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जीवाधिकार
1 - THE SOUL
Lord Jina, the illuminator of the world, has expounded that, for sure, the one who, on the authority of his knowledge of the Scripture – bhāvaśrutajñāna - knows entirely, by his own soul, the all-knowing nature of the soul is the śrutakevalī.
The Omniscient (kevalī), with his unparalleled and eternal, infiniteknowledge, experiences simultaneously (yugapat) the supreme nature of his soul through the soul. The śrutakevalī, with his knowledge of the Scripture, experiences consecutively (kramabhāvī) the supreme nature of his soul through the soul. Both, the Omniscient and the śrutakevalī, know the nature of the Reality. The difference is that while the Omniscient experiences the Reality through the soul that has all-pervasive and infinite strength of knowledge and perception, the śrutakevali experiences the Reality through the soul that has limited strength of knowledge and perception. The Omniscient sees the Reality through his infinite-knowledge (kevalajñāna); it is like seeing objects during the daytime in the light of the sun. The śrutakevalī sees the Reality through his knowledge of the Scripture; it is like seeing objects during the night in the light of the lamp. Both know the nature of the Reality.1 The worthy ascetics, adept in the entire Scripture (āgama) and renowned as srutakevalī, are endowed with the special accomplishment(rddhi)- called the 'chaudahapūrvī’, a kind of buddhiļddhi. (see 'Tiloyapaņņatī-2', verse 1010, p. 302).
1 - see Ācārya Kundakunda's Pravacanasāra - Essence of the Doctrine, p. 42.
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