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I am the Soul
Shrutajnana occurs with the presence of Matijnana. Where there is mati there is shruta and vice versa. Both are complementary jnanas. If there is one, the other is bound to be there. It can never happen that some jiva has only one of the two. All jivas in the material world have both these jnanas. Whether it is a uni-sensory micro jiva in the nigoda gati or a jiva in human form with five active senses, no jiva would be without knowledge. The reason behind this is that knowledge is the characteristic of atma. The characteristic does not get separated from the substance. It will never get totally obliterated. The speciality is that a jiva with samakit - equanimity will have true mati-shruta jnana through which it will realise the propriety of a substance, and the transitions in its characteristics. While a Mithyatvi jiva understands the substances in their external appearance, with its own mati-shruta jnana; it will know only about the immediate utility of that substance. Perhaps, it may also know about the past and future states of the substance, but in principle, it does not know what the substance is. Just as it is unaware of the true inner form of the inanimate substances, it is also unaware of the animate atma. It has no experience of 'I am the soul'. Its misconception of the body being the soul is not yet cleared and hence its mati and shruta will be called mati-ajnana (ignorance) and shruta-ajnana. While the samyaktvi jiva's experience of “I am the soul' has influenced its mati and shruta and hence its mati and shruta will be called mati-jnana and shruta-jnana.
For mati-shruta jnana to occur, just as the external means are the senses and the mind, the internal means is the kshayopashama (fading away) of matijnanavaraniya and shrutajnanavarniya karma. In other words, as the shroud of karma on the Matijnana and Shrutajnana begins to weaken, as the jiva begins to unveil the shrouds gradually through its own purushartha, the knowledge lying in the atma begins to appear. All the jivas in the material world do have either mati
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