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( 45 ) Kevalin.
On the attainment of Kevala jnana, says the KalpaSutra, the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira became omniscient. “He knew and saw all conditions of the worlds, of gods, men and demons; whence they came, whither they are born as men or animals or became gods or hellish, beings, the ideas, the thoughts of their mind, the food, doings, desires, the open and secret deeds of all the livings in the whole world ; the Arhat, for whom there is no secret, knew and saw all conditions of all living beings in the world, what they thought, spoke, or did at any time.” It is notable that frequently in the course of audience and in his preachings after this great event he would refer to the earlier existence of a person or to what one was going to be in the next birth; this extended vision of the past, present and future became obviously an essential attribute of Mahavira's personality. Even the Buddhist texts always refer to him as possessing such vision.
It would be helpful in this connection to understand the Jain theory of knowledge. According to Jainism, consciousness (3997) is the very essence of the soul, not a mere characteristic of it. The soul (519) can know unaided everything direct and exactly as it is. Of consciousness, there are two manifestations, perception (FRP) and knowledge (FTTA). The former is simple apprehension, the latter conceptual knowledge. In the former details are not perceived, in the latter they are; ia is a perception of generalities (aratru) of things without particularities (fake). There can be no jiva without consciousness or cognition, as there can be no consciousness without a jiva. Incidentally, this is a point which illustrates the distinction of Jainism from Buddhism, where not the mind but only states of consciousness are admitted as real. The fact that the Knowledge which a jiva actually has is fragmentary in its character is due to the obscuration caused by Karma,
which interferes with its power of cognition. The Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
| SR No. | 034936 |
| Book Title | Lord Mahavira |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Boolchand |
| Publisher | Jain Cultural Research Society |
| Publication Year | 1948 |
| Total Pages | 124 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 12 MB |