Istopadesa The Golden Discourse

SR No.: 007695
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Vijay K Jain
Publisher: Vikalp
Total Pages: 170
Language: English, Sanskfit
Classification: Book_English & Book_Devnagari
File Size: 3 MB

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Verse 50
From the empirical point of view (vyavahāra naya), the soul is said to be the producer of karmic matter (like knowledgeobscuring karma); from the impure transcendental point of view (aśuddha niscaya naya), the soul is responsible for its psychic dispositions (like attachment and aversion); but from the pure transcendental point of view (śuddha niscaya naya), the soul is consciousness - pure perception and knowledge.
Let us look through this elaborate and highly relevant discussion on how the soul is viewed from different points of view:
To start with there are two main aspects of Nayas: Niscaya and Vyavahāra. The former represents the true and complete point of view. There is no distinction between the dravya and its guņas. The self is looked at as a whole with all the wealth of its attributes. The latter represents the partial point of view. The complex nature of the self is analyzed into its diverse qualities, and our attention may be directed to any particular attribute with which the self may be identified at the moment. Further the former, Niscaya Naya, is divided into Suddha Niscaya Naya and Aśuddha Niscaya Naya. Suddha Niscaya Naya holds the self in its pure and unconditioned nirupādhi state. Disentangled from all its material environment and limitation the self radiates in its pristine glory through all its wealth of infinite qualities. This aspect where the self is in its qualities and its qualities are pure and unalloyed expression of the nature of this self is the topic of Suddha Niscaya Naya. The second, Aśuddha Niscaya Naya, contemplates the self as caught in the meshes of the material environment, the sopādhi state. The presence of upādhi makes it impure or aśuddha. Its intrinsic glory is dimmed but still it is viewed as a whole with its complete nature as expressed in its attributes though somewhat warped by alien influences. This is the self according to
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