Kevala jnana

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Kevala jnana (Sanskrit: केवलज्ञान, IAST: kevala jñāna) means omniscience in Jainism and is roughly translated as absolute knowledge[1]or supreme knowledge.[2]
Kevala jnana is believed to be an intrinsic quality of all souls. This quality is masked by karmic particles that surround the soul. Every soul has the potential to obtain omniscience by shedding off these karmic particles. Jain scriptures speak of twelve stages through which the soul achieves this goal. A soul who has attained kevala jnana is called a kevalin (केवलिन्)[3] According to the Jains, only kevalins can comprehend objects in all aspects and manifestations; others are only capable of partial knowledge.[4]
The views of two sects of Jainism, Digambara and Śvētāmbara Jains slightly differ on the subject of kevalins. According to Digambaras, a kevalin does not experience hunger or thirst, whereas according to Svetambaras, a kevalin has normal human needs.[5] According to both traditions, the last kevalin was a disciple of one of the eleven chief disciples of the last tirthankara, Mahāvīra; his name is recorded as Jambu.[6] It is also believed [hypothesis] that no one after Jambu will have the ability to obtain kevala jnana.

Literary sources[edit]

The claim of existence of omniscience by Jains, who deny the existence of a creator god, is a unique phenomenon.[7] The oldest text of the Svetambara school, the Acaranga Sutra, describes Mahavira as all-seeing but not all-knowing. The Sutrakritanga, however, elaborates the concept as all-knowing and provides details of his other qualities.[8]Another text, the Kalpa Sūtra, gives details of Mahavira's omniscience
When the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira had become a Jina and Arhat (Arihant), he was a Kevali, omniscient and comprehending all objects; he knew and saw all conditions of the world, of gods, men, and demons: whence they come, whither they go, whether they are born as men or animals or become gods or hell-beings (upapada), the ideas, the thoughts of their minds, the food, doings, desires, the open and secret deeds of all the living beings in the whole world; he the Arhat (Arihant), for whom there is no secret, knew and saw all conditions of all living beings in the world.:[9]
Immediately after the death of Mahavira, his disciple Gautama became a kevalin.[10] As per the tradition, the teachings of the tirthankara were memorized and preserved over many centuries.[11]
In the second Upanga Agama, the Rājapraśnīya, there is a dialogue between Kesi, a disciple of Pārśva, and Payasi, a materialist king. In this dialogue, Kesi proves the existence of jiva and its ability to obtain kevala jñana to the king.[12]
The Jains have a long debate with Hindus and Buddhists regarding omniscience. Bhikkhu Dhamakriti criticized the Jain notion of omniscience in his Pramanavartika. The Hindu philosopher Kumarila argued that only Veda had the authority to define human moral values since they were "beginningless, authorless and of self-sufficient validity". In response, the Jain monk Haribhadra (c. 8th century CE) wrote that humans already had knowledge of everything knowable. It only had to be illuminated or uncovered.[13]Omniscience was, according to Haribhadra, inherent to living beings.[14]
Samantabhadra was the first philosopher-monk in the history of Indian philosophy who tried to use inference as a method to establish the existence of omniscience.[15]Akalanka (c. 720 760 CE) put forward the concept of suniscita-asambhavad-badhaka-pramana as a reason for the existence of omniscience. This concept is a well-known fact which is "we have no valid methods of knowing to deny the existence of omniscience".[16] Hemacandra (c. 1088 1173) combined Samantabhadra and Akalanka's ideas ofsarvajña in his Pramanamimasa to establish the existence of omniscience.[17]

Jain epistemology[edit]

In Jain epistemology, there are two kinds of valid methods of knowledge: pratyakṣa or "direct knowledge" and parokṣa or "indirect knowledge". Kevala-jñana is consideredpratyaksa.[18] Five ways of obtaining knowledge are defined: matijñana acquired through sensory perception; srutajñana acquired through understanding of verbal and written sentences; avadhijñana, manhaparyaya jñana and kevala jñana.[19]
Jains contrast all attempts to proclaim absolute truth with adhgajanyāyah, which can be illustrated through the parable of the "blind men and an elephant". In this story, each blind man felt a different part of an elephant (trunk, leg, ear, etc.). All the men claimed to understand and explain the true appearance of the elephant, but could only partly succeed, due to their limited perspectives.[20] This principle is more formally stated by observing that objects are infinite in their qualities and modes of existence, so they cannot be completely grasped in all aspects and manifestations by finite human perception. According to the Jains, only the Kevalis—omniscient beings—can comprehend objects in all aspects and manifestations; others are only capable of partial knowledge.[21] Consequently, no single, specific, human view can claim to represent absolute truth.

