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The translation preserving the Jain terms is as follows:
All those who have faith in the study of the Shri Samavasharan (the divine assembly hall of the Tirthankara) unanimously accept that the soul (atma) is all-pervasive, not just the body, because the quality of consciousness (chaitanya) is present in the body itself. Earlier, the Ajnanavadi (the proponent of ignorance) discussed the fallacy of mutual dependence (itaretarashraya-anyonyashraya), but that is also not possible here because through the study of scriptures and the like, the intellect (buddhi) attains extraordinary and special knowledge. This is attained and known in one's own soul (atma). Therefore, there is no inconsistency or obstruction in what is directly perceived.
The Ajnanavadi who propound that knowledge is not capable of fully comprehending the nature of the knowable (jneya) because everywhere the posterior part of the substance (vastu) remains covered or obscured by the anterior part, and the ultimate part of the object is the atom (paramanu) which is imperceptible and cannot be grasped by the senses - this is merely a statement, because even the substances obscured by time, place, and nature are apprehended by the knowledge of the Omniscient (Sarvajna). Therefore, there is no possibility of obstruction in the knowledge of the Omniscient. Even the knowledge of an ordinary knowledgeable person operates in the whole through the part, in the integral through the component; therefore, there is no obstruction in it. The integral (avayavi) becomes obscured by its own parts (avayava); this is not logically sound. Ignorance (ajnana) alone is beneficial. In your statement, the term 'ajnana' either implies negation (paryudasa) of knowledge or absolute denial (prasajya-pratishedha) of knowledge. If you consider it as negation and call some other knowledge as 'ajnana', then you have accepted that other knowledge as the means of well-being, and thus the doctrine of Ajnanavada is not established. If you accept it as absolute denial, then the absence of knowledge is trivial and devoid of existence, bereft of all potency; how can it then be the means of well-being? If it is said that 'ajnana' is the means of well-being, and this statement is taken as absolute denial, then knowledge, which is the opposite of 'ajnana', is not the means of well-being - this would mean that the attainment of well-being is denied through knowledge, which is contrary to direct experience, because a person endowed with right knowledge (samyag-jnana), who has comprehended the true nature of the object, engages in the activity and accomplishes the task, which is directly observable. Therefore, knowledge cannot be called false or meaningless.
The Ajnanavadi, even if someone's head is accidentally touched by someone's foot due to ignorance or carelessness, considering it as a minor fault, still proclaim ignorance as beneficial. This is directly contradictory to the principle. Here, the validity of inference is not required, nor is it necessary. The Ajnanavadi are unskilled and incompetent in imparting religious instruction, yet they teach the same dharma to their equally unskilled and incompetent disciples. Here, the plural number has been used in a poetic manner instead of the singular. Even the Buddhists mostly fall under the category of Ajnanavadi, because they believe that the karma bound by the ignorant, the unwise, the unknowing, does not bind, and they claim that children, the intoxicated, and the sleeping person are devoid of clear knowledge, and therefore, their karma does not bind.
All these proponents should be understood as endowed with ignorance. They speak without deliberation and reflection, relying on ignorance; therefore, they are false speakers, because speech with knowledge involves contemplation and deliberation. This is in reference to the words 'kiriyam akkiriyam' (action and non-action) appearing in the third pada of the first verse.