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Jiva

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MIND, MATTER AND GOD : JIVA, JADA AND ISVARA<br />

M.M.NINAN<br />

later rejected God and went after the ways of the world and made for themselves Kings<br />

over them. As the Kings and Priests wielded their power, Jesus came down strongly<br />

against them and presented to them a God of love. They crucified him. The followers of<br />

Jesus even experimented with a sort of communal living where "each according to their<br />

ability and to each according to their need" was the principle. It failed miserably because<br />

men and women were still Ananias and Saphiras. Hence the need for a redemption.<br />

Perception and Inference in Carvaka Philosophy<br />

The essence of epistemological approach is summarized by Purandara a follower of<br />

Carvaka (7th Century) thus.<br />

The usefulness of inference in determining the nature of all worldly things where<br />

perceptual experience is available is not questionable. However such inference cannot<br />

be employed for establishing any dogma regarding the transcendental world, or life after<br />

death or the laws of Karma for which ordinary there is no perceptual experience. The<br />

main reason for upholding such a distinction between the validity of inference in our<br />

practical life of ordinary experience, and in ascertaining transcending truths beyond<br />

experience is this. Any conclusion based on Inductive generalization by observing a<br />

large number of cases of agreement together with total absence of disagreement is true.<br />

But in the case of transcendent sphere such agreement can do not exist because; they<br />

can not be perceived by the senses (Purandara in Kamalasila's Panjika)<br />

In the Christian reasoning too, the above argument is sound. We cannot make arbitrary<br />

assumptions based on possible inferences. This is especially true on matters that are of<br />

eternal consequence. How can we know the reality of God and his purposes? The<br />

historical verification of matters of faith had been very important to Judeo-Christian<br />

tradition. Prophets and seers were respected and accepted not because of their logic, of<br />

their declaration power, or because of signs and wonders they performed. They were<br />

accepted based on whether their declaration tallied with verifiable historical facts. There<br />

are two such points of contacts.<br />

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