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Significance of Śrutajñāna
sensed to four sensed living beings and in some of five sensed beings also. A few human beings can have this scriptural śrutajñāna. Jinabhadra, in his Viseṣāvasyakabhāṣya has given a solution to this problem that every living being can have bhāva-śrutajñāna. He propounds two kinds of śrutajñāna as drāvya-śrutajñāna and bhāva-śrutajñāna. Dravya-śrutajñāna is a verbal knowledge and bhāva-śrutajñāna is experienced through it in a soul, but somewhere bhava-śrutajñāna is experienced without dravyaśruta also, as in the case of one sensed to four sensed living beings. It is also propounded as labdhyakṣara śrutajñāna. This kind of akṣarśrutajñāna is a minimum qualification for a soul without which a soul cannot remain a living being. It may turn into non-living thing."
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Significance and Nature of Śrutajñāna
Śrutajñāna is important for emancipation. When right view, right knowledge and right conduct are considered as the path of emancipation, role of śrutajñāna as right knowledge is considered significant. Although matijñāna, avadhijñāna and manaḥparyāya-jñāna are also the right knowledge but śrutajñāna is more important for the achievement of kevalajñāna and emancipation from sorrows. Śrutajñāna may be defined as ātma-jñāna or knowledge of the self. Matijñāna has a limit to know the outer world, but it can help in manifestation of śrutajñāna which is an instrument to know the self. It is not produced through sense-organs. Tattvārthasūtra says
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"see, Viseṣāvaṣyakabhāṣya, verses 110 to 117
