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Epistemology of Jainas
canonical literature only. It is represented by the stbānāřga and the Tattvārtha.
The second stage is represented by the Niryuktis3, the Nand14 and the Višaşāvaśyakabhāşya5., where the śruta is divided into fourteen types of aksara, Samjñin etc. and the whole knowledge associated with speech is included in it. In this stage śruta becomes a prolonged function of mati. This view gained prominence in the later Jaina literature and got a general approval.
The third stage is represented by Siddhasena Divākara who rules out totally the distinction between mati and śruta. He appounces them as identical. Yasovijaya also shows some favour for Siddhasena. This view, thougb somewhat reasonable did not get much favour as it went against the established tradition of the five types of knowledge. We would try to discuss all the three stages in detail in the following pages. The First stage : Śruta as scriptural knowledge
According to Jaina tradition, religion is an eterpal factor and so the scriptures. In the kşetra of Mahāvideba they exist permanently. But, in the kşetra of Bharata they become extinct in a certain period and are again instituted by a new Tirthankara. In the present era, known as Hundā Avasarpiņi the first Tirthankara was Rsabhadeva and the last Mahāvīra. All of them had their own canonical literature. It does not mean that at the time of new Tirthankara the old tradition is totally extinct. The Bhagavatı states that out of the twenty-three intervals occurring between the twenty-four Tirthankaras the tradition of Jainism had only seven breaks. In the first eight
1. Sthānārga II 2. Tattvārtha I. 20 3. Āvaśyaka Niryukti G. 18 4. Nandi Sūtra 37 5. Višeşāvaśyaka Bhāsya G. 451 6. Bhagavati XX. 8.677
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