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262 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
no such thing as a soul. That is why his theory of the soul is called Anatta, i.e., non-soul.
III
Apart from the general arguments against the existence of the soul, the Buddha had a special argument against the existence of the soul which he regarded as fatal to the theory of the soul.
His theory against the existence of the soul as a separate entity is called Nama-Rupa.
The theory is the result of the application of the Vibhaja test, of sharp, rigorous analysis, of the constituent elements of Sentient Being otherwise called Human Personality.
Nama-Rupa is a collective name for a Sentient Being.
According to the Buddha’s analysis, a Sentient Being is a compound thing consisting of certain physical elements and certain mental elements. They are called Khandas.
The Rupa Khanda primarily consists of the physical elements such as earth, water, fire and air. They constitute the Body or Rupa.
Besides Rupa Khanda, there is such a thing as Nama Khanda which goes to make up a Sentient Being.
This Nama Khanda is called Vinana, or consciousness. This Nama Khanda includes the three mental elements : Vedana (sensation springing from contact of the six senses with the world), Sanna (perception); Sankhara (states of mind). Chetana (consciousness) is sometimes spoken of along with the three other mental states as being one of them. A modern psychologist would say that consciousness is the mainspring from which other psychological phenomena arise. Vinana is the centre of a sentient being.
Consciousness is result of the combination of the four elements, Prithi, Apa, Tej and Vayu.
An objection is raised to this theory of consciousness propounded by the Buddha.
Those who object to this theory ask, “How is consciousness produced ? ”