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nature of the world. The attributes and the modes of Reality are cognised through it. Knowledge is a subjective phenomenon concerned with objective existence.
Knowledge illuminates the self as well as others. The Jains point out that it may be identical with the self as well as different from it: the self is said to serve as cogniser as well as being an instrument of cognition. The senses, sensory objects, contacts and the instruments of knowledge only help proper cognition, but do not cause
Objects and function of knowledge: The object of knowledge is to illuminate the self and the external world accurately. All entities in the world have an objective existence independent of the cogniser. Accurate knowledge of any entity consists in cognising its substantiality, along with its many qualities and modes, both natural and acquired.
It is obvious that the cogniser is confined to the body while knowledge can extend to the whole universe. The degree and quality of illumination depends on the extent of the shedding of knowledge-obscuring karma.
Quality of knowledge: It is a common experience that knowledge may be true (accurate) or false (spurious). False knowledge (mithyaatva) is that which represents the world in ways in which it does not exist. False knowledge may involve doubt and indecision. It may be the result of wrong instructions and past impressions. The knowledge of a worldly being, except that of an omniscient, is always tainted with passion and other karmic consequences that distort or colour the vision as if through tinted glass. Subsequent correspondences and contradictions ascertain the truth or falsehood of the context. The criterion of falsehood is not the primary subjective apprehension but its contradiction. If a judgement is contradicted by another judgement of unquestionable faith, the former is rejected as false. Subjective experience as illustrated by a dream is rejected as illusionary and contradicted by waking experience. Falsehood is, thus, ultimately a question of experience. Similarly, truth is also a matter of experience and a prior logic is incompetent to manage it. Pujyapada indicates that sensory, scriptural and clairvoyant knowledge may be false or spurious, according to the attitude of the subject who is dependent on the distortions of karma (Jain S. 1960: 1.31). False knowledge is caused by deluding and knowledgeobscuring karma and past impressions resulting in non-appearance, indirect appearance, and imposition of foreign elements obstructing proper illumination of the self and other objects. The proper shedding of the corresponding karma may lead to Right Knowledge.
Right Knowledge allows one to distinguish between the beneficial and the harmful, the absolute and the relative, and between the rational and the irrational. It allows one to accept what is beneficial and discard what is harmful for spiritual advancement. The Jains do not draw any line between true and false cognition as far as their objectivity is concerned. It is relative. It is a question of degree rather than quality. True cognition provides accurate knowledge of an object, while false cognition allows knowledge to be distorted. The Jains insist on the test of validity before deciding on truth or falsity. The truth or falsity of knowledge also pertains to personal feelings and common sense objectives. The relativity of our objective knowledge is based upon differing viewpoints and personal attitudes.
Relationship of Knowledge to Self and Other Objects: It has already been pointed out that the cognisant self can have knowledge of the self and the external world. But
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