________________
There have been sages before ...
This devoted pursuit of the three gems awakens the state of complete knowledge. Being knowledgeable is the characteristic of the atma. All that is worth knowing is reflected in the atma. Knowledge is a mirror and all that is worth knowing is the reflection that is visible in the mirror. That is how atma knows all animate and inanimate substances.
There is infinite power of knowledge in the atma. However, in a jiva in the material world, this power lies suppressed. The jnanavarniya karma has shrouded this power. As and how this shroud of karma begins to weaken, the power of knowledge emerges stronger. Since knowledge, in spite of being unique in the true form of knowledge, progresses gradually, and furthermore, since there is a difference between subjects and means, Sri Prabhu has mentioned five categories of knowledge in the Sri Nandi Sutra -
नाणं पंचविहं पन्नत्तं, तंजहा-आभिणीबोहिय नाणं,
सुयनाणं, ओहिनाणं, मणपज्जवनाणं केवलनाणं । 1. Abhinibodhamatijnana 2. Shrutajnana 3. Avadhijnana 4. Manahparyavajnana 5. Kevalajana
Matijnana and Shrutajnana are earned with the help of five senses and the sixth source being the mind. Firstly, Matijnana is that which is absorbed through five senses and the mind and remains formed in the intellect. In other words, what the intellect holds is Matijnana. That jnana which occurs through the same five senses and mind, but with the support of pronounced words, that is to say through scriptures-Shastras-agama granthas etc, is Shrutajnana.
Jain Educationa International
For Personal and Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
