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Jaina Philosophy and Religion
When we transform in our mind our empirical perceptual knowledge (matijñāna) into the form of language in order to impart it to others, then it does not turn into verbal knowledge (śrutajñāna), simply because it is transformed into the form of language; it still remains empirical perceptual knowledge (matijñāna). Verbal knowledge is verbal knowledge by virtue of being generated by language or words. So long as empirical perceptual knowledge is there in the mind of a speaker, it remains to be simply empirical perceptual knowledge even though it is associated with words in his mind. But when the speaker's spoken words generate knowledge in the mind of a hearer, then this knowledge generated in the mind of the hearer through words is verbal knowledge. Whatever is known through empirical perception can be presented in language. And whatever is known through verbal knowledge can also be presented in language. Special reflection or pondering on what is known through verbal knowledge is of the nature of intellect. And as we have already seen, intellect is a form of matijñāna. Vainayiki intellect which we have described earlier is of the nature of special reflection; hence it is a form of matijñāna.
Though matijñāna of the form of empirical perception is extensive and basic, its clarity, growth and strength depend on śrutajñāna (verbal knowledge). It is śrutajñāna that puts and leads us on the path of progress. If man were deprived of the benefits of the experiences of his fore-fathers and companions, his condition would have been even lower than that of a beast. Man cannot progress if he were to depend on his own personal experience for the knowledge of the world and were not to accept the findings of his predecessors. In that case, he would have to start anew in every generation. Again, were he to know things depending exclusively upon his own experience, his stock of knowledge would be very meagre, his mental outlook would be narrow and he could neither impart to others the results of his own experiences nor become acquainted with the achievements of others. This is the reason why śrutajñāna is regarded as very much important for the progress of man and its field considered to be very vast. Though śrutajñāna cannot arise without the rise of matijñāna, matijñāna without śrutajñāna cannot raise us to the plane higher than that of a beast. Thus, though matijnana and śrutajñana are interdependent, we can very well understand their difference.
All beings, from the most subtle microbes to the five-sensed, possess matijñāna and śrutajñāna both. According to scriptures, matijñāna and
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