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Each living being, in its capacity of knowing, knows at the very least, the infinitesimal part of a letter. If it were to not know even that much, it would cease to qualify as a living being and would be classified as an insentient, non-living being.
Because of this capacity of knowledge, irrespective of how minute it may be, mithyaatva is seen as the most basic stage of spiritual development.
2. Owing to the presence of mithyaatva, none of the qualities of the soul manifest themselves. Hence, to show that the living being has the absolute lowest category of realisation, mithyaatva is considered to be the first gunsthaanaka and a person with mithyaatva is considered to belong to the first stage of spiritual development. One sensed-beings, defective-sensed beings, insentient five-sensed beings and bhavaabhinandii five-sensed beings (living beings who love remaining in sansaara} belong to the first gunsthaanaka stage of spiritual development).
3. Samyaktva cannot be found where there is no desire to free oneself from the cycle of transmigration. But it is not necessary that samyaktva be present where there is a desire to free oneself from the cycle of transmigration. One who has interest in liberation is certain to attain samyaktva. But mere desire to attain liberation cannot give birth to samyaktva. One can have mithyaatva and still cherish a desire to attain liberation. Hence, the concept of gunasthaanaka has been mooted.
4. It cannot be stated that living beings whose mithyaatva {false belief) is very less and who have first class qualities like generosity, compassion, charity, the desire to break free from the cycle of rebirth, the desire to seek liberation and other fine qualities, and have entered the charamaavarta kaala' {final period before liberation}, seek liberation owing to the lightness of their mithyaatva, and believe that liberation can only be attained through dharma, do not consider the true god to be the true god, the true preceptor to be the true preceptor and the true religion to be the true religion. Such souls may believe in the true god, true preceptor and the true religion. But they have not yet realised that only the true god is god and all others are false gods. Nor have they realised that only the true preceptor is preceptor and all others are false preceptors. Nor have they realised that only the true religion is religion and all others are false religions. Such souls are unable to discriminate between the true and the false and hence also believe in false gods, false preceptors and false religions. Yet this kind of souls have progressed to the level that they atleast believe what is true also, thus mithyaatva gunasthaana has been adumbrated from their point of view.
5. Even those mighty living beings that have restricted their mohaniiya karmas to a finite number (apunarbandhaka jiivas) are categorised under mithyaatva, hence it is known as a gunasthaanaka.
6. Gunasthaanaka has been mooted to indicate where the spiritual progress of the soul. It begins at the bottom, with mithyaatva. Attributes can be of two varieties - Asti {extant; and Naasti {absent). Mithyaatva is a negative attribute. Since beginning less time, souls remain in the cycle
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