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OUTLINES OF JAINA PHILOSOPHY
following the tradition of Lord Parsvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara of Jainism, mentioned five kinds of knowledge as abhinibodhika-jñāna, śruta-jñāna, avadhi-jñāna, manaḥparyayajñāna, and kevala-jñāna.1 It clearly shows that Lord Mahāvīra had accepted the tradition of the conception of knowledge as it was in existence before him.
Now, how does this conception evolve in the Canonical period? What additions are made? We find three stages of evolution in the Canons :2
1. At the first stage, knowledge is divided into five categories according to the above tradition as under :3
Abhinibodhika
Jñana
3
Śruta Avadhi Manah- Kevala paryaya
Avagraha Iha
Araya Dharaṇā.
2. The second stage of evolution presents two broad divisions of knowledge, viz., pratyakṣa and parokṣa. These two categories are further divided into various sub-divisions.
The scheme according to the Sthananga-sutra is as follows:
1 Rāja-praśniya, 165.
2 Introduction: Nyāyāvatāra-vārtika-vrtti, p. 58.
Bhagavati-sutra, 88, 2, 317