Fourteen stages of development[edit]

According to Jain tradition, through these stages of development the soul gradually frees itself, firstly from the worst, then from the less bad and finally from all kinds of karma, and manifests the innate qualities of knowledge, belief and conduct in a more and more perfect form. The first four gunasthana are related to belief or rationality in perception. As and when the soul acquires rationality in perception it moves on to 4th gunasthana. Stages 5 to 14 relate to conduct. The purity in conduct determines the gunasthana from 5th stage onwards. Those who have taken the anuvratas {minor vows} may reach up to the 5th Gunasthana. The 6th to 14th Gunasthanas can only be attained by those who have taken the Mahavratas (major vows) of Jain ascetic.[22] Following are the stages of spiritual development:[23][24]
  1. The stage of wrong believer (mithyadristi)
  2. The stage of one who has a slight taste of right belief (sasvadanasamyagdrsti).
  3. The stage of mixed belief (misradrsti)
  4. The stage of one who has true belief but has not yet self-discipline (avirata samyagdrsti).
  5. The stage of partial self-control (desavirata)
  6. The stage of complete self-discipline, although sometimes brought into wavering through negligence (pramattasamyata).
  7. The stage of self-control without negligence (apramatta samyata)
  8. The stage of one in whom the passions are still occurring in a gross form (nivrtti badra samparaya)
  9. The stage of one who practices the process called anivratti karana and in whom however the passions are still occurring (annivrtti badara samparaya)
  10. The stage of one in whom the passions occur in a subtle form (suksama samparaya)
  11. The stage of one who has suppressed every passion but still does not possess omniscience (upasana kasaya vitaraga chadmasta)
  12. The stage of who has annihilated every passion but does not yet possess omniscience (ksina kasay vitaraga chadmasta).
  13. The stage of omniscience with activity (sayogi kevalin)
  14. The stage of omniscience without any activity (ayogi kevalin)

Jainism

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Idol of Pārśva at Lodrawa
Pārśva or Pārśvanātha (c. 877–777 BCE) was the twenty-third Tirthankara of Jainism.[1] He is the earliest Jain leader for whom there is reasonable evidence of having been a historical figure.[2][3][4]
In Jainism, a Tīrthaṅkara is a human being who helps in achieving liberation and enlightenment as an arihant. According to Jain scriptures,[1] that which helps one to cross the great ocean of worldly life is a tīrtha “ford” and a person who fills that role is atīrthaṅkara “ford-maker”. Tīrthaṅkaras achieve liberation and enlightenment by destroying their constraining (karmas) and becoming role models and leaders for those seeking spiritual guidance.[2][3] They also seek Kevala Jnana, a state of permanent, perpetual, absolute knowledge of the Soul; it is the precursor to final liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
The twenty-four known tīrthaṅkaras in this time cycle revitalized the Jain religion by establishing the fourfold sangha order which consists of male and female monastics (sadhus and sadhvis) and male and female lay persons (Śrāvakas and Śrāvikas).[4]

Overview[edit]

Rishabhadeva (left) and Mahavira (right)
The tīrthaṅkaras' teachings form the basis for the Jain canons. The inner knowledge of tīrthaṅkara is believed to be perfect and identical in every respect and their teachings do not contradict one another. However, the degree of elaboration varies according to the spiritual advancement and purity of the society during their period of leadership. The higher the spiritual advancement and purity of mind of the society, the lower the elaboration required.
While tīrthaṅkaras are documented and revered by Jains, their grace is said to be available to living beings, regardless of religious orientation.[5]
Tīrthaṅkaras dwell exclusively within the realm of their Soul, and are entirely free ofkashayas, inner passions, and personal desires. As a result of this, unlimited siddhis, or spiritual powers, are readily available to them – which they use exclusively for the spiritual elevation of living beings. Through darśana, divine vision, and deshna, divine speech, they grant their own state of kevalajñana, and moksha, final liberation to anyone seeking it sincerely.
At the end of his human life-span, a tīrthaṅkara achieves siddha status, ending the cycle of infinite births and deaths.
Jainism postulates that time has no beginning or end. It moves like the wheel of a cart. Jains believe that exactly twenty-four tīrthaṅkaras are born in each half-cycle of time in this part of the universe. The first tīrthaṅkara was Rishabha, who is credited for formulating and organising humans to live in a society harmoniously. The 24th and last tīrthaṅkara was Mahavira (599-527 BC).

