________________
Aptamīmāmsā
qualities cannot establish the omniscience of the Arhat.
In the next two verses the Ācārya establishes that it is possible for someone to attain complete destruction of imperfections which cause obstruction to infinite knowledge. And as the soul attains omniscience, it is able to perceive things which are minute, past and distant.
Omniscience is attained through the destruction of imperfections, i.e., the deluding (mohanīya), knowledgecovering (jñānāvarṇīya), perception-obscuring (darśanāvarṇīya) and obstructive (antarāya) classes of karmas. Omniscience images, as it were in a mirror, all substances and their infinite modes, extending through the past, the present, and the future.
Being a possessor of omniscience - perfect knowledge and perception of unimaginable splendour and magnificence - the Arhat comprehends all objects of knowledge in their entirety, from all possible angles. His exposition of Reality is for the benefit of all living beings and non-controvertible by any known sources of knowledge. His words are the Holy Scripture. Ācārya Samantabhadra's Ratnakarandaka Śrāvakācāra:
आप्तोपज्ञमनुल्लंघ्यमदृष्टेष्टविरोधकम् । तत्त्वोपदेशकृत्सार्वं शास्त्रं कापथघट्टनम् ॥९॥ That alone is true scripture which is the word of the Omniscient, inviolable, not opposed to the two kinds of valid knowledge - direct (pratyaksa) and indirect (paroksa) - reveals the true nature of reality, universally helpful to living beings, and potent enough to destroy all forms of falsehood.
14
