Unknown Pilgrims

SR No.: 007014
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: N Shanta
Publisher: Sri Satguru Publications Delhi
Publication Year: 1997
Total Pages: 820
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

Page 300

272
The Unknown Pilgrims
samyak-jñāna: the grasp of the nature of the ātman and other (substances) in their every aspect, free from doubt, error or aberration; (there are] various types of samyak-jñāna.23
There follows an exposition of great clarity which verifies what has gone before: samyak-darśana is to believe in the substance, more precisely in the seven categories of substances, taught by the doctrine, while samyak-jñāna is to apprehend the åtman and other substances in their natural properties.
What are the different types of jñāna? They number five, of which two are indirect, that is, they require an intermediary: mati, sensory knowledge, which is acquired through both the senses and mental activity; śruta, knowledge acquired through study of the Scriptures or, to be more exact, through the hearing of the message of the doctrine; this type of knowledge is grounded solely in mental activity, though it is preceded by sensory knowledge.24
The three other sorts of knowledge are direct, without intermediary:
avadhi, clarivoyance; manaḥparyaya, telepathy; kevala, omniscience.25
23 saṁsaya vimoha vibbhama vivajjiyaṁ appaparasarūvassa
gahanar sammam ņāņam sāyāram aneyabheyaṁ ca. DravSam 42. The question here is of subtle forms of ignorance very similar to one another which may affect right knowledge in different ways: vimoha here has the meaning of viparyaya (vibhrama) means uncertainty, confusion, lack of clarity.
24 Cf. TS 1, 20.
25 Cf. TS I, 9. indirect knowledge (perception) or parokşa; direct knowledge (perception) or pratyakşa; cf. TSI, 11-12; US XXVIII, 4.