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Studies in Indian Philosophy
ghātika karmas are to be wiped out before the 13th guṇasthana. At any rate, we may theoretically assume that the object of dhyana which should produce kevala jñana and darśana is something depending on the scriptural knowledge of the Jainas.
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Vitarka is defined as śruta (Tattvärthasūtra IX. 45). The Yogasūtra 1.42 explains savitarka samadhi that it is a mental state accompanied by the discriminative knowledge of words, objects and meanings. Then, pṛthaktva vitarka dhyana is said to be savicāra but ekatva vitarka dhyana is avicara (Tattvārthasutra IX.43-44), and vicara is explained as shifting objects, words and yogas (Tattvarthasutra IX. 46). According to the Yogasūtra 1 44, vicara has a subtler object than vitarka does. And in the case of vicara samadhi, the subtler object is understood in its commentary to appear as a phenomenal dharma conditioned by time, space, causation, etc. of the empirical categories, but in the case of avicara samadhi, the subtler object is understood to manifest itself in the state of dharmin or thing-in-itself, not confined by time, space, causation, etc. of the empirical categories.
Ekatva vitarka avicāra dhyana which is the mental concentration accompanied by the discriminative capacity on the subtler object should manifest it in the form of dharmin unlimited by the empirical conditions such as time, space, causation, etc. This comes somewhat close to the state of having kevala jñāna and darśana. Then, this stage of ekatva vitarka dhyana without vicara is exactly what was wanted to be postulated by the then Jaina theoreticians in order to yield omniscience immediately out of it.
And from this standpoint the Jainas seem to have attached all the rest of the aforementioned capacities to ekatva vitarka dhyāna. Pṛthaktva vitarka dhyana was also logically manipulated in this connection involving the device of Sreni. But how actually these dhyanas were considered to destory ghatika karmas is not at all known to us. The Yogasūtra IV. 30, for instance, reads that upon the appearance of dharma
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