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The Three Jewels 35
truction of knowledge obstructing karmas the other four require only a partial destruction thereof.
29. Once omniscience appears the soul is all set for liberation. It is either Sayoga Kewali as a teerthankar with only some minor karmas which sustain the body and they preach the truth or Ayoga Kewali which is the last stage on the path is followed by soul's ascent to Nirvana to become Siddha.
30. Thus omniscience is the culmination point of not only Jain epistemology but also of Jain ethics and Jain metaphysics. In Jainism all the sciences strive forward and meet in omniscience without any contradiction or confusion.
31. Soul can have at one, and the same time one, two, three or four kinds of knowledge. If one, it is perfect knowledge because having acquired this, nothing remains to be known. If two kinds, it is sense knowledge and study knowledge. If three, it is sense, study and remote knowledge or mind reading knowledge. If four, the soul acquires all types of knowledge except the perfect knowledge.
32. True to its approach Jainism divides each of these types of knowledge, into numerous divisions and sub-divisions. However, it may be reiterated that essentially all types of knowledge are manifestation of the powers inherent in the soul. These powers have become clouded or over shadowed by matter i.e. karma, due to the soul's acts of omission and commission since time immemorial. To the extent to which the soul is able to shed the bondage of particular karma, to that extent the particular type of knowledge manifests itself in the soul. This explains why some people are less intelligent than others. Even in the same family -even out of twins- one may be an idiot and another may be a genius. Some people have superior powers of reading others minds and some can visualise things remote or happenings in the past or likely in the future. It is all a manifestation of the extent of bondage of karma accompanying the soul from life to life and world to world.
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