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FIVE TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE
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totally absent.
According to Jainism it is the very essence of soul and never totally absent. One cannot conceive the fire without warmth. Similarly, the soul without knowledge is inconceivable.
Umāswati has given knowledge as the definition of soul. Vidyānanda, while explaining the above, differentiates it from ordinary types of definitions and says that it is the very essence of the soul. It is definition as well as the definee, while ordinary definitions are mere definitions.
The Nature of Obscurance
The soul is, by nature, cognizer and the object knowable. There is a permanent relation between the two as knower and the knowable. There is no limit to this relation, as far as capacity is concerned. The soul possesses the power to know all the objects and even more if they happen to be. It is like the scorching sun which can illumine all objects. But that power is restricted by the karmic obscurance. Yaśovijaya (The reader is advised to refer the chapter on karman for this purpose) compares this obscurance with a cloud obscuring the sun. It is a material substance attached to the soul. It pollutes the purity of the latter and does not allow it to shine in full brightness.
The Theory of Upayoga
The question may arise: if obscurance is the only regulating factor, where is the use of sense organs. We cannot see an object with close eyes with any amount of kṣayopasama, as the partial removal of obscurance is recognized.
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