Outlines of Jainism

SR No.: 007587
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: J L Jaini, F W Thomas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Year: 1916
Total Pages: 208
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 9 MB

Page 107

METAPHYSICS : XV B. RIGHT KNOWLEDGE
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faith has not grasped ; and our conduct cannot but be coloured by our intellect, from which it springs. Faith and knowledge leading to right conduct are at once the process and the goal; for right faith dispels weak doubt, right knowledge preserves us from ignorance, indifference, and laziness, and right conduct enables us to create the best life of which we are capable.
Right knowledge is of five kinds (70)—
Mati-jñānu : knowledge which is acquired by means of the five senses, or by means of the mind of man (71).
Sruta-j nūna : knowledge in which on the basis of mati-jñāna one acquires knowledge about things other than those to which the mati-jñāna relates (72).
The difference between the two is thus stated. Mati-jñāna deals with substances which exist now, and, having come into existence, are not destroyed ; śrutu-jñūna deals with all things now existing, and also with those which were in the past or may be in the future, e.g., an eclipse to-day may be known by mati-jwūna, but one in the time of Alexander, or one to happen next year, can now only be known by śrutujñūnu. Even a mineral or plant soul with one sense only can have sruta-jñānu.
Avadhi-jñāna: knowledge of the remote or past. It is possessed always by celestial and infernal souls : ascetics also sometimes acquire it by austerities (74).
Manahparyaya-jñāna: knowledge of the thoughts and feelings of others. It is possessed by Sumyamins only, i.e. by persons who are masters of self-control and who have practised the restraint of body, mind, and speech (75).