigger in the elephant and
smaller in the ant life). It is well to remember that according to
the Jains the soul occupies the whole of the body in which it
lives, so that from the tip of the hair to the nail of the foot,
wherever there may be any cause of sensation, it can at once feel
it. The manner in which the soul occupies the body is often explained
as being similar to the manner in which a lamp illumines
the whole room though remaining in one corner of the