Particular tīrthaṅkaras[edit]

The 24 tīrthaṅkaras
Tīrthaṅkara images are usually seated with their legs crossed in front, the toes of one foot resting close upon the knee of the other, and the right hand lying over the left in the lap.[6]
In Jain tradition the tīrthaṅkaras were royal in their final lives, and Jain traditions record details of their previous lives, usually as royalty. Their clan and families are also among those recorded in very early, or legendary, Hindu history. All but two of the Jains are ascribed to the Ikshvaku dynasty. Munisuvrata, the twentieth, and Neminatha, the twenty-second, were of the Harivamsa. Jain canons state that Rishabha, the first tīrthaṅkara, founded the Ikshvaku dynasty.
Twenty tīrthaṅkaras achieved “siddha” status on Shikharji. Rishabha attained nirvana on Mount Kailash, Vasupujya at Champapuri inNorth Bengal, Neminath on Girnar in Gujarat, and Mahavir, the last tīrthaṅkara, at Pawapuri, near modern Patna.

Twenty-one of the tīrthaṅkaras are said to have attained moksha in the kayotsarga “standing meditation” posture, while Rishabha, Neminatha and Mahavira are said to have attained moksha in the lotus position.


Life[edit]

Pārśva was the son of King Aśvasena and Queen Vāmā of Varanasi. He belonged to the Ikśvaku dynasty.[5] He lived as formal prince of Varanasi and at the age of thirty, he renounced the world to become a monk.[6] He meditated for eighty-four days before attaining Kevala Jnana.[7] He achieved mokṣa at the age of one hundred atop Shikharji, which is known today as "the Parasnath Hills" after him. Pārśva was called purisādāṇīya "beloved of men", a name which shows that he must have been a genial personality.[8] He remains beloved among Jains.[9]
When he was a prince he saved a serpent that had been trapped in a log in an ascetic’s fire. The snake, later reborn as Dharana, the lord of the underworld kingdom of the nāgas, sheltered Pārśva from a storm sent by a demon.[10]
According to the Kalpasutra, Pārśva had 164,000 male and 327,000 female lay followers and 16,000 men and 38,000 female monks. He had eight chief disciples known as ganadharas. They were Śubhadatta, Āryaghoṣa, Vasiṣṭha, Brahmacāri, Soma, Śrīdhara, Vīrabhadra and Yaśas. After his death, the gandhara Śubhadatta became the head of the monastic order. He was then succeeded by Haridatta, Āryasamudra and Keśī.[11]
Keśī is believed to have been born about 166 to 250 years after the death of Pārśva. He met the ganadhara of Mahavira,Indrabhuti Gautama. Their discussion about the apparent differences between the teachings of the two tirthankaras is recorded in Jain texts.
Pārśva is the most popular object of Jain devotion. He is closely associated with compassion, although he is free from the world of rebirth like all tirthankaras and therefore unable to aid his devotees personally.[12]
Jainism /ˈdʒeɪnɪz(ə)m/, traditionally known as Jaina Shasana or Jaina dharma (Sanskrit: जैन धर्म),[1] is a nontheistic Indian religion that prescribes a path of ahimsa - nonviolence - towards all living beings, and emphasizes spiritual independence and equality between all forms of life. Practitioners believe that nonviolence and self-control are the means by which they can obtain liberation. Currently Jainism is divided into two major sects, Śhvētāmbar and Digambar.
The word Jainism is derived from the Sanskrit verb root jin ("to conquer"). It refers to a battle with the passions and bodily pleasures that the Jain ascetics undertake. Those who win this battle are termed as Jina (conqueror). The term Jaina is therefore used to refer to laymen and ascetics of this tradition alike.
Jainism is one of the oldest religions in the world.[2] Jains traditionally trace their history through a succession of twenty-four propagators of their faith known as tirthankaras with Rishabha as the first and Mahāvīra as the last of the current era.
For long periods of time, Jainism was the state religion of Indian kingdoms and widely adopted in the Indian subcontinent. The religion has been in decline since the 8th century AD due to the growth of, and oppression by the followers of Hinduism[3] and Islam.[4]
Jainism is a religious minority in India, with 4.2 million adherents, and there are small but notable immigrant communities inBelgium, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the United States.[5] Jains have the highest degree of literacy of any religious community in India (94.1 percent),[6] and their manuscript libraries are the oldest in the country.[7] The population of Jain community across the world is around 6.1 million.[8]
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