Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge c8.30

c8.30

(153) Though the Sūtrakṛtāṅga itself tells us little, Śīlāṅka's commentary, as we have already seen, is more informative. The main difference that we notice between Śīlāṅka's account and that in the Pāli Nikāyas is that the former stresses the intellectual grounds for their scepticism, while the emphasis in the latter is on the practical value or the pragmatic reasons for Scepticism. While the general argument for scepticism appears to have been the one we outlined above (*v. supra*, 148), an often quoted saying of the Sceptic throws a little more light on the rational basis of their scepticism. It is said that the Sceptics hold that 'scepticism is the best since it is difficult to gauge the thought processes of another' (paracetovṛttīnāṃ duranvayatvādajñānameva śreyaḥ, *op. cit.*, Vol. I, fol. 35 on Sū. 1.1.2.17, cp. paracetovṛttīnāṃ duranvayatvāt, *op. cit.*, Vol I, fol. 216 on Sū. 1.12.1). The difficulty of knowing another's mind seems to be one of the reasons why the Sceptics held to their other dictum that 'all teachings are like the utterances of barbarians since they have no (epistemic) basic' (*v. supra*, 151). Śīlāṅka himself following the Sūtrakṛtāṅga makes use of this idea in another connection and observes that 'owing to the difficulty of knowing another's mind, they do not grasp what is intended by the words of their teacher and thus repeat the other's words like a barbarian without understanding the real meaning'.¹ This idea seems to be borrowed from the Sceptics The fact that Śīlāṅka himself does not as a Jain believe that one cannot know another's mind is clear from his criticism of this sceptical view. He says it is false (asat), because the Sceptics themselves cannot believe this. For they put forward views such as 'scepticism is best' (ajñānameva śreyaḥ, *v. supra*, 147) intended to instruct others. He quotes in his favour a non-sceptical view which says that 'the inner mind of another can be apprehended by his external features, gestures, movements, gait, speech and the changes in his eyes and face' ²